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Permissiveness In Hinduism

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Permissiveness In Hinduism
Religion has been a powerful force throughout history, especially with its ability to transcend political and cultural boundaries. The question of what enables a religion to permeate these boundaries is one of great importance. It is important to discern what causes Hinduism to remain a religion of those from India, while allowing Christianity, specifically Roman Catholicism, to gain traction across many nationalities. Because both of the religions stem from such different areas, it is important to first find similar elements that may attribute to their appeal, or lack thereof. At first, these two religions seem to bear few commonalities, as one is a polytheistic religion while the other monotheistic. However, one of the most important similarities …show more content…
The permissiveness of a religion is its ability to allow members of the religion to maintain a certain sense of individuality and do as they please to a certain degree. As a religion grows to accommodate more unorthodox behaviour and regard them as acceptable, more and more people can begin to join the tradition and thus facilitating the spread. This assertion can be evidenced in the growing number of people who associate themselves with a form of Christianity, but also a more permissive and secular form of the religion. There has been a revival of some sorts, but one has to keep in mind that “‘revival’ [is defined] as an increase in weekly rates of church attendance, then the claim of a 1950s religious revival would probably be correct. However, when [one] casts [his] net widely and look[s] broadly at kinds of behaviour that go beyond mere church attendance, the picture that emerges is one of diminishing religious force” (Alan Petigny 416). Regardless of whether or not the religion has been diminished in terms of preservation of traditional practices, there has been an increase in the number of people practicing it; therefore, one can conclude that the religion has seen success in its spread. The increase in permissiveness can be directly link to an idea of grace that is free and unmerited; actions do not contribute towards whether or not one is to receive

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