Which Religions Will Last In Their Current Forms?

[Sinister]

NONE! (even if we do make it 1000 years from now)

religous conservatism has never existed/or been sustained (even in sikhism).

the faiths may simply retain there respected titles but the practice of the vairous faith is going to change.

 

[ekmusafir_ajnabi]

Which religions will last in their current forms?

I believe it will be Christianity and Islaam. Why?
Our Babbees and Sants are already set to distroy our history by burrying it under Marbel.
Once history is distroyed the religion falls weak.
Our Gurdwaras are no longer intrested in promoting faith they are there to take your "Dasband" only. Go elsewhere for guidance because they themselves do not know their religion.
A sikh is now a person who no longer respects the teachings of our Gurus or understands the phillosphy of Sikhism.
They are no longer Lions but have begun to show their true colour. They are actually sheeps. They simply follow the person ahead.
Our preechers are illeterate they cannot communicate other than in their mother tongue. They cannot think laterally.
We do not listern to our younger generation who are crying out for help as they cannot fully communicate thier feels to our preechers.
The heads of our Gurudwaras is generally older generation gone past the sell-by date who are adamant not to let anyone forward as long as they are alive and think strongly that their opinion about Sikh Religion and its Phillosphy is the correct version
I can go on and on and on.... but would that make any difference LOL. Offcourse not. Who is prepared to listern.
We are dooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooomed as a religion.

SOMEBODY HELP! HELP! HELP! HELP! HELP!

Can you help Sikhism survive?

"Jadon baad khet to khaan lag pavey tan us no bacchaey ga KON"

 

[navroopsingh]

Im gonna make your day by telling you exactly what is happening in certain gurdwara's and what should happen to every other gurdwara that truly needs reform. Recently the gurdwara sahib Sukh Sagar in new westminister handed over the gurdwara commitee to the youth on the centennial of the Khalsa Diwan Society.

Thousands come together in New Westminster to participate in Khalsa Diwan Society’ s Centennial celebrations.
New Westminster, BC, December 26, 2006:
Gurdwara Sahib Sukh Sagar, New Westminster celebrated the 100 year anniversary of the pioneer Sikh society, Khalsa Diwan Society, from December 15 to December 25, 2006. The opening ceremony took place on December 15 onwards of which the congregation enjoyed a variety of scheduled events throughout the 10 day celebrations. On Saturday December 16, 2006, close to 70 participants and over 400 viewers took part in the Khalsa Dastaar/ Dress (turban tying/dress) competition celebrating the Sikh identity in Canada. December 17 brought dozens of local, national and international dignitaries to the Gurdwara Sahib including politicians and Sikh officials from the RCMP. Speeches and presentations touched on the significant Sikh achievements of the past 100 years.
On Friday December 22, Mr. Harinder Singh from Texas put on a workshop for Sikh youth called The Guru: Connecting with the Divine Light which was attended by Sikh youth. On December 23, over 400 people filled the New Westminster Community Center for seminars on Sikh history, philosophy, drugs, and social challenges. Retired Supreme Court Justice Harvinder Singh Phoolka addressed the congregation during these seminars as well as DR Khem Singh Gill, former Vice Chancellor at Punjab Agricultural University and many more local presenters.
An International Gatka Exhibition was held on Sunday December 24, 2006 and took place at the Khalsa School in Surrey. Closing ceremonies took place on Monday December 25 where Sikh pioneers were honored for their service and hard work in the establishment of the Sikh community in the Lower Mainland. In addition to this the Sangat (congregation) of Khalsa Diwan Society, New Westminster had nominated over the course of the last six weeks, various descendants of Sikh Pioneers such as the Sikhs involved in establishing the society and descendants from the Kamagata Maru.
Local Sikh community activists and the achievements of the Sikh youth in the field of sports and education were also recognized during this day. An award ceremony also commenced on this day for the participants of the Gatka Tournament, Dastar (Turban), Khalsa Dress and Essay competition.
A special souvenir titled Khalsa Diwan Society: Celebrating 100 years of Sikh Achievements was released during the closing ceremonies by Baba Iqbal Singh from Baru Sahib, India and he also received recognition on behalf of Sant Baba Teja Singh, who registered the Khalsa Diwan Society and helped organize Vancouver Sikhs in the early 1900’s and thereafter went back to India and established the Kalgidhar Society which currently Baba Iqbal Singh currently oversees and operates over 22 schools and private hospitals and treatment centers in India. The souvenir which entails a compilation of articles on Sikhs in Canada will be shipped to libraries and communities across Canada.
An historical exhibition which featured scared Sikh Scriptures dating back over 200 years brought exclusively for this event from a private collection in Toronto as well as pictures of Sikh pioneers and temples dating back to 1897 was also on display.
The 10 day long celebrations not only celebrated 100 years of Sikh achievements but also marked the beginning of a new era as the youth. Thousands of members of the Sikh community enjoyed the celebrations which celebrated the past and showed a glimpse of a glorious Sikh future in Canada. During the closing ceremonies, the youth management committee thanked the hundreds of volunteers and organizations who helped put together the week long celebrations and vowed to continue to honor our pioneers and highlight the glorious Sikh history in Canada.

