Of the five biggest religions in the world, the first two are easy to name – Christianity and Islam. The next two are murky but identifiable – Hinduism and Buddhism. The last and largest is one that, quite frankly, no one can guess – Sikhism.
Sikhism is the fifth biggest religion in the world, but few, if any, people know what it is. Many people mistake Sikhs as Muslims, thinking that since some Sikhs wear turbans and some Middle-Eastern Muslims wear turbans, they have to be the same, right?
Being born in India, and into a state in India that is heavily Sikh, I never felt out of sorts, per say, about my religion as many of my friends and family friends either were Sikh or were educated about our beliefs and customs, which are quite similar to those of Hinduism. In fact, my family follows practices, traditions and customs of both Hinduism and Sikhism, so, in a way, I got the best of both worlds. I never felt like I didn’t belong.
When I moved to the U.S., however, I immediately noticed the shift in perspective and acceptance. Everyone immediately assumed that, since I was from India, I was a Hindu who “worshipped cows.” When I tried to explain that I was, in fact, not technically Hindu but actually part of a religion that had equally as much importance, culture and history, people immediately began to stop paying attention.
In reality, the most that people know about Sikhs is what they see when the Humans of New York page covers the annual Sikh parade in New York or when they hear about the vicious hate crimes directed at Sikhs and Sikh temples due to the incorrect belief that they are radical Islamists.
Seeing this type of ignorance and hate towards people of a similar background to mine exasperates me. When the Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting occurred in 2012, I remember watching the news, in which even the anchors had absolutely no clue about the religion. The anchors, who were supposed to be aware of all that occurred in even the most remote parts of the world, had to inform themselves and, then, the public about what exactly Sikhism was. This stung as even some of the most well-informed individuals of the world didn't even know what the religion was. It baffled me that an entire population of people, not just in the United States but around the world, could be so uninformed about a religion that was one of the biggest in the world, even bigger than Judaism.
Everyone assumes that since some members of the religion elect to wear turbans, they are terrorists and would love to see the end of western civilization. Quite frankly, the religion teaches quite the opposite. Being a fairly newer religion, Sikhism is quite modern in its beliefs as the religion itself does not believe in the caste system prevalent throughout India and prohibits there to be any form of a priestly class. The religion promotes peace among all castes, creeds and religions of the world, hoping to unify everyone. Sikhism even discourages conversion to the religion, unless one does so of their own accord and not due to being forced.
Being part of a religion that is so prevalent in the world but one that people are so uniformed about has given me a desire to create change – a desire to dispel ignorance and to promote peace and not hate.
