You knew it had to come, sooner or later.
The Sikh community is challenging the US Army’s policy that beards and turbans, amongst other items and practices, cannot be worn, an article from LawOfficer.com says:
The Sikh community is hopeful it will win the policy appeal; in an April 29 letter to the Sikh Coalition, the director of the Army’s Human Resources Policy Directorate said senior leadership was aware of the issue and was gathering information to make a decision. Toni Delancey, a spokeswoman for Army personnel, said the appeals are under review.
Our army is not the Sikh army, nor any other. American soldiers have their own tradition of shaved hair in training and “high and tight” in service. This doesn’t just affect the seemingly paltry external and visible elements mentioned, it ultimately affects discipline, pride, identity, efficiency, the ability to carry out the mission of our military forces — not “just” a politically correct application of outward appearance issues.
Additionally, please understand that there are two issues at work here. One involves the simple disagreement with current military standards regarding facial hair and headwear on males.
The second issue involves the forced relaxation or outright change of standards in general in our culture, to be sacrificed on the altar of alleged diversity and solely for the sake of diversity.
Let’s stop there just for a moment. I would refer you to the Culturism blog of John Kenneth Press, an adjunct professor and doctoral student at NYU. He has an entire book and numerous websites regarding culturism, which he defines and references as this:
Culturism holds that majority cultures have a right to protect, promote and guide themselves. All non-western cultures are culturist. We have a right to be culturist as well.
We are losing the rhetorical debate. Injecting culturism and culturist into our vocabulary will help protect the West.
This is how culturism counters the words multiculturalism, racism, and individualism:
Multiculturalists say the West is just a random assemblage of different cultures from around the world. Culturism recognizes that western nations have unique traditional core cultures to protect, guide and promote. Multiculturalists ask us to “celebrate diversity.” Culturists don’t think they take cultural diversity seriously enough. At heart multiculturalists think all cultures are interchangeable and only refer to food, festivals and fashion. Culturism, the book, looks at the Aztecs and headhunters to show how diverse cultures can be. But 9/11 should have put the West on notice that not all cultures believe in democracy, individualism, the value of individual lives, the Protestant work ethic, female rights, gay rights, the relative separation of church and state or other parts of western culture. Unlike multiculturalists, culturists think the West has a core culture, think it requires protection, and take cultural diversity very seriously.
Charges of racism are used to silence all of those who would talk about the negative parts of cultural diversity. Worrying about racism makes some sense. But immigration concerns are not about race, they are about culture. Racism is stupid and dangerous. But if diversity is real, culturism is necessary.
Individualism is the third word. Culturism seeks to promote individualism realistically. If the West does not survive, individualism and individual rights will be discontinued. Individual rights being used to protect anti-social behavior can go to destructive extremes. Individual rights are now used to defile our airwaves, claim asylum and avoid culturist profiling. Being a citizen means sometimes considering what is best for the society you purport to love.
Culturism’s definition holds that majority cultures have a right to guide, protect and promote themselves. Multiculturalism has told us that the West has no majority culture to guide, protect and promote. They have also told us to stick up for it is racist. Furthermore, they seek to undermine the West iin the name of indivudal rights. To survive, the West must must be as culturist as other nations.
Protect the West, fight abuse of the word racism, stop multiculturalism, and safeguard individualism.
Don’t be fooled; this challenge by Sikhs isn’t simply about some hair and a hat. And do what I call the “logical extension” as well.
If approved and overturned, the acceptance of beards and turbans will negatively affect other standards, trickle down to every other government agency and assure only to embolden Islamists — or anyone else seeking to enforce their culture on ours.
That oft-used and famous Teddy Roosevelt quote comes now to mind:
“In the first place we should insist that the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equity with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace or origin. But this is predicated upon the man’s becoming an American and nothing but an American. There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any flag of a nation to which we are hostile. We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language. . .and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”
Teddy Roosevelt was correct in 1907 and is correct in 2009.
BZ
That’s what happened up here in P/C Land (formerly known as canada) The R.C.M.P. and the military allow the turban/beard thing. Also, some provinces are allowing turbans to be worn instead of helmets on motorcycles.
Go figure!
Anonymous: my, that’s safe! It’s reassuring to read that Canucks are as insane as we are. And so, if it could be argued in Canada then clearly it could be argued in the US.
O dear readers, isn’t that wonderful, how compliant and understanding our friends are to the north? Only means WE need to have that same TOLERANCE as well.
BZ
Sometimes I read friends’ blogs and want to put my fingers in my ears and close my eyes and yell “Yadda yadda” so I really don’t take in the story about which they wrote.
This is one of them.
I SWEAR, if this IDIOT administration allows this, the very fact that WE ARE CONSIDERING IT is INSANE, we’re DONE. Stick a fork in Isalmist America.
Imagine TURBANS ON OUR SOLDIERS?
THIS is what OUR SOLDIERS HAVE DIED FOR?
