Sikh Missionary

[CanadianSingh]

How to spread Sikhism in the UK?

. Um, U.S. Sikhs don't allow missionaries. It's the people's descion if they want to convert, but just so fun Punjabi programs if you want the new generation to get interested.

. Um, U.S. Sikhs don't allow missionaries. It's the people's descion if they want to convert, but just so fun Punjabi programs if you want the new generation to get interested.

Auto correct, whoops.

[Big_Tera]

We're beyond and above these shallow labels. We're neither hardliners or pacifists. You're choosing to view Sikh through distorted, human-generated standards that do not apply to our path. I appreciate the gist of your argument, but if you know anything about the world we inhabit in its current state - judging by your posts you know quite a lot - the hard-line way for a minority such as us is practically suicide.

We need to stop trying to emulate the inflexible Islamic ways of doing things. That way lies destruction. We haven't got a billion+ strong following to fall back on, AND, I'm sorry to say, our belief in our Guru and our religion is not as strong as the Muslims on the whole. Yes, you may argue it's a belief partly built around fear of the consequences if the party line is not towed, but it is what it is. That's an indisputable fact.

We are more concerned with being loyal citizens in our countries of residence or running around trying to accumulate wealth or keep our spouses and children happy, etc. Our determination to follow our religion is gradually slipping down the list as the years go by. Yet, I still don't think going the mad mullah route is going to arrest that decline. When you've the likes of Sunny Hundal in the west brazenly thumbing his nose at fellow Sikhs to take him on (because he knows any ill-conceived move to silence him will instantly justify his warped stance on Sikh issues) we have to take a smarter approach.

The mistaken notion that Sikhi is a wishy-washy, anything goes faith that's being pushed by certain parties needs to be the first area to be tackled. And you don't do that by going on the physical attack. You do that by using your brain and chipping away at these false notions peddled by non-practicising Western "Sikhs" in the media who aim to usurp the Sikh faith in the west and turn it into a weird desi CofE situation. We do that through preaching and reaching out to the ones amongst us who'd be receptive to the Sikhi doctrine, but have otherwise been dissuaded from the path due to the completely incorrect portrayal of Sikhi being dominated by angry intolerant guys.

That's the first step to increase numbers. Yes, be "aggressive and assertive" in your aims to elevate Sikhi amongst our own people, but going the tub-thumping Islamic way will alienate a hell of a lot of otherwise receptive Punjabis who might've been attracted to the path. Nobody in this current society we inhabit wants to be labelled as an extremist of any sort, certainly not the meek, average, young, PC-riddled Punjabi who wants enlightenment through the Sikh way that's beginning to appeal to him after spending years thinking there was no more to life than than having a good time. That's just one example.

The second step would be to clean house, and on that front I'm afraid I would change tack from the mellower, conciliatory approach I previously mentioned when doing parchaar to our own disillusioned, non-practicising Punjabis. The wolves in Gursikh clothing who populate the echelons of Sikhi across the world need to be purged. And they will understand no language but force. These fake holy men, their entourages, politically appointed jathedars, etc, cannot be allowed to suck the life out of Sikhi. They're taking us for fools. We need to deprive them of the oxygen to operate. That's another issue altogether and not one I'm prepared to discuss on an open forum.

Its not about forcing religion down peoples throats and being aggressive about it. This will obviously put people off like how people avoid Islam because of their deceitful conversion tactics. Sikhism has the potential to become one of the most dominant religions in the world as its the most rational and modern.

We cant just sit down and hope the religion expands on its own by some natural means. It has to be cultivated and the seeds sawn in every part of the world.

Right now is a perfect opportunity for Sikh leaders to start putting money in missianry activities. But Sikhs like to think of themselves as do gooders who think they would rather build a mosque then actually do something good for the sikh religion. Its this do gooder attitude that thinks the sunlight shines through our backsides that stops us from doing things that will take the religion forward.

All we need is a stall with sikh leaflets. its something as simple as that which will work. It does not need some overly complicated methods.

[genie]

We're beyond and above these shallow labels. We're neither hardliners or pacifists. You're choosing to view Sikh through distorted, human-generated standards that do not apply to our path. I appreciate the gist of your argument, but if you know anything about the world we inhabit in its current state - judging by your posts you know quite a lot - the hard-line way for a minority such as us is practically suicide.

