Origins of Sikhism - Research Paper Example

The Jatt Sikhs are a sub-group of the Sikhethno religious group and they form half of the group. The second type is the Ramgarhia Sikhs, which are mainly composed of the Punjabi community. The last type of Sikhs is the Rajput and they are mainly followers of the Sikh religion belonging to the Rajput ethnic group. In this religion, men fill all the ceremonial roles, with women given inferior priority when it comes to taking part in any religious matters. In recent years, the United States has witnessed a large number of non-Punjabi convert to Sikhism (Mann, Numrich & Williams, 2008).

Most Sikhs, in the United States, reside on the east and west coasts with additional populations found in Detroit, Chicago, and Austin (Mann, Numrich & Williams, 2008). Due to their weakness in culture and traditions, the Sikhs were initially concentrated in the agricultural Yuba City, California, but modernization has seen things change as they gain more education and move to more metropolitan destinations. The city of Queens has been the preferred last stop for immigrants from India and Canada. The foundation of Virginia has played the role of uniting a large number of Sikh faithful in the United States (Mann, Numrich & Williams, 2008).

The Sikhs insist on wearing a long beard and a turban, which restricts their potential involvement in being involved in more serious economic activities, in America. In the early times, they served in the American army during the first and second world wars, but in recent years, the long beard and turban have had a great influence on their recruitment. Only a few Sikhs with unique skills have been allowed to join the army. An example is Simranpreet Lamba who has been exempted to wear a beard and turban due to his knowledge of Punjabi and Hindi.

The September 11 bombing ignited non-Sikh discrimination across the whole of the United States. Any individual who wears a beard and turban is targeted and they are physically attacked. This is a mistake that most people make, Sikhs have been for a long time mistaken for Arabs and Muslims and in America, things are not different (Mann, Numrich & Williams, 2008). The September 11 attack was viewed by most Americans as a direct attack from the Muslims and Arabs, they, therefore, took out their frustration on any available simple of Islam and Arabic ethnicity. Not being able to distinguish between Arabs, Muslims, and Sikhs, many innocent Sikhs fell victim to the angry American population. Balbir Singh Sodhi, a gas station owner was killed on September 15 because he was mistaken for a Muslim. Since 9/11, an estimated 700 hate crimes have been recorded against Sikhs and what is shocking is that most of these crimes were all committed in a single week.

Because of September 11, incidents of arson were reported in Sikh temples and they were labeled as hate crimes. On 5th august 2012, Wade Michael Page, shot ten people killing six and wounding the rest in a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. He also shot and injured a police officer before he was shot back in the stomach and later discovered he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head (Mann, Numrich & Williams, 2008). Hate crimes have become rampant in the United States as a Sikh professor, Dr. Prabhjot Singh was also attacked by a group of 20 to 30 men who nicknamed him “Osama” the “Terrorist” and killed him (Mann, Numrich & Williams, 2008). In schools, wearing a turban has attracted bullies as most Sikhs confirm being bullied. A study has shown that three out of four males from schools interviewed, confirm to have been bullied. The study also confirms that over 50% of Sikh students are bullied simply because they wear turbans.

Currently, there has been a great revolution allowing the freedom of worship. The Sikhs had for a long time been discriminated against for their nature of worship. It is now evident through the available documentaries that, the facts and assumptions about Sikhism were worlds apart. It is time for the freedom to worship to be recognized everywhere. Discrimination against people of a particular religion must be stopped and completely eradicated. In America, the Sikhs must be given equal opportunities and not victimized for their religious beliefs (Mann, Numrich & Williams, 2008).
In embracing modernity, Sikhism has decided to do away with some of its traditional beliefs and find ways to be more diverse and accommodating. Women who were initially given no role in religious issues have had their fair share of responsibility in this era. Dressing and some of the core features of the religion have also been dropped. Read More