Interesting. I’m going to add that book to my reading list.
Look at Nixon.
I’ll agree that Christianity is first in line when someone wants to dole out a religious grievance or joke, but that’s because the audience is more familiar to it. I’d love to make more Sikh jokes, but I don’t know much about that faith and neither do most of the people I would talk too.
Same idea as sitcoms w clueless White Guy Dads.
Everyone will get the jokes.
The problem AFAICT is that unline Christianity, Sikhism doesn’t have a lot of familiar doctrinally “weird” cultural referents. Cassocks, communion, confirmation, celibacy, crucifixes, confession, church suppers, and so on and so on: all of these are very recognizable and distinctive religious motifs that are mostly specific to Christian religious practice rather than ethnicity, race, etc. People in western societies who make jokes about them are generally poking fun at the Christian religion* rather than particular racial or ethnic groups of Christians.
But Sikhs, if they’re recognizable in western cultures at all, are recognized as an ethnic/linguistic minority group at least as much as a religious community. All most westerners know about Sikhs is that the men wear beards and turbans. I don’t think most Dopers could name a single actual Sikh religious practice, other than maybe Sikh men’s uncut hair and bangle etc. Making fun of Sikhism as a religion, especially when you hardly know anything about it, is very hard to differentiate from making fun of Sikhs as an ethnic group. Which is, y’know, racist.
(*) Not that Christians are necessarily required to be okay with people poking fun at their religion, even affectionately. I’m just saying that it’s not ethnicity-specific.
And that they’re all named Singh.
Only the men. And to be clear non-Sikhs can be named Singh too.
The Kirpan.
It is one of the Five Ks (Panj Kout), which are mandatory physical symbols worn by initiated (Amritdhari) Khalsa Sikhs. The other four are kesh (uncut hair/turban), kangha (wooden comb), kara (steel bracelet), and kachhera (cotton undergarment).
The women use Kaur.
You’re funny. I’ll make sure to send this to the audience of my Sikh joke first. So they and perhaps you can understand my point.
Clearly you need a Sikh sense of humor.