Can anyone become a Hindu?
These answers are a wonderful show of everything that’s wrong with religion. Some people claim to know what is true; which is distinct from what others know. Eventually people split off. We’ll soon have HinduA and HinduB. And everyone can go to war over what is Hinduism, and what is not. Truly, I dislike the “not everyone can become a Hindu” answer. It implies a strong racism.
In the main I would tend to agree with the idea that you have to be born a Hindu to be a Hindu. This is true of most of the orthodox Hindu traditions in India. Similar to orthodox Judaism, where only those who were born into Judaism can become a Jew. However, there are modern offshoots of Hinduism where people can convert and become Hindu. The Hare Krishna tradition would be one example. The Hare Krishnas are generally classed as a New Religious Movement though, and they are not seen to be an orthodox Hindu group.
