Sikhs in the US fight for their religious rights

I'd like to think that I live in a country which tolerates diversity. We proclaim it on all the tourism brochures for sure. It seems that when it comes to religious tolerance, we are once again ahead of our southern counter parts. Sikhs are now fighting the US army on a requirement for them to remove their religious headgear and shave their beards (huge no no). I find this strange, as we've already resolved this issue a while ago.

Funnily enough, one of my profs is a leftenant in the Canadian army, and he says the way they've dealt with Sikhs who want to serve their country is kind of weird. First off, because they won't shave the beard (which is sort of a safety hazard in that the gas mask won't fit right), they have to wax it. A lot. Until it's slippery enough that the gas mask will fit on it and the wax creates a solid seal. Unfortunately the issue with the turbans are a bit more complex because they really need to be able to fit into a helmet, and for the most part they've had to figure it out for themselves, but I think there's a market for that - military grade helmets that fit over turbans, hijabs, and other religious headgear that can't be removed. Mark my words - I'd invest in a company like that. My guess is that the Canadian military would have to set up a contract with them and just watch the money pour in.

The point is though, that the Canadian forces have made genuine efforts to make the military as open to people of varying backgrounds as possible. There are Imams and Rabbis as well as priests, and not only Catholic or protestant. Especially with enrollment in the US being as low as it is, and demand being as high as it is, being accommodating to, oh I don't know, the 2.4 million American Muslims?? (Pew Research Center 2007) Depending on how religious they are, they will most certainly not encourage all male orgies and defeat in battle and Armageddon that have apparently taken over whenever a gay soldier comes out.