{"id":4588,"date":"2016-12-30T18:38:29","date_gmt":"2016-12-30T13:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.barusahib.org\/?p=4588"},"modified":"2024-11-20T18:45:46","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T13:15:46","slug":"how-this-baptised-sikh-taught-fbi-about-turban-and-kirpan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/how-this-baptised-sikh-taught-fbi-about-turban-and-kirpan\/","title":{"rendered":"How this Baptised Sikh taught FBI about turban and kirpan"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_88 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/how-this-baptised-sikh-taught-fbi-about-turban-and-kirpan\/#Embracing_Sikhism_A_Journey_of_Natural_Evolution\" >Embracing Sikhism: A Journey of Natural Evolution<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/how-this-baptised-sikh-taught-fbi-about-turban-and-kirpan\/#Facing_Challenges_Standing_Strong_After_911_and_Promoting_Sikh_Awareness\" >Facing Challenges: Standing Strong After 9\/11 and Promoting Sikh Awareness<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Embracing_Sikhism_A_Journey_of_Natural_Evolution\"><\/span>Embracing Sikhism: A Journey of Natural Evolution<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>American national James S Ericsson III, now a baptised Sikh called Sat Hanuman Singh, was so inspired by the teachings of Sikh gurus that he chose to embrace Sikhism. He tells Times of India about his inspirational journey and what being a Sikh means to him.<\/p>\n<p>TOI: What inspired you to convert to Sikhism?<br \/>\nJames Ericsson: It wasn\u2019t conversion, but \u2018natural evolution\u2019. There was nothing that I was missing in Christianity. What I learnt from Jesus was practiced in Sikhism.<\/p>\n<p>TOI: What is the Sikh way of life for you?<br \/>\nJames Ericsson: Everything from not cutting your hair to living a simple life, to serving others regardless of their religion or who they are. I\u2019ve been learning this since I became a Sikh at 21. Now I am 67, and have children and grandchildren who are Sikhs.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Facing_Challenges_Standing_Strong_After_911_and_Promoting_Sikh_Awareness\"><\/span>Facing Challenges: Standing Strong After 9\/11 and Promoting Sikh Awareness<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>TOI: Post-9\/11, Sikhs became the target of hate crime.<br \/>\nJames Ericsson: I came to New York from Boston on September 10 to see a Sikh doctor. Then 9\/11 happened, and I was stuck there till September 15. When I went home, I realised that it was my mission to bring people together. In 2006, I became the first turban-wearing Sikh to work in Transportation Security Administration (TSA ) \u2013 an agency of the US department of homeland security that has authority over the security of the traveling public \u2013 enabling me to teach others about Sikhism. I worked with other Sikh organisations in Washington, trained FBI, the state police of Oregon and other TSA officers so they would respect Sikhs, so that they understand why they wear a kirpan before they ask Sikhs to take their turbans off.<br \/>\nRecommended By Colombia<\/p>\n<p>TOI: Are you happy being a Sikh?<br \/>\nJames Ericsson: If I wasn\u2019t happy after 45 years I wouldn\u2019t be here. I would have cut my hair and gone away. I can\u2019t speak Punjabi fluently, but that doesn\u2019t make me less of a Sikh. A Sikh is a person who understands what the guru has taught.<\/p>\n<p>TOI: What example do you want to set for others?<br \/>\nJames Ericsson: I try to be compassionate, ready to serve and unafraid. You know this \u2018bana\u2019 (Sikh robe) of Guru Gobind Singh teaches us not to be afraid as he stands with us always. This is not my turban, but the Guru\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>Source- Times Of India<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embracing Sikhism: A Journey of Natural Evolution American national James S Ericsson III, now a baptised Sikh called Sat Hanuman Singh, was so inspired by the teachings of Sikh gurus that he chose to embrace Sikhism. He tells Times of India about his inspirational journey and what being a Sikh means to him. TOI: What [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/How-this-Baptised-Sikh-taught-FBI-about-Turban-and-Kirpan.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-4588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spiritual","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4588"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4680,"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4588\/revisions\/4680"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4588"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=4588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}