Sikhism: An Introduction to a New Religion and Culture
Throughout the past several years and as a member of a very small religious group, I have made a point to study world religions and their corresponding cultural groups. As such, I feel that I have a decent grasp on the basics of the major world religions -- at least from an outsider’s viewpoint. However, one group I feel I have the least amount of knowledge on is the Sikhs. The tidbits of information I have picked up over the years regarding this group has always been interesting to me, but I felt that this would be an ideal opportunity to increase my knowledge and understanding of this small religious group.
There are approximately 27-30 million Sikhs worldwide, making it the fifth largest religion in the world (O’Brien, 2012). From this population, approximately 63% of all Sikhs live in India. The majority of the Sikhs living in India come from the Punjab region and make up the majority of the population in that region -- this is the only place in the world where Sikhs are not a minority religion and instead make up the majority population. This high density in the region likely attributes to the code that dictates that Sikhs must learn and teach their children the Punjabi language (Sikhs.org, 2011). Because the majority of Sikhs are Indian with relatively few converts compared to other religions that actively prosthelytize, Indian culture and Sikh culture are intimately intertwined. Outside of India, the largest number of Sikhs live in various regions of Canada, French Guiana, the United Kingdom, and Fiji (Oxford Sikhs, 2014). In the United States, the Sikhs are a relatively small minority -- though the United States does not have an exact method of accounting for rel...
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http://www.sikhcoalition.org/resources/about-sikhs/at-a-glance
The Sikh Coalition. (2012). Frequently Asked Questions. The Sikh Coalition. Retrieved from:
http://www.sikhcoalition.org/resources/about-sikhs/faq
Sikhs.org. (2011) Introduction to Sikhism. Sikhs.org. Retrieved from:
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Sikhs.org. (2011). The Khalsa. Sikhs.org. Retrieved from: http://www.sikhs.org/khalsa.htm
members.home.net - Locus of resources for this Indian religion and philosophy features QuickTime movies of important events in Sikh culture.
Sikhism and Christianity are two very popular religions in the world today that are practiced by millions. They each have their own origins, beliefs and practices that are custom to their own religions, and some that are shared by other religions. Each religion founded by different people, Guru Nanak for Sikhism, and Jesus for Christianity, had their own upbringings, beliefs, and legacies that they left behind. Though the lives and teachings of Jesus and Guru Nanak may seem different at first though when the early lives, teachings & late lives and religions today are looked at closer, they start to resemble each other.
For this study, researcher classified the cultural identity of the participants as traditional, assimilated, bicultural, or marginalized by how they identified with highly with Indian values, highly with white values, ewally with both, or with none.
...changed after the World Trade Center towers collapsed. Sikh truck drivers have reported people violently cutting them off and calling them "ragheads." Congregants at Gurdwara Sahib in Fresno had racist graffiti spray painted on their temple. However, "With the passage of time, people have become informed about Sikhs, and the situation has much improved," says Amrik Singh Virk, temple secretary at the Sikh Center of the Pacific Coast in Selma. (Orozco) Unfortunately this change took three years in the Fresno community for the public to finally realize not all Sikhs are terrorists. Although the racial tension has eased with the passage of time,"It has gotten a little better, but, as a minority group, we're still smarting," says Poonia, a Fresno doctor. "There still is ignorance, misunderstanding and prejudice. Color lines have eroded, but they have not been eliminated."
Islam is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion alongside Judaism and Christianity. It is currently the second largest religion in the world today. Its beliefs come from the Qur'an which literally means "the recitation" which is believed to be a literal transcription of the word of God. Its main prophet is named Muhammad who began Islam by speaking with the angel Gabriel in a cave during his meditation and then acting as an instrument of God to help write the Qur’an. Muhammad then spread Islam to the scattered tribes of Arabia by becoming the leader of Yathrib and using his wonderful leadership abilities to then grow his influence over virtually all of Arabia. Muhammad is known by Muslims to be the seal of the profits because no profits after Muhammad should be considered legitimate. Muhammad also left behind the Hadith or “tradition” which is a collection of writings compiled of reports of Muhammad’s actions as leader of Yathrib. These reports are used as a more specific code of ethics in day to day life and from these reports the 5 Pillars of Islam are derived (Smith 160). Although Islam shares many similarities to Judaism and Christianity it is often viewed in the US with hate derived from preconceived notions following the attack on September 11th 2001. This paper seeks to provide an overview of Islam’s history as well as its two major sects and 5 main pillars to remove preconceived notions and provide a glance into the minds of the Islamic people.
