eagle american, put search words "animal worhsip" in any internet search engine and read the result to understand how the system of worship originated. Unlike the Semitic religions, hinduism has no founder nor any holy-book. The teachings of hinduism are sperad in hundreds of books. Hinduism is in fact not a religion in its narrow sense. It is a conglomeration of various beliefs and even atheism.
We are not at the mercy of the clerics. The muslims live in constant fear of one fatwa or other and the Christians are afraid of the Church authorities as they can even deny permission to bury the dead.
No high priest can declare me a non-hindu for not believing in any god or prophet. That is the difference between our native culture and the religions originated in West Asia.
