I happen to be listening to Let's Face It by Mighty Mighty Bosstones as I start this post. Seems appropriate.
Remembering the victims:
Satwant Singh Kaleka, 65, the temple president, killed after physically confronting the gunman. Paramjit Kaur, 41. Prakash Singh, 39. Ranjit Singh, 49. Sita Singh, 41. Suveg Singh, 84.
If you would like to make a donation in honor of the victims:
Online: http://wearesikhs.com/
Postal address:
Victims Memorial Fund
Sikh Temple of Wisconsin
7512 South Howell Ave
Milwaukee, WI 53154
Just got a very new update, just hitting my news feed as I begin typing this, so I'll lead off with it:
Did temple killer also strike in California? Cops investigating possible links between Wisconsin massacre and unsolved murder of two elderly Sikhs
Nearly two weeks after a gunman killed six people in a horrific Sikh temple shooting, authorities are exploring possible links between the massacre and another pair of murders - more than 2,000 miles away.
Authorities are looking into the possibility that the shooting rampage at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin may be connected to the unsolved killing of two Sikhs in Elk Grove, California, last year.
Det Papineau admitted that the possibility that the cases are linked seems remote, but ‘I haven’t ruled it out.’
One other update from today. Some tangentially related sad news:
Sikh temple member killed in robbery attempt on Milwaukee's north side
Police say 56-year-old Dalbir Singh was shot and killed Wednesday night at Harmony Food Store at 3821 W. Locust St.
Singh was a member of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek. The Journal Sentinel reports that Dalbir Singh was not at the temple during the August 5 massacre.
The newspaper also says that Dalbir's nephew Jatinder Singh was with Dalbir during the robbery attempt, and that Jatinder Singh was at the Oak Creek Sikh temple on the day of the shooting, but left before Wade Michael Page murdered six people.
Now, some uplifting stories:
Letters of condolence, praise pour in after Oak Creek shootings
They came from ambassadors and presidents, police officers and Sikhs, from folks close to home and far away.
Heartfelt messages of support, understanding, concern and admiration. In the days following the shooting at Oak Creek's Sikh temple that left seven dead, including the shooter, and four people wounded, Mayor Steve Scaffidi has found solace and comfort in the words of people he'll never meet.
If you take the time to read any of these articles, read this one. Some very touching messages pouring into Oak Creek from around the world.
For Sikh official, faith is answer after shootings
Q: What are the lessons and tenets of Sikhism you would like the greater public to learn?
Singh: Sikhism has faced persecution since its birth, but despite that, our fifth guru at the time of his sacrifice taught us that everything that happens should be accepted as a sweet will of God.
Our first guru gave us three foundational principles of Sikhism: Honest and hard work. To remember/meditate on God. To share our earnings with others.
After the Sikh Temple Shootings: What's Next?
National television networks are no longer camped out behind Classic Lanes.
The vigils have passed. The community mourned together at Friday’s funeral, and on Sunday the temple reopened.
For the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, a new reality is setting in.
The peacefulness, strength, forgiveness and resolve of the Sikhs continues to amaze me. That's evident throughout the articles I've been linking in all of my posts. Quotes like "Difficult times come and go. It doesn't stay there all the time" and "If there is a dark, there will be a light also" in this article continue to drive that home. I don't know when my schedule will allow me but I want to make a trip to Oak Creek when I can and visit them. These are some amazing people.
The sadness of the Sikh temple incident
As we travel throughout the world speaking to parents and professional people about their families, we meet amazing, wonderful leaders of all different religions and cultures.
Recently, on a trip to Monte Carlo, Monaco, our host was a remarkable corporate president who is the devoted father of three small children, and is a practicing Sikh. We liked him quickly and his wife instinctively. They had a calm, serene spirit and the same family-centered priorities that we do. They were empathetic and interested in us.
Now, about a topic I think needs to be discussed: the white supremacist movement from which the perpetrator of this incident came. The first link is about much more than that movement but, as you can see in what I quoted, the Sikhs are aware of this movement and the dangers of it.
The Undeterred Sikhs of America
HT: As an Advocacy group, you have been dealing with incidents regarding hate crimes. Did you ever think a tragedy of such magnitude could also strike the American Sikhs?
MS: Unfortunately, we did fear that an incident like the Wisconsin shooting might happen against the Sikhs. Especially in the past two-three years, there has been an increase in the racist rhetoric in the US. Many Sikh Americans are troubled by the anti-immigration rhetoric of the Tea Party, and some on the right in the Republican party and their antagonism towards immigration, and also the ways in which they seem to define America as 'white America'.
The next two links are specifically about the white supremacist movement. Again, a part of this story and I believe something that needs to be discussed.
In Sikh temple shooting, signs of a changed white supremacist movement
The Sunday shooting that killed six people at a Sikh temple outside Milwaukee was denounced by some perhaps unlikely entities – several national white-supremacist organizations, the record label that produced several recordings by the shooter’s racist punk band, and even his ex-girlfriend, who law enforcement officials say was active with at least one such group prior to the shooting.
The remorse is not unexpected, since Wade Michael Page, who shot himself, probably acted alone and without directive from any single group, the Federal Bureau of Investigation says. His profile reflects the changing face of the white-supremacist movement, from an earlier era dominated by a few monolithic and hierarchical organizations like the Ku Klux Klan, to today, which is represented by hundreds of area splinter groups that are largely leaderless and unconnected to one another.
Why Aren't We More Worried About White Power Extremists?
Reportedly, the FBI had known about Page, but didn't consider him a serious threat. Perhaps it doesn't even matter; in our public discourse, someone like this never would have been branded a potential terrorist. Post-9/11, political opportunists and overly acquiescent newsrooms have reinforced the idea that terrorism is something that comes from a cave in Afghanistan, not from a white power rally.
That's problematic. We should all be worried about Page's brand of domestic terrorism, just as we should be worried about militant religious extremists or deranged Jokers with access to powerful weapons, like alleged shooter James Holmes in Colorado.