Is the Hindu god Vishnu a Pedophile?

Nepali girls 'marry' Hindu god 

to protect from widowhood

AFP 

Nepali girls marry Hindu god to protect from widowhood

Kathmandu (AFP) - It's a big day for nine-year-old Nepali schoolgirl Riddhima Shrestha and her three-year-old sister, Ishita, as they dress up in silk brocade and gold jewellery, preparing to wed a Hindu god.

The two sisters are among dozens of girls taking part in the "ihi" or "bel bibaha" ceremony -- a coming-of-age ritual practised by Kathmandu's indigenous Newar community, whose customs combine elements of Hinduism and Buddhism.

'Coming-of-age'? What age - they are still pre-pubescent? Is that marrying age in Nepal or just for Vishnu?

The two-day ceremony, usually held several times a year in the capital's historic durbar (royal) square, sees pre-pubescent girls "marry" the Hindu deity, Vishnu, symbolised by the local "bel" fruit.

The centuries-old custom is believed to protect girls from the stigma of widowhood by ensuring that a Newari woman's first husband -- the god -- will inevitably outlive her mortal spouse.

During the ceremony, girls hold the bel fruit, also known as a wood apple, in one palm and touch a statue of the god with the other, symbolically giving Vishnu their hand in marriage.

The girl's parents also secure their place in heaven by performing "kanyadaan" -- the practice of giving away one's daughter in marriage -- according to the priests who conduct the ceremony.

Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life'.

'No-one can come to the Father but by Me'.

"These are traditions handed down by our ancestors, we have to follow them and keep them alive. It is our culture," said Dipendra Shrestha, father of the two girls.

After the rituals end, with gifts for the bride followed by a feast for family and friends, it's back to school for third-grader Riddhima, who is the first of her classmates to go through the ceremony.

"My friends were curious about it, it was fun to tell them about it," Riddhima told AFP.

"I really enjoyed myself, I felt like a grown-up, like a bride."

Now this is a little complex. The Nepalese obviously believe in the god Vishnu, but why marry their daughters to him even before puberty? Men who marry and/or have sex with pre-pubescent children are called pedophiles. You have to wonder - if it's OK for a god, why should it not be OK for a mortal man? I know it's tradition, but maybe that tradition needs to be adjusted a little. 

If you are not Hindu, you most likely think Vishnu is an imaginary god, or even a demon dressed as an angel of light. If you suspect he is a demon, as I do, then the process of marrying a little girl to him is more than just a ritual; something spiritual happens when we open ourselves to demonic beings, and nothing good can come of it. 

I invite any Christians reading this to pray for this ritual to stop and for the real God to topple Vishnu over and reveal Himself to the Nepalese people.