What do you know about Sikhism?

[LAGC]

My Indian (as in the country, India) boss at work is a Sikh. I've been trying to read up on them to get a better understanding of their religious philosophy. From what I can tell from Wikipedia, Sikhism is a fairly new religion, founded in the fifteenth century and has no relation to dominant Hinduism in India. They're really big on meditation and seeing God as an impersonal formless force that simply spans the entire universe.

Now, I haven't admitted to my boss yet that I'm an atheist, and I'm not sure how he would take it. He's really big on promoting Christmas at work, clearly a sign that he is eager to assimilate into American culture. I'm just wondering if its wise to even open up a friendly debate with him on the subject of religion, or if that would only get me in hot water. I don't know if Sikhs tend to be liberal or conservative, although I know as a small-business owner he tends to like to watch Fox News a lot during his off-time.

Do any of you know anything about this religion? All I gather from the religious posters he has strewn about his office is that the religious leaders all wear turbans and sport long, unkempt beards. He doesn't wear a turban or anything, and is clean-shaven, but I know a lot of American Sikhs who do wear turbans were mistakenly labeled Muslims and openly discriminated against by the "patriotic" crowd after 9/11... I'm just trying to get a better understanding of what they are all about.

[charlie]

1. They carry cool knives (kirpans)

[Jamastiene]

2. Oh, that's just sexy.

How are women treated in that religion? Nevermind, I wonder if a woman with kickass taste in weaponry can join just to get the cool knife and then skedaddle right on back to agnostic. :evilgrin:

[charlie]

12. LOL

I dunno, how handy are you with a knife? I mean, it's just part of their religious garb and never unsheathed, but if an initiate went apostate 2 seconds after she got her schwag, they might just forget themselves :)

[paulsby]

3. i'm not sure if it's wise to open up a friendly debate

about ANYTHING with one's boss, and especially about something as sensitive as religion.

[JI7]

4. Christmas is a national holiday in India

so doesn't really mean he is trying to assimilate into american culture.

why do you want to start a debate with him anyways ? if you have interest in the religion it's probably better to do research online and ask Sikhs you don't work with about it.

[struggle4progress]

5. If you're interested in his religion, why not just ask him to recommend something to read?

If he needs more information, you can always plead a desire for broadened cultural understanding. As a general rule, I don't debate religion with people in real life: there are too many opportunities for misunderstanding

[tblue]

6. I really know almost nothing, except what you said about the turbans.

It's really wonderful that you'd even raise the question. Maybe there are other sites where you can post this, and maybe even dialog with people of that culture. My son goes to school with many Indian children. In talking with those students and their parents over the years, the subject of religion has never come up. So I guess it's either a very private matter for them, or they are more casual about it. I have no idea and I honestly never thought to ask. I don't know what religion any of them are, though one has the last name of Jain, and I know that's a religion, too.

I did almost get into an argument with one mom, though. She told me she is a conservative and she resented the US being a 'welfare state.' She comes from a very upper class family in India and was one out of like 1 million admitted to a certain university. I would not stereotype anyone based on this one individual, but I have noticed that the Indian people I have met, because these are the ones who made it all the way to the US and are successful here, are very well educated and self-confident. They are certainly not the 'untouchables' from the slums of Mumbai, for obvious reasons. They do not perceive themselves as any kind of 'minority' in the American sense. Maybe that might give you some insight into your Fox-watching boss.

[lapfog_1]

7. I have lived with a group of Sikhs for almost two years.

My best friend in Sikh.

Most Sikhs (at least, in the US) do not adhere to all of the precepts of the religion.

The most devout do not cut their hair and wear a "turban" or Dastar, many are vegetarian (but that is not required), and they are not supposed to touch alcohol... however, every Sikh man (and this is sexist) that I've ever met drinks like a fish. No party or gathering (usually segregated by sex) is complete without consuming an inordinate amount of hard alcohol (in my experience, they seem to prefer Crown Royal for some reason).

