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Recently, a user posted these questions:

  • Why Hindu saints are targeted very badly in India?

    I have been living outside India for the last couple of years but I saw plenty of fake cases against Hindu saints in India. Why are Hindu saints being targeted in India? There are plenty of Indian/Hindu saints with fake cases registered against them. What is the exact reason behind this?

  • Is everything in Hindu culture based on science?

    I read in many places that most things in Hindu scripture/culture are scientifically proven to be correct. Is this true? If yes, what is the significance of wearing ornaments?

Here, I would like to point out that asking questions of political nature and asking scientific reasons behind Hindu rituals should be considered off-topic.

Regarding the first question, users may think that they are being on-topic because they are discussing Hindu saints, however, if we look at the question body, it's asking for a political reason which is not good for the site.

Reasons for disallowing such questions are:

It will lead to:

  • Unnecessary debates as political views vary widely from individual to individual
  • Opinion-based answers
  • May result in legal disputes

Coming to the second question, asking for scientific reasons should be considered off-topic as well since we are here to discuss Hindu culture, tradition, gods, stories, etc.

Why should we disallow science-based questions?

  • Science and superstition are usually opposed to each other
  • Users of this site will be mostly interested in mythological and traditional answers
  • We have other websites for discussing science-related topics (E.g., Physics SE, Chemistry SE and Biology SE). So if one starts discussing science on this site too, it will result in redundancy across many SE sites.

In conclusion, asking something like:

  • Why do people wear dhoti during puja (act of worship)?

...is fine and should be allowed as it expects a traditional answer from Hindu scripture, but a question like:

  • What's the scientific reason behind wearing a dhoti during puja?

...should be considered off-topic as it forces users to engage in scientific speculation. So, in this case, users should flag or cast a close-vote ASAP.

The on-topic page has been now been updated to reflect the above:

Please note that the following subjects are considered off-topic here:

  • Scientific speculation


Return to FAQ index

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    Religion and Science are orthogonal and should never be mixed.
    – Vineet Menon
    Jul 3, 2014 at 16:03
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    I do agree that we keep out questions asking scientific reasons. But, I disagree With @VineetMenon. It may be true for other religions; but for Hinduism, every practice and ritual (atleast, most of them) have a scientific notion behind them. They are being proved right by the modern scientific society!
    – TheLoneKing
    Jul 8, 2014 at 17:44
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    has anyone enumerated the practices and rituals of Hinduism? If now, how are you claiming that 'most' of them have scientific reason? Some may have, I don't deny that, but extrapolating that to other pseudo-scientific explanation is simply a waste of time and insult to scientific temperament.
    – Vineet Menon
    Jul 8, 2014 at 18:24
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    "Scientific speculation" is really a confusing term. Why not permit "scientific analysis" or "awareness of scientific basis"? From my understanding, Hinduism isn't a religion based on a single book or a belief system. For our times, it has become essential to understand the "science" behind Hindu practices so that one can develop better appreciation as well as shraddha. When we consider interpretation of shastras by acharyas and mahatmas as authentic and worthy of study, why not today's scientific analysis? Such analysis would be an area of study for current and future generations.
    – codeforester
    Jul 14, 2019 at 21:12
  • @VineetMenon, nonsense. they are exactly the same
    – mar
    Jun 10, 2020 at 4:26
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    @ram you cannot link a question on this meta site and claim that my opinion is nonsense. You are talking about falsifiability, which isn't what science is about. The subject matter of science is materialism while for hinduism, whcih only considers materialism as a means to an end is spiritualism.
    – Vineet Menon
    Jun 15, 2020 at 6:15
  • @VineetMenon, science is exactly about falsifiability. lookup flying-teapot argument, or flying-spaghetti-monster, or any other nonsense that pseudo-scientists love to harp on.
    – mar
    Jun 16, 2020 at 21:27
  • Science never answers Why was the World created, whereas metaphysics of religion tries answering it, There are few things that are out of the domain of Science :-)
    – Shashaank
    Nov 14, 2022 at 13:07

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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Political questions are rightfully off-topic. There is a site for Politics.

Optionally, consider adding political question in Flag question > needs improvement > a community specific reason similar to scientific speculation as mentioned in the edit part of the question.

Screenshot of what I meant:

politics.

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    I believe there are only a limited number of custom close reasons that can be added - though I think the default limit is 3, so I believe the diamond mods could add one more if they wanted. (The "This question does not appear to be about Hindu religion, [...]" one is a default close reason, I think, which also appears if there are no custom close reasons added for the site.)
    – V2Blast StaffMod
    Sep 8, 2020 at 1:28
  • Adding a new close reason would be very, well, weird. It would have to be a change to only one site, which may not be the best change.
    – The Preserver
    Sep 15, 2020 at 5:22
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I think they should be addressed on a case-by-case basis. Some of these questions may indeed have proper answers.

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    I agree, especially as the scriptures also include what may be called science or "Vedic science." Furthermore, modern scientists, particularly in quantum physics, have been verifying more and more truths we find in scripture. However, we should be clear that Hindu scripture speaks about these things using allusions and metaphor and should not be confused with Charvaka.
    – Rubellite Yakṣī
    Apr 11, 2018 at 4:52
  • Also, I believe we should allow questions of historical significance. For example, in ancient times if a man was unable to sire a child it was permissible in emergencies to allow another to impregnate his wife. As far as I know, this is no longer normal. So, if a person asked about this practice of course one could answer by quoting the ancient law. I believe it should also be permissible to give an anthropological/archaeological explanation.
    – Rubellite Yakṣī
    Apr 11, 2018 at 4:58
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    The on-topic-ness of a question can not be reliant on the answers. If you want to argue that some such questions should be allowed, you should make an argument that explains how that determination of "on-topic" or not can be made on a case-by-case basis based on the question itself.
    – V2Blast StaffMod
    Mar 1, 2020 at 11:56
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    I agree with what @V2Blast said. And religion and history are two seperate things.
    – The Preserver
    Sep 8, 2020 at 1:22

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