Secularisation and the Sikh Religious Tradition

Abstract

L'auteur examine les faits saillants de l'émergence et de l'évolution de la tradition religieuse Sikh. Il fixe son attention sur le processus de sécularisation. Il tente de montrer comment la répudiation de l'idéal Hindu de renonciation et I'accent mis sur une morale d'orientation intra-mondaine ont conduit le Sikhisme & a g r a v e ; envisager progressivement le pouvoir politique comme un but légitime. Foi religieuse et conflit armé se sont alors imbriqués et sont devenus les moyens de cet objectif. Au cours de ce processus, la conception Sikh du sécularisme a entraîné la suppression de la séparation entre la religion et l'Etat. Mais cette perspective entre toutefois en conflit aujourd'hui avec le processus de modernisation qui cherche au contraire & a g r a v e ; limiter le rôle de la religion dans la vie publique. Social Compass, XXXIII/2-3, 1986, 257-273 The word secularisation has been used in the West in a number of interrelated meanings. These include notably the following: (1) an increasing involvement with 'this, our, world' and an affirmation of 'this-worldliness' as a value; (2) a process of ' ' privatisation' such that the religious life of the individual is regarded as being his or her personal concern which, therefore, should be protected from undue interference by the Church or the State; (3) a gradual narrowing down, if not the elimination, of the role of religious beliefs, practices and institutions in everyday life. These (and other related) notions of secularisation have emerged, it seems to me, not in stark denial of the place of religion in human life but from a dialectic of the religious and secular domains the complementary opposition of which has been recognised from the very beginning in the Christian tradition. In this paper I attempt an examination of the significance of the fact that, in the Sikh religious tradition an original attitude of world affirmation was in course of time redefined to emphasise the unity of the Church and the State, so that what might seem contradictory in terms of the Western civilisation is here sought to be reconciled. This development within the Sikh tradition cannot but be of deep interest to students of comparative religion and to theorists of secularisation.

What is religious fundamentalism? A literature review

“…A second subcomponent of authoritarian submission is the view that is unhelpful to question, doubt, or criticize the truths of one's religion (Almond et al, 2003;Hood et al, 2005;Kirkpatrick, 1993;Moaddel & Karabenick, 2013;Swearer, 1991). This quality is noted in research with the following fundamentalist groups: the Haredi (Heilman & Friedman, 1991), American Protestants (Peshkin, 1986), Indian Sikhs (Madan, 1991), the Jamaat-e-Islami (Ahmad, 1991), and the Taliban (Rashid, 2010).…”

“…The early formal definition of Haredim, a group identified as a form of Jewish fundamentalism by social scientists, believe in the unchanging fundamental truths of the religion (Heilman & Friedman, 1991). RF in Eastern religions-the Arya Samaj (Hindu), the Santi Asoka (Buddhist), and Bhindranwale's Sikhism-emphasize the importance on returning to the fundamentals of the religion (Gold, 1991;Madan, 1991;Swearer, 1991).…”

“…Fundamentalists of different religions require submission to religious authority: American Protestants (Ammerman, 1987), Iranian Shi'ite Muslims (Sachedina, 1991), Malaysian Dakwah Muslims (Nash, 1991), Indian fundamentalist Sikhs (Madan, 1991), Hindu Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS; Gold, 1991), Dhammakaya Thai Buddhists (Swearer, 1991), and Jews of the Hasidic, Haredim, and Gush Emunim (Aran, 1991;Heilman & Friedman, 1991). Fundamentalists are to accept God's will (Ahmad, 1991;Almond et al, 2003;Ammerman, 1987;Hood et al, 2005), and obey the sacred text (Herriot, 2007).…”

“…Another element of RF is the goal of integrating the sacred into (11a) all elements of an individual's life, and (11b) all institutions within society. At the individual level, fundamentalists are rigorous in their prohibitions and prescriptions (Almond et al, 2003;Herriot, 2007), as noted in Sikh (Madan, 1991), Islam (Wright, 2007), Catholic (Almond et al, 2003), Protestant (Peshkin, 1986), Hindu (Gold, 1991), and Buddhist (Swearer, 1991) fundamentalisms. Prohibitions in RF can be lengthy, including no alcohol, extramarital sex, cursing (Ammerman, 1987), gambling, theater, sports (Swearer, 1991), reading books outside one's religion (Ahmad, 1991), jewelry, perfume, low hems or necklines (Hood et al, 2005), furniture, medicine, or hospitals (Nash, 1991), kite-flying, computers, nail polish, statues, pictures, TV or music (Wright, 2007).…”

“…The Gush Emunim proposed a Torah constitution and a Toracratic republic (Aran, 1991). Bhindranwale and other Sikh fundamentalists believed religion and politics were inseparable (Madan, 1991). Buddhist fundamentalists influenced the Sri Lankan government, establishing a ministry to restore Buddhist shrines and publish Buddhist literature, creating a national Buddhist holiday, supporting Buddhist schools, and appointing Buddhist marriage registrars (Heilman & Friedman, 1991).…”