Hindu temple opens in small Jersey town. Online comments section goes nuts.

[^_^ 5,021]

The real news here is the comments section. Sounds like OT

But first, the article...

RARITAN BOROUGH — A Hindu congregation has moved into the historic Third Reformed Church.

The Third Reformed Church congregation, which had dwindled down to less than 20 members, held its last service May 30 at the 10 W. Somerset St. building. The Shree Swaminarayan Mandir - Loyadam Hindu congregation has since moved in and will welcome the community with a 5 p.m. Sept. 4 service.

The Third Reformed congregation, which merged with the United Reformed Church in Somerville, sold its church building to Ray Tropiano, so the lifelong resident and civic activist could build a community center there.

The community center plans did not materialize and by August, the Hindu congregation purchased the building.

Tropiano has not returned repeated phone calls.

...

As [shree Swaminarayan Mandir — Loyadam Chairman] Patel was giving a tour of the building on Tuesday, one of the church's neighbors, Kathleen Botsko, walked by and said she was not happy about a new group of people worshiping there.

"This was a church - the Third Reformed Church," Botsko said. "I get upset every time I walk by it now."

And now, the best part. The comments section from nj.com.

readyontheright wrote:

Way to go Ray!!!

You waited 5 entire weeks between the time you bought the Church from the aged congregation for $400,000 and flipped it for $750,000. A cool $350,000 for your troubles. I guess it beats selling jewelery. No wonder you won't return phone calls for comment.

Voice_of_America wrote:

Are you mad at Ray Tropiano because he engaged in capitalism - the American Way?

TheHawkGroup wrote:

What a sad day. Ray Tropiano & his family need to learn a valuable lesson. Teach his Eagle Scout son the value of loyalty over the holy dollar his father worships. Like he has told the neighbors around the church, he cares only about #1 - actually, he said, he only cares about his business, family & himself-Raritan be damned. Well then, it is time to take my business elsewhere. Hit 'ol Ray where it counts, his pocket. His Mom & Dad are rolling in their graves on this one.

We in Raritan can easily send him a message-no business at Tropiano's. BUT, be sure to have the guts to tell him to his face so he knows exactly why his buiness tanked! Melissa, find another job. He just lost my considerable business & I hope other's will do the same.

So now, thanks to Ray Tropiano, overnight Raritan has a Hindu temple in the middle of town in a nationally historic building. Can a mosque be far behind? I'm sure if Tropiano could make money at it, he'd gladly handle the deal.

TheHawkGroup wrote:

Mr. Ray Tropiano owns Tropiano & Son Jewelers at 28 Somerset Street in Raritan. Send a message to Ray about his lack of scruples! Buy elsewhere.

TheBigE44 wrote:

The Hawk Group and readyontheright - To compare a Hindu Temple to a Mosque shows your glaring ignorance. Two entirely different religions...

I too was hoping that the Third Reformed Church would have gone as a civic center or possibly even a renovated restaurant similar to Marsha Brown's in New Hope, however Tropiano decided to instead sell the building to make a profit. WELCOME TO AMERICA!

The Patels have actually done a nice job of cleaning the building up and seem to respect the historical aspect of what they bought. Why not give them a chance? They're not riff raff or illegal immigrants, they're not looking to open up a brothel, they're opening up a Hindu Temple. You can't even tell the difference when you drive by.

Xplainit2me wrote:

Raritan WAKE UP! Look around at the downtown! Shopping carts left abandoned on sidewalks, shoddy repairs being done on homes everywhere! Section 8 housing and slumlords everywhere. Where is property maintaince and the integrity of this town? The joke was about Bound Brook moving to Raritan. Now it will be Little Edison. The decor of the new temple says it all - cheap tinsel and garland. Use EMMINENT DOMAIN to get the church back and this time - PROTECT IT!

TheBigE44 wrote:

xPlainit2Me - So how would it function as a community center if they left the pews in there? Your logic is flawed. The bottom line is that if everyone was so concerned about this church, they would have joined the congregation. With St. Ann's, St. Joes, The Shrine, St. Luke's, and Holy Trinity and St. Bernards within driving distance, the reality is that this church was on it's last legs. Everyone is up in arms however I would bet that 99% of the people living in town never even stepped foot in the church.

They've done nothing wrong and certainly nothing to take over emminent domain. They building is in tact, it's functioning, and the outside of it has not changed at all. You brought up some great points about Raritan needing to wake up, I agree with you...however the Patels should not be dragged into those remarks.

myopinion25 wrote:

This whole thing is ridiculous. A place of worship is a place of worship, no matter WHO is doing the worshiping. The article clearly mentions that the church had virtualy no congregation, now there will be a place for the hindus of town to practice their religion. People are always saying how they are against racism, but I sometimes really wonder. How many people would be fine with the church if a cristian religion moved in? I belive, that so long as the churches HISTORY is be preserved, then it is a great thing.

BreezyBrisbane wrote:

Has anyone ever heard of rabid Hindus bent on killing Americans?

[HAL 9000 96]

Rabid Hindus... I've seen!

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I thought Hindus worshiped parking meters?

[alienlovechild 75]

Online comments section goes nuts

Compared to what? I've seen harsher comments online on the local decision here to consolidate county/city offices.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

I thought Hindus worshiped parking meters?

From an erstwhile Hindu,

The term Hindu was invented by Turkic Muslim invaders/misrulers of South-Asian Subcontinent originally as a pejorative term for all natives irrespective of religion (yes, native Muslims too would be barred by these), and later went through lots of contortions until 1926 when the current India-census definition (one who is neither Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Parsi nor Buddhist) was promulgated.

(BTW, Jersey is a nutso state anyway----)

Edited August 25, 2010 by Saddle Bronc

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

From an erstwhile Hindu,

The term Hindu was invented by Turkic Muslim invaders/misrulers of South-Asian Subcontinent originally as a pejorative term for all natives irrespective of religion (yes, native Muslims too would be barred by these), and later went through lots of contortions until 1926 when the current India-census definition (one who is neither Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Parsi nor Buddhist) was promulgated.

(BTW, Jersey is a nutso state anyway----)

Who named the Indus River, India, et ceters? Was Hindu just a phonetic slip of the tongue?

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The river used to be called the "Indu" river by the people who inhabited that region at the time the Muslim conquests begun. The people referred to their religion as either "dharma" which literally translates to religion or the "sanatana dharma" which translates to the eternal religion. The religion became known as the Hindu religion much later.

ETA: The term "India" was a British invention. The old name of India is Bharat. Even today, Indian passports say "Bharat" in Hindi but India in English.

[chri'stina 190]

Another word that is interesting if you look it up is curry.

[HAL 9000 96]

Now I get the show Lost. Thanks AJ.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Lot of small mindedness out there.

[chri'stina 190]

I can see why some would be annoyed at the claims that it was going to be a community center and then it's not. A place of no religion affiliation to one of an affiliation again. But yeah people are also whiners and small minded.