Model of Democracy, the Indian Idol

http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/02/model-of-democracy-indian-idol.html

Democracy means different things to different people. I will present a few different aspects of democracy in the coming weeks as the events unfold in the Arab World.

Democracy is about choices and the freedom to choose what one eats, wears, believes and seeks in the pursuit of happiness without being harassed or humiliated.  It is the unhindered choice available to every citizen equally.

The Asia Bibi incident in Pakistan took me right into my own childhood where the Dalits were treated inhumanly even in the cosmopolitan Bangalore in the early sixties, it must have been humiliating to them the way Brahmins washed the public tap after the Dalits collected the water, I had never liked those attitudes when I was in the line I felt their anguish.  But that was in America too where the African Americans could not drink from the same fountain. 

Thank God, my Dad broke all the traditions and had the Dalits sit in our house and drink the tea with us in the same cups we used; I clearly remember Mara, Naga, Muniyamma, Venkat and others.  My Dad was harassed by a few for giving space to “them” and I am sure many of you had similar parents.

India has come a long way, just as America has.  Out of nowhere the picture of 2007 Indian Idol popped on my facebook screen. There it was a non-mainstream Indian making to the top. This was unimaginable fifty years ago.

It is this model of democracy I want to rave about and thank the Bollywood industry for it, they set the trends of inclusivism, pluralism and secularism in India, just at the Hollywood does. It has broken the class, caste and religious barriers – and offers equal opportunity to all.  Problems are not gone completely, but the progress is significant.

In the two seasons of Indian Idol I have watched, I have witnessed with delight the “slum dogs” moving up, the women folks, the illiterate with no exposure to music and the well trained ones; they were all on the level playing field.  I have admired the comments made by hosts particularly Anu Malik, Javed Akhtar and Sonu Nigam.  No one had an upper hand; it is what they can strive for to be the best and they came from every segment of the Indian society. 

I would suggest similar programs to pop in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan and else where, where they can shape the future leaders of their nations by offering opportunities to every one and let every one learn to compete in serving their nations.

We all have the responsibility to share and explore avenues in shaping the future of each nation and the family of nations. We are all in this together and I salute the Indian Idol for shaping the future of India. It gives hopes to every citizen and that is one beautiful aspect of democracy.

Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day – www.MikeGhouse.ne

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Indian Idol 2007

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3828885197123734159

Asia Bibi Petition

http://www.petitiononline.com/Asiabibi/petition.html

Who wants to be the President of Pakistan

http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/01/who-wants-to-be-president-of-pakistan.html

Fareed Zakaria, Nick Kristof & Mike Ghouse on Uprisings

Fareed Zakaria, Nick Kristof & Mike Ghouse on Uprisings
 

Those who watch and read multiple sources of news and information are fairly similar and accurate in their assessment of the situation in the Middle East, except those who just watch American News media, forget about the Fox news watchers.

In the last few weeks, I found similarities in the takes of Nick Kristof, Fareed Zakaria and myself.  Between Kristof and me, four articles have a similar take and one has an identical paragraph that I wrote on 25^th and he wrote the same on 26^th.

NICK KRISTOFF & MIKE GHOUSE

Nick Kristoff wrote in “unfit for democracy”  

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/nicholasdkristof/index.html?inline=nyt-per 

A crude stereotype lingers that some people — Arabs, Chinese and Africans — are incompatible with democracy.

Moreover, this line of thinking seems to me insulting to the unfree world.

Look, there’ll be bumps ahead. It took Americans six years after the Revolutionary War to elect a president, and we almost came apart at the seams again in the 1860s. When Eastern Europe became democratic after the 1989 revolutions, Poland and the Czech Republic adjusted well, but Romania and Albania endured chaos for years.

The record is that after some missteps, countries usually pull through. Education, wealth, international connections and civil society institutions help. And, on balance, Egypt, Libya and Bahrain are better positioned today for democracy than Mongolia or Indonesia seemed in the 1990s — and Mongolia and Indonesia today are successes.

In the 21st century, there’s no realistic alternative to siding with people power.