What we need to do is get the youth more involved in the gurdwara's and active in sikhi related subjects(ranging from punjabi to gatka). If we don't, we'll be seeing a lot more jehova's witness and christian missionaries knocking on our doors!

 

[Mai Harinder Kaur]

I have always been really inaccurate when trying to predict the future. I think it is unimportant which religion(s) survive. Truth, and truthful living are all that really matter. Let me quote part of an old poem:

What if cherished creeds must fade?
Faith will never leave us.
God preserves what God has made,
Nor can Truth deceive us.

 

[gs_chana]

Dear Sangat,

I find it rather amusing how everyone had "GANGED UP" on S[Ikh, or however you spell that name.

First of all SIKHI, not SIKHISM (emphasis being on the fact that SIKHI IS NOT A RELIGION, only for practical sense it is called Religion) WILL ONLY LAST IF WE HAVE PEOPLE LIKE S[IKH, Why? simple, Guru Nanak always questioned belief and looked at God and Spiritual Life with a Scientific Touch.

Logic and reason can go hand in hand with faith and belief, as simply illustrated by Guru Granth Sahib.

The bani in Guruji is incredibly scientific and logical yet has certain aspects to it which do require our belief and faith.

The important point made by S[KH is that, 5k's will not last. However, 50% of me agrees and the other percentage disagrees.

Why do I agree? Nowadays we hear all these stories of how when changing Kachera the old kachera should remain on one leg whilst putting on the new one, IN OTHER WORDS 5Ks must be with us at all times. However, I too do not follow blind faith, and I see this as simply being 21st Century Hinduism Rituals incorporated into Sikhi. READ THE STORY OF GURU NANAK AND WHEN HE REFUSED TO WEAR THE SACRED THREAD EMPOSED ON HIM BY THE PANDIT.

Lets not forget what Guru Gobind Singh JI Said, a sikh should be a saint, and IF NECESSARY a Soldier. What does this say? In my interpretations this is simple, apply common sense and it is seen simply that the Khalsa was created around a period of uncertainty, surrounded by constant threat to the well being of Sikhi and Guru Nanak's Faith. Death of Sikhs was the ways in which Sikhi could be eradicated, and so Guruji created this ORDER, a DIVINE ORDER called the Khalsa, which bears the uniform in the form of 5Ks. Amrit Sankar is the initiation to this Order, and following this order is a mix of Miri & Piri, because one becomes a solider and saint.

BUT GURU GOBIND SINGH JI DID SAY THAT IF NECESSARY, THEN BECOME A SOLDIER, simply saying, in my view (and God forgive if its wrong), Amrit Sankar is not compulsory, rather optional because one can find living by the way of the Khalsa allows him/her to attain oneness with God, wheras others May not necessary feel Khalsa is what is needed, rather Sikhi appeals to them, but not just not wearing the 5Ks.

Nowadays we see how possible converts are put off by the need to adopt Khalsa bana as a means of becoming a Sikh. It is wrong to believe you cannot be a Sikh by not taking Amrit. A Sikh takes Amrit in the form of Gurbani NAAM JAAP. God is Amrit, drinking him we save our souls, but when we believe simple Amrit Sankar and wearing 5Ks makes us more of a Sikh than another, THEN WE ARE WRONG.

