Sikhism - Preachers and Followers (Continued from - "Arranged vs Love Marriage.. continued" from 21st Oct 2004)

Sandhu said... (in her comment about my post on
21 Oct 2004 about Arranged marriage)
Hi! all,This seems to be the most commonly discussed topic
everywhere.What I don't understand is that why do people supporting beard and
turban feel they are the only followers and supporters of Sikhism(no offence). I
personally feel that more than physical appearances its the teachings of the
religioan that makes you a better human being. What do you have to say about
Ragis who during day time do Kirtan during Anand Karaj and then while leaving
pack a bottle of whiky in their. Isn't that hypocrisy. Be honest to yourself
atleast.

Well Miss Sandhu, interesting comment.. but it’s not the first time someone has posed those two questions. This is what I think:

Sikhism teaches/preaches a number of things.. and wearing turban and not cutting your hair is just one of them. To have a clear conscience, and to follow the right path is another teaching. They both along with all the other teachings of Sikhism have their own meaning, relevance and importance in the religion and our lives. Following one of these teachings does not make a person any better than others who may follow another teachings. So in a way you are right that wearing a turban alone doesn’t make a person better than others. But at the same time, following another teaching doesn’t cover up for cutting one’s hair and not wearing a turban either. As I said, they all have their own important. What we all need to learn is that we can’t put a price on them and say that one teaching is more important then another. To be a good and complete Sikh, we must try to follow all of the teachings of Sikhism.

Secondly, you comment about the preachers of our religion. That is a very fair comment.. and nobody can deny that such awful things do happen.. and I won’t be surprised if they are on the rise. It is a truth that a number of shameful practices take place inside religious organizations.. inside our religious places.. and our religious figures, who we expect to be perfect are involved in them..! Yes I’m talking about things like drinking alcohol, taking drugs, dealing in drugs, money laundering, sex trade, sex offences etc.. and I am talking about all religions. Most of those are quite high level corruption, however some are more common than others. For example.. sex offences against adults as well as children does take place. Unfortunately, for too long, our religious organizations and the society has been covering these up. It’s a shame.

Now having admitted that all these things do take places in Gurdwaras and that some of our religious figures are also involved in such things, I still don’t agree with those who allow such things to force them away from the religion and/or religious places. Not only these crimes.. but there are also so many other unwanted religious practices that go against what is preached in the religion. Such things also discourage our youth from following the religion.. but..

Think about it this way.. If such things happen in a Gurdwara, who’s fault is it? Obviously those who do such things.. and not the Gurdwara, not the Religion and not God. We are all humans.. including those who take up the job of preaching a religion. We all have evil inside us to some extent. Some of us control it.. other’s can’t. Unfortunately.. some of those who can’t are still in prestigious positions in the religion. It’s society’s fault to allow such things to happen. Now what I’m trying to say here is that the practice of a religion can be wrong.. not the religion itself. Then why turn away from our religion and/or our religious places? I always say to people.. that if you think that these people are wrong.. fair enough.. but if you really believe in yourself.. then go ahead and show them what is RIGHT instead of hiding away from the evil. The only way to win over evil is to fight it.. not to close our eyes and pretend it doesn’t exist.

Sandhu said..:
Again, I personally feel that you should marry a person of
your own religious faith. You really need to be very broad minded( may not be a
right word) to adjust with someone with different religious faith. Your values
arise from your religion.

I agree with you here completely. I even think that no matter how broad minded one might be.. one has to make so many compromises in regards to his/her own beliefs.

Sandhu said..:
And as far as perfect partener is concerned there is no one
perfect in this world. Someone who is perfect for you might be full of
imperfections for someone else. And as they say don't judge a book from its
cover. But most of us don't follow that.

Well I agree that nobody is perfect. But there surely are perfect partners. And you touched on that yourself just there.. by saying that one who might be perfect for you might be full of imperfections for someone else. That's exactly what I mean by a perfect partner.. 'someone who is perfect for you'.

Phew.. that was a long one.. anyway.. hope it's not too long.. or too boring..!

Ms Sandhu, I've also replied your comments in the post: "One day, Punjabi will be world wide (continued from October 27)" Please have a look at the whenever you get a chance.