A hate crime (or bias crime) is committed when someone vandalizes your property, uses violence against you, or threatens you with violence because of who you are, or who you are perceived to be. Hate crimes are aggressive acts directed against an individual, group or organization, because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, ethnicity or gender. In order for an incident to be considered a hate crime, there must be a crime (harassment, assault, homicide, robbery, arson).For example: something that demonstrates hatred or bias as a motivating factor.Source: Bias HELP LI, Help is now available on Long Island. Second Edition. New York. 2001.
Hinduism has grown to become the world's third largest religion, after Christianity and Islam. It claims about 762 million followers. It is the dominant religion in India, Nepal, and among the Tamils in Sri Lanka. There are about 1.1 million Hindus in the United States.Hinduism differs from Christianity and other Western religions in that it does not have a single founder, a specific theological system, a single system of morality, or a central religious organization. It consists of "thousands of different religious groups that have evolved in India since 1500 B.C.E."One theory of the origins of Hinduism traces the religion's roots to the Indus valley civilization circa 4000 to 2200 B.C.E. According to this theory, the development of Hinduism was influenced by many invasions over thousands of years. The major influences occurred when light-skinned, nomadic "Aryan" Indo-European tribes invaded Northern India (circa 1500 B.C.E.) from the steppes of Russia and Central Asia. They brought with them their religion of Vedism. These beliefs mingled with the more advanced, indigenous Indian native beliefs, often called the "Indus valley culture.". However, archeological digs have revealed that the Indus Valley culture was not "destroyed by outside invasion, but...[by] internal causes and, most likely, floods. In essence, there is no racial evidence of any such Indo-Aryan invasion of India but instead, a continuity of the same group of people who traditionally considered themselves to be Aryans.The most important of all Hindu texts is the Bhagavad Gita which is a poem describing a conversation between a warrior Arjuna and his charioteer Krishna. Strictly speaking, Hinduism is a henotheistic religion — a religion which recognizes a single deity, but which recognizes other gods and goddesses as facets or manifestations or aspects of that supreme God.The three major gods are:1. Brahma the Creator who is continuing to create new realities,2. Vishnu, (Krishna) the Preserver, who preserves these new creations, and3. Shiva, the Destroyer, is at times compassionate, erotic and destructive.Most Hindus follow one of two major divisions within Hinduism:1. Vaishnavaism, which generally regards Vishnu as the ultimate deity, or2. Shivaism, which generally regards Shiva as the ultimate deity.
Some Hindu beliefs:The repetitious Transmigration of the Soul. This is the transfer of one's soul after death into another body. This produces a continuing cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth through their many lifetimes. It is called samsara. Karma is the accumulated sum of one's good and bad deeds. Karma determines how you will live your next life. Through pure acts, thoughts and devotion, one can be reborn at a higher level. Hindus organize their lives around certain activities or "purusharthas." These are called the "four aims of Hinduism," or "the doctrine of the fourfold end of life." Meditation is another element of Hindu religious observance.Hinduism has a deserved reputation of being highly tolerant of other religions. Hindus have a saying: "Ekam Sataha Vipraha Bahudha Vadanti," which may be translated: "The truth is One, but different Sages call it by Different Names" Therefore, practicing untouchability or discriminating against a person because of their caste is not only illegal in India but is not an upheld Hindi practice. The caste system has lost much of its power in urban areas; however it is essentially unchanged in some rural districts.Source: ReligiousTolerance.org
HIV, or Human Immunodeficiency Virus is the virus that causes AIDS. It is only found in humans, although other animals have similar diseases that break down their immune systems. HIV, in the bloodstream seeks out the t-cells (aka CD4 Cells) which are involved in activating the immune system. It takes over these t-cells and reproduces thousands of copies until the t-cells are, themselves destroyed.As the t-cell count drops in the bloodstream, the amount of HIV increases, making it hard to fight off infections. At any point after a person tests positive for HIV infection, a person may develop AIDS. When a person's t-cell count drops below 200, (or when they develop an "opportunistic infection" such as Kaposi's Sarcoma or Toxoplasmosis) they are diagnosed with AIDS. HIV/AIDS is a major public health concern.Source: Long Island Association for AIDS Care, Inc., Important Information for Women on Long Island about HIV and AIDS. New York: 2000.