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In Praise of Sikhs


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2018 Mar 16, 1:18pm   5,110 views  21 comments

by Patrick   ➕follow (55)   💰tip   ignore  

The Sikh religion evolved out of Hinduism on the northwest border of India as a response to centuries of Muslim invasions of India and the subsequent slaughters of non-Muslims who refused to convert or pay an annual ransom, exactly as Islam commands. So it's a bit sad that Sikhs get lumped in with Muslims and attacked just because the men wear a turban and have a beard which makes them look like Osama.

Their religion is quite reasonable in its fundamental beliefs: there is one God, treat everyone with equal respect (even women and people of other religions, unlike Islam), allow people to choose to leave Sikhism (unlike Islam), make an honest living, give to charity, don't be egotistical, pray, meditate.

They have an emphasis on physical fitness, self defense, and military training, so Sikhs were highly desired by the British military in India. And this emphasis is necessary to this day given that they still mostly live near the border of Pakistan, on both sides of the border. All Sikhs are obligated by the religion to carry a knife with them at all times. I guess they have to check them when they board planes.

I was a bit surprised to hear Harmeet Dhillon, a well-known Republican Sikh lawyer, on NPR yesterday (actually my wife heard it and pointed me to https://kqed.org/news/11656135/trump-in-california-and-harmeet-dhillon-on-life-as-a-san-francisco-republican ). Usually NPR censors all speech which calls attention to the Democratic party's extreme divisiveness by race and gender, but she got a couple of good lines past the censors, no doubt exactly because she is a brown woman, ironically:

"We aren't focused on race and gender and gerrymandering the way the Democrats are."
"The left's occupation of Sacramento."

If you can wade through the initial 5 minutes of the usual NPR self-congratulatory hate for Trump by the interviewers, it's a good interview about growing up Sikh in the US.

I wish Sikhs all the best.

Comments 1 - 21 of 21        Search these comments

1   crazydesi   2018 Mar 16, 1:54pm  

Yes, Sikhs are peace loving people. All the religions in the world say there is only one god, but the interpretation of god in each religion is flawed and it has caused all the conflicts going on in this world. I found a interesting talk by a spiritual organization, whose speaker has lot of good talks on youtube. They are having a live event at Santa Clara convention center and admission is free.

http://svbrahmakumaris.org/
2   Strategist   2018 Mar 16, 9:50pm  

If Sikhs are peaceful, why are they required to carry knives?
All religions claim to be peace loving. So why do we have religious wars?
3   KgK one   2018 Mar 16, 10:04pm  

They did well against Muslims, probably only one. Hinduism allows various paths to evolve without suppression yet still coexist.

Peaceful resolution is preferred but only muslims have powers to defeat or keep christians in check. Christianity when it was in power took over whole world n enslaved them. They did ww1 and 2, american Indians helped new Christians, yet they took their land women n kicked them.out of their own land.

No religion should be allowed to have more than 200 million followers so they don't get too powerful and overpower others.

My be group of few people run the world and people fighting over religion keeps them in power, who knows
4   Patrick   2018 Mar 16, 10:52pm  

Strategist says
If Sikhs are peaceful, why are they required to carry knives?


Because they have Muslim neighbors.

KgK one says
They did ww1 and 2, american Indians helped new Christians, yet they took their land women n kicked them.out of their own land.


WWI and WWII had nothing to do with Christianity. In fact, the Nazis killed quite a few priests, even German priests who would not support the Nazi party.

The American Indians were 95% dead from smallpox before the Spanish arrived in significant numbers, not that the Spanish treated the survivors well.

