Religion - Prostitutes of God
 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...90.html?ref=nf


I know nothing of the Hindi Faith, perhaps someone can explain or rationalise this for me
Some girls are dedicated to the goddess at age two or three. They won’t actually enter into sex work until they reach puberty at around twelve. The girls most at risk of being dedicated will have grown up in very matriarchal Devadasi communities. There aren’t any men. They don’t have fathers. So there probably is some understanding from a young age that they’re not from traditional families, they don’t have husbands.

The girls probably won’t have a real understanding of the sex work element until what they call their ‘first night’. This is when their virginity is sold to a local man, normally the highest bidder. He might be a local farmer, landowner or businessman. Some of them say, “I was dedicated to the goddess, but I didn’t know this was what was expected.”

I certainly could not explain or rationalise it. Can't see how anyone could of course.

Is this sort of behaviour supported by that religion or is it a procedure which has been instituted by local men for their convenience in the name of the religion?

Les

It's a strange old world.

I used to work with an Indian bloke, having worked with him for some years, I would not have described him as lacking in morals, or being an outwardly depraved man, but in a private one to one discussion he told me he saw no issue with child pornography or child prostitution. In his country it seemed to be something which was accepted by many.

you should try reading shantaram by greg roberts:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shantar...l)#cite_note-4
he goes into great detail on the subject of child trafficking and prostitution in it. The main protagonist is told that despite everything they are put through, it is better than them being dead.

This, presumably, is where indian and western values divide.
astraboy.

Makes some sense. Hinduism gave religious backing to a caste structure where everyone had a place in the economic system which in this case includes sex workers.

It was acceptable to Ancient Greece in the form of pederasty, but that was same-sex only.

India is a country of nearly 1 billion people. There will be some very strange and backward practices happening somewhere there, some people there are still living in the jungles. It is still a poor country, and so poverty will also force some into practices that are morally bankrupt.

I wouldn't take that article to represent what most of the millions upon millions of Hindus believe in.

Good point DD, I would agree with that and look at the whole business with hope.

Les

As a Sikh Indian there is a lot wrong with the above and India as a whole and fortunately it's in the process of disappearing or at least reducing.

The problem with India is that it's such a massive country and people are sometimes more bothered about lining their own pockets than thinking of the greater good :(

It does have some beautiful things to teach the world and hopefully it'll take something from the more 'civilised' nations for areas where it needs help!