Harmeet Dhillon, presently serving in the Trump Administration as Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, has found herself in the unenviable position of having to explain the necessity of seeing past a first glance’s impression to Eric Daugherty, assistant news director of Florida’s Voice News, when it comes to determining someone’s religion based on apparel. The moment came on X when Dhillon corrected Daugherty’s mistaken belief that Giani Singh, a Sikh Granthi (ceremonial reader of the Sikh holy book Guru Granth Sahib) who led the opening prayer before the House of Representatives on June 6, 2025, was a Muslim.
The screen cap above is Daugherty's first post, which was subsequently corrected to show that Singh is Sikh. He might have been taking Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) at her word, since she had first posted the photo and registered her disgust at the "Muslim" man being able to pray. Daugherty subsequently edited his post and changed "Muslim" to "What appears to be a SIKH led the prayer in the House this morning." He'd also posted a video of the prayer asking, "What are we doing"?
That led to Dhillon's post.
Dhillon has for years been a fierce, victorious warrior on behalf of conservatives and related causes. Her opposition to Ronna McDaniel’s inept, financially wasteful tenure as RNC chair, as exclusively exposed here on RedState, was key in bringing about a change in RNC leadership that in no small part assisted Donald Trump's successful 2024 bid for the White House. Dhillon has often assisted conservatives in legal matters, including journalist Andy Ngo. Her appointment by Trump highlights her value to the conservative cause.
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Dhillon is a devout Sikh. What doubtless evoked an audible eye-roll by Dhillon was Daugherty’s mistaken assumption that Singh’s turban means he is a Muslim. One of the tenets of Sikhi is kesh, the belief that a man should not cut his hair but rather allow it to grow unhindered. A devout male Sikh combs his hair twice daily with a dedicated kangha (comb), then ties his hair in a simple knot held in place by the kangha and covers it with a turban.
Sikhi shares many parallels with Christianity, not in theology but rather in the temporal implementation of its beliefs and teachings. The Christian belief that an actively practiced faith and adherence to Jesus’ teachings shows itself through serving others appears in sevā, which involves practicing selfless service without seeking a reward. Another similarity is in the Sikh commitment to sarbat da bhala, a belief that all should share in blessings and prosperity. In Christianity, there is the foundational belief that Jesus died for all (2 Corinthians 5:15) so that all who accept Him as Savior may share in the blessing of eternal life with Him. This thought is amplified in Titus:
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
There are clear differences between Christianity and Sikhi, such as the Christian belief in Jesus’ divinity and the necessity of His substitutionary death on the cross as atonement for humanity’s individual and collective sins. The wise Christian, while not dismissing such matters, also places them in proper order by adhering to a personal code of conduct where love and service lead the way toward discussing the theology behind said actions. The intelligent Christian brings, to the best of their ability, God’s love and wisdom to all interactions with those who practice a different faith. There will be disagreements. This does not automatically demand division.
Uneducated responses to a first glance qualify as self-inflicted wounds. Self-inflicted wounds are unnecessary. In carpentry, the experienced woodworker unfailingly follows the edict of measuring twice before cutting once. Likewise, all reporters and pundits should research twice before speaking once in order to either be first, spoon-feed pabulum to those who will agree with every word you say before you say a single one, or both. Getting it right is more important than getting there ahead of everyone else when “there” is a place to which one ought not to go. Harmeet Dhillon is on our side. So is Eric Daugherty, who, in the future, will hopefully avoid blunders such as this.
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