Why is there no unity among Hindus unlike people of Islam or Christianity?
The fundamental Hindu principle is one of Unity. Behind diversity, there is unity. Behind individual souls, there is the SELF, ATMAN, the Divine.
Hinduism advocates five elements that bring people together in a community: doctrine, practice, society, Puranas, and devotion.
In Holy Quran, Muslims have been instructed to be united. i.e.: "keep hold on to the rope of Allah altogether and do not be divided into sects." (Āl ʿImrān, 103). But there is no such instruction in Hinduism.
In other religions, there is only one God. But Hinduism has multiple Gods, multiple ways to approach God, offers freedom of worship, freedom of choice, freedom of expression, freedom of dissent and so on.
Naturally, it gives people freedom to compartmentalize themselves, disagree with other sects, argue with them, demean them etc. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa says even atheism is a stepping stone to reach God in Hinduism!
Hinduism paved the way for Hindus generously accepting other religions to flourish in India. Whereas Hinduism does not flourish in other countries.
It can be safely said that the absence of unity in Hinduism is similar to the feuds within brothers and sisters in a family!
They may not see eye to eye with each other, have different tastes and agendas in life, may even split from the family and live alone. But the underlying blood connection never goes.
When some calamities strike the family, we can see that all family members bury their difference of opinions and come together!
In a similar way, there are occasions when Hindus join together burying their differences of opinions in case of natural disasters like earthquakes etc.
Hindus as a society do face problems and differences on account of caste system; but again, history shows that our religion is not rigid, but flexible enough to acknowledge and take corrective actions.
Lack of unity is mostly fueled and nurtured by petty politicians and social reformers who have no deeper knowledge about Hinduism; their pseudo-secularism keep dividing Hindu people for their selfish gains.
However, it is an undeniable fact that caste discrimination and the absence of any single strict authority (like the Pope in Christianity) have paved the way for Hindus getting wooed by other religions.
On top of it all, please consider this:
Historically, how much of bloodshed have you seen amidst Hindus fighting within themselves based on their religious differences? Extremely little.
Compare this with the history of other religions: Shiites versus Sunnis; Protestants versus Catholics. Then the reality will be far clearer to you.
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