World's largest democracy delivers secular mandate.

Drifterwood

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India's ruling Congress alliance wins election | Reuters

I am no expert on politics in India, but I always find their election process amazing. It takes pretty much a month to have the election. Also there is a struggle between secularism as represented by the Congress party and religious nationalism as represented by the Hindu BJP.

For supporters of secular democracy it is a good and heartening day.
 

dong20

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I am no expert on politics in India, but I always find their election process amazing. It takes pretty much a month to have the election. Also there is a struggle between secularism as represented by the Congress party and religious nationalism as represented by the Hindu BJP.

For supporters of secular democracy it is a good and heartening day.

Nor I, but any result in India which reduces the [religious] influence of the BJP on national politics has to be a good thing for India and thus the region. It's reassuring to see the Pakistan is at the top of the agenda.

At least one other nuclear power would be advised to focus some TLC in that region also - before several million people find themselves 'toasting' in a less celebratory fashion.
 

D_Myer_Dogasflees

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the greeks were living in mansions, had no poverty, and only had a life of porn and science, thousands of years ago. the japanese made it from 30 years average lifespan and in poverty, to now nearly 100, and in a resource free economy they are among the richest, have one of the most amount of patants on this earth, and this is only in the last 70 years of secularism. england's enlightenment century period set us up for the largest tech boom and human progression('5000 years in 200') in history, only a 1/4 lived to 25 years in shakespears time, now 95 is the new 25.

if we all work together, keep and listen to ALL our senses, 2050 could be the new 2500

mozzies don't get it
 
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B_Nick4444

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today I will simply toast the good people of India:beerchug2:

for who knows what tomorrow will bring?

(with foreboding and sorrow, and as an aside, I note that Beijing will conduct it's first joint military exercise with Pakistan, in October, I believe; that coupled with Obama's selection of the new ambassador to Beijing, reveal to me that my worst fears of the future are being corroborated)
 
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midlifebear

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Nick666, sweetie poops, no one is stopping you from burning all of your porn and joining a monastery. Really. It's true. If you're suddenly feeling a crisis of faith you have every right to join a monastic order and try your hand at whatever you think may be the correct prescription for your "sins."

El Pápa Benedict is recognized by most in the two heavily Roman Catholic countries in which I live as just that -- the Pope. And the majority of these Roman Catholics seem to have no problem with separating what the Pope wants and says from the realistic secular aspects of their daily lives. After all, they've had more than a thousand years of seeing how poorly Popes' view's of the world have fared compared to real world problems of civil rights, individual freedoms and just living in peace. Cataláns are especially bemused and seriously perplexed that Obama speaking at Notra Dame is such a BIG issue in the USA.

I can't even begin to count how many times I've had to play apologist for the way 'Mericuhns praise freedom of speech in the Constitution and then demonstrate against the President of the USA's right to speak freely at a university. They don't see a conflict of interest just because it's a Catholic university. They do, however, regard the issue of Obama being disrespected as an "invited" speaker for what it is: hypocrisy.

After 8 years of Bush disregarding the Constitution, I guess it's now normal for 'Mericuhns to behave as hypocritically as possible. From the outside looking in at the USA it certainly appears a new low in what we say we believe compared to how we behave was set during the last 8 years.
 

Hockeytiger

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This really wasn't a secular mandate. Religious fundamentalists lost only a handful of seats. The most radical of the fundamentalists Shiv Sena, lost only one of its 12 seats. In fact, if one were to look as these results in terms of secularism, overall the country became LESS secular not more, but that truly isn't a fair representation of the results as secularism wasn't a core issue. A more accurate way to describe it is that it is a mandate for captitalist reforms.

The INC gained seats, but at the expense of the left. The real losers in this election was not the NDA (the BJP alliance) who lost around 17 seats (a loss to be sure), but rather the hard core secular socialists who lost over 60.