Hindus in United States of America are concerned after two incidents—roughing-up of a Hindu grandfather by police in Madison (Alabama) on February 6 resulting in partial paralysis and then scrawling of “GET OUT†on Bothell (Washington) Hindu Temple wall discovered on February 15—happened in a span of ten days.
Bothell Hindu Temple at Washington which was vandalized by fringe elements
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, pointed out that per a Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey, as compared to any other religious group in US; Hindus topped in education, had second highest income levels, topped in marriage rates and had lowest divorce rates. Per another Pew Forum survey, USA was the world’s second-leading destination for Hindu migrants, after India. There were about three million Hindus in USA.
Rajan Zed noted that this was basically because of Hindus continuing with the traditional values of hard work, higher morals, stress on education, sanctity of marriage, etc., in USA amidst so many distractions.
Zed suggested that basics of major world religions should be taught in high schools of the country and first responders should be imparted cultural competency training so that we understood each other better in view of increasing diversity of the country. Zed urged fellow Hindus to educate Americans about Hinduism, the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents, and try to remove any misconceptions about it.
Rajan Zed indicated that visitors were “most welcome” in Hindu Temple & Cultural Center in Bothell, whose Mission was to “Promote social, cultural, religious, and spiritual understanding”. It was sad that such graffiti showed up on its wall a day before the Temple was scheduled to celebrate the major Hindu festival of Maha-Sivaratri. Efforts to build this Temple reportedly began in 1980’s.