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Wednesday, July 28, 2010

No Sharia in America


American Muslims have placed their trust in the American justice system and will continue to oppose the Public Sharia laws as they are currently applied in many places across the globe. I will be one of the first ones, if not the first one, to stand up against it. The Muslim majority in America is happy with the American system and does not want to have Public aspect of Sharia law here in America. A majority of Muslims (Moderates/Middle path that the Prophet suggested) will feel comfortable with this piece. However, a few need some time to absorb this, that is the way with the ultra-conservatives in any religion.

Sharia in its simplest form is a how-to manual based on the Qur'an and the Hadith (Prophet Muhammad's sayings). It is a human effort to understand the concept of justice enshrined in the Qur'an for day-to-day living. American Muslims have placed their trust in the American justice system and will continue to oppose the Public Sharia laws as they are currently applied in many places across the globe. I will be one of the first ones, if not the first one, to stand up against it. The Muslim majority in America is happy with the American system and does not want to have

Sharia law not in America.

Full Article at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/sharia-law-not-in-america_b_653250.html

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Empowerment of Women on Radio 1220

EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN was the topic I was invited to talk about on AM Radio 1220 in Fort Worth, Texas. It was nice to share about respecting every one's space and offering pluralistic solutions to issues of the day. My host, Lubna Ashraf is an anthropologist by training and has been serving communities with passion. S...he had great questions to follow through and I hope the program answered the questions women had about empowerment at home and work. As always callers enhance the conversations.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010 - 9:00 - 10:30 AM.

Mike Ghouse is a speaker on Pluralism, Civil Societies, peace and Islam and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day; a frequent guest on the media. His work can be found in three websites and 22 blogs listed at www.MikeGhouse.net

Further activity in July

Several Articles were written, but did not get posted this month
here are a few;

Sharia Law: Not in America
published at Huffington post

Yes to Mosque -US to stand on Moral High grounds
Published at Washington Post

Parliament of World’s religions summit in 2014.
Published at several places, including the comments section of Dallas Morning News

INTERFAITH?

Draw Muhammad Day - A Muslim Cartoonist

Evangelical Atheists?

Islamic terror is real, as is Jewish and Christian...

Is a mosque at Ground Zero religious freedom too f...
I was at Fox News, Sean Hannity show

Zoroaster, Prophet of Zoroastrianism

Bottom line prayers (wishes)

Muslim acts of heroism during Holocaust

Happy Imamat day to HH The Aga Khan
Published several places particularly the Isamili magazines

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Unity Day USA - 6th Annual Event

We are pleased to invite you to Unity Day USA; a purposeful event to bring Americans together. The idea for Unity Day USA was first conceived on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 and took its current form on Sunday, September 11, 2005. We cannot let things happen and drift into the abyss of incoherence. It is an initiative to come together to stand up for the safety, security and cohesiveness of America.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Women; changing the society

- Dear Aishah,

Let’s begin this;

1. A movement ought to be encouraged among women; it begins with a few on this discussion group and grows one at a time. They consciously need to imbue those values in their children that they would like to see in their men, so when they grow up, they will be respecting their family members, their daughters and their spouses.

2. Raise children doing the work at home without gendering it. My kids are raised with value for things to do at home, there is no such thing as man's job or woman's work in their mind set, and they also respect every religion without bias.

3. Mother has more influence on children than fathers, and that is why they call it mother tongue and never father's tongue. All mothers can consciously instill values of equality in their boys, and delete values of subserviency in their girls.

4. Two generations of conscious work, will change the world. But we have to remember, there will be always bad men no matter what religion they follow or what kind of raising they have, all we can do is reduce the number of such rascals through education and social pressures.

India has a lousy dowry system, even though it is outlawed, the practice has not faded away yet - the Hindu women are doused in kerosene and set to fire, the Muslim women are beaten up by their respective mother in laws. Not to gloat, American Men have killed more of their partners/ spouse in rage of fit than those combined in India and we hear about Arab women going through utter helplessness. All of us are guilty. Oppression of women or the weak or the minorities depletes the spiritual balance in a society. To have a society that is guilt free and well balanced, all humans must be respected for their god given uniqueness.

Women have come a long way since the day Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) liberated women from the shackles of men, where a woman was no more a chattel, she is on her own, she can own her properties and even given the freedom to do the opposite – do divorce men without guilt, as it was religiously sanctioned.