The conquest of the Americas was more epidemiologic than military. The primary killer was smallpox, which reached Mexico in 1620. Successive epidemics of various diseases over the next decades reduced the indigenous population from maybe 20 million to about 1.6 million. (Smallpox preceded Pizarro in Peru and had killed the previous emperor; Atahualpa was vulnerable because his claim to the throne was in dispute.) Other European diseases took similar tolls: measles, influenza and typhus were the next biggest killers, followed by diphtheria, malaria, mumps, pertussis, plague, tuberculosis and yellow fever. In aggregate, epidemic diseases reduced the native populations of the Americas by about 95 percent. The only disease of American origin that Columbus's crew apparently brought back to Europe was syphilis.


https://www1.udel.edu/johnmack/frec424/guns_germs_steel.html
5   MisdemeanorRebel   2018 Mar 29, 8:50am  

Thanks to Sikhs. Yesterday in the UK there was a March against Labour Anti-Semitism, many fellow ethno-religious groups were there in support.

The Chairwoman of the Labour Party's Dispute Committee scratched disciplinary action against a Labour Candidate who spread Holocaust Denial links across Labour's internal messaging systems.
6   Rin   2018 Mar 29, 9:44pm  

someone else says
Strategist says
If Sikhs are peaceful, why are they required to carry knives?


Because they have Muslim neighbors.


Just like why does the US have nuclear missiles? ... to deter the former Soviets and the mainland Chinese.
7   Rin   2018 Mar 29, 9:50pm  

someone else says
The Sikh religion evolved out of Hinduism


Actually, I'd heard that this wasn't true.

The Sikh faith had actually evolved from a Persian style of Buddhism which got sick and tired of putting up with Islamic crap and decided to learn some martial arts and fight back, kinda like the 'Guardian Angels' when NYC subways were filled with violent gangs which regularly mugged ppl on the way to work and back.

Whereas the Zoroastrian refugees went into hiding, the Persian Buddhists fought back and gave the middle finger to Ali Baba and his forty rapists and murderers. The Sikhs are the decedents of those above ground subway vigilantes.

On the Guardian Angels ...

www.youtube.com/embed/1MWJbmeV6JQ
8   Patrick   2018 Mar 29, 10:19pm  

Rin says
Sikh faith had actually evolved from a Persian style of Buddhism


@Rin if you have some reference links for this, I'd be very interested in reading them.
9   Rin   2018 Mar 29, 10:26pm  

Read it years ago in the library but here's an internet page on it ...

http://www.iranchamber.com/religions/articles/iranians_role_expansion_buddhism.php

Excerpt: "Zandbils, the kings of Zabolestan and Sind who have been erroneously called Zanbils or Zantbils in ancient Persian manuscripts (the last of whom was slain during the third century A.H. by Yaqoub, the Safari ruler), were Iranian Buddha worshipers and the remnants of Indo-Sakki dynasty which stretched from Sistan to Punjab. They were Sakkis of Aryan origin who have presently abandoned their former religion, are living in India and are known as Sekkeh or Sikhs. These were Buddhist immigrants who migrated from Sistan to India and after settling in Punjab they called themselves Singe, Segeh, Sek or Sikh. "

FYI, Aryan in this case means ancient Persian, not Hitler's boys.
10   FarmersWon   2020 Jul 13, 1:03am  

I am a Sikh guy. Ask me anything.
There seems to be misconception that we are against Muslims.

Not true. We are against tyranny and pro freedom.
Sikh book has writings from both Hindu and Muslim. If Christianity was in Indian Punjab, i am sure we would have judiasm and christian writings also.
Atheism is also OK with us and they are free to practice. Freedom, service and openness is most important.There is no restriction to visit our temple, The only requirement is cover your head and take off your shoes.Sikhs don't believe in proselytizing as they are not conflict with any religion. proselytizing also interferes with freedom of beliefs.
11   FarmersWon   2020 Jul 13, 1:14am  

Sikhs protected Hindus against Muslim tyrants:
https://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Kashmiri_pandits

Also protected Muslims against Hindu tyrants:
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/sikhs-help-32-kashmiri-girls-reach-homes/articleshow/70650838.cms

Sikhs do believe in revenge though. I think this may be due to them being tiny minority:
You can red from history and modern times that they assassinated the bully always.

