- May 9, 2006
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Vouthon ji posted this in another thread. My questions are throughout in blue.
"...Sikh moral and ethical values are based on the idea of natural law - similar to the Roman Catholic idea of natural law - the way God wants the universe too work...Nowhere in the Guru Granth Sahib is divorce mentioned because marriage is preordained by God." <-where does Guru Granth Sahib Ji talk about marriage between human husband and wife? Even the lavan are about a human's bond with Guruji, not each other. Does that mean marriage is actually in the same category as divorce, since it's not mentioned in Guru Granth Sahib Ji? This is a dangerous argument because so much of the mundane is left OUT of Guru Granth Sahib Ji that one could make an arugment against almost anything from it.
"The Gurus believed in the commitment to marriage...Sikh theology, like Catholic theology supports the idea that there is only one kind of morally good sexual act: sex between a man and woman who are married and who are having sex to conceive and raise children to perpetuate God's creation..." <- so sex as part of a relationship, sans the aim of conception, is not a good sexual act? Where does this come from in Sikh theology? I have not come across any primary sources for it. Therefore conjecture.
"According to the Guru Granth Sahib human life begins immediately at the moment of conception and that creation of life is the will of God...The embryo or zygote that God has created is a divine gift which has to be nurtured and nourished to prepare it for the world, and the time in the womb is a valuable element of the spiritual development of the human being...For Sikhs an embryo or foetus has feelings as soon as conception takes place. In the Guru Granth Sahib there are verses which describe how the unborn child has the ability to meditate upon God's name as soon as it is conceived...Since Sikh theology argues that the soul is 'born' immediately upon conception it can be infered that it would be a sin to abort a foetus because, first, human life is created by God, and second, to abort the life would be to interfere with God's creative work..." <- does anyone know which verses the author is referring to? A zygote has feelings the moment a sperm penetrates an ovum...? Guru Granth Sahib Ji says babies meditate in the womb, but from the moment of conception..?? I really would like to see some sources. And I would also say human life is created in line with natural laws, not necessarily "by God himself with his mighty sceptre".
"The sex of a child is preordained and God's hukam (will). Children are gifts from God and couples should accept God's will...From an analysis of the Guru Granth Sahib it is clear that the Gurus had a high respect for life, which they viewed as a gift from God. Thus, a Sikh has to accept that the life he/she has was decided by our karma <- ... and that God has determined how many breaths we 'breathe'. The injuction that God has preordained how long we live and whether we have to suffer goes against the increasing modern practice of euthanasia and mercy killings. As a result there is no place for mercy killing, assisted suicide or euthanasia in Sikhism, for death happens when God commands it..." <- outside the title of the thread but a juicy discussion in itself...
- Jagbir Jhutti-Johal (in "Sikhism Today")
What are your thoughts?"The Gurus believed in the commitment to marriage...Sikh theology, like Catholic theology supports the idea that there is only one kind of morally good sexual act: sex between a man and woman who are married and who are having sex to conceive and raise children to perpetuate God's creation..." <- so sex as part of a relationship, sans the aim of conception, is not a good sexual act? Where does this come from in Sikh theology? I have not come across any primary sources for it. Therefore conjecture.
"According to the Guru Granth Sahib human life begins immediately at the moment of conception and that creation of life is the will of God...The embryo or zygote that God has created is a divine gift which has to be nurtured and nourished to prepare it for the world, and the time in the womb is a valuable element of the spiritual development of the human being...For Sikhs an embryo or foetus has feelings as soon as conception takes place. In the Guru Granth Sahib there are verses which describe how the unborn child has the ability to meditate upon God's name as soon as it is conceived...Since Sikh theology argues that the soul is 'born' immediately upon conception it can be infered that it would be a sin to abort a foetus because, first, human life is created by God, and second, to abort the life would be to interfere with God's creative work..." <- does anyone know which verses the author is referring to? A zygote has feelings the moment a sperm penetrates an ovum...? Guru Granth Sahib Ji says babies meditate in the womb, but from the moment of conception..?? I really would like to see some sources. And I would also say human life is created in line with natural laws, not necessarily "by God himself with his mighty sceptre".
"The sex of a child is preordained and God's hukam (will). Children are gifts from God and couples should accept God's will...From an analysis of the Guru Granth Sahib it is clear that the Gurus had a high respect for life, which they viewed as a gift from God. Thus, a Sikh has to accept that the life he/she has was decided by our karma <- ... and that God has determined how many breaths we 'breathe'. The injuction that God has preordained how long we live and whether we have to suffer goes against the increasing modern practice of euthanasia and mercy killings. As a result there is no place for mercy killing, assisted suicide or euthanasia in Sikhism, for death happens when God commands it..." <- outside the title of the thread but a juicy discussion in itself...
- Jagbir Jhutti-Johal (in "Sikhism Today")
