Mixed Marriages, I.j. Singh And Guruka Singh Views Analyzed

[Akalifauj]

http://www.sikhnet.com/news/mixed-marriages-our-gurduaras

When reading this article written by I.J. Singh and Guruka Singh, i was not sure if it was about who can enter the Gurdwara and what the Catholics have done around marriage issues in the past or mixed marriages being allowed in the Gurdwara. The title of the article is “Mix Marraiges in our Gurdwaras”, but only a very small portion of the article gives a patronizing view of those who view mixed marriages in Gurdwaras as wrong. Instead they are shaming and pointing the finger to allow others into the Gurdwara. I believe they should have decided on titling this article, “Two Senior Citizens Rambling”. When they finally start to talk about the issue the reasons for barring mixed marriages at the Gurdwara are being mocked by the two writers; I.J. Singh and Guruka Singh. The actual reasons why the Guru, Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Sikhs, and Sikh groups are barring mixed marriages in the Gurdwara are not even mentioned in the article.

However let’s address the rambling they committed to in the article about allowing others into the Gurdwara. They mention Sri Harmandir Sahib has four doors, which signifies all people regardless of background are allowed into the Gurdwara. I fully agree with these two here. Yet they forget to mention, maybe unintentionally, regardless which door you come into the Gurdwara, you will only hear the teachings of one Guru; Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji. Whether you enter from the south or east or west or north all four doors lead to the one teacher. This one teacher is giving all people who enter the same teaching regardless of which faith they profess to be part of or what views they hold as agnostics or atheist. The teachings of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji don’t change from any direction, time or person. They continue to ramble and bring up the point, Sikhs can’t define who is a Sikh, but the Guru does. True enough and we have history dictating how a person was defined as a Sikh and Gurbani very clearly describes who is a Sikh. Sri Akal Takht Sahib has also done a great job of taking the teachings from Gurbani and defining who is a Sikh. Yet according to these two, we should ignore all this and on the basis of Sri Harmandir Sahib having four doors, allow anyone to have an anand Karaj!!! They also go to the extent of saying we, Sikhs, don’t know who is a Sikh and they give an example of a Sikh woman marrying an agnostic. I don’t know if old age as taken the toll on both of them, but yeah we do know who is a Sikh. Their example says the man marrying the Sikh woman was an agnostic, which means he was not a Sikh and an agnostic. The simple question of whether the couple are both Sikh is asked before an Anand Karaj is done? What a simple solution to finding out who is a Sikh and defining if it is a mixed marriage. And if one of the two is not a Sikh, then they can’t have an Anand Karaj.

Now let’s get down to the patronizing reasons they gave for not allowing mixed marriages in the Gurdwara.

Reason #1: Perhaps they come from a fear of dilution of the faith

Sorry but reason 1 doesn’t apply to Sikhi for barring mixed marriages in the Gurdwara.

Reason #2: or possibly to create an insular barrier to “outsiders

Nope, again wrong religion. This is Sikhi not Catholic or Islam.

Reason #3: Or perhaps they are rooted in an attempt to ensure a successful marriage?

Nope, doesn’t apply to Sikhi and Sikhs, who are barring mixed marriages from taking place at the Gurdwara.

I.J. Singh in the past was known to using his secular credentials as a doctor in Chemistry (I believe it was Chemistry) as his credential to be a doctor of Sikhi. Every article he wrote his views on Sikhi were started off by Dr. I.J. Singh. If you don’t believe me, do a simple search online and this deception will come aware to you. I mention this here because, I see Dr. I.J. Singh has made some progress in not writing Dr. in front of his name today, when he writes his views on Sikhi. So I applaud him for not deceiving others with the title of Dr. I.J. Singh anymore. Although it took some time to get him to change from his deception. It is a step forward in the right direction.

Coming to the Gurdwara is no sign of any person accepting Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji as their Guru. Sikh history tells us even spy’s have come to the open Gurdwara of the Gurus and still do to this date. So this level of participation at the Gurdwara can’t be assigned as to allow the Anand Karaj for the person. The level of commitment for Anand Karaj is higher than simply coming to the Gurdwara. Gurbani read in the Anand Karaj defines the level of commitment and guides the couple on how to behave after they are married. The first level of commitment is to accept Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji as your Guru. Which also implies a person cannot accept anyone else as their Guru or religious/spiritual guide in life. For instance a person who claims to be Christian or agnostic has chosen not to accept Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji as their religious/spiritual guide. The Christian has accepted Jesus (the Bible) and the latter has accepted no one. In both cases they have not accepted the level of commitment to be Sikhs. Therefore, both are disqualified from having an Anand Karaj.