Think about the women that Prophet Muhammad said are the women to look up to? I would term it Model women like Asiya, Marryam Fatima….and others. None of them were social conformers, they broke away form the norms of the society to establish their own identity and assert their own being. Aishah, Roop, Sumbul and friends we need to highlight those values. A few men have opposed me for saying this, they do not want to highlight the very thing that the Prophet Admired, that is the Sunnah we need to follow.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Parliament of Worlds Religions in 2014

The theme that might capture our imagination and encapsulate our issues in 2014 would be, “A legacy for the next generation” or “A legacy for seven generations.” It is not a new idea; it is a tradition of the native peoples of America.The issues that affect our lives in the coming decade will continue to be environment, water, hunger, religious and ethnic intolerance. If we shy away from consciously shaping our future, we may drift into the abyss of incoherence. We may be fighting against deeply entrenched positions rather than finding solutions to the common issues.

Continued: http://wisdomofreligion.blogspot.com/2010/07/parliament-of-worlds-religions-summit.html

http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Thursday, July 15, 2010

BLAMING RELIGION

Blaming religion is like barking aimlessly, religion is intangible, you cannot jail, hang or electrocute it. It is gutlessness on our part to blame the religion and pass the buck... to NO one. It has become a bloody fashion to blame the religion and that is why we were not able to bring justice or resto...re faith in the system. Let's blame where it belongs and punish the wrong doer.

The following comments thread on face book

###
Greg Stone It is true that "religion" is an abstraction, not a responsible party. So when we speak of a religion we speak in generalities that may not be that helpful.

And yet we must be mindful of the teachings and practices of specific groups within a particular religion who may or may not be advancing the spiritual formation that is the true work of a ... See Morefaith tradition.

But, as you note, in the end we must turn with our praise or our blame to the individual who manifests the faith in his or her actions. And we, as individuals, are strewn out along a very long path that makes up what St. Bonaventure calls The Soul's Journey into God.

Blessings.

Mike Ghouse Blaming religion is useless, utterly useless, no decisions are made and the buck is passed to NO one. We have done this for over five centuries in vain. We need to blame the guy who is resonsible and nail him for his wrong doing and that gives hope to every one that, no criminal is going scot free.

Obafemi Origunwa Religion is not the problem for sure. It is an extension of the culture and what one culture deems valient another condemns as degenerate. So who is right and wrong? What is the criteria for judgement?

Delores Speiginer-Lundie The criteria should be based upon the perpetrator , which will always be a person or persons fixing blame to religion or cultural valients

Obafemi, what is right are the commonly accepted principles of civil society - do not lie, rob, steal or hurt. Each act creates an imbalance in the society and society ought to decide the punishments for it to prevent from happening it again. Saudi ... See MoreArabia and Texas present death penalty in some cases and I think that is primitive we need to punish, not necessarily with death but with a chance for the person to recover.

Delores, good thoughts, punish the wrongdoer or discipline him/her.

Nargis, culture and religion are like chicken and egg, however cultural ties are stronger than religious ones. Burqa/Veil is cultural rather than religious; a Hindu and a Muslim from India are more likely to chat and socialize on an Island than a Hindu from Carribbean or a Muslim from China.

Ismail Bey A religion is what the followers make of it.

If a faith, as a group mentality, gets to the point where it's practitioners follow only literalist clerics who issue edicts based on nonsense, and those edicts have meaning for the masses that result in violence or rampant ignorance, then religion can be blamed. If a religion proves itself unable to ... See Morestop those edicts from having meaning among believers, if it is incapable of bringing compassion and tolerance to the fore of that community, then that religion must be examined and reformed, if need be. When a faith is unable to maintain the atmosphere of it's ethics and moral teachings it becomes drab and meaningless, and begins to wither. It alters from it's original course and ceases to provide succour to it's followers, as well as to the communities it rubs elbows with, and soon develops a hostility to all things different. Soon, very soon after that, it dies amid the cheers of the oppressed.

Throughout history, religion has been a double edged sword for civilization. it provided light and knowledge and stimulated thought and science, and also strangled them. It inspired art and music and banned them. Religion put people's fears at rest, and created fears that people never knew existed. But it never, never, allowed and maintained free thought and speech like the Enlightenment did, and still does, for better or worse. Religion, put on the social back-burner, does what it is supposed to do, without resorting to manipulated mentalities to make a difference in human society.


Mike Ghouse ‎- Ismail, great points, particultarliy "it provided light and knowledge and stimulated thought and science, and also strangled them. It inspired art and music and banned them. Religion put people's fears at rest"

Nuclear power in hands of good people provides light and the beneficence, and in the hand of bad guys is destructive. the problem is not with nuclear, it is the abusers that need to be chucked not the energy itself.