Sikhs love western civilization. Sikhs are like kids in candy house when they first land in west.. its like first love.
Sikhs are mostly blue collar workers and they appreciate that US for freedom of doing business and achieving Americans dreams... especially first and second amendment.

This old gentleman is quintessential sikh :
www.youtube.com/embed/R4_XLACAuAY
14   FarmersWon   2020 Jul 13, 1:29am  


www.youtube.com/embed/kBxvFt0hnjA
Martial arts.. Defending yourselves and those who can't defend themselves is part of our history and teachings.
https://www.sikhnet.com/news/when-sikhs-rescued-maratha-women
15   Rin   2020 Jul 13, 9:41am  

sikhguy says
There seems to be misconception that we are against Muslims.

Not true. We are against tyranny and pro freedom.


Islam has wiped out Buddhism from former Persian (including Afghan & some Soviet) territories. I believe the last cleric's name was Timur, another 'Sword of Islam' whack job.

The Sikhs are the only survivors of that multi-century genocide, residing India today. If anything, being allegedly "against Islam" is pro freedom and self-defense. Think about it, all it takes is for one future whack job Mullah to take control over Pakistan, let's call him Babur Timur Abu Bakr IV and the remaining Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, & Zoroastrians will all be killed with the lucky ones fleeing into India or even the former Soviet Union for safety.

It would like what happened in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia after 1975, with refugees all over the place.

So no, the Sikhs mistrust of Islam is justified.
16   Dholliday126   2020 Jul 13, 9:54am  

One of my good friends is a Sikh. His wedding was awesome, led his wife around with a leash for a while. Those dudes don't fuck around, the knife thing, the hating muslims thing. Big Fresno, CA community. Very industrious. They are A OK in my book.
17   FarmersWon   2020 Jul 13, 10:08am  

Bullies comes in many colors, religions and other varieties.
You never know when and who to fight. the requirement is to be ready with best weapons you can have and have the mental fortitude to use them as last resort in self defence of yourself and others in need.
18   Rin   2020 Jul 13, 11:02am  

sikhguy says
You never know when and who to fight. the requirement is to be ready with best weapons you can have and have the mental fortitude to use them as last resort in self defence


Yes, that coincides with the Teddy Roosevelt's saying, 'Walk Softly and carry a big stick'

The difference, however, is that in an Islamic majority nation-state, like Pakistan, your neighboring muslims will be your friends up until Babur Timur Abu Bakr IV shows up and turns that entire town/neighborhood into a slaughtering machine for the good of Allah.

The dictators in Central Asia, like Karimov in Uzbekistan, are tossing Islamic radicals into jail, ala Soviet style, because they're not fooled by the free speech thing of the west.

Karimov knows that these are future terrorists who will try to overthrown his govt, post-KGB like or not, and isn't having any of that. Sure, I wouldn't want to live in a post-Soviet autocratic/plutocratic capitalist world but hey, better that than Sharia Law where Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, & Zoroastrians have no human rights at all. Remember, only Jews and Christians can pay the Jizya tax to stay alive. Others are to be converted or executed.
19   mell   2020 Jul 13, 11:09am  

Have/had a few coworkers and friends - good people.
20   FuckTheMainstreamMedia   2020 Jul 13, 11:14am  

I like Sikhs.

Gonna sound like a stereotype, but whatevs, it’s how a lot of Americans know Sikhs and that’s as owners and workers at 7-11. After 9/11 friends and I purposely went out of our ways to be nice to Sikh’s(and others) because we knew they’d mistakenly be lumped in with Muslims and get a ton of shit. A couple times I corrected people who were doing just that.

I lived in Downtown LA and each year this Shikh parade went by my residence. I actually walked into it a couple times and the people were very nice and friendly. US would be a better place with more people like this.

www.youtube.com/embed/6KwkTjzXGFs
21   just_passing_through   2020 Jul 13, 7:00pm  

I've worked with a few Sikhs. Super cool guys.

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