The Muslim Sikh community in the United States have been facing violence and discrimination against their people increasingly since 9/11. FBI: Dramatic Spike in Hate Crimes Targeting Muslims. (2012) . Retrieved from http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2012/spring/fbi-dramatic-spike-in-hate-crimes-targetin. According to the FBI, Anti-Muslim has soared by 50% in 2010 since the September 11th attacks. The groups of people who encourage these types of hate crimes are misinformed and prejudice against a whole religion, instead of focusing in a humane way on a group of terrorists that caused so much turmoil in the United States.
...ge parts of India, becoming the predominant faith for much of the population. (Allen 399)
Sikhism is the 5th largest religion in the world, but many people don’t know about Sikhism. Many people mistake Sikhs for terrorists due to their turbans. Sikhism is a monotheistic religion originating from Punjab, India. Sikhs do not cut their hair, and proudly wear turban as part of their religious and cultural heritage. It’s been about 13 years since 9/11 attack happened, but its affects can still be seen in modern USA. There are still many cases reported every year of killing of innocent people that are mistaken as terrorists. The Sikh Coalition, the group created after the ill-fated 9/11, said that almost 900 incidents have been reported in which American Sikhs are bullied and killed since 9/11. Just after an hour of 9/11 attack, Sikhs in New York were harassed, assaulted and beaten with bats. In fact, Muslims and Hindus were also tortured and killed after 9/11, and till today there are cases of bullying Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs in almost the whole America. During the weekend of ill-fated 9/11, Balbir Singh Sodhi, an Arizona Sikh, was gunned down wh...
"Maharaja Ranjit Singh ruled his kingdom exactly according to the Sikh way of life and Sikhism considers everyone as friends and talks about the welfare of all irrespective of caste and creed."
Samuel Seium. I attended a Sikh temple that is located outside of Baltimore, Maryland with a friend who is Sikh and commonly attends the services. The temple was the size of a regular sized church and appeared to have a common Sikh temple design. Before entering the temple, it is customary to take off your shoes. My friend and I attended this event on a Sundays. Although the temple is open seven days a week, in America it is common for Sunday to be the busiest day at the temple because that is when the major religious group in this country attends their services so the Sikhs at this temple do the same. In the prayer room, we sat on the floor and crossed our legs. There was a person in the front of the room that was leading prayers. However,
Hinduism is often viewed as a particularly tolerant religion. The lack of a single omniscient God, absence of a prophet, and the open worship of what may look like many Gods may tell a tale of open worship, individuality within religion, and a peaceful, tolerant way of life. Without further examining what Hinduism entails, this may seem like the perfect religion. When the impression of superiority is looked at with a little skepticism, the pretty picture is marred by the deep scratches of discrimination, sexism, and elitism.
Hinduism is easily the oldest major world religion that is still in use today. It has not only survived countless attacks but has also thrived and has changed little to none in the last 2500-3000 years. "The Aryans are said to have entered India through the fabled Khyber Pass, around 1500 BC. They intermingled with the local populace, and assimilated themselves into the social framework. The Aryans did not have a script, but they developed a rich tradition. They composed the hymns of the four vedas, the great philosophic poems that are at the heart of Hindu thought" (The Aryans and the Vedic Age, 2004, par. 2).
Indigenous religions exist in every climate around the world and exhibit a wide range of differences in their stories, language, customs, and views of the afterlife. Within indigenous communities, religion, social behavior, art, and music are so intertwined that their religion is a significant part of their culture and virtually inseparable from it. These religions originally developed and thrived in isolation from one another and are some of the earliest examples of religious practice and belief. The modern world; however, has taken its toll on these groups and many of their stories, customs, and beliefs have been lost to, or replaced by, those brought in as a result of popular culture and the missionary work of Christians and Muslims.
McLeod, W. H. (2000). Exploring Sikhism: Aspects of Sikh identity, culture and thought. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
...shown through Lenny’s point of view. Prior the partition, Lahore was a place of tolerance that enjoyed a secular state. Tension before the partition suggested the division of India was imminent, and that this would result in a religious. 1947 is a year marked by human convulsion, as 1 million people are reported dead because of the partition. Moreover, the children of Lahore elucidate the silences Butalia seeks in her novel. The silence of survivors is rooted to the nature of the partition itself; there is no clear distinction as to who were the antagonists. The distinction is ambiguous, the victims were Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims, and moreover these groups were the aggressors, the violent. The minority in this communal violence amongst these groups was the one out-numbered. This epiphany of blame is embarked in silence, and roots from the embodiment of violence.