Ursula Koehler Blaming religion simply reveals ignorance. In the end all religions have the same goal - to teach the faithful high ethic and moral standards for a peaceful living together. So basically one will find the same commitments in all major religions, of course adapted to the different cultural roots. However religions have been misused for political and... See More criminal purposes throughout history. The keys to mutual respect, acceptance and tolerance between different cultures and religions are education and human living conditions for all people around our globe.

Amina Akram blaming religion would be when u do not have any thing to be blamed off..

Theodor Fruendt Secular French MPs have voted overwhelmingly to ban the wearing of face-covering veils in public spaces. The measure will now go before the Senate, which is expected to approve it in September. The fact of the matter is that the law exploits a non problem - only about 1,900 women among France’s five to six million Muslims wear a veil - in a bid to pander to anti-immigration voters and to distract attention from France’s economic woes.

Yasmeen Ali True Theo, non issues are always overplayed by governmenys around the world to take the focus away from the issues.

Khalid Ibrahim Good thread Mike and my fellow thinkers. What is really shameful is that many unsuspecting people do think that these psychopaths are so "noble", when they use the cover of religion to commit their atrocities.


Mike Ghouse The unstated purpose of religion is to help find peace within and balance with what surrounds; life and matter. Most people get it and a few don't. As a society, each one of us is responsible to to maintain that balance, and restore the balance when aggravated

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

My Cow, my real story

The story of brutality of factory farms listed below bothered me, however it took me back to the love for my cow when I was a teenager. One day I walked home and found out that my father had sold the cow to a farmer for eventual packaging. I was upset, very upset.

She was 35 and had stopped giving milk; this was the Cow my father’s friend Muniyappa has sold him years back for the milk needs of my family. I found out who had purchased it and rode my bike straight to his home. I walked up to her and saw the tears rolling down her eyes, OMG, I feel the emotion now and feel misty… I still see her big blue eyes crying.

A big hug was due her, and she responded positively. I understood her language that she wanted to come home. I brought her back, a year later I was convinced that letting the cow go was the best option, as I was still recovering from the mourning of my dog Sheru who was killed in a road accident and I did not want to see her die.

I must be around ten or eleven at that time, and remember taking her out for grazing by the lake, and letting her graze while I read books, then as the sun was setting, along with other shepherds, I will bring my cow back home. It was about two miles walk. I remember buying the bundles of fresh grass in the market place for her fodder, I loved that smell. I loved the smell of cakes that were made for her from Ragi (grain that looks like Rye) flour and we ate the food made out of the same flour, it is a Bangalore delicacy - called Ragi Mudday. When my friend Shariff visits his sister Baseera in Washington DC, I go to see him and she makes the Raggi Mudday, our favorite.

I have often wondered about the reality of that emotion, I try to go back to that time, and then find it comfortable to give up the thought and believe that my cow was indeed crying.

Have you experienced something like this?

I thank Len Ellis, my friends whom I have listed on my profile as the friends I admire at
http://www.mikeghouse.net/ProfileMikeGhouse.asp

Mike Ghouse
__________________________________

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-robbins/the-brutality-of-factory_b_643567.html

The Brutality of Factory Farms: An Inside Look (VIDEO)

This past week, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill that will essentially prohibit, starting in 2015, any egg from being sold in the state that comes from caged hens. This bill became law 20 months after a majority of California voters approved Proposition 2, making it clear that concern for the living conditions of livestock is no longer the province of animal rights activists alone.
Recognizing how widespread concern about the humane treatment of farm animals has become, the California Milk Advisory Board has recently ramped up its 10-year "Happy Cow" advertising campaign with a new series of ads proclaiming that "Great milk comes from Happy Cows. Happy Cows come from California." These ads are now being shown across the nation.

Unfortunately, there are a few problems with the ads. For one, they weren't filmed in California at all. They were filmed in Auckland, New Zealand.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Current Milk Board ads claim that 99 percent of the state's dairy farms are family owned. But in order to arrive at this figure, they count as "dairy farms" rural households with one or two cows. Meanwhile, there are corporate-owned dairies in the San Joaquin Valley which have 15,000 or 20,000 cows. It is these far larger enterprises that produce the vast majority of California's milk.

My concern, let me emphasize, is not with small-scale family farms. I have no problem with the many hard-working families who treat their cows well, take care of the land and try to bring a healthy product to market. My problem is with the much larger agribusiness enterprises, the factory farms to whom the animals in their care are nothing but sources of revenue.

