So I'm Sikh.

[Comrade Singh]

So basically, just a little bit about my self and my religious beliefs. I am a member of the Sikh faith, perhaps you've heard of it. Those guys with the turbans and beards (aside from certain muslims lol). I am a very religious person and my beliefs are quite an important part of my life. Like I mentioned in my introduction if anyone saw it was that I am also left-leaning. The funny thing is that it is while I'm posting this in an opposing ideologies subforum for me it was my religious views which confirmed to me that captialism was wrong and that socialism/communism was the right way to go.
So, my reason for posting this here is to recieve some views from people more knowledgeable on the left in regards to whether or not my religious views are compatible with left politics, so far I haven't been able to find much conflict.

What really did it for me was the correlation between the Sikh institution of 'Langar', and the whole principle of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need". The Langar is a compulsory part of all Sikh temples, it is in short a free kitchen which members of the congregation contribute to, either through monetary donations or the physical aspect, which any individual can eat from, as much as they need. This also tied in with the social revolutionary side of Sikhism, as this was introduced around the 1500s to an India which was rife with caste discrimination, hatred of 'untouchables' and also bigoted mughal nobility. The Langar broke down all social barriers and there was in fact a rule introduced that whoever wished to come and meet with the Sikh Guru (equivalent of prophet) first had to go to the langar and eat with all else there. This even extended to the Mughal Emporer Akbar, who had to sit on the floor with all his subjects, all the farmers, peasants, beggars, etc. and eat the same food as them.
There are also many incidents where the Sikh prophets met with exploitative landowners who took advantage of their workers and taught them how wrong they were. There is one famous story, although slightly spiritual, but it is where our prophet squeezed the bread offered to him by one such rich man and blood poured out of it, symbolising that all this man had was made of the blood and sweat of his labourers. Obviously while this is a spiritual sort of story, the main thing is that sikhism makes a point of speaking out against greed and exploitation of other human beings.
For further levels of equality there is also no priesthood in sikhism, just a direct relationship with God.

A compulsory item to be worn by all practicing sikhs is a 'kirpan', or small sword. This is because it is a core principle of the faith to fight injustice.
The Sikhs fought many wars against mughal tyrany and islamic fanaticisim, with the sikh prophets uniting the common and oppressed people and urging them to rise against the oppressors. Sikhs most certainly did not fight only for sikhs rights, for our ninth prophet actually gave his life for Hindus to have a right to practice their religion, while at the same time their beleifs have actually been completely rejected by sikhism.
The prophets also liberated women and the philosophy elevates them to complete equality with men. Oppressive practices of the time were all condemned, such as Hindu women who used to burn themselves on their husband's funeral pyre and also the veil. Remarriage of widows which was frowned upon is in fact encouraged in Sikhism.

For these reasons I personally thought that there did not seem to be conflict between Sikhism and communism or socialism, or at least not as much as there is with other faiths. Let alone not being in conflict there are quite a few overlaps. Though I'm not sure. I really would like to hear from the lefties on here which feel that there shouldn't be religion in a communist society, whether they feel the same way about Sikhism.
If anyone wants to ask me a question on any aspect which may help them make a judgement, I'll be happy to get back to you.

Regards

[Killfacer]

Welcome, it's always nice to get a veiw from another faith.

The problem is that communism, something which is not representative of the left at large, is completely at odds with religious beleifs. Most of it's great leaders were, correct me if im wrong, atheists. On the other hand, i saw someone post some links a couple of days ago, showing christian communes and communes of other religions so its pretty open really. (If there are some mistakes here, then i apologise)

On the other hand, your faith does not exclude you from the left wing. We have loads of religious types on this site and whilst they do sometimes have debates with the athiests about god/gods, they are just as much a part of the left as anyone else.

The main thing which trips people up are some subjects which the left have close to their heart, but which many religions disagree with. Most people restricted on this site for example, are Christians who are anti abortion. Whilst this does not exclude them from the left, they are frowned upon a bit. I am not particuarly knowledgable on Sikh beleifs on subjects such as these so i am interested to hear what you have to say on the matter.

[TheDifferenceEngine]

I'm an Atheist, and I actually kind of agree with a lot of Sikh beliefs and practice.

I'm not going to go into detail, but (in my opinion) if there's a major religion that actually co-incides with the Communist/Socialist "stream of thought" then It's Sikhism

(Although they might be homophobic and anti-abortion, I'm not sure)

[Schrödinger's Cat]

There's no contradiction between communism and religion. Marxism is not the end-all, be-all of communism.

[Dean]

It is good to see that you view communism as a rational application of your faith. Since communist ideals are mostly human standards, which stem from basic human drives, it seems only logical that communist ideals and policies would be exemplified in a lot of the religious standards across the globe.

On the subject of other faiths, I don't think its fair to maek that assertion. Firstly, a faith is more or less what the believer thinks of it - so any Christian, Muslim, Jew or Sikh should be able to have fairly consistent views on communism. Secondly, there are almost certainly communist tendencies in Judaism and Christianity that are not characteristic of Sikhism (sic?), from what I understand. Each religion has its own take on these things, and I think it would be unfair except in the case of some very contradictory cults like Mormonism or Scientology to make that judgement.

