US Army Soldier, Sikh Answers His Calling
A US Army article again highlights SPC Simranpreet Singh Lamba, the sole non-medical Sikh Soldier granted a waiver of uniform standards so he may adhere to his religious dress requirements.
The article again documents the difficulty Lamba had in having his enlistment accepted. It also repeats the prior news that Lamba has had no significant issues either with the institutional Army or with individual Soldiers, despite his (significantly) minority faith:
For the most part, Lamba says he’s had no issues integrating with his fellow Soldiers. Most are curious — in fact, he’s come to expect an audience when he ties his turban after physical training.
“I actually asked him a lot of questions,” Sgt. Frine Santiago…said.
She found that he was easy going and open, which eased the transition. Still, some have trouble seeing beyond his turban. Occasionally people are shocked. Others take longer to warm up to the idea.
Some conspiracy theorists have tried to paint the US military as a Christian cabal surreptitiously trying to take over the world. Lamba’s experiences provide a stark contrast to those accusations.
Of course, staunch critics would still rationalize Lamba as a “token” Soldier used as a tool to distract the world from the “real” super-secret objective of Christian world domination. Which is why they’re called conspiracy theorists…
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