A New Goddess Is Born

[Atheist-Lite]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12355740

A new goddess has recently been born in India. She's the Dalit Goddess of English.

The Dalit (formerly untouchable) community is building a temple in Banka village in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh to worship the Goddess of the English language, which they believe will help them climb up the social and economic ladder.

About two feet tall, the bronze statue of the goddess is modelled after the Statue of Liberty.

"She is the symbol of Dalit renaissance," says Chandra Bhan Prasad, a Dalit writer who came up with the idea of the Goddess of English.

"She holds a pen in her right hand which shows she is literate. She is dressed well and sports a huge hat - it's a symbol of defiance that she is rejecting the old traditional dress code.

"In her left hand, she holds a book which is the constitution of India which gave Dalits equal rights. She stands on top of a computer which means we will use English to rise up the ladder and become free for ever."

Considered to be at the bottom of the traditional Hindu caste system, the Dalits have been oppressed and discriminated against for centuries.

(continued)

[electricwhiteboy]

Hmmm. No one else got an opinion on this? The Dalit seem to have been failed by every other religion. I'd be interested to know exactly what the beliefs are here, i.e. if it's a creation of a new Goddess within Hinduism or a brand new religion.

I would imagine most people here are going to be quite sniffy, but I’ve got a soft spot for this idea as it appeals to some of the metaphysical ideas about language that I entertain, though I have the feeling that the followers of this meme are perhaps going to be a bit too literal for my liking. As long as there isn’t exploitation going on, this one seems to be pretty benign.

[Svartalf]

with India going the way it seems to, I wouldn't be surprised if Hindi got promoted to main language overall and if they threw out English as a remnant of the inglorious colonisation era... if that happens, those folk will have to rethink their goddess in a hurry, or melt her down for scrap metal.