[OI OI OI]

Well you can be religious and a communist .

Religion is not incompatible with communism .

There is a material basis for religion and we are not idealist to try to enforce our views on atheism to people who are attracted by Marxism.

I suggest that you read more about Marxism and remember you can agree on the socio-economic side and not on the philosophic side of marxism.

You will not be less of a revolutionary that atheist communists just because you believe in God or whatever.

[Random Precision]

It's good to hear from you, Comrade Singh. I think you'll find that many on the left see a place for the religious in the fight against capitalism, and there are many who are religious themselves. Even one or two on this site.

I don't think your story of being led to communism by your religion is that uncommon either. Marxists identify religion as a product of alienation that occurs in any class-based society. This means that religion can serve as a prop for the oppressors as well as a tool for the oppressed. Right now, I'm studying the history of Brazil, and I've seen the truth of the Marxist perspective on religion: slaves coming into Brazil in the 17th-19th centuries were all taught the rudiments of the Catholic faith as a way to ensure their obedience, and there were often priests who would help the masters figure out how to make their slaves more productive. But many slaves escaped to the refuge of Palmares, which existed for about 90 years in the 17th century. There they found that Catholicism was, for all its faults, one of the only things they had in common with each other (besides that they had all been slaves). So in Palmares they established their own church, and selected "priests" to say Mass, do last rites, marriages and so on. Many of them saw the fight against the Portuguese, their old masters, as a holy war of sorts.

Anyway, kind of a pointless story, but the point is that religious ideas should be and for the most part are tolerated by the left. I look forward to your participation here. :)

[Glenn Beck]

"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo."

Marx was an atheist, yes, but he believed that religion was originally and in essence a reaction to the misery of the oppressed life of the majority ever since the birth of civilization. Marx felt that religion, as we know it, would not exist without oppression, and that the illusions that religion provides are necessary illusions that allow people to go on with their lives in the face of the most horrible miseries. Thus, a criticism of religion is not complete without a criticism of the causes for that faith. Marx's concern was not some iconoclastic obsession but rather an end to the more fundamental oppression after which the lesser oppressions of popular illusions would dissipate like smoke without fire.

I myself am an atheist, but I think any revolutionary society must necessarily mean liberation for those with spiritual yearnings as well. I believe that religion as we know it will cease to exist, but that just means it will reappear on a higher level. People will choose faith, not because of fear or loneliness, but as a free choice to look for something important. People should be free to study metaphysics or theology, or engage in meditation, ritual, or contemplation without the interference of oppressive authorities trying to use religion as a hammer to beat down the masses or a wedge to divide them. I guess communism could even be said to have a necessarily spiritual aspect as if man is free from ignorance, oppression, and want, he will necessary feel the need to turn inward and seek to understand himself without, to borrow religious language, those "worldly distractions" of poverty and injustice. Others, like myself, will be satisfied to go about their lives and perhaps indulge other curiosities like science, and the arts. The key is that, taking into account the goal of communism as a society where everyone is free to fulfill their potential, there is not a necessary conflict between communism and religion in a broad sense.

Whew, that was long-winded of me. Anyway welcome Comrade Singh, I think you'll fit right in here and perhaps we'll be able to learn from eachother.

[Comrade Singh]

Hey, sorry for not getting back to you all earlier, been a bit busy with some things.
Firstly, thanks all for welcoming me, lovely to meet all of you :D The responses here have been great and I've enjoyed reading all of them, some were very informative on a number of issues. It was also nice to see some people who know abit about Sikhism. I'm also really glad to learn that there is indeed room for religion and its adherents in the left, as I can now put myself into this freely. I liked what one person said about being able to agree with simply the socio-economic side, I think this would be a good compromise.

A few people asked about Sikhism's views on homosexuality and abortion. Let me clear that up.
Abortion is wrong in Sikhism as it is murder of a soul which has been born and to kill it is denying it its right to live.
Now on homosexuality, while one cannot be a practicing Sikh and give in to homosexual urges, it would be against Sikhism to simply give somebody the label of "gay", and use this to define them. So in that respect although homosexuality conflicts with the Sikh lifestyle, I think it would be wrong to call it homophobic as from a Sikh perspective one must view all with an equal eye and see God as residing in everyone, for that reason there is no hatred of gays on a Sikh's part.

Gonzeau, I really liked your last paragraph alot. I agree fully from a theist perspective that one's search for God should be out of pure love and the personal desire for it, not something pushed upon people to practice mindlessly.

Though I have to say I do disagree with the Marx quote given regarding his views on what religion is. I have read a bit on his views and they seem mostly to be around the idea that religion is used to make people accept things as they are and seek happiness in an after life rather than now. I don't have great knowledge on the different religions but in Sikhism I know for sure that it most certainly doesn't teach that, because a truly religious person will be one who won't stand seeing the world, something that belongs to God, being abused by tyranny and will surely step up to sort whoever is doing it the hell out lol.

Just another thing, out of intrest is anyone familiar with the Khalistan movement the person in my avatar (and also the giver of my signature)?