Modern Updates of Faith

My wife took a class on Buddhism in college, and I was amused by the fact that Buddhists sometimes make prayer wheels out of microfilm. My crude understanding is prayer wheels are an automated form of prayer, and by using more modern technology it allows for smaller more complex prayers being placed in the wheel than could be carved or otherwise crafted with hand tools. Also the above wiki-link talks about web-based prayer wheels. Why not?

Heck during the morning news in Maine there was a segment from the “First Radio Parish Church of America”, while not very important to me personally, I fully understand the reason. Why be FORCED to go to church to hear a sermon when it can be broadcast on TV or Radio? Sure GOING to Church has its own benefits, but these broadcasts were done EVERY DAY. I think even people without faith can see the utility of that.

Now this:

The Sikh temple massacre prompted calls for stricter gun control, but some members of the India-based faith — who carry ceremonial knives — are considering taking up firearms in light of the tragedy…“I think that being able to legally obtain and carry a gun is the best thing any Sikh can do, especially after 9/11 where there have been over 800 documented cases of harassment and violence against us,” Sim J. Singh, a practicing Sikh and Florida-based law clerk who carries a concealed handgun for protection, told FoxNews.com.

Sikhs are required to carry a weapon. As most religious tenants they can become ornate and more ceremonial over time, but there was a reason why a fighting knife was prescribed by teachers of Sikhism. Further the documented attacks are a sad truth, if you’re brown, have a beard, and wear a turban, evil racists (who by nature are stupid and ignorant) might think you’re a Muslim Extremist. Hell even that is too specific, as racists are known to attack ANYTHING that doesn’t look like them.

Then there’s this:

At a news conference after the shooting, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an ardent supporter of gun control, appeared with several Sikh leaders and called for stricter gun laws to stop such attacks in the future.

I must say I’m not very impressed with these Sikhs willing to stand behind Bloomberg. They should know of the history of their people in Pakistan where the Muslim government doesn’t look highly on non-Muslims, and of course the Mumbai Massacre where both the police and people were unable to fight back against a small number of heavily armed terrorists.

The laws have been PROVEN not to stop this, and even in this specific temple attack, I doubt any laws Bloomie might propose would do anything to have stopped this racist nut from doing what he did. He just want to CON people into THINKING his proposals will work.

Sikhs, like the American gun owner don’t carry weapons for violence but for peace, but we all know that peace takes two willing parties, and war and violence only takes one. So weapons can STOP violence, as well as persuade violent people into agreeing (begrudgingly) into participating in peace.

So carry your Kirpan, but also carry a gun. Its the right thing to do.

Oh and also in writing this I got to reading about the “Five Ks”. One is the Kirpan mentioned above. Two others are Kesh (long hair and beards) and Kacchera which are undergarments for modesty. The other two are the Kangha and the Kara. The Kangha is a comb which is just a good idea if you have long hair, but I was surprised to see that the Kara bracelet also has some uses for defense and battle.

I’m reading NOTHING that says these people should have ANY issues with carrying personal arms. Let’s hope they do, they have a need for it!