Reframing Hindu ordinances as law rather than religion makes reform conceivable.
Evidence
So long as people look upon it as religion they will not be ready for a change, because the idea of religion is generally speaking not associated with the idea of change. But the idea of law is associated with the idea of change, and when people come to know that what is called religion is really law, old and archaic, they will be ready for a change, for people know and accept that law can be changed. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 999
Categorization
Category: Causal Relationships
- SEED: This is the rhetorical lever of the whole address: the semantic reframe from ‘religion’ (immutable) to ‘law’ (changeable) as necessary precondition for caste abolition.
Related
- Calling dharma law instead of religion makes people accept that it can change (similarity 0.91)
- Reframing dharma as changeable law rather than religion enables its reform. (similarity 0.88)
- Abolishing caste requires destroying the sacred authority of shastras (similarity 0.82)
- Reform of caste requires denying scriptural authority, not reinterpreting it (similarity 0.81)
- Destroying caste means destroying shastra and Veda authority, a near-impossible task. (similarity 0.81)
- Hindu ‘religion’ is really law that reduces moral life to servile conformity. (similarity 0.81)
- Hinduism’s pervasiveness makes renouncing caste seem impracticable to many (similarity 0.80)
- Dharma-as-law reduces moral life to servile conformity rather than freedom. (similarity 0.79)
- Caste labels carry fixed hierarchical associations that bar reform (similarity 0.79)
- Religious notions are the root mechanism sustaining India’s caste system. (similarity 0.79)
- Reformers narrowed caste to untouchability to avoid land and wealth redistribution. (similarity 0.79)
- Reframing Hindu law as changeable law enables its reform. (similarity 0.79)
- Caste is a state of mind, so abolishing it requires a notional change. (similarity 0.79)
- People will not change conduct until they stop believing the shastras are sacred (similarity 0.78)