There are already established workarounds for this.
There are kirpan (the knives) that are very short, intentionally blunted and even difficult to draw on top of all that. Those are a fairly standard option. Even calling it a knife at that point is almost a technicality.
Doesn’t this kind of defeat the entire purpose of the kirpan? I know that is mostly ceremonial these days, but my understanding is that Sikhs are still meant to be prepared to use it at any time to fight against an injustice. If the blade is blunted, they can’t do that.
I’m not big on religion and I find many religious people problematic but Sikh people have been extremely hospitable and accommodating and friendly. I’m sure there are rotten eggs but a religion that is based on actual tolerance and doesn’t want to shut down other people’s beliefs seems to be a pretty good way to get the followers to behave.
Just add it to the list of inconvenient religious prescriptions that get “interpreted” away. I’m not even talking about one religion in specific, it’s how the sociology of religious communities inevitably works.
There are already established workarounds for this.
There are kirpan (the knives) that are very short, intentionally blunted and even difficult to draw on top of all that. Those are a fairly standard option. Even calling it a knife at that point is almost a technicality.
Doesn’t this kind of defeat the entire purpose of the kirpan? I know that is mostly ceremonial these days, but my understanding is that Sikhs are still meant to be prepared to use it at any time to fight against an injustice. If the blade is blunted, they can’t do that.
You’re not wrong, but I’ve never met a sikh who wasn’t basically the definition of accommodating.
I’m not big on religion and I find many religious people problematic but Sikh people have been extremely hospitable and accommodating and friendly. I’m sure there are rotten eggs but a religion that is based on actual tolerance and doesn’t want to shut down other people’s beliefs seems to be a pretty good way to get the followers to behave.
Just add it to the list of inconvenient religious prescriptions that get “interpreted” away. I’m not even talking about one religion in specific, it’s how the sociology of religious communities inevitably works.
A lot of them are welded shut too.