Mike Ghouse writes “Trusting people to manage their own affairs”.

On February 25^th I wrote:  “Lets support the people movement, after the initial turmoil everything will come together, we must resist the temptation to believe that they cannot handle their affairs; every human and every nation is capable of managing their affairs when each person is free to choose and free to think.” http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/02/raping-al-qaeda.html

And again on on 25^th I wrote, “With the uprising in the Middle East, no doubt there will be chaos, but people can handle their own affairs, and out of that chaos will emerge a fledgling governance of the people by the people for the people.  It is sheer arrogance to believe that they cannot, they said the same thing about India, Indonesia and several other nations.” http://ghousetweets.blogspot.com/2011/02/trusting-people-to-manage-their-own.html

FAREED ZAKARIA & MIKE GHOUSE

On February 27, Fareed Zakaria said it eloquently

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2011/02/27/exp.fareed.zakaria.unrest.thetake.cnn?hpt=C2

Mike Ghouse has echoed the same thoughts thrice, spoken on Hannity Show, Dallas Fox TV, A Radio Station in Portland and Dallas Morning News.

February 14 http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/02/fox-hannity-spencer-bolton-and-ghouse.html

It is a fulfillment of the aspiration of people for their sovereignty; it is the beginning of the freedom, liberty and justice for the people of Egypt.

This is the first time in history that Muslims have chosen non-violence as their path to bring about a change and those attitudes must be encouraged. Do we really mean we support democracy? If we do, the time is now.

February 8, Dallas Morning news - http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/02/obama-throws-me-off-compeletely.html

We must admire them for giving life to one of the most civilized forms of a political change; non-violence. It is a new experience for the Arab world and due encouragement will pave the way for others with similar aspirations.

February 1, http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/02/egypt-positive-change-in-making.html

I am moved by watching the "non-violent" peaceful revolution coming out of Egypt, this is a major paradigm change for Muslims.

Feb 11, Fox Tv - http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/02/11/egyptian-celebrations-planned-in-downtown-dallas-frisco/ and http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/02/egypt-freedom-at-last.html  It's one of the most beautiful days of my life; seeing a people get their freedom though non-violence and peaceful means.

I wrote on January 28, 2011

http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/01/egypt-making-lemonade-out-of-lemon.html

Obama understands that equity is sustainable than inequities we have been wrong many times, and I hope this time we will get it right and I trust Obama will do the right thing.

Mubarak will wither away and anything we (U.S.) can do to show support for the aspiration of people will do two things: firm up the people to people peace agreement and prevent the opportunity for brotherhood to take advantage of this.

# # #

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, writer, activist and a futurist. He manages the Foundation for Pluralism championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other and is committed to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam through the World Muslim Congress.

Mike is available to speak on Pluralism, Islam, Civil Societies, and Peace & Justice at your work place, place of worship, school, seminars or conferences.  He is a media commentator offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. 

Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.MikeGhouse.net/

Launch of Ghouse Tweets in 100 Words

LAUNCH OF 100 WORD TWEETS
ON ISSUES OF THE DAY.

There are about ten titles listed here that I wrote this week.

            The new edition of “100 WORD STATEMENTS” on issues of the day is reaching out to over 1500 Media anchors, reporters, editors and broadcasters around the globe and it is good to see acknowledgments. I am thrilled to report that Karl Rove, Sean Hannity, Anderson Cooper, Sarah Palin and their likes are following me on the Twitter.  I hope I can tweet enough to be heard with finding pluralistic solutions on the issues of the day.  http://ghousetweets.blogspot.com/

            Enjoy the weekend, there is a lot to do and each one of us has to do our own share of good in making the world a better place for all.

