(RNS) — When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that Maryland’s largest public school district must allow parents to opt their children out of lessons if those lessons conflict with “sincerely held religious beliefs,” the decision was lauded as a win for Muslim, Catholic and Orthodox Christian parents who oppose teaching about LGBTQ inclusion in public schools.
Hindus were not strongly represented among supporters of Mahmoud v. Taylor, in part due to Hindu theology, according to Yagnesh Patel, director of the Hindu Parents Network. “There is no problem with embracing diversity, and support for inclusion of multiple perspectives: That’s an essential part of Hinduism.”
If Hindu parents have concerns about school curriculums, Patel told RNS, it’s how Hindus themselves have been portrayed.
Hindu Parents Network, a project of the Hindu advocacy organization Coalition of Hindus of North America, offers virtual workshops on Hinduism for grade-school kids, as well as support groups for first- and second-generation Indian American parents who object to what their kids are absorbing about the faith at school, from ideas about worshipping idols to stereotypes about sacred cows.
Foremost on these Hindu parents’ minds is the explanation of caste, the hierarchical social structure in India and other places that divides people by language, culture and class. Fo …