And then, the Sikh.

Wed, 29 Dec 2004 11:01:55 -0500 by Bull

We speak openly and often of religion on this blog. Mostly of Christians, Pagans - such as myself, and the interactions between the two.

Today I want to speak of my thoughts on another faith, that of the Sikh.

I’ve long known of the Sikh, though I admit that my first exposure to the term was as a child while watching the original Star Trek. Captain Kirk and Spock cross brains with the Sikh “superhuman” known as Kahn. (Only to have to redo the battle many years later…) All that is explained is that the Sikh are fantastic warriors. The rest is a mixture of screwed-up facts and extreme bio-engineering. Turns out they were right about the warrior bit. Records show Sikh units with fantastic battle records in both World Wars and elsewhere. LZIL: file not found:
/home/omar/public_html/wp-content/khalsa3.jpg

Now, what brought this to the forefront of my thoughts was the family, or most of it, coming together for Yule/Christmas and a Great-Grandmother’s birthday. As it happens, there are members of Lady Beth’s family that are Sikh, (I had hoped to see them during the holidays.). That, combined with the international headline news of the horrible death toll in Asia and on the Indian sub-continent from the earthquake and following tsunamis, and my mind focused - somehow - on the untold story of the Sikh.

Who are they? What do they believe?
The Sikh was born of both the Hindu and Muslim faiths, yet is neither. The Sikh is not some Islamic terrorist! They believe in the equality of all - both men and women. While they have no use for hollow tradition and superstition, the Sikh honors every persons right to practice their own faith as they see fit. So while they do wear turbans, they are definately not like their Muslim neighbors. And while they believe in reincarnation and karmic return, they see only one god and have no clerics of any sort. This well seperates them from their Hindi neighbors. The founder of the Sikh religion was Guru Nanak who was born in 1469. He preached a message of love and understanding and criticized the blind rituals of both the Hindus and Muslims. Guru Nanak passed on his leadership of this new religion to nine successive “Gurus”. The final living “Guru”, Guru Gobind Singh died in 1708. During his lifetime Guru Gobind Singh established the Khalsa order (meaning ‘The Pure’), soldier-saints. The Khalsa uphold the highest Sikh virtues of commitment, dedication and a social conscious. The Khalsa are men and women who have undergone the Sikh baptism ceremony and who strictly follow the Sikh Code of Conduct and Conventions and wear the prescribed physical articles of the faith. One of the more noticeable being the uncut hair (required to be covered with a turban for men), and the Kirpan (ceremonial sword).

And here is where our friends, the Sikh, are catching problems today…
Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Sikhs have found themselves targeted, along with innocent Muslims, by hate-mongers here in the United States because of the requirement of men to wear turbans. (Note: women have no dress restrictions like veils, and are equal to men in all respects.) They are further singled out because of the required wearing of the “Kirpan”, a cerimonial sword or, more often, dagger. These “kirpans” are to the Sikh exactly like the cross to a Christian. But Christians are not likely - yet - to be arrested for wearing a cross into a public building. A Sikh is very likely to be arrested in America for wearing an article of faith, or attacked by a mob of rednecks bent on revenge for 9/11 while having no clue who they are pounding into the pavement. (Though that last case could be one where the said Sikh may consider drawing the kirpan in self defense. Woe unto the poor redneck should that happen!) Still, I’m sure you see the point.

Here in the United States of America, the Land of the Free, with Constitutional Rights protecting the Freedom of Religion, we have over 500,000 Sikh citizens that are shunned, racially profiled, discriminated against, attacked, and denied Constitutional Rights on a daily basis. Mostly due to the ignorance of the average United States citizen. Something The Bull hopes he’s helping to eliminate.

For more information on Sikhism, visit The Sikhism Homepage.
Omar out.