Sikhism is a young and inclusive religion, founded just over 500 years ago in Punjab, India. There are over 25 million Sikhs with followers all over the world, making it the 5th largest religion in the world.
This blogpost is a summary of a conversation with Dr. Jasmit Singh. Dr. Singh has a multi-faceted personality; he is a technology entrepreneur, a Civil Right activist, a Sikh scholar, an educator, a writer, a poet and founder of several non-profits serving the community at both state and national level. He also serves on the Interfaith Leadership Council of Faith Action Network working with the other faith communities on issues of advocacy and education.
He is the founder and board member of The Sikh Coalition, which is the largest Sikh American advocacy and community development organization in the USA. It works to create safer schools, prevent hate and discrimination, create equal employment opportunities, empower local Sikh communities and educate the American public about the Sikhi. He is also a founder of a WA State non-profit – Khalsa Gurmat Center, which focuses on education, empowerment and civic engagement for kids and community members.
He has been focusing on community empowerment, coalition building & political organizing in the WA state and worked tirelessly with Hate Free Zone of Washington (One America) to combat hate and bias in our communities.
Dr. Singh has been awarded numerous awards, including Seattle Japanese American Citizen’s Sam Shoji Unsung Hero Award, Champion of Diversity for outstanding service in diversity to Kent Schools and the Kent/Covington community to name a few. He is a regular contributor to International Examiner as well.
How has working with various religious scholars and leaders impacted your personal set of beliefs?
I think the key thing is that when you meet the interfaith leaders, you recognize that there are a lot of common elements that span different faiths. You’ll never get to recognize them in isolation. You can read all the texts that you want, but when you meet them, you have a personal experience with them. You recognize that their value system is very close to your own — that’s a key thing. The second thing is you get to see the people behind the faith. Nothing is as simple as black and white. You get to meet them, you get to understand their traditions, and you tend to appreciate them a lot more. So I think it enriches your life and their life as well.
Each person has their own set of beliefs that are influenced by their family, their religion, their practice and where they’ve grown up. Holistically, we are a sum of all the decisions we make in life. My practice of Sikhi is very different from what it was 20 years back. So a lot of times things shape us. Our experiences shape us and our opinions get shaped based on what we have exposed to.
What do you feel about the role of religion in the bioethics field?
Gurbani (series of compositions by various Sikh Gurus and other faith traditions enshrined in the Sikh Scriptures) has a very different perspective. Sikhism teaches us to live a life of compassion and truthfulness. While it shows you a moral compass about how to lead your life; it doesn’t dictate that “this is the only right way to deal with it”. It establishes unity in humankind and unity in different faiths; that is what the Gurus believed and practiced. The fact that they enshrined the teachings of Bhagats and Saints of other faith leaders into Gurbani that were consistent with the Sikh thought is indicative that they were very progressive in their thinking. Nothing in the religion directly speaks to the specific topics of ethics when it comes to reproductive or human enhancement technologies. However, there are areas where you can evaluate based on that moral compass to say – “is it ethical or not”; and that’s where I am conflicted in terms of how I looked at some of these things.
Does Sikhism explicitly state or imply where life starts?
Even though there is an aspect of evolution, there’s also the aspect of creation of everything by God – you can’t really separate the two. As stated in Gurbani:
ਪਾਤਾਲਾ ਪਾਤਾਲ ਲਖ ਆਗਾਸਾ ਆਗਾਸ ॥ਓੜਕ ਓੜਕ ਭਾਲਿ ਥਕੇ ਵੇਦ ਕਹਨਿ ਇਕ ਵਾਤ ॥
God is so indescribable because He is so vast that the human mind can’t comprehend the complexity of what God has created.
Guru Nanak refers to the creation of various forms and living beings under the divine law (hukam).
ਹੁਕਮੀ ਹੋਵਨਿ ਆਕਾਰ ਹੁਕਮੁ ਨ ਕਹਿਆ ਜਾਈ ॥
By His Command, bodies are created; His Command cannot be described.
So there’s definitely an element that supports that God is the Creator of this world. But then also an element of evolution is in Gurbani. We find reference to evolution of species in the universe in Gurbani without taking recourse to any specific scientific theory of evolution.