Thanks to the practices they employ, the amount of milk produced yearly by the average California cow is nearly 3,000 pounds more than the national average. This increased production may seem like a good thing, but it is achieved at great cost to the animals. The cows are routinely confined in extremely unnatural conditions, injected with hormones, fed antibiotics, and in general treated with all the compassion of four legged milk pumps. Roughly one third of California's cows suffer from painful udder infections, and more than half suffer from other infections and illnesses.

Although genetically engineered bovine growth hormone is banned in many countries including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and much of the European Union, it is widely used in California's largest dairy operations to increase milk production. Unfortunately, it also increases udder infections and lameness in the cows, markedly raises the amount of pus found in milk, and may increase the risk of cancer in consumers.

The natural lifespan of a dairy cow is about 25 years, but one-fourth of California's dairy cows are slaughtered each year (typically at four or five years old), because they've become crippled from painful foot infections or calcium depletion, or simply because they can no longer produce the unnaturally high amounts of milk required of them.

The Milk Board ads present the California dairy industry as a bucolic enterprise that operates in lush, grassy pastures. Some of the ads employ the slogan "So much grass, so little time." But California's dairy industry is concentrated in the dry and barren Central Valley. Here, the cows are typically kept in overcrowded, dirt feedlots. Some never see a blade of grass in their entire lives.

The ads show calves in meadows talking happily to their mothers. But the calves born to California dairy cows typically spend only 24 hours with their mothers, and some do not even get that much. Here is a video that reveals what actually happens to the calves:

The ads propagate the image that California dairy cows live in natural conditions and the practices of the dairy industry are in harmony with the environment. But the amount of excrement produced each year by the dairy cows in the 50-square mile area of California's Chino Basin would make a pile with the dimensions of a football field and as tall as the Empire State Building. When it rains heavily, dairy manure in the Chino Basin is washed straight into the Santa Ana River and some makes its way into the aquifer that supplies half of Orange County's drinking water.

The large-scale factory dairies in California's Central Valley produce more excrement than the entire human population of Texas. About 20 million Californians (65 percent of the state's population) rely on drinking water that is threatened by contamination from nitrates and other poisons stemming from dairy manure. Nitrates have been linked to cancer and birth defects.

The Milk Board defends the ads by saying they are entertaining, and are not intended to be taken seriously. But the Milk Board is not in the entertainment business. It has not spent hundreds of millions of dollars on this ad campaign to amuse the public, but to increase the sales of California dairy products. Besides, does misleading the public become legitimate just because it is done in an entertaining way?
The Milk Board knows that showing calves being taken away from their bellowing mothers and confined in tiny veal crates won't sell their product. Neither will showing emaciated, lame animals who have collapsed from a lifetime of hardship and over-milking, being taken to slaughterhouses and having their throats slit. But this is the reality for animals in the large-scale factory farms that produce most of the state's milk. Covering up this misery with fantasy ads of happy cows who are actually in New Zealand is not amusing. It is perpetrating a sham on the public.

This is why I have joined with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in a lawsuit that challenges the Milk Board's ads as unlawfully deceptive. Thus far, the Milk Board has prevailed in court, even though it's obvious that the ads lie to the public. Why? Because the California Milk Advisory Board is the marketing arm of the California Department of Agriculture, a government agency. And in California, in a truly Orwellian twist, government agencies are exempt from laws prohibiting false advertising.

Should we hold our advertisers, even if they are government agencies, accountable to reality? Should we require that what they tell us have some resemblance to the truth?

This month, PETA has erected billboards throughout the state that read, "California Cheese Comes From Miserable Cows." PETA, of course, is an animal rights group, but this issue is increasingly being recognized as one that concerns not only vegetarians and animal advocates. Consumers who want the animal products they buy to be from humanely raised animals can be found in every segment of society.
Consideration for the plight of animals is a central part of the American character. It is an essential part of who we are as a people. The "happy cow" ads are an insult to the legitimate humanitarian concerns of millions of people. As consumers, do we want to reward this sort of behavior with our hard-earned dollars?

Abraham Lincoln was speaking not only for vegetarians or for animal rights advocates when he said, "I care not much for a man's religion whose dog or cat are not the better for it."

To learn about steps you can take towards greater physical health, social conscience, and economic freedom, read my latest book The New Good Life: Living Better Than Ever in an Age of Less. For information about my work, and to sign up for my email-list, visit JohnRobbins.info.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Bottom line prayers-wishes

Right in the middle of the devotional songs, the six year old stands up with her eyes wide open, and in an excited voice blurts out, “Gee Dad, that’s cool, God can be worshipped in so many different ways!” Indeed that sentence has become a part of my teaching in Pluralism. Pluralism is simply respecting the otherness of other and appreciating the god given uniqueness of each one of the seven billion of us.

