tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4916866000947279564.post-48919497774039740302008-03-10T01:46:00.000-04:002008-03-10T01:46:00.000-04:00It is important to note that this article on <I>sādh saṅgat</I> is grounded in textual sources that represent the topic faithfully. The article, however, begins by stating that "God therefore expects all to be treated equally and one should not find fault with or look down upon any one." While I disagree with Raj Rattan Singh's premise that Creator does not expect anything, I want to probe this quote from the article's introduction further. The quote contains two very unrelated ideas: 1) God seeks equality; 2) God does not want us to find fault in others. The first idea concerning equality is what interests me the most. Here "equally" needs to be defined first of all. Does it mean that all human beings should be equal in social and economic sense? Or are they to be equal in terms of their potential to realize God? If it is the former, the thesis cannot be supported using Sikh sources. If it is the latter, then it is easier to justify. I say so because the Gurus sought to remove oppression from society but they did not envisage a social order in which all human beings would have the same social status: the latter is socialism, not Sikhi. It is important, therefore, that terms such as these be defined precisely before they are employed. For additional discussion on the issue of incompatibility of some socialist doctrines with Sikhi, see Kapur Singh's article, "<A HREF="http://sikhcentre.wordpress.com/2008/02/18/sirdar-kapur-singh-on-communist-inroads-amongst-the-sikhs-in-1977" REL="nofollow">Sikhism and Communism</A>." Kapur Singh's is obviously not an exhaustive statement on socialism (since socialism and communism are different, albeit related) and more work is needed to understand the Sikh position on this political ideology.<BR/><BR/>Harpreet SinghHarpreet Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07767170016775043354noreply@blogger.com