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What Is 'slander'?


Balkaar
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'Slander' of another person is forbidden in Sikhi. This is also extended to the religious faiths these people profess. However we as a qaum have yet to quantify the term 'slander', and arrive at a collective definition. Everybody seems to have one of their own.

One interpretation of the prohibition against slander is that nothing bad is to be said about anybody else's beliefs, period. This viewpoint is propounded by the more inert Sikhs who insist that Sikhi is somehow averse to prosleytization, that it considers all religions to be equally worthy of respect as divergent, but ultimately fruitful paths to God. Moreover this notion that Sikhi is passive and yielding is actually considered to be a point of pride for some people - the tired old idea "Sikhism has no missionaries", attended by a sort of subtle smugness. Is it any wonder that the Sikh voice is so muted in the interfaith and religious agora of the world, or that our religion is one which most people haven't heard about and whose views on anything are rarely sought?

If slander is what these people claim it is, then could it not be argued that our Gurus were 'slanderers'? Is slander simply that which gives offense? It is not entirely inconceivable Guru Amar Das Sahib offended the religious sensibilities of a good many Muslims and Hindus when he prohibited their womenfolk from entering his darbar wearing veils. Was this slander? It seems rather like the behaviors which some Sikhs consider to be slanderous. Guru Nanak Dev Ji was hardly timid in his handling of other belief systems, he even made jokes at their expense. If he didn't keep quiet out of respect for their beliefs when he saw something fundamentally wrong with them, then why should his Sikhs?

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I've noticed a-lot of hatred in many sikhs here. I've seen some pretty hostile responses in the sangat here and some can be borderline derogatory, View points should all be respected, however if you disagree there is nothing wrong with bringing up why you disagree and then having a nice discussion about it. Under no circumstance should we, as sikhs, go straight to the swearing or name calling. If someone is wrong you can correct them, explain to them why and if they still don't heed then it's their own problem.

Naturally Kira veer. I think rudeness should only ever be permissible if it's clever or quick. Unfortunately many of the individuals on this forum are connoisseurs of the blundering, vulgar sort.

I find it amusing when the loyal chele of whichever so-called holy man has been caught red-handed doing things he shouldn't, start quoting the line, "Sant ki ninda, Nanaka, bahur, bahur avtaar."

Am I wrong in saying the above line isn't literally saying, "Never criticise a Sant else you'll be stuck in the cycle of life and death," but it's more along the lines of, "Don't fabricate untruths in order to slander someone who is of a saintly disposition, i.e. a good person." Unless the meaning is actually literal?

Exactly. Accusations of 'slander' appear to be calculated to suppress the discussion of any questions of appreciable magnitude.

The answer to all those questions is No. No it wasn't slander because the most basic element of slander is that the statement must be false. Nothing to do with hurt and discomfort caused (or the pathetic Indian term of 'hurting sentiments'). If its the TRUTH, one can say whatever he wants. To prove it was slander the one on the receiving end must prove the statement was false.

Sikhi = Truth.

Truth = NOT slander.

Therefore truth = Sikhi.

I agree entirely, I asked those questions in a somewhat rhetorical spirit. I did not mean to iterate them as if I took them seriously.

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Pretty nice viewpoint there bhaiji. I'd just like to add a couple of things. It's alright to disagree with other faith's rituals of how they do things. Criticizing them is ok. However One thing that is NOT ok is extending that criticism to the person. Bullying people because they believe in that certain faith. Its all fine poking fun at the practice, but its another thing poking fun at the person.

I've noticed a-lot of hatred in many sikhs here. I've seen some pretty hostile responses in the sangat here and some can be borderline derogatory, View points should all be respected, however if you disagree there is nothing wrong with bringing up why you disagree and then having a nice discussion about it. Under no circumstance should we, as sikhs, go straight to the swearing or name calling. If someone is wrong you can correct them, explain to them why and if they still don't heed then it's their own problem.

As a person I'm prone to the same things, I get angry, I made some jokes that others took to heart and I admit it's my shortcomings. A common thing I see is people aren't willing to accept their wrong, they seem to look down on others and brand them "paapi" or even "bisharam" as soon as they can. We're more quick to slander one another than actually slander ourselves haha.

Sorry if my comments hurt someone, bhool chuk maph karni.

Great post

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