Mike Ghouse

________________________________ ____

1. Gaddafi and beyond; a challenge for the Neocons and Muslims

            When I went on Fox’s Sean Hannity Show last week, we were to talk about Gaddafi’s call to Muslims to rise against the White people, here were my talking points. http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/02/gaddafi-and-beyond-challenge-for.html

________________________________ ____

2. Trusting people to manage their own affairs

With the uprising in the Middle East, no doubt there will be chaos, but people can handle their own affairs, and out of that chaos will emerge a fledgling governance of the people by the people for the people.  It is sheer arrogance to believe that they cannot, they said the same thing about India, Indonesia and several other nations.  http://ghousetweets.blogspot.com/

________________________________ ____

3. Sean Hannity, Brotherhood, Spencer, Qur’aan and Ghouse

            Sean Hannity is indeed excited about the Muslim Brotherhood. However he exercises caution and avoids outright condemnation, it is a positive shift in his judgementalistic approach towards anything that is Muslim and Islamic and I admire that. I am glad he brings a semblance of another point of view to the American public, that is a step in the right direction and I welcome it, however you have to have a lot of tolerance to watch  him, for the sake of peace, I have been doing it.   Even though I don’t get equal time, but that time I get has been instrumental in bringing a positive change.

http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/02/sean-hannity-brotherhood-spencer-quraan.html

________________________________ ____

4. Middle East Mistakes by right wingers

President Bush buckled under pressure and blew a chance to nourish democracy in the Middle East by rejecting duly elected Hamas by their people. To make Hamas fit into their agenda they shoved them into an optionless cage, to proclaim claim, “We told you so.” Hamas’ call for destruction of Israel is not acceptable but so is the statements made by Israeli leaders who called for destruction of Palestinians.    http://ghousetweets.blogspot.com/

________________________________ ____

5. Muslim politics - Ahmadiyya and Motamar Alislami  (75 comments).

I hope someday, at least in America, our future generation will see the value in coming together as Muslims regardless of our hues, as humans regardless of our religion for doing good and knowing each other (Q49:13). http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2011/02/muslim-politics-ahmadiyya-muslims-and.html

________________________________ ____

6. Muslims Condemn Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari

            He was plotting to bomb President Bush’s house - he writes in his dairy, "You who created mankind. Grant me martyrdom for your sake and make jihad easy for me only in your path," according to court records. Religion inspires one to be a good human and not a criminal. Quraan forbids killing and forbids suicide. http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2011/02/muslims-condemn-khalid-ali-m-aldawsari.html

________________________________ ____

7. Al-Qaeda Raped

            Of course Al-Qaeda deserves to be raped by two more losers and liars; the CIA and Mossad. Have they been right any time from Iran in 1979 to Libya in 2011? http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/02/raping-al-qaeda.html

________________________________ ____

8. Glen Beck barks in the dark

            An idiot randomly says things that may suit one at a given time, but that should not encourage the one to support the idiot, in the long run; he will nail every one unintentionally.  http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/02/glen-beck-barks-in-dark.html

________________________________ ____

9. TEXAS FAITH: The Blessings and Burdens of Life Online

            Most certainly, I would advocate periods of withdrawal for reflection, family time, prayers or meditation. Call it a "tech Sabbath." There is a time for everything and whatever you do in life, you should do it wholeheartedly as it brings a sense of composure, integrity and commitment to the task at hand and fulfillment to one's being.

http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/02/post-93.html

________________________________ ____

10. Terrorizing the Terrorists

            Push the Brotherhood or Hamas to the corner with no choices; they have no choice left but to hurt us. We cannot be secure if we keep threatening others; bullying throws our own sense of security out the door. http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/02/terrorizing-terrorists.html
 

________________________________ ____

11. Aljazeera will straighten American Media

            You may disagree with me but a majority of American Media personnel have un-neutralized themselves for a long time. During the Iraq’s shameless shock-n-awe war, the CNN, FOX and other media were truly ‘embedded’ with our government; they became mouth pieces for the government. http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/02/aljazeera-will-straighten-american.html

________________________________ ____

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer. He manages the Foundation for Pluralism championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other and is committed to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam through the World Muslim Congress.

Mike is available to speak on Pluralism, Islam, Civil Societies, and Peace & Justice at your place of worship, school, work place, seminars or conferences.  He is a media commentator offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. 

Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.MikeGhouse.net/

Aljazeera will straighten American Media

You may disagree with me but a majority of American Media personnel have un-neutralized themselves for a long time. During the Iraq’s shameless shock-n-awe war, the CNN, FOX and other media were truly ‘embedded’ with our government; they became mouth pieces for the government.

Thomas Jefferson made a strong statement about the role of media in a democracy when he noted, “If it were left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

Describing the role of the press, George A. Krimsky, the former head of news for the Associated Press’ World Services and co-author of Hold the Press, writes, “In the wake of America’s successful revolution, it was decided there should indeed be government, but only if it were accountable to the people. The people, in turn, could only hold the government accountable if they knew what it was doing and could intercede as necessary, using their ballot, for example. This role of public ‘watchdog’ was thus assumed by a citizen press, and as a consequence, the government in the United States has been kept out of the news business.”

The US Congress, the Senate and the Media all acted like sycophants of our President during the Afghan and Iraq wars.  I am glad the then Senators Obama, Paul and late congressman Murtha had the guts to speak their minds while others sheepishly following the pied piper.

Could the Iraq war have been prevented had our media asked the right questions? We could have saved the lives of our soldiers; we did not have to carry the guilt of massacring the innocent Iraqis and Afghans – for one Bin Laden?  Would the American families have suffered had we not had the budget deficits resulting from the wars?

Our cavalier attitude towards the administration, the senate, congress and the press was shameful.  Enough is written and talked about the collective guilt and I hope the future generations forgive us.

Thank God we have the NPR, PBS and BBC to give us a semblance of another point of view. I am looking forward to Aljazeera to set the new standards in journalism by asking dare devil questions that most of the American reporters dare not ask and risk their jobs.  What are you afraid of?

The Aljazeera Show “Empire” gathered Carl Bernstein, Amy Woodman and a few other media stalwarts about the role of media.  The questions the facilitator asked were incredible! He said “the American media acted as the mouth piece of government” and indeed we sounded like the state television of Gaddafi. 

The essence of democracy is the ability to question everything without worrying about censure against such inquiry. How many journalists from the mainstream media have failed this test in recent times?

I have seen Anderson Cooper grill a few right wingers a few times, more of it is needed. We should question every damn politician if we want our freedom to prevail over their interests and I am glad he still has his job unlike Helen Thomas.

I welcome Aljazeera to pave the way to American Journalists or hire them to regenerate their guts to report the facts and not what Rupert wants them to say in critical matters.  We must cherish, nourish and fight from freedom, nothing is more valuable than freedom.

# # #

A note to Aljazeera: Please show the names of the anchors or reporters. I still did not get the name of the news anchor and the host of the Empire.

Mike Ghouse is committed to offer pluralistic solutions and work towards building a cohesive America. His work is listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Andrew's First Flight and Memories

Andrew boarded the plane in Little Rock, Arkansas to fly to Dallas; he walked into the plane and asked me if he could sit in the vacant seat next to me, by all means of course, I said. Then he asked me again if it was ok to have the skate boards with him, … It was his first flight and he was all nervous.  

Jeff my Son was 8 years old when I took him to India, he did not want to take his roller blades off even in the plane… and in the Mumbai Airport he had a show, we had about six hours to kill in the airport to catch flight to Bangalore, so we stayed in the Airport from 2AM to 7AM... he was all excited and roller blading in circles. Before too long we had a huge audience circled around us watching Jeff’s show.  In Bangalore Airport at that time, they pulled the ladder to the plane and then you walk on the run way and walk to the airport, he roller bladed his way. I was smiling all the way.

I recalled my own first flight, all nervous and worried sick about life… I assured him that it will be just fine. He was going on and on and on… within a few minutes I noticed that every one in the plane went on a HELP gear with him. The flight attendant to the lady on the aisle seat... I thought about it long and hard about the human inclination to help.  There is a “HELP” node built into each one of us and it instantly operates on a need basis.

