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The Spin Cycle

by I.J. SINGH

 

In this political season, so many spinmeisters ride the waves that I, too, am tempted to try my hand at a little politically correct spin, but in the domain of religion ... I hope and pray without offending any.

For umpteen years, I have been troubled by the claims of exclusivity emanating from three of the major religions of the world - Judaism, Christianity and Islam. 

Judaism is known the world over for its assertion of being "the chosen people of God".  Two religions came out of Judaism - Christianity and Islam.  These two offspring of Judaism seem to have taken this claim a logical step further, insisting that salvation was only through their mediator - the prophet of each faith - Jesus if you are Christian, and Mohammed for Muslims. 

Lines were drawn so sharply and clearly. 

They postulated that anyone who followed a different way was, by definition, bound for hellfire and damnation. 

This kind of "my way or the highway" logic would inevitably lead to hardening of positions.  Is it any wonder then that Christianity and Islam are the only major religions of the world that have engaged in jihads and crusades against each other and against the rest of the world that they have dubbed pagans, infidels and heretics?

I sometimes aver that Judaism has two children  - Christianity and Islam.  And in true western psychoanalytic tradition, the siblings live in a never-ending rivalry with each other while hating the parent.  (Perhaps that's where one should look for the roots of crusades, jihads, as well as anti-Semitism!)

Sikhism - my faith - professes no such exclusivity in doctrine or dogma.  It asserts many paths to the self and to liberation.  And I have explored such ideas many times in many a church.  Frequently, I was then confronted by dedicated Christians who insisted on the uniqueness of their way as the only possible true way. 

More often than not, I was subjected to the words of Jesus, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me". (John,14:6) 

The attitude of Muslims towards non-Muslims is similarly cast in stone, and stems from the line, "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger". (Koran, V: 99) 

Well before there were Christians or Muslims, Jews derived their own special status from the Bible: "The God of Israel is the one true God". (Genesis, 32:25)

Sikh scriptures, on the other hand, tell us:  "My Lord is both the Muslim Allah and the Hindu Gosaeen". (GGS, p 1136)

And in the immortal words of Guru Gobind Singh, "He is in the temple as in the mosque, in the Hindu worship as in the Muslim prayer".  (Akal Ustat, p 86)  

And also: "As out of a single fire, millions of sparks arise, so from God's form emerges all creation". (Akal Ustat, p 87).  

I have often wondered how exactly to interpret the many conflicting claims of exclusivity which diminish those of other faiths.  Ergo, my moment of spin today!  I know spin is a ploy that is universally derided, except in politics.  But bear with me a bit.

I teach human anatomy at a university where the class size is inordinately large.  For a number of years I was responsible for the course.  The subject is such that most students dread it.  It is not comfortable to dissect humans in endless detail over a period of several months.  The detail is mind-numbing, but without it no one is ever going to become a health professional. (Emphasis on ever is intended.)  And my university is one of the most expensive schools in the country, nay, the world.

Do students ever get desperate?  Do they ever get into trouble?  You bet!

When they do, some come weeping, others prefer to fight.  The latter question the competence of the faculty, the necessity of the course, or the relevance of the unending minutia that comprises the exams.

Finally, they dissolve into tears.  And then we try to work out if there is some way they can still be redeemed.  Is there a purgatory for them to mend their ways, or must they be expelled to a place in limbo?  And is this going to be for a limited time period or will it be forever in a hell of their own making?

My words surely sound Messianic, and often, I have hectored students with what is best labeled a sermon.  I have said:

"Listen to me and listen well.  Your class was carefully selected; you were chosen for admission because we know you can complete this demanding program.  You have taken the gamble of your lives.  It is an expensive play that you have made.  Without anatomy, you will get nowhere in this program and in this profession.  Listen to what the faculty is telling you.  Follow what they and I are asking you to do.  Therein is your salvation.  Else it is a guaranteed hell of your own making".

So far, my message is not substantially different from that of all those who claim exclusivity of dogma and status for the "chosen few".

I might also have added that, "minimally, I expect you to know what you were told in the lecture or lab by the faculty.  Look at the course requirements.  Master them; they will save you.  Don't run around like a dog chasing its own tail hunting around for Cliff Notes or a Coloring Book in Anatomy.  They can't help you.  With them, your fate will be sealed and you will suffer failure".