I hope you understand what I am trying to illustrate here, and I hope I get understanding response rather than an Ill-Wit response to this in which I will just be slandered. It is time to open our eyes, Sikhi will deteriorate into nothing more than a blindly followed faith, with empty rituals unless we remove our mis understandings, remove falsehood and instead center Sikhi not around politics, 5Ks, Sants, Gianis, Gurdwaras, BUT RATHER AROUND GURBANI and its understanding i.e. GURU GRANTH SAHIB…CURRENT GURU…IF YOU FORGOT.

Education and teaching of Guru Granth is necessary, and I hope one day we will all look back on our 100 year history of Sikhi in 20th Century and learn and realise the truth about Sikhi, so a 21st Century Sikhi looks bright.

Remember the Martyrs of 1984; they fought by way of Khalsa because it was necessary, Bhindrawale said, replace kirpan with revolvers, horses with Motorbikes, Swords with rifles, WHY WAS HE NOT SLANDERED AND SLAGGED OFF...because he made sense of what Khalsa means, and simply Khalsa was needed then to eradicate our enemies INDIAN FORCES, but in our modern days, SIKHI faces a psychological battle.

Fake Sants, Gurdwaras run as businesses, Lack of central role of Guru Granth, Lack of education with regard to Sikh Philosophy...the list goes on...and this is how sikhi will elevate to a higher status once we face our problems rather than sweep them under the carpet and put on this mask portraying a Glorious Face of Sikhi, which is actually far from it. LOOK AROUND YOU...LOOK IN INDIA...FAKE GURU’s LEFT RIGHT AND CENTER, OPEN ATTACKS ON SIKHS…MIX OF PHYSICAL AND MENTAL WARFARE…GO 2 GURDWARA NEX TIME AND TELL ME HOW MUCH YOU LEARNT IN THAT TIME OPPOSED TO HOW MUCH YOU LEARNT SIMPLY BY DOWNLOADING AN ENGLISH VERSION OF GURU GRANTH AND BECOMING A SIKH THAT WAY.


WAKE UP...

Gurdip Singh Chana..sorry for any mistakes and misunderstandings.

 

[bawaj]

I feel that the philosophy of sikhism will last as will the philosophies of other religious doctorines. However since organised religion is new in human history and has been faced with emmense pressures I feel that organised relgion will fade away as more and more people will become alienated from it and ths end result would be that there is an emergence of universal dialectical thinking. what do you all think

 

[chk1]

Who knows what will happen tomorrow? Who knows whether Sikhi will become more popular, more widely followed and acknowledged or not? Based upon what is happening today, the war between the West and the East, i would say that religion generally will become more unpopular. This is because the two largest religions of the world (christianity and islam) are in current conflict and this is creating a chance for people to read up on the religions and find out what exactly they believe in.
Personally, the idea of religion isn't working, and whether you want to believe it or not, that is reality. This is because religions are organized, are increasingly dogmatic (as sikhi is becoming too with issues such as taking amrit etc) and we no longer see peace and love in our world. From my point of view, i believe that every religion is mainly all for peace in this world. Although some contradict themselves, the purpose of religion has indeed failed. We are not united, but increasignly distance ourselves. I have been reading the post about islam view on sikhism, and it is interesting to see those who are distancing themselves further and further apart and then they wonder why the world is in the state it is, why there are wars and violence! How can we be closer to God, if we are not close with one another? We are all children of the same God, we are one with each other and God. And this is where things are going wrong, things are not working because you cannot be close to the divine, be a model sikh or a model muslim and not have love, compassion and mercy for our fellow human beings.
Once people are willing to accept the need for change, then religions will see a transformation. Not just religion, but the people who interpret the religion to us, the people in "power" will have a different perspective and outlook on life and the world.
And i'd like to add, those of you are replying and saying sikhi is doomed, sikh religion will die, it will only "die" if you allow to it happen. If you sit and watch people become more disillusioned, full of hatred for people of different religions, and slander those, who like us are only trying to reach the divine the of course the religion will disappear. But i ask you all, to look within yourselves and realise the need for change, and to help make the change that you wish to see in the world. A little help goes a long way.
Thank you

Charan Kaur

 

[Astroboy]

John Smith from Atheist Society Writes About Sikhism
From: "Atheist Society" < atheist_society@hotmail.com >
To: afreethinker@hotmail.com
Subject: Dear Ali we have a problem, please help!
Date: Fri, 05 Oct 2001 20:40:30 +0000

Dear Ali, please help us. We were very impressed with your website and agreed that religion in general is no longer needed, we can all be humanistic and live in peace and harmony. We are in the process of making a website which will hopefully help to destroy the religious doctrines which divide humanity. We were doing great with knocking out Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Baha'i, even Buddhism but we have gotten very stuck with Sikhism. This religion is (to put it nicely) "a big pain in the ***" (Please pardon the language) We have only found one site which tries (very poorly) to argue that even this religion is not needed, but the argument is irrational and very unscientific unlike the very rational arguments you use.