When the plane took off, he closed his eyes and he was trembling badly, I assured him placing my hand on his that every thing will be alright.  I pulled the window shade down on the window directly facing him so he does not have to see outside. Once up in the air, he was alright but frightfully stealing glances of the outside to gauge if he is really up in the air… once we landed, he gasped.

The flight attendant and I asked him to take a deep breath he was such a good kid! I recall some of it happening to me.

Way back in 1982, “DW” and I took a 2 seater Mooney to Marshall, Texas, we could not spot the strip to land… so he took a dive and literally my heart was in my mouth and about to come out of it.  Between the thin door and I, there was barely a 6” space and you look on the right, it’s the earth way below… we passed through the cloud into open… same feeling again.  On the way back DW asked me to navigate while he was reviewing the Blue print of for the Sprinkler Systems were engineering for a plant in Marshall.

Memory is amazing, one small thing can jog your memory and you go places. Did you go places?

Mike Ghousehttp://www.mikeghouse.net/

RAPING AL-QAEDA

Gaddafi and his Son will be gone, a new haven for dictators: Saudi Arabia.

First he blamed the west and now blames Al-Qaeda, as if Libyans are going to fall flat on the ground and believe him that it was the Al-Qaeda. Who is he fooling? Does the man know no one believes him?

The Prime Minister of Iraq is telling the protestors that they are being fingered by the Al-Qaeda.  

Of course Al-Qaeda deserves to be raped by two more losers and liars; the CIA and Mossad. Have they been right any time from 1979 to 2011?

People can take the crap to a point. Thank God, all the uprisings have been non-violent and thank God Al-Jazeera is showing the truth as it is happening preventing the Media chefs from cooking up things.

This is all good for the people, the region and the world which includes us.  Lets support the people movement, after the initial turmoil everything will come together, we must resist the temptation to believe that they cannot handle their affairs; every human and every nation is capable of managing their affairs when each person is free to choose and free to think.

Mike Ghouse offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. http://www.mikeghouse.net/

NOTE: NICK KRISTOFF WROTE SIMILAR WORDS -

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/nicholasdkristof/index.html?inline=nyt-per Indeed, I twittered him on 25th about my article and the next day, we see him use similar paragraphs.

This is the 4th time in less than a month that Nick and I have similar words. I wrote the following to him on February 25, and look what he writes on Feb 26th.

 

Lets support the people movement, after the initial turmoil everything will come together, we must resist the temptation to believe that they cannot handle their affairs; every human and every nation is capable of managing their affairs when each person is free to choose and free to think.

@Nickxxxxxx - Nick Aljazeera is pumping out amatuer videos... my write up - http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/02/raping-al-qaeda.html

25 Feb

Glen Beck barks in the dark,

 When you shoot in the dark, it is likely to hit some one.

Glen Beck apologizes for comparing reformed Judaism to radical Islam. That is how much the man knows about Judaism, Islam or anything.  

An idiot randomly says things that may suit one at a given time, but that should not encourage the one to support the idiot, in the long run; he will nail every one unintentionally.

I am glad the Jewish groups took action; actually we all need to join hands together against stupidity. Muslims should join them and vice versa.

http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/joannabrooks/4299/glenn_beck_apologizes_for_comparing_reform_judaism_to_%E2%80%9Cradical_islam%E2%80%9D/

Muslims Condemn Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari,

It is a serious issue for the society that we give credence to idiots like Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari who acts like he was inspired by religion.

He writes in his dairy, "You who created mankind. Grant me martyrdom for your sake and make jihad easy for me only in your path," according to court records.
Religion inspires one to be a good human and not a criminal. Quraan forbids killing and forbids suicide.

As Muslims we condemn this mind set and as Americans we should not be granting the religious shield to these criminals.    

This man Aldawsari is going to make the life difficult for Saudi Nationals going to schools in the USA. Should the Saudi Embassy keep track of her Citizens?  Should we require foreign embassies to monitor their own? The second part is he is also going to make life difficult for Muslim students and finally, he is a crackpot, do we need to blame his nationality and his religion for his acts?

