Lol you can't stop anybody from doing anything. Bhagat Kabir ji has said the following in rough english translation "I started searching for the devil but could not find anyone. When I searched inside me, realized, no one is more devilish then me." What I take from this line is that we should work on ourselves first before finding faults in others. Even the punjabi culture has its problems (alcoholism, casteism, sexism, any other type of -ism). Culture isn't the identity we should attach ourselves to as followers of this path. The only way to postively influence the youth is to not only promote sikhi vichaar but work with the youth to integrate sikhi at their level. Meaning finding ways that we can we relay the Guru's message from their perspective and not some perspective of hardliner imported Bhais who promote things like "become amrit shak or burn in hell" type of mentality. I am not saying becoming amrit shak is bad, I am saying the way that it is being "marketed" (through fear/guilt tactics) is not the most effective way for youth to fall in love with the Guru. There are many initiatives nowadays out there already reaching out and attracting younger sangat to Sikhi and I hope they continue to do so. What we, as average joes, can do is just continue to work on ourselves so that we can directly or indirectly set a postive example to the young bloods. We can't force an ideology but only lead our lives by example. With the ongoing efforts and initiatives to promote sikhi, even if the youth give Sikhi just 1% importance in their respective lives, then we can be reassured that Sikhi will continue to flourish. I think each culture has its positives and negatives and we are blessed to be living in such multicultural countries that give us exposure to learn from different cultures, ideas, philosophies, and religions. Furthermore, I think the more Sikhi we integrate in our lives, the less the upholding of certain cultural characteristics will matter; especially the negative aspects. Bhul chuk maaf karni ji.
