August 11, 2012

With the Sikhs, in "good faith"

The horrific mass-shooting in the Sikh Gudwara on August 6, 2012, has inspired many poignant responses.  The Sikh community is understandably shocked, but as Bhira Backhaus reveals, there is resignation too.  Assimilation to the dominant culture would be to turn one's back on the 100-year history of Sikhs in America.  Samuel G. Freedman points out the debate on the hard question of whether American society would be more inured to such an attack if it had happened at a Muslim mosque instead.  This issue hinges on whether the rise of Islamophobia in the US is indeed leading people to expect or rationalize anti-Muslim violence in a way different from violence against other groups.  The possibility that there is truth in this is very troubling.

It's been my experience that, in the case of most of the major religious groups and organizations, hate crimes and violence are against the tennents of that religion.  It is the militant, extreme versions, which are tennuously linked to their larger traditions, that are willing to carry out attacks on innocent victims.  Thus, the White Supremacy of the Oak Creek shooter, Wade M. Page, is a warped worldview with tenuous roots in Christian identity.  It's a far cry from what Jesus taught.

Of course, this is the case with Sikhism too.  In a recent article, Diana Eck (Harvard Divinity School), lifts up one of the most striking aspects of the Sikh tradition--its emphasis on hospitality--and reminds us of how truly welcome the shooter would have been if he had entered that gudwara in "good faith" last week.  Acting in "bad faith" and attacking those we fear are so different from us is the same as acting in no faith.  There is no trust of others, no hope, no charity.  When "bad faith" rules us, the world we live in becomes a living hell.

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