Continued: http://wisdomofreligion.blogspot.com/2010/07/bottom-line-prayers-wishes.html

http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Standing up for Jews, Gays and Mexicans, why should you?

Pastor Fred Phelps is staging protest against Jews, Gays and Lesbians and the Mexicans right here in Dallas, Texas. Here is an opportunity for you to stand up for the rights of others and add purpose in life. Join us for goodwill prayers and hope the positive energy will open people’s hearts and minds towards each other, leading to appreciating the value of living in harmony. - Mike Ghouse

Action itemsContinued: http://mikeghouseforamerica.blogspot.com/2010/07/standing-up-for-jews-gays-and-mexicans.html

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

FOX TV, Sean Hannity and Mike Ghouse about NASA tonight

I am preparing a few talking points and request you to give me short sentences and phrases to talk about this tonight Tuesday, July 6, 2010 at Sean Hannity Show on Fox News.

I am particularly requesting my friends from native traditions to share their perspective.Daniel Pipes will be opposing it and I will be supporting this intiaitive.

" NASA has outreached Russia, China, Israel, India and Saudi Arabia to put their astronauts on the space mission, let the world come together on science and exploration"

"Religion is the biggest influence in one's life, it is time we give some weight to religion, and bring aboard Muslims, Native Americans, Hindus, Bahais, Jews, Christians, Buddhist and others to be a part of creating a better world, better world through science and research"

Continued: http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2010/07/fox-tv-sean-hannity-and-mike-ghouse.html

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, writer, optimist, educator and an activist of Pluralism, Justice, Islam, India, Peace and Civil Societies. He is a conflict mitigater and a goodwill nurturer offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day and is a frequent guest on the media. Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Saturday, July 3, 2010

July 4th - what does freedom mean to you?

May you feel blessed and free, happy July 4th!What does July 4th mean to you?July 4th means freedom to me and I continue to debate with myself which one of the two is most important to value to me, Freedom or Justice?Thank God for America, where we the people cherish and value the freedom endowed to us by the creator. I chose to be an American and I am blessed to be one in my heart and spirit. I have come to revere our constitution for the value it places on equality...

Now a few tid-bits about July 4th followed by the list of events that led to American independence, the declaration of independence, Bill of rights and the link to our national Anthem sourced form Library of Congress and Wikipedia.

continued: http://mikeghouseforamerica.blogspot.com/2010/07/july-4th-what-does-freedom-mean-to-you.html

Sharia Laws in America

No group of Muslims in America has called for Sharia Laws in America, the American Justice system works for them and they will oppose the Sharia Laws (as they are). I will be one of the first ones, if not the first one to stand up against it, and the Muslim majority in America is happy with the American system and do not want the Sharia Laws in America

Continued: http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2010/07/sharia-laws-in-america.html

Sulha Joint prayers by Jews and Muslims

'Sulha' Prayer at Abraham's Tomb in Hebronwww.youtube.com

A group of Jews and Muslims came to pray together for 'sulha' (reconciliation) at the Tomb of Abraham in Hebron. It's also called Ma'arat Hamakhpela or Haram il-Ibrahimiya. The soldiers couldn't believe to see it--Jews and Muslim coming here to pray...together? This is... the final scene in the film...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf61OV2joDY&feature=player_embedded

There is more good on the earth than otherwise, let us share and propogate in the same proportion 99:1I have been sharing good stories of co-existence and please continue to add, we need more of this.Thank you.

Mike Ghouse

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Burqa Ban – Hannity, Gabrielle and Ghouse on Fox TV

Burqa Ban – Hannity, Gabrielle and Ghouse on Fox TV
On Hannity Show June 29, 2010

Mike Ghouse live from Nashville, Tennessee. Of course we could not get all the talking points in to the show, but you can read it.Let's do some serious critical thinking. French commies now want to tell their people what they eat, believe, pray and WEAR? How dumb!

Link on you tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnnGQB9tPyg

Click to continue: http://mikeghouseforamerica.blogspot.com/2010/06/burqa-ban-hannity-gabrielle-and-ghouse.html


Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, writer, optimist, educator and an activist of Pluralism, Justice, Islam, India, Peace and Civil Societies. He is a conflict mitigater and a goodwill nurturer offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day and is a frequent guest on the media. Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/