When we read the following from your website, we found what you said to be amazingly interesting: "Doubt Everything Find Your Own Light." "Last Words Dear friend, if you look for meaning in life, don’t look for it in religions; don’t go from one cult to another or from one guru to the next. You can expend all your life or look for eternity and will find nothing but disappointment and disillusionment. Look instead in service to humanity. You will find “meaning” in your love for other human beings. You can experience God when you help someone who needs your help. The only truth that counts is the love that we have for each other. This is absolute and real. The rest is mirage, fancies of human imagination and fallacies of our own making." By Ali Sina Why is this interesting? Because we found this religion of Sikhism to be in agreement with you! This is why we have a problem. We tried to look at their holy text (Adi Granth) but didnt find the usual absurdities we found in the other religious books. In fact its refreshingly inspiring and very good!? Maybe you can have some better luck.

We tried to visit a couple of websites and got more of a shock. Did you know that they believed in Democracy, freedom of speech, choice, expression, freedom of religion, pluralism, human rights, equality between men and women, equality of all people regardless of race, religion, caste, creed, status etc. 300 years before the existance of the USA! Theirs is the only religion which says in their religious scriptures that women are equal in every respect to men. They even had women soldiers leading armies in to battle against "you know who" (The usual suspects - Muslims!) Their history is a proud one, they fought in both World Wars. Even Hitler praised them for their bravery and Aryan heritage! Dear Ali, this religion is hard for us to try and criticise but you are an expert and may find some faults overlooked by us. In their holy book, there is a round earth, water is made from chemical elements, there is even mention of the evoution process, big bang and life on other planets! This is pretty crazy and amazing stuff, who would have thought that these New York taxi drivers (There are lots of Sikh taxi drivers in NY) would have such an amzing faith? We read up some information of what Bertrand Russell had to say about Sikhism, this is the man who destroyed Christianity (same applies to Islam and Judaism) and exposed its absurdities, but even this great man got stuck when it came to Sikhism! In fact he gave up and said "that if some lucky men survive the onslaught of the third world war of atomic and hydrogen bombs, then the Sikh religion will be the only means of guiding them. Russell was asked that he was talking about the third world war, but isn't this religion capable of guiding mankind before the third world war? In reply, Russell said, "Yes, it has the capability, but the Sikhs have not brought out in the broad daylight, the splendid doctrines of this religion which has come into existence for the benefit of the entire mankind. This is their greatest sin and the Sikhs cannot be freed of it."

Please bear in mind that Bertrand Russell was a great philosopher and free thinker. We have been trying for weeks now to find a way to fairly and rationally criticize and find fault with this religion but have failed. We even found out that there are many people converting to this religion in the USA and Europe as well as Russia (Mostly well educated and affluent white people). We tried to find some of their literature and see what kind of claims they make, but unfortunatley they have no missionary material as they do not have missionsaries! People become Sikh by learning usually by chance or by coming in to contact with them. They are currently the 5th biggest religion in the world and growing quite fast in the west and Russia. Please help us as we are stuck, to give you an example of they are all about we found the following websites: http://www.sikhnet.com (This is a pretty good site and helpful) http://www.hope.at/sikhism (This site is very easy to follow, check it out, they have a Womans section and a Martyrs section, it looks like that you are not the only one trying to expose the falseness of Islam, Sikhs scholars did it hundreds of years ago and got killed for it!) http://www.sikhs.org (This is the site that was on CNN when Sikhs in the USA were mistaken for Arabs and Middle Easterners and were attacked by mindless {censored}s)

Please help us out, we cant make our website about religion being the cause of war and disharmony when we have this one and only religion which makes a hell of a lot of sense! lol (I thought Atheism had all the answers but were kind of stuck now.) We look forward to hearing from you, we respect your great views and want to promote them to everyone, thank you for your time, take care.

Dr. John Smith

 

[spnadmin]

Begum ji

Help me out with a practical problem. When I select the link at the top of your comment I end up at your blog. What is the original url where you found this article?

