MisterrSingh

We are latent psychos, aren't we? Happy and smiling when the world is being good to us, but when buttons are pushed... the red mist. ?

I keep forgetting about the role of Indian police in these types of communal "riots." Yeah, taking into consideration their involvement, I don't think there'd be much of a contest.

If there was a hypothetical smack-down between Hindus and Muslims in India, that would be one of the rare instances where I'd prescribe a Bhai Kanaiya approach. Side with nobody but provide ONLY support in the form of food, shelter, etc., when necessary. Don't get caught up in the adrenaline fuelled situation as it's occurring, but DO keep in mind that, as Sikhs, you would still need to live amongst the same people when it's over. Making a dodgy decision will be remembered by neighbours and others. Don't open yourself up to delayed reprisals by allowing emotion to dictate decision making.

I remember going to Wales in the first year of secondary school, and I was stared at as if I'd stepped off a UFO that had arrived from Jupiter. As a kid it was very unsettling, but looking back it's quite funny. So, Wales is probably one where we're quite unknown, which I realise is the opposite of the OP's question.

Another interesting take on the Hindu vs Muslim situation from an Arab perspective.

It's probably hot air, but this is unprecedented. If the BJP and its extremist Hindutva element continue pushing Indian Muslims, there will be some form of reaction.

I get you. It's complicated. Although some would say it's only as complicated as we make it, lol. Sometimes I think religiosity and adherence should be a strictly personal matter, because ultimately our spiritual liberation isn't a group activity or the result of someone else's efforts being gifted to another person. The individual succeeds or fails based on their own works. But on the other hand surely we have some sense of responsibility to the culture and the religion we've been born into. We have a responsibility to -- for the purposes of keeping face if nothing else -- to elevate and promote our path. If we're seen to not give two hoots about our religion or our ways, a third party isn't going to come along and encourage us to get back on the wagon. What irks me about attitudes toward Sikhs by the leftist, Marxist-influenced strands making inroads into the faith (and outsiders) is this pathetic desire to partake in the surface, non-commital rituals of Sikhi, yet when the arguably orthodox factions express a sense of separateness and the promotion of our exclusive interests, then it's, "Sikhs aren't meant to see division. We are all one. You're a militant for thinking of Sikhi interests." They want their barfi and they want to eat it, too. We're expected to constantly compromise for the benefit of others who invariably have no interest in reciprocating our selflessness. And the worst aspect of it? They use Gurbani to justify their stance, and any Sikh with love and devotion for Gurbani would never dream of speaking against it. It's absolute emotional blackmail.

This is something I've been considering for the past few days. The outer rehat commitment for a Sikh doesn't seem to dissuade otherwise seriously questionable individuals from adopting the visual identity. There's no actual way of dissuading a Sikh from not taking up rehat who plans to use the external identity as a cynical shield for nefarious or self-serving purposes. That's something that's hardly ever broached or explored. It's also the same reasoning that's used as justification for non-rehat adherents to justify why they refuse to adopt the outer apperance, because they would argue the external has no bearing on the internal regardless of the strict religious imperative that directs otherwise. I think by making it a purely religious compulsion ("you don't have the saroop, therefore you aren't a true Sikh") it seems to have created a schism amongst Sikhs, which has been exacerbated by our daliances with the West, whereby the bearded-and-turbanned are viewed as inflexibly orthodox while the clean-cut are seen as the progressive, relaxed, tolerant faction of the faith. I think this issue has come into greater focus since religious identity has become a focal point in recent history, as a result of the average person's understanding of the Islamic narrative, because it was never this way in Sikhi from my perception of the situation. It's almost as if we've been shoehorned into playing parts that don't actually apply to us in the way they do to Muslims. The sad thing is there's no push-back against it. We just seem to be going with the flow and fulfilling expectations that have been imposed upon us.

Well, yes, I was referring to the extreme Leftists who labour under cognitive dissonance and selective reasoning to the extent where they can't offer any consistent line of reasoning because most of what they fundamentally believe is in constant flux. The so-called abrahamic crap in itself isn't the problem, per se, it's more the manner in which those beliefs were interpreted and enforced in accordance with the environment and personal situation of the individual. I'm sure there's Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs out there who laboured under excessive and unreasonable interpretations of their respective faiths which lead them to seek greener pastures.

It's not just that. They don't want to understand it, because it contradicts everything the television and their indoctrination centres (school) has told them is the truth.

