Religious Rights and Human Values

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The term Religious Right is a broad label applied by scholars, journalists, and critics to a number of political and religious movements and groups that primarily are active around conservative and right wing social issues. William Martin suggests that the terms 'Religious Right' and 'New Christian Right' can refer to the movement in the United States that began to mobilise in the 1960s. Others, however, use the term to describe a coalition of religious conservatives that extends beyond Christianity.

The terms Religious Right and Christian Right are considered pejorative by some conservative critics, who suggest it is used primarily by the political left. The Christian Right in India and the Western countries, has made efforts to reach out to Orthodox Jews and Muslim social conservatives, especially in building coalitions against abortion and same-sex marriage. At the United Nations level, conservative interfaith NGOs co-operate over issues of gender, reproductive and sexual health, lesbian and gay rights, family and bioethical policies.

Chandra Mohan Sharma holds the degree of BA, MA (Arts) from the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. He has a brilliant academic record throughout his education. He has recently completed a research project sanctioned to him by the UGC and also working on another project. He has ten years of teaching experience for students of history and religion. He has attended number of workshops and refresher courses.

He has participated in a number of seminars connected with Indian History and Religion. He has written three books on History, Religion and writes regularly for various journals and newspapers.

India is home to more religious systems than any other Asian country, implying that it has a more varied range of ethical principles or cultural values than any other part of the continent. Hinduism itself embraces a multiplicity of beliefs, practices, and peoples that emphatically do not fall under the umbrella of one church, one pope, one liturgical system, or one hierarchy of priests or monks.

The word 'Hinduism' and even the concept are English, deriving from the Persian Hindu or the Sanskrit Sindhu, names for the Indus River. Indian languages do not have a word that corresponds with Hinduism, only such words as dharma (social duty) and karma (fate). Cultural values are pervasive yet difficult to pin down, at the same time a part of behaviour, a part of culture, and a part of social structure. Moreover, they are commonly specified in both sacred texts and secular proverbs. Ethical obedience is the pathway to salvation.

Life should be governed by the discharge of accumulated duties or debts. These debts are diffuse: to the gods, to the seers and sages who discovered truth, to ancestors, and to humanity at large.