Sikhs, Catholics Share Views
By Tim Puet
Sikhs and Catholics who have been taking part in an ongoing dialogue for the past three years say it has shown them that the two religious traditions have many things in common and has led to a deepening appreciation of each other’s perspective.
“We have formed bonds of friendship and of respect for each other and for the words and traditions that have great meaning to both of our faiths, and this is at the beating heart of this dialogue,” said Dr. Tarunjit Butalia, a Columbus resident who helped organize the dialogue’s third session. The event took place Friday through Sunday, May 29 through 31, at the Shrine Center for Renewal in Columbus.
Throughout the weekend, representatives of both faiths made presentations and conducted discussions on how the two religions view the nature of God. They presented summaries of their activities at a dinner on May 30 attended by members of the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio representing the Catholic, Sikh, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Moslem, Buddhist, Hindu and Baha’i faiths. Out of respect for the Jewish Sabbath, Jewish members of the association were not asked to participate.
Speaking at the dinner on behalf of the Catholic representatives was Father Francis Tiso, associate director of the ecumenical and interreligious affairs for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He and Butalia, a research scientist at The Ohio State University, are among those who decided to start a formal dialogue in 2006. This came about as a result of informal conversations following a meeting in New York of an interfaith group known as Religions for Peace – USA.
The first Sikh-Catholic National Retreat took place in 2006 in Huntington, N.Y., with a theme of “Divinity, Humanity and Creation.” It was followed the next year by a gathering in Washington highlighting the subject of holiness.
“This year’s meeting built on those two and went into greater depth than the others,” because its subject was the nature of God, Father Tiso said.
“We found that both of our faith traditions have a similar sort of caution talking about God – the idea that words can’t fully express his nature, that ‘God is greater than … .’ This is one thing the discussion brought out in a number of insightful moments.
“We are both monotheistic religions, sharing that in common with the Muslim and Jewish traditions, Sikhs and Catholics both believe in the transcendence and the eternal nature of God.
“We differ on the concept of the Trinity. On the question of ‘Can God be a human being?’ Sikhs seem to deny this, but not totally. In some cases, they say ‘Since God is unlimited and able to do whatever he wants, it is possible he could take human form,’ so there’s an openness there.
“As we have the Old and New Testaments, Sikhs have volumes of sacred Scripture (two books known as the Guru Granth Sahib and the Dasam Granth) which guide them in spiritual matters. They do not have the kind of hierarchical structure Catholics do, but appear to have some overseers.”
Kuldeep Singh, a Toledo resident who is president of the national Sikh Youth Federation, also said the doctrine of the Trinity appears to be the major area of difference in the two faiths’ perception of God.
“Sikhs believe that God cannot be divided into more than one,” he said. “But as Catholics do, we too believe he is everywhere, in everything, without beginning or end, is merciful and forgiving, so we have all this in common.”
Sikhism is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world, with an estimated 25 million followers, most of them in the Indian state of Punjab. It was founded there at the end of the 15th century by Guru Nanak Dev, who was born a Hindu but declared “There is no Hindu; there is no Muslim.”
It grew over the next two centuries though the teachings of the nine gurus who followed him. The 10th guru, Gobind Singh, declared shortly before his death in 1708 that the holy Scripture would serve as the Sikhs’ ultimate spiritual authority and that temporal authority would be vested in the collective Sikh community.
The first things that come to mind in many Western nations when Sikhism is mentioned are the uncut hair for both genders and the turbans worn by men that are visible manifestations of the religion. Sikh community consensus has determined the turban to be optional for women.
Butalia said all the Sikh gurus had uncut hair, with the 10th guru commanding all Sikhs to withhold from cutting their hair as an outward sign of faith and of keeping one’s body intact as God created it.
The turban, besides serving as a covering for long hair, also is seen by Sikhs as a sign of equality. “During the time of the gurus, the turban was considered something that only royalty should wear, but the gurus asked all Sikhs to wear the turban as a sign of social equality, showing that the highest civil authority is no greater a person in God’s eyes than the average person in the street,” Butalia said.
Uncut hair is among five things Sikhs are required to wear as articles of faith. Collectively, they are known as the five K’s, because in the Punjabi language, all five begin with the letter K. The other four are a small comb, a circular iron bracelet, a special undergarment, and a ceremonial short sword which has become an object of contention on occasion, particularly after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Sikhs were unable to attend an interreligious meeting with Pope Benedict XVI last year in Washington because the Secret Service would not accommodate the requirement that they wear the sword, known in Punjabi as a kirpaan. Kuldeep Singh, then the chairman of the American branch of the World Sikh council, had to decline an invitation to the White House in 2004 for the same reason. Singh’s position was supported at the time by the National Council of Churches.
“The sword would more accurately be called a dagger, and Sikhs are forbidden from using it as an offensive weapon,” Butalia said. “It represents the Sikh commitment to resist oppression and injustice, but only in a defensive posture and never to initiate confrontation.”
USCCB youth representative Neil Sloan said at the end of Saturday’s dinner that the weekend was a significant event for both faiths and would lay the groundwork for more dialogue. “It was a beautiful experience of God enriching both our faiths,” he said.
One of his Sikh counterparts, Savraj Dhanjal, of Pennington, N.J., expressed similar thoughts. “We can get all sorts of perspectives about each other from the media and other sources, but none of this can be traded for hearing from someone,” he said. “Sharing our prayers, sharing our experience of the Divine and getting out of our comfort zones will help all of us in our daily efforts to find God’s presence.”
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