Posted on 10/24/2014 3:04:15 PM PDT by lowbridge
Like all religions, the Sikh faith is steeped in tradition. One of the most revered is the carrying of a Kirpan, a sword or dagger, at all times.
"People will even wear it in the shower. It's kind of hard for others to understand," said Jaswinder Singh, spokesman for the Gurudwara Sikh Center of Seattle.
The concept of the Kirpan is taught to children at an early age. The dagger is considered an instrument of social justice.
"For the people who are formally initiated to the Kirpan, it's very near and dear," said Singh.
But is it appropriate to bring to school?
A few weeks ago at Auburn's Gildo Rey Elementary, a Sikh family approached the school telling them their little boy would be carrying a Kirpan every day.
That didn't sit well with some.
One school volunteer named Shelby, who asked her last name not be used, said respecting religion goes too far if it compromises student safety.
"There's no way I'd go back until the knife was gone," she said.
Shelby does not volunteer at Gildo Rey.
"They can't take that thing into the airport. TSA would be all over it. Why is a school any different?" she asked.
(Excerpt) Read more at king5.com ...
Another sworded affair
I got a cub scout knife when I was 8, carried it every day.
Sikh’s make for good neoghbours
This could get real interesting real fast.
why can we seem to accommodate every religion and every culture except Christianity and Judaism?
Indeed they do.
we’re diverse now, donchano? No crosses, but knives ok.
Sikhs-kirpan.
Christian-Bible.
Pagan-athame.
Heathen-scramasax
Works for me as long as everyone plays nice.
I carried a Buck folder or a Benchmade Old Timer until I graduated...
Sikhs are always agitating for special rights, they have been a curse to our military for generations
Gotta watch out for people with the name Singh. They commit murder.000000000000000002% of the time : )
1911A1 a holy instrument in my book.
Was the student muslim?
I think a new American tradition is in order. We should carry a firearm at all times. :^)
I’ll bet that Sikhs commit defense of self and others at a relatively high rate ... but no one keeps numbers on that. :-)
Are you saying that that's not our sacred duty? Oops! ;^)
Yeah.
I worry about the muslims who are flooding in here.
I agree. Attended engineering school with a decent sized population of Sikhs. Good people... The everyday Pakistani or Indian, however... well, I can’t say the same... particularly with the Pakis.
Circa 1966 Lockport, Louisiana at Lockport High School
Many of us had shotguns in our vehicles during hunting season as we would hunt after school. The principal and the cops knew this. Hell, some of them where on gun racks in the back window of the pickups. There was not one incidence of the use of a firearm that was illegal or wrong.
Relative to knives you could carry what you wanted as long as it was legal in the State of Louisiana. There was not one incidence of a knife crime at my high school.
Was there the occasional fight at school? Yes there was. It was done with fists. Oddly enough those in the fights often became friends in the end. It is all part of growing up.
The reason for crime in our schools is not guns and knives. The reason is the breakdown of civil moral society at the hands of progressive liberalism. In the 1960s we called them communists and or socialists.
does this school allow Christians to have freedom of religion?
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