We need to stop trying to emulate the inflexible Islamic ways of doing things. That way lies destruction. We haven't got a billion+ strong following to fall back on, AND, I'm sorry to say, our belief in our Guru and our religion is not as strong as the Muslims on the whole. Yes, you may argue it's a belief partly built around fear of the consequences if the party line is not towed, but it is what it is. That's an indisputable fact.

We are more concerned with being loyal citizens in our countries of residence or running around trying to accumulate wealth or keep our spouses and children happy, etc. Our determination to follow our religion is gradually slipping down the list as the years go by. Yet, I still don't think going the mad mullah route is going to arrest that decline. When you've the likes of Sunny Hundal in the west brazenly thumbing his nose at fellow Sikhs to take him on (because he knows any ill-conceived move to silence him will instantly justify his warped stance on Sikh issues) we have to take a smarter approach.

The mistaken notion that Sikhi is a wishy-washy, anything goes faith that's being pushed by certain parties needs to be the first area to be tackled. And you don't do that by going on the physical attack. You do that by using your brain and chipping away at these false notions peddled by non-practicising Western "Sikhs" in the media who aim to usurp the Sikh faith in the west and turn it into a weird desi CofE situation. We do that through preaching and reaching out to the ones amongst us who'd be receptive to the Sikhi doctrine, but have otherwise been dissuaded from the path due to the completely incorrect portrayal of Sikhi being dominated by angry intolerant guys.

That's the first step to increase numbers. Yes, be "aggressive and assertive" in your aims to elevate Sikhi amongst our own people, but going the tub-thumping Islamic way will alienate a hell of a lot of otherwise receptive Punjabis who might've been attracted to the path. Nobody in this current society we inhabit wants to be labelled as an extremist of any sort, certainly not the meek, average, young, PC-riddled Punjabi who wants enlightenment through the Sikh way that's beginning to appeal to him after spending years thinking there was no more to life than than having a good time. That's just one example.

The second step would be to clean house, and on that front I'm afraid I would change tack from the mellower, conciliatory approach I previously mentioned when doing parchaar to our own disillusioned, non-practicising Punjabis. The wolves in Gursikh clothing who populate the echelons of Sikhi across the world need to be purged. And they will understand no language but force. These fake holy men, their entourages, politically appointed jathedars, etc, cannot be allowed to suck the life out of Sikhi. They're taking us for fools. We need to deprive them of the oxygen to operate. That's another issue altogether and not one I'm prepared to discuss on an open forum.

I think you have taken my sentiments out of context, when I say be hardliners I dont mean physically go and bash people who dont convert or dont conform to the way Sikhi should be treated.

I mean not putting up with genocidal inter-faith marriages within a gurdwara, that is something we have the power to do and is within our rights as a religious community not for our community to be destoryed and diluted. And we can stop access for non-sikhs to come in to our Sikh gurdwara's to get married to Sikhs thats just common sense. Like all other major faiths groups like catholics, jews and muslims that dont allow non-adherants to marry one of theres we Sikhs have every right to do the same.

Secondly we do need to follow the islamic model to a certain extent not the physical mental mullah crazy side but the sly covert islamification type that's going on. If we analyse that model we can see how effective it is and it all starts at home, the masjid and then to wider society via peer pressure. Sikhs used to be like that when they first came to the west they would stay in small tight circles and held their community strong in gurdwara's but as Sikhs grew rich and affluent they wanted to see more of the world and integrate into the wider western atheist hedonist society and so hardly any Sikh youth is a regular gurdwara attendee cos its boring and all in foreign punjabi lingo and thus that path lays our destruction cos we havent kept up with change and modernity of tends. The path that the Sikhs are following in present times is full of maya and illusion of this dunia and before you know it the Sikh and his guru have been separated by the tide.

As gurbani says the guru is the boat if the Sikh wishes to save him/herself in this world they must use the guru to guide themselves across the ocean if they don't then their soul will bed doomed to a fate worse than the act of death. This message must be emphasised to our youth, the young Sikhs have not been taught the frightening prospect of being reborn of another creature after death lower than a human if they realised that reality maybe they would think twice of foresaking their Guru and Sikhi for the illusions of this world.