Problems that sikhs face practicing their religion in Britain today Essay

Sikhism was born in the Punjab scene of action of Asia which falls into present day states as India and Pakistan the main holinesss of that fourth dimension were Hinduism and Islam. The Sikh faith began around 500 years ago (1500 CE) when Guru Nanak started preaching a faith that was quite distinct from Hinduism and Islam. Nine gurus followed Guru Nanak and developed faith constantlyywhere the next centuries. Sikhism is the youngest of the six world faiths and is the second weenyest of all. Sikhism was formed from Hinduism and Islam. Sikhs follow the dogmas of the 10 Gurus, The Gurus (meaning religious leader) atomic number 18 non worshipped. Their teachings argon recorded in the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book.The 2001 census recorded 336,000 Sikhs living in Britain. Britain is becoming to a greater extent and more(prenominal) multicultural and there atomic number 18 more Sikhs straight than ever before. As Britain is predominantly Christian, numerous Sikhs face ruggedies in practising their faith. Like roughly other religions, Sikhs be often discriminated against in Britain today. The war on Iraq brings with it an sum up in hostility towards those who take up toques making it hard for some Sikhs to plant pride in their religious clothing. The turban has become an important sign of the Sikh faith. Most Sikh men turn in a turban as well as some Sikh women. Sikhs may envision slurs, isolation, hostility and sometimes even assaults just be make believe of their appearance. Many British battalion are racists and are unable to accept anybody who are of a diametric race, this must make it in truth hard for Sikhs to feel normal and at ease in the place that they live.Some Sikh traditions include non cutting your tomentum and using tobacco. Sikhs dont cut their vibrissa because they believe God created you with hair so that is the agency he must want you to look. In Britain some people may associate very long with being dirty and/or untidy, and this could also lead to more discrimination against the Sikhs. Male Sikhs wear turbans to c everywhere their hair which can cause problems with plastered types of jobs. Due to health and safety you boast to wear a helmet/hard hat on a construction/building site. If youre a Sikh, you are non allowed to take off your turban and the helmet wint fit over the top of it therefore any unrelenting Sikhs will non become builders or anything associated with construction/building sites.In older times mountain 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 force are also required to wear a cap/hat whilst working. Sikhs have been turned down repayable to refusing to take off their turbans so that they can work as a police officer. The UK Police have spent one hundred mebibyte pounds trying to adapt a hat that will fit over the Sikh turban. Until then Sikhs are not allowed to join the force unless they are willing to take off their turbans.Schools in Britain teach very junior-grade on Sikhism today. The network of Sikh orginisations expressed the views of the Sikh community that teaching of Sikhism is being pushed out even in rails where the majority of the population are Sikhs. A persona from a handful of schools there is little provision for pupils to guarantee any qualifications in Sikh religious studies.There are many gas professions that Sikhs are unable to take part in much(prenominal) 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 lifted 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 situations such as children in school or certain restaurants. Those who are not vegetarians will solo eat meat where the animal has been killed in a certain way, unless the Sikhs accredit that the animal was killed correctly then they will not eat the meat. take in in restaurants would be tricky 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 fare individuals as Sikhs. The five Ks described low Khalsa are KESH, KANGHA, KARA, KIRPAN and KACHERA. The Khalsa was a brotherhood of fighters who would dedicate 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 have onunder the turban to symbolise holiness.KANGA small wooden comb to keep the hairtidy and symbolise purity.KARA steel bracelet/bangle worn on the rightwrist to protect the sword arm and symboliseseternity.KIRPAN a small sword symbo lising readinessto fight oppression.KACHA or KACHERA shorts worn as an undergarment, to symbolise modesty and sexual restraint.In Britain it is outlaw(prenominal) to carry the kirpan identical to the original in public as it is seen as dangerous. However the criminal justice act (1996) allows anyone to carry a brand exceeding the length of 3 inches for religious, cultural or work relate 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 grapheme of a misfire from South Wales who was suspended from school for refusing to remove her Kara. The school claimed that her bracelet was against school rules which were set a long time ago. The girl ref utilize 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 court over the suspension and was declared hangdog of indirec t discrimination.Sikh temples are known as Gurdwaras. There are not many Gurdwaras in Britain where Sikhs can go to worship. This is a worry for the Sikhs to practice their faith as in India part of a Sikhs religious rite would include attending the Gurdwara.Religious 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 etc.In Conclusion I judge 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 varied 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 new way of living.