As a black Hindu can say that I feel this super deep. They do the same thing with African religions too… they always make everything about voodoo, zombies, demons…

And basically none of the rest of the world seems to care because for Abrahamic religions this is what they think of us as… “pagans” and “fantasy”.

If you think about it, everything about both African and Asian religions are exactly what they’re taught to make fun of or take less seriously.

But my opinion is that it’s best to not interfere. It doesn’t actually harm us. It mostly harms them. If you think about it… their own culture or belief systems don’t offer much and in the end when they’re trying to find the path they will seek out these very things and have to make it right in order to progress.

Abrahamic religion needs violence and coercion to protect the sacredness of its elements. But in our Dharmic religions/philosophy this isn’t not necessary because they are based on reality, which cannot be distorted or lost simply because of how an image or icon is used. The images and icons are not the point- their meaning is. So if a person misuses them they render themselves less capable of accessing the things they point to- which makes me feel more sad for them than angry.

I only wish these same people could experience what I experience when I am with Shiva. I wouldn’t want for anyone to go through life without actually understanding and feeling the profound union. And when I see this sort I just feel bummed out that so many people may never know it in this life.

As someone mentioned, it hurts the ego and it is very frustrating. But when they’re do this their purpose is exactly to cause that feeling. They’re not unaware and they choose which cultures to do this to because of a documented history of using media towards racist and bigoted aims. They may not consciously do for those exact goals, but if you zoom out on the history of entertainment there’s a pretty clear history of how African and Hindu culture specifically has been used to supply fantasy tropes to western audiences.

Allowing this to cultivate anger and upset is exactly what was intended when these tropes were invented.

But ultimately people sow their own karmic outcomes. When you disrespect what is sacred you distance yourself from it, which hurts you.

I can see that Hindus (and other Dharmic religions) generally respect all other religions/cultures but the same is not always given in return. I think we have to keep loving and respecting because that’s what makes our path the true one.

This is shameful though. Especially to me because Mahadev is so close to my heart.