Sikhism was a result of pressure by Muslims to convert to Islam in the 1500s. There were 10 "gurus" or teachers who laid down the basic tenets of Sikhism. Punjab province is the ancestral home of the Sikhs, and they also formed the backbone of the armed forces of India. Punjab is also the "breadbasket" of India where much of the nations wheat and vegetables are grown. Farmers there often lease land to farm, usually in small plots (a acre or so) and the entire family is involved with farming. Many have imigrated here to the US, where they have found work in truck driving and taxi cabs, though now they are branching out (many immigrants from India take up work in a particular field, for example, the Patel families are often managing hotels and motels, etc). This "family specialization" is a result of having relatives that immigrated before finding a recent immigrant work in their field. It is slowly fading away.

If you want to make an impression on your boss, learn how to cook Saag Paneer. It's a national dish in Punjab and their folk singers make up songs about it. BTW, as prepared by Sikh women, it's wonderful... and I hate spinach. They also love very hot spicy dishes... almost too hot for the western taste buds. Another staple is dahl, a thick lentil stew.

The central location (a sort of "Vatican" for Sikhs) is the "Golden Temple" in Amritsar:



(edit to add better link to photo)

[cabluedem]

8. Your boss doesnt wear a beard or turban becuase he is trying to fit in with us. Any adult male can

wear a beard and turban and many of them do. Its not just for their holy men. They had a big mess out here in CA, since Sikh children are allowed to wear their ceremonial knives in India and they were bringing them to our schools here. You are right Sikhs, are not Muslims and their turbans tend to be much more colorful then those worn by believers in the Koran. I don't know anymore about them then what you posted, but like all religions I doubt he would like discussing athethism with you too much.

[DesertFlower]

9. here's a link.

http://www-users.cs.umn.edu/~sasingh/religions.htm

[Trajan]

10. The workplace is NOT the place for debate .....

Unless you don't care about loud arguments leading to discontent and rancor ....

Why do this to everyone ?

Vigorous religious AND political debates aren't allowed in our workplace .... It needlessly cuts productivity ....

[DeSwiss]

11. Relatively new....

...but already just as lethal:

http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=2&um=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=sikh+news&oq=sikh

[ZombieHorde]

13. If you like your job, don't expose your atheism at work.

Some, but not all, monotheists believe declarations of atheism are direct attacks against their religion.

Just the phrase, "happy holidays," offends many in this country.

[CJCRANE]

14. It seems to be a pretty straightforward religion.

I just scanned the entry on Wikipedia for thirty seconds and got a general feel for what it's about. There are plenty of links there if you want to find out more in-depth information.

What's your motivation for having a debate about religion with your boss? There seems to be something missing in your explanation.

[LAGC]

16. Maybe "debate" is too harsh a word.

What I meant was just a religious discussion, talking to him about his faith and how it relates to his political beliefs, just to satiate my own curiosity. But maybe the workplace isn't the proper arena to be discussing religion or politics though, esp. with someone in authority over you, since a simple disagreement could escalate into a potential firing situation.

Its just all so new to me, I've been surrounded by Christians in the workplace most of my relatively isolated life, so something so new and different is kind of interesting to me. I just want to know more about it, that's all.

[CJCRANE]

17. My bet is that he's like most believers of any faith

and doesn't think too deeply about his religion, just grew up with it in the background.

My own view is that everyone is liberal or conservative first and their religion comes second (because, for example, a conservative Christian has more in common with a conservative Muslim than with a liberal Christian).

But I agree, Sikhism does seem interesting, it seems more egalitarian than most religions.

[woodsprite]

15. I wouldn't go there with him unless he brings it up.

If you're curious you can ask him questions. The words 'friendly debate' and 'religion' shouldn't be used in the workplace unless you know you would be OK if you didn't have a job the next morning.

I used to supervise grad student workers in a lab setting. One of those students was Sikh. He told me during the interview that in his country he would never be working for a female. He knew his stuff, I told him that if he could deal with me being his boss, then he was welcome to join the team. He did, and was one of the best (and most reliable) workers I had. Now that I think of it, I had quite a diverse group of 30 workers. American Catholic, Baptist, American and Israeli Jews, French Atheists, Turkish Presbyterians, Indian Hindu and Sikh, Chinese Buddhist, Mauritanian Islamic, and I'm sure a few others I didn't know about.

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.