Religion: Sikh Woman Receives Apology From Redditor Who Posted Her Photo

It started with a sneaky and ill-advised online potshot, but it ended with an apology and a positively heartwarming lesson in tolerance and kindness.
Over the weekend, a Redditor with the username "european_douchebag" posted a photo of a college student named Balpreet Kaur to Reddit. Kaur, an Ohio State student and observant Sikh, does not trim her facial hair in accordance with her religion's beliefs.

Kaur discovered her newfound fame, when a friend showed her the picture. Despite having her privacy violated and her picture posted to the supposedly humorous r/funny subreddit for the world to discuss, the young woman's response was dignified, graceful and generous.

"When I die, no one is going to remember what I looked like, heck, my kids will forget my voice, and slowly, all physical memory will fade away," Kaur wrote. "However, my impact and legacy will remain: and, by not focusing on the physical beauty, I have time to cultivate those inner virtues and hopefully, focus my life on creating change and progress for this world in any way I can."

The Internet, too, rallied in Kaur's defense, with Redditors like "MisterMT" adding their own messages of support. "This is overall a great story - and Balpreet is about to become a global icon. Even better, she is someone who genuinely deserves her recognition. Wonderful stuff."
 
Many took note of Kaur's true inner beauty, while others hailed her as a role model.
"I had tears in my eyes, reading this post," wrote "singhza". "Balpreet you are an inspiration to everyone and esp the Sikh youth who think they are a misfit in the society if they conform to our religious symbols."

The situation remarkably sparked an apology from european_douchebag himself, the response was "I posted the picture of a Sikh woman on here and I'd like to apologize.

He stated on Reddit:
"I've read more about the Sikh faith and it was actually really interesting. It makes a whole lot of sense to work on having a legacy and not worrying about what you look like. I made that post for stupid internet points and I was ignorant.
So reddit I'm sorry for being an asshole and for giving you negative publicity.
Balpreet, I'm sorry for being a closed minded individual. You are a much better person than I am
Sikhs, I'm sorry for insulting your culture and way of life.
Balpreet's faith in what she believes is astounding."

Understanding that tolerance is at the core of all religions allows people to live in peace and harmony with one another. Even after being ridiculed, Balpreet showed tolerance, kindness and respect towards the abuser which shows great wisdom and virtue and shocked the world into condemning those who were ridiculing her.

This shows that the great teachings religion gives a person allow them to acquire a kind and virtuous personality which attracts people, whereas without it one becomes insensitive to the feelings of others as shown in this incident.


The Ahmadiyya Post, Religion. 06 Oct 2012