Thoughts on Sikhs/Sikhism?
Wondering what the rest of r/atheism thinks of Sikhism. The religion was born of violence. It declared war on the Muslims of Punjab and carved a Sikh state out of the heart of the Mughal Empire. To this day, Sikhs carry around knives/swords as a symbol of the perceived requirement to defend their faith. Normally this would be bad, but the Sikh Empire was one of the most religiously tolerant nations on the planet and Sikhism is unique among religions in its acceptance and tolerance of other religious beliefs.
Of course, the Khalistan insurgency of more recent times has no justification for violence and it's just an example of religious savagery.
What do the rest of you think?
Posted Nov 14, 2011, 4:03 AM UTC
14
The unique combination of Muslim and Hindu theologies and cultures that created early Sikhism and it's open minded stance on accepting other peoples religions, or lack thereof, while keeping their own is usually pretty cool. That this syncretic belief got them into trouble with staunch Muslim leaders / cultures as time moved on and such hard liners rose to power... kind of a bummer. That those Muslims tried to convert Sikhs by any means necessary, often by force, which lead to Sikh men carrying their kirpan so that they could defend themselves and others from conversion-at-swordpoint... kinda cool. We might need to hang out with Sikhs if Christians decide to go back to their original conversion tactics in the future. The Asatruar requirement to go armed at all times came from a very similar situation... only it was in Scandinavia, and it WAS the Christians pushing their own Jihad on the populace.
TL:DR... they're pretty cool guys, usually. Their desire to be good people before they're good Sikhs is something I'd like to see in more religious types.