When is America going to stand up for HER STANDARDS? WHy are WE always the ones bending OVER?
John’s site is terrific and his book is SO SO Important. You think anybody’s paying attention?
Ya, WE ARE. And if we speak UP, we’re “xenophobic righting nuts”, right? P(*#()#@$#*($&
See the trap that was set YEARS ago and we weren’t aware ….yet?
I’m linking to this.
or committing suicide.
Whichever comes first.
🙂
I hope you’ll be relieved to know I chose linking (not lynching! heh)
THIS IS SO HORRIBLE ON SOOO MANY LEVELS.
Here’s an idea… See a turban?? Shoot the wearer…
Yeah Donnie, I know you read here, and I know, that makes me a racist in your eyes..
Deal with it…
If Kelsi wants to be American military he needs to follow the rules. If he wants to follow his father and grandfather’s military footsteps, then he needs to join the Indian Army.
Why is there even a question about this?
First, they won’t win their lawsuit. Individuals and organizations have sued the military services over similar issues in the past; they all lost their argument. There is a reason for uniforms. There is a reason for short hair. There is a reason why beards are not suitable for the American military. Moreover, there is no active draft—this means that Sikhs, who join the military, do so voluntarily, with the full and complete understanding that we do not wear religious accoutrements in plain view, nor do we accommodate such things as burkhas on female Muslims who join our services. Not even Muslim chaplains wear turbans. And while I will admit that the lawsuit is a real knee slapper, I’m not losing any sleep over it.
Why is this even being considered? Pandering to every mushy notion
that comes along will only dilute our country to the point that we won’t recognize it anymore.
We need to stop bending over backwards and stand up straight for America.
BTW Z sent me. She said to come by here if I wanted to ruin my day.
Oy! You did!
Cube..ssshhhh, I’m going to get a gloom/doom rep!!
Mustang, that we’d even CONSIDER this is NUTS. I hope you’re right and I thank you for the information.
Of course, who ever thought American military chaplains would be told not to mention Jesus, right?
I THINK they can still mention GOD, no?
I DID, however, on Memorial Day, hear a chaplain say, at the end of the public prayer at the Vet’s Cemetery, ..”..in the name above all names”…. well, he got CLOSE!
Mustang,
Thank you for the voice of reason. The old dog has settled the nerves of this not so old dog, once again.
I do however, fear that with this administration and the infiltration of our military and our government by the bleeding heart liberals and the muslims that prey upon their weakness, that someday soon we will see such a denigration of our uniforms and the men and women that wear them come to pass.
Semper Fi.
I see opportunity here…..
Turban Helmets, military, motorcycles, skateboards, bicycles, rock-climbing…..this could be huge.
Vincent, we’ve got our soldiers giving American’s rights, Miranda, to enemy combatants. And congress wasn’t even aware of it. Even the people in Afghanistan said they weren’t sure where the orders came from, according to a senator on Dennis Miller’s show the other night who was THERE during the briefings!
I don’t care WHAT reasoning is behind it, how can we keep soldiers fighting, how can we keep them full of the vinegar they need to stand strong, when they’re told to do THIS?
I just don’t see the political correctness easing up…how do we get that genie back in the bottle?
Z: thanks for the link and not the lynch!
TF: uh. . .
Maggie: yes, precisely! Why not?
Mustang: first, thanks for visiting and taking the time to comment! I would embrace your belief with one very important exception: if this were a “given” at first blush, then why wasn’t the complaint or the appeal simply dismissed out of hand, what the courts would call a “summary judgment”? THAT is what I find particularly disturbing.
Cube: thank YOU for visiting and taking the time to comment! Sorry to ruffle your feathers in such a fashion; you are entirely correct. Such dilution and continuous accommodation will do nothing but weaken our culture — something that the Left don’t believe we have or is worth saving. Western Civilizations BAD; everone else GOOD.
Vincent: THANK you for visiting and taking the time to comment. But be not so completely appeased by Mustang’s comment; please see my response to his comment. I WISH his thoughts were etched in stone. . .
Ranando: like a good Capitalist.
BZ
Z: and excellent point. We must do ALL we can to ensure we continue to have a pool of motivated persons willing to FIGHT for America, and who will be SUPPORTED BY THE COUNTRY.
When we lose our Warriors, the entire PLANET loses.
BZ
There are a few fringe religions that avoid wearing clothes. Will they be suing the army next?
Shop, where will it stop?
BZ
BZ,
Thanks for the shout out to culturism. Your writing here highlights many reasons why I declare myself a culturist.
In the book I use the example of schools. Individual rights and group rights pay no attention to our culturist rights. When a ‘you can’t tell me what to do’ attitude pervades in schools, all students lose. If that happens in the military, we’ll all be hurting. These are apt microcosms of society.
The article also highlights a larger point. I would not go near TEXAS FRED’s assertion. But MAGGIE and CUBE, if I don’t mistake their points, make important delicate points. This is not a Sikh nation.
