{"id":1579,"date":"2009-09-08T04:34:15","date_gmt":"2009-09-08T08:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/norwichhumanities\/?p=1579"},"modified":"2009-09-08T04:34:15","modified_gmt":"2009-09-08T08:34:15","slug":"change-is-hard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/norwichhumanities\/2009\/09\/change-is-hard\/","title":{"rendered":"Change is Hard"},"content":{"rendered":"

Identity\u2026. What is that? I honestly don\u2019t know. Just thinking about this topic makes my head spin. How do our surroundings influence our identity? Do we identify with something because WE choose or because of outside factors such as religion and education?\u00a0 From what I absorbed from both the Sikh Gurdwara <\/a>and the Hindu Mandir <\/a>both faiths are more of a way of life rather than a religion. Both require life-long practice to even begin to understand. In Sikhism<\/a>, the devotee is a constant student, trying to liberate the mind from the body to ascend into a state of ultimate knowledge and union with God. In Hinduism <\/a>the ultimate goal is to break the cycle of life and death to remain eternally in the presence of God. So how do you take responsibility for your Karma<\/a> in 21st<\/sup> century Britain? Can you take the religion\/lifestyle out of its homeland? Certain customs and rituals have to be tweaked to \u2018fit\u2019 in the mainstream British culture. Sikhs are not allowed to carry their defensive swords because of certain laws, and some men have to cut their hair for certain jobs. The restrains of modern society make it more difficult for Sikhs and Hindus to observe certain traditional rites, but does this make them less \u201creligious.\u201d Personally, I don\u2019t think so. When you are forced to adapt or willingly relocate somewhere else, everything changes, choices are made.<\/p>\n

Some people have formed tight communities that don\u2019t even attempt to make ties to their new environment, like the character Mrs. Suri in Salaam Brick Lane<\/a><\/span>. Mrs. Suri and her network of Aunties have created their own version of India within each other\u2019s living rooms. These people seek a comfort zone full of everything they know.\u00a0 Other people rebel completely and break away form everything they know. The character of Clara in White Teeth<\/a><\/span> completely turns her back on her Jehovah\u2019s Witness<\/a>\u00a0background (and her mother) and severs all ties with her former life. Either way, a choice was made. I don\u2019t light Shabbat <\/a>candles every Friday night\u2026 does that make me a bad Jew? I still believe in what in God and I pray in my own way. I have adapted to my situation and made choices. You do what you think is right and then run with it. This is religion for the 21st<\/sup> century.\u00a0 So what about tradition and education for the younger generations? I\u2019m all for it\u2026 I think that both the Gurdwara and the Mandir have excellent education and community centers. The Mandir especially has gone above and beyond to provide the children in the area with a top-notch secular education as well as a religious education on the Hindu faith. Learning the traditions of your ancestors is wonderful, and it is important to remember the past. But ultimately, I think it is up to each individual person to decide his or her identity (whatever that may mean). Are you Hindu and British? Sikh and Welsh? Can you be both? Change is hard, but you can either resist or adapt.<\/p>\n

I hope I will live to see the day when the world accepts everyone\u2019s religion but right now that does not seem likely. People will keep being prejudiced and ignorant until they are otherwise educated on the subject. However, as Sikhism teaches us, this is a momentous obstacle. The Gurwara and the Mandir are helping the process by opening their sacred places to visitors off all backgrounds. Both faiths seem willing to teach outsiders and I felt that I received a warm welcome from both establishments. When you live in the modern UK adjustments have to be made due to secular laws. However, you are still free to practice whatever it is you believe. I still am not sure as to what identity means. All I know is that I have to be true to myself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Identity\u2026. What is that? I honestly don\u2019t know. Just thinking about this topic makes my head spin. How do our surroundings influence our identity? Do we identify with something because WE choose or because of outside factors such as religion and education?\u00a0 From what I absorbed from both the Sikh Gurdwara and the Hindu Mandir […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[741,90],"tags":[1202,1123,1151,1207,916,1159,1122,1154,1152],"class_list":["post-1579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grace","category-readings","tag-baps-shri-swaminarayan-mandir","tag-hinduism","tag-identity","tag-modern-society","tag-religion","tag-salaam-brick-lane","tag-sikhism","tag-the-gurdwara","tag-white-teeth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/norwichhumanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/norwichhumanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/norwichhumanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/norwichhumanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/norwichhumanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/norwichhumanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1579\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/norwichhumanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/norwichhumanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/norwichhumanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}