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The Sikh Thread

Lord Lucan said:
Sikhs are good people. Here, in Australia, whenever there is a natural disaster, there's a number of Sikh charities who simply turn up out of the blue and provide free food and drink and assistance for anyone in need.

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They were active in early Covid days in the UK as well when huge queues of trucks were lined up waiting to cross the channel. They turned up spontaneously & provided probably lovely home cooked food to truckers stuck there for days at time.
 
The nearest analogy for westerners to understand the Sikhi religion is to think of it as 'modern reformed' Indian Hinduism - akin to Protestant sects as opposed to high Mediaeval Catholicism.

Sikhs reject caste and class (hence the adoption of the name Singh which = lion) and the dastar (turban) was claimed by early Sikhs as a universal headwear for men and women - previously it was only worn by the ruling overclass. They sought to remove the unearned power and/status that was inherent in the caste-class system in NW India in the 17th C.

Voluntary service is obligatory for any practicing Sikh and feeding of your neighbour(s) either individually or communally (eg., at a Gurudwara) is highly encouraged. All Sikhs are taught to never become a beggar - even if you are destitute you may live at the Gurudwara (temple complex) with your family and sleep and eat there whilst trying to find a job.

I have visited several Gurudwaras with my Hindu husband and always feel welcomed (remember to take your shoes off & cover your head - men and women) plus the langar vegetarian meal is always lovely :)

Like some people posting above me, I want to visit the Golden temple at Amritsar one day.

Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, Delhi 2018:
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ramonmercado said:
A secular Sikh?
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Absolutely - as one can be a secular Jew, secular Hindu, Secular Christian. People identify 'as' from a particular religious background but as alway their degree of involvement varies from 'hatch-match-dispatch' to full practice.

hunck said:
They were active in early Covid days in the UK as well when huge queues of trucks were lined up waiting to cross the channel. They turned up spontaneously & provided probably lovely home cooked food to truckers stuck there for days at time.
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Sikh groups helped people in Somerset that awful winter when the levels were flooded for months. They are amazing!
 
If anyone is interested, a 2021 Census report on persons in England and Wales identifying as Sikh was published last Friday. It got little or no press coverage that I could see.

Sikh was defined as those who stated their religion, ethnic group, or both as Sikh:

426,230 Sikh by religion only​
1,725 Sikh ethnicity only​
97,910 Sikh by both religion and ethnicity​

I was surprised the ethnic-only figure was quite so low.

oxo
 
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AnonyJ said:
Absolutely - as one can be a secular Jew, secular Hindu, Secular Christian. People identify 'as' from a particular religious background but as alway their degree of involvement varies from 'hatch-match-dispatch' to full practice.
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I've worked with at least 2 secular Sikhs - no turban or beard, and they were quite happy to drink alcohol, eat pork etc.
 
Raj from Walsall, who runs the local shop here showed me the knife he keeps under the counter to deal with reprobates.
About 2' long and slightly curved.
No one messes with Raj- well only once anyway.
 
Frideswide said:
People tend to stay with what they are born into?
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Yes... but my thinking was that that would apply more strongly to ethnic identity than religious. So that non-observant persons of Sikh heritage might identify as ethnic Sikhs but not religious Sikhs.

Evidence doesn't support my prior thinking.
 
I lived in Wolverhampton for 30 years, where there were lots of Sikhs. I taught little ones in school, too.
I found them very reasonable human beings, and actually more tolerant than the Muslims.

I was Christian for most of those years, but never fell out with any of them (Muslim or Sikh).
We used to compare religious beliefs occasionally .
I also taught with a lady who was a Jain (sp?). She was lovely, and more veggie than myself.(She didn't eat eggs -I do.)
She'd had a partially arranged marriage -interesting.
 
Mythopoeika said:
I've worked with at least 2 secular Sikhs - no turban or beard, and they were quite happy to drink alcohol, eat pork etc.
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I don't think there are any prohibitions against alcohol in Sikhism although I could be wrong
 
I worked with a Sikh who sported a beard and turban and he had no difficulties with a pint or two!
 
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