As perfect as your assessment is, it's a distinction that is almost impossible for the western mind -- that's riddled with moral relativism and a skewed sense of liberalism -- to grasp.

Is India heading for fascism? Seems like Modi has managed to tap into a fervent nationalism that has really brought some psychos out into the open, because I don't doubt for a moment these people ever went away. I can't help notice how the fervour that seems to be rising at the moment was perhaps the same mood that lead to the actions against ordinary Sikhs a few decades ago. Cleverly, the BJP have managed to propagandise patriotism as a purely BJP policy; if you're against the BJP, you're anti-India, and therefore seek its destruction. It's working largely in part to the targeting of rural communities with low education. That's definitely not going to end well. How will it end for the nation's Muslims? Another partition, lol? Geopolitically, the Arabs seemed to have voiced their concerns, which is something that previously has never happened. If India continues on its present trajectory, I think these Arab nations will foment unrest in India. India squaring up to China and attempting to damage its ambitions is hilarious. They have neither the intelligence nor the support to damage China in the way the Indians hope to. Interesting times ahead. I hope Sikhs remain impartial, and mind our own stinking business. We love playing hero and garnering praise, but for once I wish we'd button it, and stop the constant search for ego stroking.

If everything that supposedly demarcates us with other cultures and religions is Maya; a surface illusion, then why did the Sikh Gurus not encourage us to convert to Islam, or remain as Hindus? If we are truly one, then why go through all the effort of forging a separate path? If attaining God is the sole focus (and all paths lead to the One), then surely it would make sense to fall in behind a religion that was in the ascendancy and had a viable means of enforcing its aims, because ultimately we're all going to end up in the same place, aren't we?

I think it also speaks volumes about my authoritarian tendencies. ?

One of the most amusing and simultaneously paradoxical things I find about Muslims is how (some of them) have a certain quality of grounded authenticity. I can't help but compare these types of Muslims to Sikhs in the West, and it does make me quite sad that here we have people that we're told belong to an illogical, bloodthirsty, intolerant religion, yet they possess certain qualities that someone such as myself looks for in what I would consider to be "good" or respectable people. I think there's something to be said for a religion such as Islam being a force that regulates people's behaviour and their mentalities to the point where they think twice about how they behave and conduct themselves. Our lot just don't have that manner of being even if our religion does prescribe certain behavioural standards, because the "fear" to follow those norms just isn't there for Sikhs.

Judaism definitely goes way back. There's even a proper term for their religious mentality: Talmudic-Pharisaic (Talmud being the holy scripture of the Jews, and the 'Pharisaic' referring to the Jewish tribes who resided in ancient Egypt, and the gods, practices, and other mystical knowledge they obtained residing in that part of the world for as long as they did). It began in the Synagogue and eventually ended up in the Vatican, lol. Then there's the key civilisations of the Sumerians and the Babylonians, which is where what we know to be "the Jews" worshipped the ancient gods / entities of Moloch, etc., all forces that for some reason required blood sacrifices and massacres in order to be satiated. The subsequent Judeo-Christian white-washing is a sham in order to convey a respectable front to a very questionable history.

Lots of things to think over. Thanks.

"Save Sikhs, Kill non-Sikhs" vs "The light of God resides in everyone."

Have a cold shower straight after, you saucy sod! ?

That feeling when you study world mythology and religions, and begin to see correlations and similarities between supposedly unique and separate personalities ?. Then you begin to wonder if they weren't all one common group that we're adopted and adapted by whichever race and culture decided to propagate their "history." ?

New-build UK houses are a disgrace. The ones built after 2005 are shocking. I was decorating a new-build last year. When I finished the skirting, one of my legs had gone to sleep, and I used my elbow to leverage my body so I could stand up. My elbow went through the wall, lol. It was literally cardboard. The repair was perfect, but still.

How would you enact this principle in a practical manner? Genuine question, not rhetorical.

At your stage in life it's not healthy to carry around misplaced resentment and bitterness. Looking at the situation from a top-down, almost spiritual way, where, if you are that way inclined, you hope to become a more rounded human being later in life as a result of your experiences (be they positive or otherwise), I would suggest you go away and make your "mistakes." Unfortunately, and I speak from experience, there are certain types of personalities that require exposure to stark first-hand experiences before the lesson that others were trying to impart in a softer, purely theoretical means is understood. Obviously, it may work out well for you, and in that case, congratulations. Perhaps your destiny and your life-story is meant to head in another direction according to your karams and how they need to be worked through.