Book Discussion on 'Europe, India and the Limits of Secularism' by Jakob De Roover

After the partition of India in 1947, secularism was uncritically accepted as one of the core values of the Indian republic regardless of its delayed inclusion in the preamble of the Indian Constitution. However, this acceptance has led to grave consequences for the broad spectrum of the Hindu tradition, awkwardly labelled as Hinduism. Adarsh and Ashish discuss Jakob de Roover's excellent book, 'Europe, India and the limits of secularism' and examine secularism's historical origins while exploring its conceptual deficiencies.

00:00:00 Intro
00:02:30 Limits of Secularism in Today’s World
00:08:23 Secularism in Multicultural Europe
00:14:08 Liberal Secular Model
00:16:17 Real Secularism vs Pseudo Secularism
00:19:16 Split of Identity
00:25:36 Harm Principle
00:27:53 Nehruvian Secularism
00:32:31 Constituent Assembly Debates
00:33:34 Essential Religious Practices
00:36:58 Stories of Liberal Secularism
00:40:40 Agenda of History Writing
00:43:30 Relationship of Culture and Religion
00:45:30 Reason vs Rationality
00:51:12 Political Theology of Two Kingdoms
00:54:19 Difference b/w Brahmins and Catholic Priests
00:59:38 Monasticization of Daily Life
01:07:00 Reformation and Widespread Chaos
01:09:43 Replacing Religion with Conscience
01:15:00 Clash of Cultures
01:19:21 Distinction b/w Religion and Tradition
01:21:44 Story of Indian Intellectuals
01:26:38 Alternative to Secularism

[tejasousep]

Wonderful discussion on both the origins of the idea of secularism and the problem it now poses for the dharmic culture of Bharath, which is seen as regressive when viewed through the distorted lens of secularism.
Sai Deepak makes mention of De Roover's thoughts on modern secularism in his first book.

This trend (of making a religion out of secularism) can only be reversed if Bharatiyas (aka Indians) learn to become comfortable again in their own traditional and cultural skins without being apologetic or doubtful.
And this can only be taken up by a newer generation who, though secularised, are able to see the cracks in its foundation, unlike the post independence generation that have learned to live with the erasure of the sacred from all walks of public life. This is the real tragedy that besets us as a nation today ~

[BHUPENDRAMONDAL]

When a society as whole is indoctrinated in a systemic way to hate themselves, the mental shackles are hard to get rid of, we all suffer from this. We all are learning, finding ways embrace our heritage in our personal and public lives, its slow process, we will get there.

[mohitneve]

Loved the soulful bringing such wonderful and insightful discussions....

[cosmicallyspeaking]

Bhaiyya! ♥What a podcast! Watched it twice because this was packed with great insights.🧠Finally, I am so glad you fixed the audio issue after all. 😅

[Alpha-Cheeno]

Please consider reviewing "The Vision of the Anointed" by Thomas Sowell. It contains themes of secular decay that is inherent to liberal democracies.

[dibyashreechakraborti]

Nice discussion. Thats exactly how a conversation should be like when we are in process of understanding and crystallizing our thoughts in the larger mileu of similar sounding ideas floating around (but are essentially starkly different)

[rakadus]

23:37 Ram Sethu and dredging of the place to enable larger ships to transit is an example of divergence between private belief and public / State order.

[sharmilakalain]

Great conversation. Loved it. In South Africa the word secularism does not come up in any discourse. I wonder if we even know the meaning of the word.

[yasminbiju]

In Kerala, even your closest kin will cancel you if you don't profess secularism in social circles.

[RohitSharma-migt]

Might be a good idea to do this English - Hindi mix. The staggered speed of speech is jarring

[lord_vats]

Ashish Ji, would love your input on Project Shivoham's one of the latest "documentaries" called "The Dark Side of Brahmin".
It follows the same old trope of 'brahmins discriminated', 'brahmin by karma', etc.
I think it's a really insidious video purported as 'discovering the truth'.

[sheshagirimk]

Could you please do videos on all the values developed especialy influenced thru enlightment era ?
And also share the de-merits listed such values highlighted by contempary intellactuals..
Pranams for all the good works done 🙏🙏

[prateeksingh]

Always look forward to these in-depth discussions of yours 🙂 You guys should do a discussion on one of Taleb's books in the future.

[iDeepakRana]

I don't know if it's the language or something else, but the host really struggles with articulating his thoughts. What could be said in a couple of well-crafted sentences, he takes at least a dozen and ends up with a confusing argument. It also affects Ashish's eloquence which is otherwise close to perfection.

[rrrrrrrr]

I’m not sure why but i felt first 15 mins of the discussion is def. not able to capture the problem adequately. Comparing middle east with western europe is outright wrong. Shows lack of awareness, ground reality is different.

[prateekdeoli]

you guyz gotta have better reach, i forwarded it to all i could!

[Swamy_VivekAnand]

What is the definition of ☪️secularism✝️in🕉️🇮🇳🕉️that has commonly come to be the unfair standard of acceptance.
IMPNOTE
🕉️Is not a ✡️✝️☪️religion and hence secularism has no basis in 🇮🇳

[theconservativeone]

Please make a video the right understanding of the word "Dharma" and how to apply it in life.
TO OTHERS, please dont give your opinion by replying, not interested.

[arungupta]

You guys are hopeless. You struggle to find an example of religion vs secular public policy, while the example of a Uniform Civil Code stares you on the face you come up with Sabarimala and sacred rivers.

Stopped listening at that point. Sorry that Jakob de Rover’s brilliance is obscured by your obtuseness.