Many Sikhs are, I am sure, great citizens. Wearing a turban does not mean you do not love this country. But attempting to undermine our traditions for your convenience indicates that you do not respect America, its history or traditions. We have Christmas, Halloween, and short hair in the military.
And, while individuals can do what they wish, our nation, like all others, must be culturist, not multiculturalist. Our military, our schools, our courts should NOT recognize and bow to non-western traditions. No Sharia, no polygamy, no right to higab on ID photos, etc.
Thanks, John
http://www.culturism.us
I’m off blog rounds today — wedding anniversary (37th).
Z alerted me to this posting.
As Mustang has pointed out, such law suits in that past have failed.
They should indeed fail!
But in this Age of Surrealism (on many fronts), I do wonder if this multiculti idiocy will succeed this time. BHO spends so much time singing kumbaya these days.
AOW,
Congratulations on reaching a very prime number!
I hope as all here that the case gets thrown out. In the book Culturism, I focus on the Minersville School District v. Gobitus case. This was an appeal of Jehobah’s being expelled for not saying the pledge. In this case and others, the Supreme Court recognized culturist principles. They affirmed the need of a nation to pass on its traditions.
The only thing sweeter than having the case dismissed would be the Court reaffirming our national survival and traditions as worth considering in the dismissal. We have traditionally been culturist. ACLU be damned.
It’s simple people. If soldiers come into a town dressed like something out of The Terminator, they won’t win over the local leaders. Having a few…a few…wearing native garb and beards will go a long way in connecting. Unless that is all you want to do is blow these people up and we’ve seen how well that is going. First clue in warfare; understand your enemy. All we’ve done is bulled in to their country. It doesn’t work.
Bloviating Zeppelin
I agree with Teddy Roosevelt as well, If you want to live here, you should want to be an American and live by American laws, if not, don’t come here.
By the way, what did he mean by “the red flag which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization?” Communism had not even gained power in Russia 1907, at the time he made that speech. So what was the Red Flag that he was talking about? When I first read that speech I thought he must have meant communism when he said red flag, but I realize now, that there were no communist states at the time Teddy made that speech.
Culturist John: THANK you for weighing in. To my readers: you NEED to purchase his book, “Culturism, A Word, A Value, Our Future.” Massively important and illuminating.
AOW: wow! Congratulations and HAPPY 37th! What a landmark!
BZ
Anonymous: that’s all well and good in another country and, of course, it’s de rigeur with some Special Forces. But for standard American military utilization: unacceptable.
Damien: Communism and Socialism were in fact alive and well during this period.
Please see:
http://www.cyberessays.com/History/106.htm
Also see:
http://www.crl.edu/content.asp?l1=5&l2=22&l3=39&top=48
Trotsky was active in Russia, as was Lenin, and Mr Roosevelt could, even then, see the writing on the wall most presciently.
BZ
Bloviating Zeppelin,
Thanks for the links.
I knew there was communism back than, but I don’t think that there were as of yet, any communist states. That’s what I was getting at. As far I knew the communist in Russia didn’t adopt the red flag with the Hammer and sickle on it, until the revolution, and that didn’t happen until World War 1, which began in 1917, about ten years after you give for the date of Teddy’s speech. So they had started using the red flag before the revolution?
Testing-testing—
This will not go away…it may seem like it’s gone and we have won…believe me–the Dark Siders (radical Islam-socialists-et.al) never quit…we must ever be watchful….our BEST deserve our constant resolve…
C-CS
CS: regarding the Islamist, yes, you are SPOT on; they will NEVER quit and and relentlessly single-minded.
BZ
If it was good enough for Elvis to get his hair cut, enough said!
-Badger
-Badger,
I’ve heard a few bad things about Elvis, such as him being a racist. Off course, racism was far more mainstream when he was alive. However, I think that if he could see whats going on right now, he’d probably be appalled by our current crop of celebrity’s lack of appreciation for their country and unwillingness to stand by her in the face of a mortal threat.
Bloviating Zeppelin, do you agree?
Over 80,000 Sikhs gave their lives for the allied cause over WWI and WWII.
They made up over 20% of the British Army during WWI
Over 300,000 volunteered and fought during WWII.
British and US military regs had no problem accommodating their turbans and beards at that time.
How quickly we forget.
ssk,
I did not know that.
Wow Racialism aye well this is getting shutdown as soon i report this to google!
—–SIKHS ARE HUMANS WHO HELP HUMANS
SIKHS ARE NOT MUSLIMS SO DELETE THE BLOG OR GO TO JAIL FOR THIS—–
Singh,
Do Sikh’s not believe in free speech? Should the Golden Temple siege been allowed? Are you a fascist?
And, yes, the sword Sikhs must wear stands for peace. I like the way that the Sikhs helped Ms. Ghandi. Ouch !!!!
There are no angels. There are devils in many ways. Take it like a man.