sknath wrote:
RNJBOND wrote:
Sknath...
just to challenge that. Bhagat Singh was an atheist

I know very many cut-surds. IMO, religion is about your doctrine and devotion to God. There are many different interpretations of Sikhism....
Rishi, I would like to know for sure that he was an atheist. But the question here is not that of he being an atheist or not. The question here is whether he was a SIKH or not. Guru Gobind Singh Ji gave the surname of Singh to justify their valour and their rank disregard for their personal life when it came to their beliefs. For that he eneunciated 5 basic tenents that would classify them as Sikhs.
Now the so called CUT-SURDS... in my opinion they are just CUT and not Surds ... Just like me... I have given up my religious beliefs after I came here and I dont like to flaunt my religion here. However the "CUT-SURDS" display their "SIKH" beliefs in a brazen manner which is really not what their religion warrants them to.
I think maybe these CUT's have been the reason for the so called negative interpretation of SIKHs in Hindi movies of late. BUt let me assure you, CUT's are no way representative of the true tenets of SIKHISM... in a similar vein, I dont consider Christians, christians at all as they have corrupted their faith and they also refuse to accept the authenticity of the Dead Sea scrolls (which is supposedly the true interpretation of Christianity)... So I dont think I can prescribe to any other version of SIKHISM other than the one prescribed by the GRANTH SAHIB @ Amritsar.. Plain and simply speaking the so called CUTs do not fall under the category of SIKHs if they cant keep up with the basic tenets of their faith
Cheerz
First point... Bhagat Singh was quite so an atheist. He wrote a paper called "Why I am an atheist", so I think that would prove that...
Sikhism has many beliefs in it, but if people wish to update it to match the times, are they abandoning their faith in God? If they follow the doctrines of Sikhism and believe it, is that not enough? They still wear Kadas, correct?
I thnk it's fair to say that cut-surds truly belong to their own branch of Sikhism, that isn't the original vision of Sikhism, but, once again, their interpretation. Not an entirely different religion, but a branch of it.
Drawing a parallel to Christianity, just because a Protestant doesn't follow Catholicism doesn't mean he's not Christian...