Sikh Temple Shooting; 7 Dead Oak Creek, Wisconsin

[LOVE SONGS]

This was in an article about the Sikh temple in Wisconsin....it was on one of the news articles about the shooting there.

Following are some facts about the temple and the Sikh religion:

- The Sikh Temple of Wisconsin was founded in October 1997 with a community of 20 to 25 families, according to its website. It currently has 350 to 400 people in its congregation and has grown rapidly, the group says.

- The congregation started in rental facilities in Milwaukee and established its first dedicated facility in 1999. It later bought 13 acres of land in Oak Creek and broke ground on the current temple in 2006.

- Sikhism was founded in the 15th century in the Punjab, an area straddling the border between Pakistan and India, by Guru Nanak Dev and has had 10 successive gurus. The Punjab is the only area in the world with a majority Sikh population.

- It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world with more than 30 million followers. The Sikh place of worship is called a gurdwara and can be identified by tall flagpoles carrying the Sikh flag. The most revered site is the Golden Temple at Amritsar in India.

- There are an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 Sikhs in the United States.

- The Sikh faith includes belief in only one God and that the soul goes through cycles of rebirth and death before reaching human form. The goal of life is to lead an exemplary existence.

- Sikhs who have made a public commitment to the faith by going through a special baptism are called members of the Khalsa. They adopt five symbols known as the Five Ks which include uncut hair and beard and a ceremonial dagger known as a kirpan. They also wear turbans.

- In the United States, especially since the attacks of September 11, 2001, Sikhs have sometimes been confused publicly with Muslims, but they are not Muslim. In September 2001, an Arizona gas station owner, Balbir Singh Sodhi, was shot five times and killed by a man who was said to be seeking revenge on Muslims for the hijacked plane attacks on the United States.

[Burning_Ember]

I don't know if this comes up with domestic terrorism yet, but it is a horrific act of hate. He had skin-head tattoos. He was pure evil. Skin head views are born of hell. Sikh's are a peaceful people and have never harmed anyone. My prayers are with the survivors and the families of all of the victims.

Terrorism is 'The use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims', and the police are calling this domestic terrorism, so I'm going with them on this. The background of this guy isn't terribly different than Timothy McVeigh.

[Guest shiloh357]

We shall see. He does have similarities to Timothy McVeigh.

[other one]

Why the Sikh's. Are they confusing them with Muslims??? Sikh's are about the most peaceful group of people in the world.

Maybe this guy was not only evil, but stupid too.

[MorningGlory]

I never heard of this religion. It seems like it is some Guru type religion.Don't know , but they cover their heads and go barefoot.

That is all I could research.

Nevertheless... it is horrible ...people being killed in a place of their worship.

Makes me think about going to church again.

Sikkhs are from India. We have quite a few of them here in Houston in fact. They are a peaceful lot; I've never heard of any trouble where they live nor have I heard of any enemies they have here. There are quite a few Sikkh communities in Canada as well. It IS horrible to have people killed for no reason at all. I am wondering if the mutant who did this was so dumb he thought they were muslims?

[Guest shiloh357]

I never heard of this religion. It seems like it is some Guru type religion.Don't know , but they cover their heads and go barefoot.

That is all I could research.

Nevertheless... it is horrible ...people being killed in a place of their worship.

Makes me think about going to church again.

Sikkhs are from India. We have quite a few of them here in Houston in fact. They are a peaceful lot; I've never heard of any trouble where they live nor have I heard of any enemies they have here. There are quite a few Sikkh communities in Canada as well. It IS horrible to have people killed for no reason at all. I am wondering if the mutant who did this was so dumb he thought they were muslims?

They were saying on the news that they often get mistaken for Muslims because of their beards and turbans. If I am not mistaken, Nikki Haley, the governor of South Carolina is descended from Sikhs.

[MorningGlory]

Why the Sikh's. Are they confusing them with Muslims??? Sikh's are about the most peaceful group of people in the world.

Maybe this guy was not only evil, but stupid too.

Wow, O.O.! I saw your post above AFTER I posted and, it's uncanny, I pretty much echoed what you said! What do they say about 'great minds'?

[MorningGlory]

I never heard of this religion. It seems like it is some Guru type religion.Don't know , but they cover their heads and go barefoot.

That is all I could research.

Nevertheless... it is horrible ...people being killed in a place of their worship.

Makes me think about going to church again.

Sikkhs are from India. We have quite a few of them here in Houston in fact. They are a peaceful lot; I've never heard of any trouble where they live nor have I heard of any enemies they have here. There are quite a few Sikkh communities in Canada as well. It IS horrible to have people killed for no reason at all. I am wondering if the mutant who did this was so dumb he thought they were muslims?

They were saying on the news that they often get mistaken for Muslims because of their beards and turbans. If I am not mistaken, Nikki Haley, the governor of South Carolina is descended from Sikhs.

It has happened right here at my workplace. A Sikh driver came in with a delivery and some of the guys were talking about dragging him off and kicking the stuffing out of him; they thought he was a muslim because of his orange turban. I told them 'you gotta be kidding me'! They didn't know the difference but they do now. That's how easily stuff like that can happen when hearts are full of hate and suspicion. Even muslims don't deserve to be hunted down and shot like animals. May the Lord have mercy upon us.

[MorningGlory]

I don't know if this comes up with domestic terrorism yet, but it is a horrific act of hate. He had skin-head tattoos. He was pure evil. Skin head views are born of hell. Sikh's are a peaceful people and have never harmed anyone. My prayers are with the survivors and the families of all of the victims.

Terrorism is 'The use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims', and the police are calling this domestic terrorism, so I'm going with them on this. The background of this guy isn't terribly different than Timothy McVeigh.

SO agree, B.E. This is disgusting; it seems like these shootings are getting closer together for some reason.

[LOVE SONGS]

I never heard of this religion. It seems like it is some Guru type religion.Don't know , but they cover their heads and go barefoot.

That is all I could research.

Nevertheless... it is horrible ...people being killed in a place of their worship.

Makes me think about going to church again.

Sikkhs are from India. We have quite a few of them here in Houston in fact. They are a peaceful lot; I've never heard of any trouble where they live nor have I heard of any enemies they have here. There are quite a few Sikkh communities in Canada as well. It IS horrible to have people killed for no reason at all. I am wondering if the mutant who did this was so dumb he thought they were muslims?

They were saying on the news that they often get mistaken for Muslims because of their beards and turbans. If I am not mistaken, Nikki Haley, the governor of South Carolina is descended from Sikhs.

It has happened right here at my workplace. A Sikh driver came in with a delivery and some of the guys were talking about dragging him off and kicking the stuffing out of him; they thought he was a muslim because of his orange turban. I told them 'you gotta be kidding me'! They didn't know the difference but they do now. That's how easily stuff like that can happen when hearts are full of hate and suspicion. Even muslims don't deserve to be hunted down and shot like animals. May the Lord have mercy upon us.

I agree with ya..on that . Even muslims should not be hunted down. No one because of their religious beliefs, or for any reason... for that matter.