Re: dharam versus religion
Posted by Jasdev S Rai
Re: dharam versus religion
Posted by Jasdev S Rai on Saturday, 2/14/2004 7:20 AM MST
| dear harsimran kaur contempt is not unfairly used when you describe my sarcasm. the reason for this is that the damaging and dangerous approach some of these groups have taken is affecting all of us. In the last ten years we have seen a mushrooming of messiahnic type sikh organisations started by undergraduates still learning to blow a nose properly. that is not bad in itself. they need to be active and engage in these internet exchanges. However they have taken it upon themselves to pontificate on sikhi to governments and policy makers. This is dangerous, extremely dangerous. let me give you an example and you will note the extent of my sarcasm. when the 11th september issue erupted in usa. i encouraged the Dept of justie to contact sikhs and vice verse and brought the issue of sikhs to DOJ's attention. believe me the sikhs there were running around like headless chicken, contacting everybody except the department that is responsible for community affairs. anyway a few weeks later they ( many formed new organisations) went on this spree of campaigns, each trying to outdo the other and managed to get the US department of transport to send a directive to the airports to be courteous to the sikh turban. i thought great, fast learners and so on. then i read the sentence in this directive the turban of a sikh is his/hher contact with God!!!!!!! or to that effect. and the immediate thing that crossed my mind was the american sitcome on some coneheads from outerspace. i call american sikhs coneheads now.'bible bashing coneheads' i didnt know i was wearing an ariel on my head ! 'jasdev to God, hello come in, roger' .. response silence. may be i need to wear one in the american flag. or stick an american pin in the turban for that final satellite contact. so what happens to a sikh who dies accidently without his turban on. no contact. dear me, he will be lost in the abyss of time locating contact again. and what about sikh women who dont wear turbans, how do they keep their 'contact' with god? and i thought if i was a security officer reading thsi document, i would be falling about laughing, as would every academic who comes across this document. imagine graduate essays with this line. and they go on. one of the strengths of previous generations was that they consulted each other and consulted people versed in sikhi before they went around making statements on behalf of sikhs. they realised the difference between engaging in opinions within the sommunity and representing the community with policy makers in legal instruments. that is why i am contemptous. these young messiahs do not have any respect for anybpdy's opinions. they go forth representing and pontificating, having read some junior introductory books on sikhi. somebody has to stop them before they damage us irreparably. the french government officials are exasperrated with them. one of them said to me that they (the french) cant get it through the sikhs in america that exceptions cannot be made in law and france is not america. he even suggested that the government may not have much choice but to treat the turban as a religios sign if the cacophony from america drowns everything else. i understand that some young french sikhs have even written an open letter requesting these organisatiosn to stop and consult them (french sikhs) before writing ro sending petition. i cant imagine they will succeed in persuading these reborn messiahs to consult. the issue before a young french sikhs is lot more graver than the mushroom in somebody's head in america. it needs to be handled carefully and with senisitivity.... if you can convince these coneheads that they should have the decency to consult people before they put foot before head, i would have no problems. they are almost like their president, imagining wmd's before evidence, attack before dialogue! congressman hondas' resolution is so stupid, in view of what the french had already agreed and now confirmed in delhi. the ball is in our (sikhs)court now. we can end up putting a net on the heads of french sikhs or a decent turban, that is how danger these conheads pose. and before you jump to any conclusions about me, i consulted with the akal takht, with sgpc, with known sikh personalities here in UK before the last meeting with the french education ministry. anyway that is enough from me on the conehads and their organisations. dharma to religion, it may be reasonable to try and explain something in the host language, but it is not acceptable then to internalise that explanation to the detriment of one's own understaning of one's dharam. moreover, it should also not be considered as a limiting factor when trying to mantain one' rights in the state system. thirdly, compromises are only a temporary solution. they should not go on for so long as they have done. you may wish to see how hindus and budhists have dealt with this. nearly sixty years after independence there still isn't a department of hindu religion in indian universities. isnt that foresight! there are departments of hindu philosophy, even in krukshetra and benaras hindu university, this enables them to develop political, social and even scientific theories. hence hindutva. the BJP argues that it is not a religious political theory but based on hindu philosophy. brilliantly planned. western political thinkers have to take it seriously. Hinduism engages in religious dialogue where necessary , but quickly reverts to philosophy when it senses limits to its scope. it calls the shots. we on the other hand have been caged in. budhists have long avoided the rigid label of religion and tend to defer to philosophy as well. no wonder no one has accused the dalai lama of leading a religious fundamentalist movement in tibet, while every sikh nationalist was labelled as a potential khomeini. words make all the difference. i asked if you can find the genesis of the word religion, can i also ask what is faith? how does it differ from having faith in your doctor. jasdev singh |
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| . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: dharam versus religio... (Karan Deep Sagri - 13.Feb.04) | |
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| . . . . Re: dharam versus religio... (Chober Singh Sandhu - 3.Mar.05) | |
| . . . . . . Re: dharam versus religio... (Indy S Dhillon - 3.Mar.05) | |
| . . . . . . . . Re: dharam versus religio... (Aneeta - 4.Mar.05) | |
| . . . . . . . . . . Re: dharam versus religio... (Indy S Dhillon - 4.Mar.05) | |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: dharam versus religio... (Aneeta - 5.Mar.05) | |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: dharam versus religio... (Indy S Dhillon - 5.Mar.05) | |
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| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: dharam versus religio... (Jasdev S Rai - 11.Mar.05) | |
| . . Re: dharam versus religio... (Amarpalsinghxx - 6.Mar.05) |