If I.J. Singh and Guruka Singh were more honest in their article there could have been progress in this debate and more people would be able to see what it means to be a Sikh. Many could have benefited from this discussion and their article, if they were honest and didn’t ramble about other unrelated topics. I guess positive change comes hard for I.J. Singh and Guruka Singh. Let’s hope in the future they are honest with their approach.

[Sikhistan]

Dr. IJ Singh got no gian and yet he portray himself as savior of our community. His only good capability is that he writes good but always on the wrong side. Gurkha singh is just another hippie whose own ideology or way of life contradicts with gurus given path everyday.

[hrman]

I too agree with the I .J Singh and Guruka Singh and feel those ppl who are obstructing the marriage inside Gurudwara are hypocrites with double standard .

Actually i liked the top comment on Sikhnet there .

Biri Nijhar ·

Uasin gishu secondary school eldoret

Agree with the authors. How many times has one seen a so called "Sikh" boy within five minutes of marriage taken his turban off and shaved before the wedding reception or a so called "sikh" girl who has trimmed hair and pluked her eyebrows etc? If you want a strict code of conduct then it should apply to "sikhs" as well

why are these ppl not obstructing such marriages ? thats the big question.

[Ranjeet01]

I too agree with the I .J Singh and Guruka Singh and feel those ppl who are obstructing the marriage inside Gurudwara are hypocrites with double standard .

Actually i liked the top comment on Sikhnet there .

Biri Nijhar ·

Uasin gishu secondary school eldoret

Agree with the authors. How many times has one seen a so called "Sikh" boy within five minutes of marriage taken his turban off and shaved before the wedding reception or a so called "sikh" girl who has trimmed hair and pluked her eyebrows etc? If you want a strict code of conduct then it should apply to "sikhs" as well

why are these ppl not obstructing such marriages ? thats the big question.

Because these bad practicing hypocrite Sikhs will still respect and hold the SGGS as their Maharaj. A non-Sikh doesn't.

[garch]

I too agree with the I .J Singh and Guruka Singh and feel those ppl who are obstructing the marriage inside Gurudwara are hypocrites with double standard .

Actually i liked the top comment on Sikhnet there .

Biri Nijhar ·

Uasin gishu secondary school eldoret

Agree with the authors. How many times has one seen a so called "Sikh" boy within five minutes of marriage taken his turban off and shaved before the wedding reception or a so called "sikh" girl who has trimmed hair and pluked her eyebrows etc? If you want a strict code of conduct then it should apply to "sikhs" as well

why are these ppl not obstructing such marriages ? thats the big question.

This video should answer why.. To disobey rehat at gurughar is unacceptable.

U may are entitled to ur views, however the rehat marriage is the gurus mat and those that break it in a gurdwara need to be challenged and stopped.

[StarStriker]

This video should answer why.. To disobey rehat at gurughar is unacceptable.

U may are entitled to ur views, however the rehat marriage is the gurus mat and those that break it in a gurdwara need to be challenged and stopped.

Also wat seems to have been totally overlooked, is, WHAT religion r the kids of 2 sikhs (non-practising) going to be, compared to kids of parents belonging to 2 different religions? Also anotha thing many of these hippy liberals r overlooking is how NOW there will be an anand karaj exam/course PRIOR to the wedding itself, for EVERYONE! That means 2 ppl born in sikh families, aswel as 2 participants who trying to have an interfaith wedding.

[MisterrSingh]

So, the Anand Karaj exam / test is actually a "thing" now?

[StarStriker]

So, the Anand Karaj exam / test is actually a "thing" now?

To be honest, mate, its the only way of filtering the wannabes, charlatans n chancers, from the genuine ppl who got pyar for sikhi, n not just having an ana d karaj for their video to their coconut kids in 10yrs time. This way also theres no preferential treatment for ppl already born im sikh families, yet know nutin bowt sikh dharam.

Also u mock the test/course thing, but jews n catholics have been doin this also.

[thugger]

So, the Anand Karaj exam / test is actually a "thing" now?

And why does it have you facepalming?

[MisterrSingh]

And why does it have you facepalming?

Couples who'll be revising for it will be laughing at us as they're preparing to take it. They'll be remarking what a bunch of simpletons we are.

How do I know that? If I was a white guy who wanted to marry a Sikh girl and all I had to do was memorise verses from the Sikh scriptures and regurgitate them infront of a priest in order to make the marriage official, I'd struggle to keep a straight face.

I'll go away now and read Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion and I'll write a mini essay on it tomorrow, or make a short presentation summarising the main arguments of the book. Does that make me an atheist? Will I suddenly stop believing in God?

If the sanctity of the Anand Karaj hadn't already been adversely affected, this'll be pushing things towards "sham" territory. I'm amazed how Sikhs have jumped on this like it's a magical solution to this issue. The problem lies with the corrupt committees who refuse to uphold maryada. This... I don't even know what this is meant to be.