Obama, the Culturally Incompetent President

In what only can be construed as an insult, Obama has refused to visit a sikh temple in India because he would be required to cover his head.

In today's world of multi-culturalism and diversity, I find it odd that the person who probably represents it fairly well, has turned out to be a parochial, provincial and narrow minded when it comes to covering his head in the Golden Temple.

As seen to the right, Barry has no issue dressing in the local muslim garb of his homeland. In fact he has covered his head. How odd. If he did it for Kenyans, why not for the Sikhs?

I wouldn't object if I was invited to a Sikh temple. In fact, I find Indian people charming, I love their food (the mint chutney is outstanding), and Sikhs specifically have and interesting religion and culture. Read here from the Wiki:

The origins of Sikhism lie in the teachings of Guru Nanak and his successors. The essence of Sikh teaching is summed up by Nanak in these words: "Realisation of Truth is higher than all else. Higher still is truthful living".^[5] Sikh teaching emphasizes the principle of equality of all humans and rejects discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, and gender. Sikh principles do not attach any importance to asceticism as a means to attain salvation, but stresses on the need of leading life as a householder.

Sikhism is a monotheistic religion.^[6][7] Sikhism is a revealed religion.^[8] In Sikhism, God—termed Vāhigurū—is shapeless, timeless, and sightless: niraṅkār, akāl, and alakh. The beginning of the first composition of Sikh scripture is the figure "1"—signifying the universality of God. It states that God is omnipresent and infinite, and is signified by the term ēk ōaṅkār.^[9] Sikhs believe that before creation, all that existed was God and Its hukam (will or order).^[10] When God willed, the entire cosmos was created. From these beginnings, God nurtured "enticement and attachment" to māyā, or the human perception of reality.^[11]

While a full understanding of God is beyond human beings,^[9] Nanak described God as not wholly unknowable. God is omnipresent (sarav viāpak) in all creation and visible everywhere to the spiritually awakened. Nanak stressed that God must be seen from "the inward eye", or the "heart", of a human being: devotees must meditate to progress towards enlightenment. Guru Nanak Dev emphasized the revelation through meditation, as its rigorous application permits the existence of communication between God and human beings.^[9] God has no gender in Sikhism, (though translations may incorrectly present a male God); indeed Sikhism teaches that God is "Nirankar" [Niran meaning "without" and kar meaning "form", hence "without form"]. In addition, Nanak wrote that there are many worlds on which God has created life.^[12]

Seems more reasonable than Islam, that's for sure, although I don't want to be accused of pitting religions, but their religion seems progressive by even today's standards, particularly with regards to equal rights. You would think that Barry would honor such a religion. I guess not. May be he's not a fan of curry. 


I would remind Barry that India is a capitalist democracy in an area of the world where that is a rare thing and should be supported. In fact, outside of our European allies and Israel, India is a friend, always. We should respect that friendship and honor it. He has done neither. 


Thank you for reading this blog. Namaste.