Columnists
The Politics Of Religious Conversion:
Janam Da Firangee,
Sikhi Main Mangee
FATEHPAL SINGH TARNEY
This column was prompted by my reading about some Muslim refugees converting to Christianity upon their arrival in Germany.
I think it is always legitimate as well as a part of human nature to question the sincerity and duration of conversions of this type. Most of these new converts to Christianity from Islam claim that true belief was behind their transition.
However, it is also a fact that, as Christians, these refugees have a better chance of gaining asylum as well as acceptance in a narrow-minded Europe and that being forced to return to an equally narrow-minded Middle East as Christians would subject them to even greater persecution.
It should be obvious to both the scholar and the casual observer that religions cannot develop and thrive without converts. No religion begins without converts. However, many people born into a given faith tend to overlook this reality.
Converts are often looked down upon, looked at with some suspicion, or considered inferior devotees. The obverse of these perspectives is the idea that converts reinvigorate a religion – people who bring new life to it.
Religious conversion has many categories -- some good, some bad, some ugly: free choice conversions; death bed conversions; marital conversions; forced conversions, and conversions of convenience, such as greater opportunities for upward mobility.
Examples of some of the latter groupings would be non-Muslims in the Ottoman Empire or under the Mughals in India who adopted Islam, or when parents want a child to be admitted to a prestigious school affiliated with a Christian denomination. Or to secure a burial plot, as in British-held Hong Kong. Such conversions were fairly common during the British Raj.
Of course, it is one thing to go from one branch of Christianity to another, such as Roman Catholic to Presbyterian, or go from being a devotee of Shiva to one of Ganesha. Transitions of this sort are not that dramatic. It is historically interesting that given the missionary zeal of both Muslims and Christians in India, there are Hindu sects that look very skeptically at conversion.
Westerners, however, who develop a keen interest in Sikhism are confronted with something more challenging and striking. The common view in the West among those few who know anything at all about our religion is that Sikhism is not known to actively proselytize, but that it does accept converts.
The challenge for the Western convert to Sikhi involves, among other things, language. My personal experience with Punjabi has combined frustration with some frivolity. I am quite proficient in the Spanish language; less so in Punjabi. However, my pronunciation in both languages has been considered excellent by native speakers.
Good pronunciation can be both an asset and a liability in that people fluent in these tongues assume that I, too, am fluent, and begin speaking too rapidly for me. I use both words and hand gestures to slow both Spanish and Punjabi speakers down!
Many a Western convert to Sikhi has lamented the insularity of Punjabi Sikhs in their interaction with non-Punjabi Sikhs arguing that this prejudice to be inconsistent with the very message and teachings of Guru Nanak.
My own experience as a Western convert to Sikhi is to have seen people marginalized when they should have been embraced. Inclusion – not insularity -- should be promoted, but often is not. Sikh ignorance of and lack of interest in the ideas and experience of Western converts should be a source of concern, given the sad state of affairs in Punjab with drug and alcohol abuse as well as the persecution of Sikhs in the Muslim-dominated countries of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
There is a young Sikh at my Gurdwara Sahib who has on several occasions been very disrespectful to me to the point when I had to tell him off. I suggested that, although I do not feel superior to him, he certainly should not feel superior to me simply because of his Punjabi ancestry.
His insularity is so antithetical to the teachings of our Gurus. I told him that he was a Sikh through accident of birth, whereas I was a Sikh out of conviction. He had no basis for his high-handedness in terms of religion.
Moreover, I had to educate him on the fact that our first Guru to have been born into Sikhi was our Fifth Guru Sahib, Arjan Dev Ji.
September 8, 2015
Conversation about this article
1: Oliver Smith (Nottingham, United Kingdom), September 08, 2015, 4:43 PM.
As a Sikh convert, in my experience I have never been the victim of any prejudice or discrimination from the Punjabi community. In fact I have found Punjabi Sikhs very eager to accept me and quite enthusiastic about people from other backgrounds embracing Sikhi. However, I have experienced a fair amount of harassment from other 'white' English people who find the idea of one of their 'own' becoming a Sikh offensive. I also echo the author's sentiments regarding the language barrier. Most Punjabi classes seem to be aimed at young children, and the few that are not assume prior knowledge of conversational Punjabi.