I may even have challenged some students thus: "Follow me and I will lead you out of your morass and into a better future.  Here and now, my way is your only hope; when you step on this path, look not elsewhere.  This will be your salvation". 

In these, or similar, words I might have called upon them to heed the message.  Did they?  Many did, some chose otherwise.

I did not, however, carry the message forward to claim that my university is the only true institution while all others are false, that they are all unrecognized and unregistered except this.  Never!  Or, that I am the only anatomist who ever was or will ever be; all others, anywhere in the world, are pretenders.  Such bombast would obviously be nonsense and false.  If a student starts thinking that this is what I mean, what can I say?  I appreciate his loyalty to me, but he has missed the message.  To draw such conclusion from my words would clearly be monumental folly.  

I use my personal example to argue the point only because what I describe is endemic in academia.  I am hardly the first teacher or the last to have propounded such directives that are like thunderbolts of lightning hurled at innocent students. 

Surely, physicians and lawyers deliver strong messages and edicts in similar language to many a patient or client every day.  Recovering patients often swear by their physicians.  For them, their healer is the only one, but let's not diminish the many other excellent practitioners of the art.

In fact, we encounter such exchanges wherever the situation mandates a degree of authority and expertise.  Clearly, I am no prophet.  But even when prophets use such words, we need to understand the purpose and the meaning of what they say.

I submit that such words need to be interpreted in the context of the time and circumstance, with grave caution and a hefty dose of common sense.

When taken in context, the message of Jews of being chosen, or the words of Jesus or Mohammed are not incorrect, inconsistent or irrational.  

But if the Jews are the chosen people, then so are the Christians, Muslims or Sikhs, and many others, including agnostics and atheists.  Sikh teaching, too, argues insistently for a direct human-divine connection without any intermediary - and that would clearly imply being chosen or the select.

I remember when at a church someone challenged me with the statement that Jesus was "the only son of God, begotten not made", from which she concluded that in the hierarchy of prophets, Jesus was on a higher pedestal than the prophets of other religions who did not make such a claim.

My response, when I recovered from her onslaught, was that my father had four children.  I may be the black sheep of the family but the biological relationship can never be diminished, sundered, swept aside or denied.  Similarly, we are all God's children (sons and daughters) - those of faith and those without any - even though between our lives and those of Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed and Nanak there may be both a quantum and a qualitative difference.

Many times, Guru Granth reminds us that human birth is unusually special, in fact unique, because it allows us to explore with our heads and hearts the universal connectivity of the divine spark that is in us all (GGS, p 441: Munn too(n) jyot saroop hai(n) apnaa mool pehchhan.).

I can embrace and live with the expansive concept of being a chosen people that is inherent in these words and that I have enunciated here. 

I think, from reasons of our inner insecurities, we have created a definition that is confrontational and unnecessarily limited.  No God, if (s)he is not a lower case god, would consent to it. 

It seems to me that my take on this critical issue might be a reasonable way to engage others in our multifaith, multicultural existence in a global village without diminishing anyone.

When I reason thus, I find the idea of being the "chosen of God" is really no longer quite so problematic, alarming or upsetting.  In fact, it may even be liberating.

 

July 1, 2008

Conversation about this article

1: Bhupinder Singh Ghai (New Delhi, India), July 03, 2008, 2:02 AM.

We all know how univeral the message of Sikhi and Guru Granth Sahib is. But,I often wonder why we are lacking in spreading this message to the masses and the non-sikhs? First thing is that we and our leaders are busy fighting between ourselves and our inflated egos rather than spreading Guru's message. Secondly, we feel we need spin-doctors (if the word is right in this context), specially like Dr. Singh himself, highly educated, intelligent and articulate to be a living example of what Sikhs are. Finally, we need decades and generations of humanitarian work (education, healthcare, job opportunities) like the Christian missionaries to passively spread the message. By no means am I talking about conversion here. Just liberating people from thier anxieties, insecurities and making them good human beings. Nanak naam chardi kala, tere bhaney Sarbat da bhala...

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