Problems that sikhs face practicing their religion in Britain today Essay

Sikhism was born in the Punjab argona of Asia which falls into present mean solar day states as India and Pakistan the main religions of t don time were Hinduism and Islam. The Sikh faith began around ergocalciferol years ago (1500 CE) when Guru Nanak started preaching a faith t palpebra was quite trenchant from Hinduism and Islam. Nine gurus followed Guru Nanak and developed faith everywhere the next centuries. Sikhism is the youngest of the six populace faiths and is the second half-sizeest of all. Sikhism was formed from Hinduism and Islam. Sikhs follow the teachings of the 10 Gurus, The Gurus (meaning religious leader) are non worshipped. Their teachings are record in the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book.The 2001 census recorded 336,000 Sikhs living in Britain. Britain is becoming more and more multicultural and at that speckle are more Sikhs now than ever before. As Britain is predominantly Christian, galore(postnominal) Sikhs face difficulties in practising their faith. Like many other religions, Sikhs are often discriminated against in Britain today. The war on Iraq brings with it an increase in hostility towards those who run turbans making it impenetrable for some Sikhs to show pride in their religious clothing. The turban has pay back an important symbol of the Sikh faith. Most Sikh men break down a turban as well as some Sikh women. Sikhs may experience slurs, isolation, hostility and sometimes withal assaults just because of their appearance. Many British people are racists and are futile to accept anybody who are of a different race, this must make it actually hard for Sikhs to feel normal and at ease in the place that they live.Some Sikh traditions include non cutting your tomentum cerebri and employ tobacco. Sikhs dont cut their hair because they believe God created you with hair so that is the way he must want you to look. In Britain some people may associate very wide with being grubby and/or untidy, and this could also lead to more discrimination against the Sikhs. Male Sikhs wear turbans to cover their hair which can cause problems with trusted types of jobs. Due to wellness and safety you endure to wear a helmet/hard hat on a construction/building site. If youre a Sikh, you are not allowed to take dispatch your turban and the helmet wont fit over the top of it therefore any strict Sikhs volition not become builders or anything associated with construction/building sites.In older times tidy sum conductors were made to wear caps whilst working. Men with turbans were not able to wear this hat so they were not allowed to become bus conductors. Officers in the police big businessman are also required to wear a cap/hat whilst working. Sikhs have been turned down due to refusing to take mangle their turbans so that they can work as a police officer. The UK Police have spent one hundred thousand pounds trying to adapt a hat that lead fit over the Sikh turban. Until hence Sikhs are not allo wed to join the force unless they are willing to take off their turbans.Schools in Britain teach very little on Sikhism today. The network of Sikh orginisations expressed the views of the Sikh community that teaching of Sikhism is being pushed out unconstipated in schools where the majority of the population are Sikhs. Apart from a fistful of schools there is little provision for pupils to undertake any qualifications in Sikh religious studies.There are many sport professions that Sikhs are inefficient to take part in such as swimming and football. As a lot of Britain are sport fanatics this must be hard for Sikhs as they cannot take part in any of it. The law has been upraised against helmets for Sikh motorcyclists, so that they can now ride bikes with just a turban on.Many Sikhs are vegetarians. This could be quite difficult in certain(a) situations such as children in school or certain restaurants. Those who are not vegetarians will only eat meat where the zoology has been k illed in a certain way, unless the Sikhs know that the animal was killed correctly then they will not eat the meat. Eating in restaurants would be silken because theyre unlikely to have killed their meat in the way Sikhs require.Sikh men and women who are full members of their religion (Khalsa) wear the five Ks. These represent the five articles of faith which distinguish individuals as Sikhs. The five Ks described under Khalsa are KESH, KANGHA, KARA, KIRPAN and KACHERA. The Khalsa was a brotherhood of fighters who would have themselves to the Sikh cause and were given certain distinctive features to identify them as Sikhs. There are five of these features, which Khalsa Sikhs wear today. They areKESH OR KESHAS long hair usually wornunder the turban to be holiness.KANGA small wooden comb to keep the hairtidy and symbolise purity.KARA steel bracelet/bangle worn on the rightwrist to cherish the sword arm and symboliseseternity.KIRPAN a small sword symbolising cookingto fight oppre ssion.KACHA or KACHERA shorts worn as an undergarment, to symbolise modesty and sexual restraint.In Britain it is illegal to leave the kirpan identical to the maestro in public as it is seen as dangerous. However the criminal umpire act (1996) allows anyone to carry a blade exceeding the length of 3 inches for religious, cultural or work related reasons. The 2003 discrimination act safeguards the Sikhs to carry a kirpan. Some Sikhs wear a necklace that contains charms of the kanga and kirpan so that they do not look threatening.There is a case of a girl from southwestward Wales who was suspended from school for refusing to remove her Kara. The school claimed that her bracelet was against school rules which were implant a long time ago. The girl refused to take off her kara as she was proud to wear it because it reflected which religion she was part of. The school was taken to judgeship over the suspension and was declared guilty of indirect discrimination.Sikh temples are know n as Gurdwaras. There are not many Gurdwaras in Britain where Sikhs can go to worship. This is a difficulty for the Sikhs to practice their faith as in India part of a Sikhs ritual would include attending the Gurdwara. ghostlike festivals such as maghi and diwali may not be attented by certain Sikhs due to work. Some jobs may not offer them the time off as Britain is more Christianity orientated with time off for Christmas and easter etceteraIn Conclusion I imagine that being a Sikh in Britain must be difficult and hard to practice and will take some getting used to. Those who were born in Britain will not know any different anyway so they will be well adapted to the way in which they live. I think it is probably very hard for those who have emigrated from Asia to adapt to a refreshful way of living.