2: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), September 08, 2015, 9:05 PM.
Sikhism is about being practical and based on knowledge and intelligence rather than mindless and senseless rigid dogma and discrimination.
3: Tony Singh (Canada), September 08, 2015, 9:55 PM.
Very sorry to hear about your experience, Fatehpal ji. In my opinion, westerners who have adopted Sikhi deserve our highest regard as you have chosen to follow a path that will subject you to bigotry that you would not otherwise face as a 'white' westerner. Unfortunately, many of the Punjabi Sikhs that I have known are not at all familiar with the true teachings of our Gurus but claim to be Sikhs just because they are born into a Sikh family. It will be the converts who will keep true Sikhi alive as they have made a conscious decision to join the faith and were not compelled by family or others to their beliefs.
4: R.S. Minhas (Millburn, New Jersey, USA), September 09, 2015, 9:05 AM.
I have been so impressed with Guru Nanak choosing Bhai Lehna over his own sons to be the next Guru, a critical decision at that time. He helped them all with his compassion.
5: Taran (London, United Kingdom), September 09, 2015, 12:21 PM.
Fatehpal ji: You are not the first person who feels this way. This is kind of a widespread problem within Punjabi Sikhs. Many of our brethren -- as in every community -- have little practical knowledge of the Sikh way of life. Some are also infected with the Hindu blight of casteism and too much importance is laid on I-know-better-than-you. Have you ever seen a gurdwara president under 30? This is why youngsters in Punjab and the diaspora are turning their backs on gurdwaras and sometimes even on Sikh practices.
6: Harsaran Singh (Denpasar, Indonesia), September 09, 2015, 12:54 PM.
Fateh Pal Singh ji, I agree with you that no religion has started or progressed without conversions. But to put it in your words, it is those who are Sikhs by accident of birth who have made it into a contentious issue. Let us not forget that it is these so-called custodians of our faith who opposed B.R. Ambedkar, also known as the Father of the Indian Constitution when he wanted to embrace Sikhi alongwith hundreds of thousands of Dalits or low-caste Hindus. Today, the same set of people show their concern when the latest census shows a dwindling Sikh population across India. Let us ignore these people. Had they any genuine concern for the community, Punjab would not have been in such a pathetic state.
7: Kaala Singh (Punjab), September 09, 2015, 1:50 PM.
Fatehpal Singh ji: This little boy who misbehaved with you would have misbehaved with me as well. This boy reflects the attitude of his parents, kids of this age do not have the wisdom to think independently. His parents may be living in America physically but mentally they are still stuck in their parochial "pind" in Punjab. It is people like these who take any community down. Sadly, living in a civilized modern land has not done such people any good.
8: Kaala Singh (Punjab), September 09, 2015, 2:07 PM.
@1: Sikhism as a global religion should move beyond Punjabi and be taught and practiced in other languages. Guru Gobind Singh was born in Bihar and spent his childhood there, he did not speak Punjabi until he moved to Punjab. Many of his writings are in Persian and the local Hindi dialect. Those of us of Punjabi background do not need to learn the language but it should not be a compulsion for people of non-Punjabi background to learn the language. What is important is the essence of Sikhism which many Punjabi speakers lack.
9: G Singh (United States), September 10, 2015, 11:31 AM.
Though I am no fan of your writing(s), this article touched me. I am sorry that this guy who lacks the basic attributes of a human being does this at a gurdwara, of all places.
10: Kaala Singh (Punjab), September 10, 2015, 2:18 PM.
@9: Like everywhere, there should be a code of conduct in the gurdwara, anyone who does not conform to proper standards of behaviour should be thrown out just like it is done in a court of law. Are we not in the Guru's court here?
11: Jaswinder Kaur (Germany), September 14, 2015, 6:31 AM.
I thank all the westerners who have adopted Sikhi. In fact I see more Sikhi in them than in many of the Sikhs who are born into Sikhism. I see Sikhi flourishing with them.