i just googled that site. you cannot depend soly on a book for one source of info on a religion. obviously you are going to get a biased view. its a fact of history writing. and much of hinduism is history.
we worship the attributes of God. we call him by many names and worship him in his numerous forms. hindus find it easier this way. its much easier to focus, pray, meditate on an image. we dont actually think the idol is god. it just represents the attribute, characteristic.
like brahma, the creator. vishnu, the life preserver, and shiva the destroyer of evil and life.
"Second, the natural resources of India and Africa have nothing to do with the spiritual degradation of their peoples which has been accomplished by Hinduism and Buddhism. I was not referring even vaguely to natural resources, but rather to the human resources. If karma led to good things, we would see that in these areas of the world. But what we see is misery, starvation, lack of regard for human life, segregations, worship of animals"
spiritual degredation? i think thats a matter of opinion. in my opinion, i believe even athiests can be spiritual.
karma leads not to good things, but balance. duality that is so aparent in nature. when there is complete balance, there is harmony in the world. without suffering, evil and bad, we will not be able to recognize good and strive for it as humans.
misery? starvation? lack of regard for human life? you see this in just indian and easter cultures? wow. i see it all over the globe. early colonists and europeans traded black people as property. lets see, they slaughtered a whole thriving poplulation of native americans from their land and pushed them into tiny wastelands called reservations.
i see suffering in all cultures. my eyes are open.
how does hinduism confront this? there are several paths to follow to end this suffering. call it jesus, buddha or krishna, but it ends suffering...at least it should. lol.
hope that answers your questions.
peace.