Sikhism doesn’t advocate that everything was created in one particular moment, or that evolution is debunked. Because it also talks about how we evolve, going from one birth to another and to make the best of the gift of life — the enlightened opportunity for us to do some good in this world.
What is Sikhism’s stance on abortion?
There is no explicit text stating whether or not abortion is okay, but the way I interpret the scripture, is you have to take into account the situation — the reason is as important as the act. This focus in Gurbani is to recognize the value of human life that we have been blessed with grace so the Gurus would not condone abortion being carried out for frivolous reasons. It would be better to avoid conception completely, rather than have an abortion.
If it was an unwanted pregnancy in terms of a rape, or if you know that the child who’s going to be born is going to be deformed. Now it’s a very difficult choice to make for any parent. It’s not an easy thing for anyone who has to make that decision. But, I feel that a lot of these things have to be viewed in the right context. Without the context, it’s very difficult to determine if it is ethically right or wrong.
If we were to make these decisions purely based on genes or gender – I would have an issue with that. Besides the ethics of religion, I look at the ethics of biodiversity. If we were to create and cultivate only certain kinds of genes, what kind of world would we create? If all flowers were of the same color and type in a garden, would we appreciate that?I think our experiences are enriched by the diversity of opinion, diversity of thought, diversity of how we look, speak languages, culture, all that adds a flavor to our life. If we were going to create people who looked exactly like a replica of what the “ideal person” is, then we must address what kind of world we seek? Who determines what is “ideal”? There are a bunch of ethical issues that we need to contend with.
Even from the religion’s perspective, you’re trying to be God. So I can understand, using this technology to treat diseases and deadly viruses. But when you start using the technology to “correct” a baby’s genome or an embryo to obtain certain accepted characteristics, I see a dangerous path, and I really worry about where we are heading. Again, what the long-term implication is, is both a scientific and an ethical question that needs to be debated.
Do you believe it is important for religions to influence bioethicists decisions?
I think religion should inform those decisions but should not make the decisions. It gives us a second perspective to understand and reflect on the implication of the actions that are informed purely by technology, and then, we should consider the long-term impact of all that these technologies uncover. Religion can play a role in having those conversations and opening up people’s minds, as well as opening up the minds of researchers who may be agnostic, but need to understand the ethical questions that confront us as a society. Take the example of nuclear energy, it may be the powerhouse of our lives but it can also be used to kill a lot of people — it’s a double-edged sword. Similarly, we have to consider how this technology will be applied and influence everything around us, not just the fact that the technology has been invented.
Do the pros of CRISPR technology outweigh the cons?
I do believe so. With the proper application of technology, great breakthroughs can happen. Hope for finding cures for HIV, diseases, dementia, etc., are all game changers. But we know that when we look at the genome and we see the anomalies, we can identify the genes that are causing that; and if there was a way to repair that, and give them better quality of life, then I believe that is something worth working on. Or if a family or a community is more inclined to have those anomalies or is prone to certain diseases because of a mutation that happened in the past; then trying to see whether there is something that can be done to remedy it – would be great. But if we go beyond that consideration, then we start having ethical issues that also must be considered.
What does Sikhism say about Eugenics?
When we talk about how eugenics has been used in the past as a “justification” to discriminate – to support a belief that some people/races are less human than others. That is unacceptable from Sikhi’s perspective. Sikhism believes and treats all animals and plants as equals. So eugenics goes completely against everything that our religion teaches us.
Within the scripture, every Shabad (hymn) speaks to how we all come from the same light.
ਏਕੁ ਪਿਤਾ ਏਕਸ ਕੇ ਹਮ ਬਾਰਿਕ
There is one father; we are all His children.
If this is true and is earnestly practiced, then how can I say that I am better than someone else, or one race has more intelligence than another – which is the primary philosophy that eugenics has promoted and advocated.
What are your personal beliefs on organ donation and what does Sikhism and Punjabi culture say about it?
Both Sikhi and Punjabi culture are completely supportive of organ donation. To give a life to somebody else is a very important part of Sikh philosophy. So both from a Sikhi perspective and my own perspective, I am completely inline with organ donation. Sikh philosophy places great emphasis on the importance of giving and putting others before oneself. Whether we donate that organ in case we can help somebody or we even donate organs for research, I think that should be something that must be discussed openly and encouraged; it is the most precious gift that you can give to help others have a better quality of life or save their lives.