On the face of it, though, it looks as if we are hanging out with the right people -- SadhSangaat.

 

[Astroboy]

The site that you went to has a link. But since you did not notice it, here is that link:
Testimonies

 

[Shaheediyan]

Religions and representations of God are many, and many have come and gone beknown to us. Religions are mentioned by various posters, but which if these religions survives in their original "truth" finding form?

All religions today are exotric only a few truthful practioners (who can belong to any religion) are esoteric i.e. seeking the truth inside - Nij Ghar Mahal.

The only thing stands the test of time is truth:

Aad Sach

Jugaad Sach

Hai Bi Sach

Nanak, Hosi Bi Sach

 

[spnadmin]

Begum,

Thanks for the link. Peace.

 

[Astroboy]

I did my own search to find the original script and came close enough. There it is: http://www.amritbani.com/documents/Atheist Society looks at Sikh Dharam.pdf
Looks like the original script.

From aad0002 - Thanks Begum.

 

[Shaheediyan]

What a blatent attempt at propoganda from not so clever Sikhs!

Yes, excellent way to propogate the faith, around deciept and devalueing all other religions.

Evangelists!

 

[Sworn_Avenger]

Islam - Largest growing religion, strong faith.
Christianity - Political Power, Financial power, dominate religion of the western world.
Sikhism - Small numbers yet faithful, however on the border to pakistan when the inevitble war finally kicks off, punjab sikhs base is in the firing line. Even in the uk sikhs are in the firing line, every city/town muslims dominate it, leaving sikh youths feeling threatened apart from a few towns i.e Southall, Gravesend. Even southall these days is becoming more and more muslim. I see sikh boys converting daily to islam because of the pressure around, this is no exaggeration, there are gangs in London whos main ambition is to convert people to islam using severe violence. aka PDC, SMS. The only hope to fight back was shere punjab boys, but they tourned on their own sikh brothers, began extorting smal businesses, they were eventually chased down, half sent to prison half in hiding from the bigger sikh fish, but these people are only into making money, business, proeprty deals, flash cars. they do not care whats happening to their own people on the street.

 

[kds1980]

I see sikh boys converting daily to islam because of the pressure around, this is no exaggeration, there are gangs in London whos main ambition is to convert people to islam using severe violence.

If sikh boys are converting to islam because of pressure then where is their fighting spirit
Is the situation more worse than 18thcentury.

 

[Sworn_Avenger]

it depends on your area and situation. if your from a wealthy family, you don't tend to get caught up with the local gangs on the street, but if you live anywhere out of hose sikh safe havens and your family is not rich, then you will get cuaght up, i will say it is worse than the 1980's right now its sick. The stories i hear makes my community want to go out on vigilante attacks against certain groups. E.G Sikh girls are being raped constantly until they convert. Boys are beating beaten and stabbed half to death until they convert. Its crazy, i cant explain the situation its too much!

 

[kds1980]

it depends on your area and situation. if your from a wealthy family, you don't tend to get caught up with the local gangs on the street, but if you live anywhere out of hose sikh safe havens and your family is not rich, then you will get cuaght up, i will say it is worse than the 1980's right now its sick. The stories i hear makes my community want to go out on vigilante attacks against certain groups. E.G Sikh girls are being raped constantly until they convert. Boys are beating beaten and stabbed half to death until they convert. Its crazy, i cant explain the situation its too much!

If the situation is so bad then what is uk police and law is doing.i thought that law and order in western countries is much better than india.but if what you are saying is true then
this situation is no better than the law and order state of bihar.I don't think in indian cities anyone can rape a girl and forces her to convert to hinduism or islam.

 

[Sworn_Avenger]

Police in india is much better, apart from the corruption we hear of. Police can't do anything, the girl is to scared to report it, for her family, half the muslims doing it are illegal immigrants anyway, if they do get arrested no proof can be obtain or in the slight chance they do ge caught red handed they chances are they wont serve a prison sentence, and if they do it will be a maximum of 5 years. then they'll be a new illegal immigrant to replace them, it never stops theres to many. This only happens in certain areas but the scale it happens is much bigger than anyone thinks. Until u live here, and its your mates its happening too, you wont understand because it will al sound a little farfetched

 

[kds1980]

are these muslims also targetting hindu's and christians or their specific target are only sikhs.?