Breaking story at: 
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/24/saudi-student-in-texas-charged-with-plotting-terrorist-attack/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-bv-w%7Cdl2%7Csec1_lnk3%7C203180

TEXAS FAITH: The Blessings and Burdens of Life Online

http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/02/post-93.html

"Digital distraction" is one term for the problem they see when people are instantly, but often shallowly, communicating and multi-tasking. What do you see as the blessings and burdens of social networking and the general ease with which people stay in touch these days? Would you, through your religious tradition, advocate periods of withdrawal?

Sam Hodges of Dallas Morning News posed the questions by email, and got answers back - in a matter of minutes, with one panelist - by email. So there's some irony in this week's Texas Faith.

Here's what the ten panelists said:

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas

Most certainly, I would advocate periods of withdrawal for reflection, family time, prayers or meditation. Call it a "tech Sabbath." There is a time for everything and whatever you do in life, you should do it wholeheartedly as it brings a sense of composure, integrity and commitment to the task at hand and fulfillment to one's being.

The unstated purpose of prayers is to re-compose oneself from an overload of activities and freshen up. The Aztecs, Zoroastrians and everyone in between follows a comparable formula. It is like re-booting your computer when it slows down running multiple programs. You can struggle with its sluggishness and become aggravated or simply re-boot and have it function well.

The technology has indeed made us more productive than ever. While it has been beneficial in helping us communicate precisely and on a timely basis in a short few tweets, the side effect is addiction.

On Valentine's Day, a man was texting from under the table while his girl friend was admiring him. She later took the phone away and eventually they had a peaceful dinner. We are still editing the video from Dallas Qur'aan conference to avoid showing the panelists texting and twitting under the table. The extremity of this addiction is texting while driving.

I hope all the religious and meditative traditions seek to restore integrity in us, so when we are in the place of worship, we are at full peace and free from tensions. We hope to walk out completely re-booted and geared to function well. Let's not mess with our solitude or time with our lord.

FOR THE OTHER 9

: http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/02/post-93.html

Mike Ghouse is a thinker, writer, speaker, futurist and an activist of Pluralism, Interfaith, Co-existence, Peace and Islam. He is a frequent guest at the TV, radio and print media offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His work is reflected at three websites and 21 Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Gaddafi and beyond; a challenge for the Neocons and Muslims alike

Beyond Gaddafi; a challenge for the neocons and muslims alike
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/02/gaddafi-and-beyond-challenge-for.html

When I went on Fox’s Sean Hannity Show last week, we were to talk about Gaddafi’s call to Muslims to rise against the White people, here were my talking points.

Gaddaffi knew he has got a few days left, and as usual he wanted to fool the Muslims across the world to rise up by manufacturing an enemy that was not there. Who was he fooling? All the damned dictators and fascist live in a shielded bunker, their cohorts keep giving them false advise that they are in control, as if they are God eternal.

Gaddafi is deflecting the issue to take the pressure off, he is delusional.  If the SOB thinks he can get away from shooting his people, he is in for a treat; he will have to disgracefully run from his country. He simply needs to announce that he will bring genuine democracy where ever a Libyan has a choice to support who she or he wants to support freely. Qur’aan adds, there is no compulsion in the matters of faith, in this case faith in those who can provide them just governance. 

There are 12 nations that carry an Islamic label and are about to fall, one after the other from the hands of corrupt men in to the hands of people and through non-violence, civil disobedience and other peaceful means. The Right wingers have highlighted the actions of the few and push Muslims into a cage they did not belong. Muslims are freeing themselves from such imposed cages.

No doubt there will be chaos, but people can handle their own affairs well and out of chaos will emerge a fledgling governance of the people by the people for the people.  It is sheer arrogance to believe that they cannot, they said the same thing about India, Indonesia and several other nations.

It is a testing time for the right wingers in America, UK and Israel to open up and show if they really want democracies around or were they simply faking it and misleading the public through the American TV networks. The same goes to the monarchs and dictators.

I wish the Mossad and CIA were reliable intelligence agencies; they have cooked up and lied to please the bosses and the public. It gave me hopes that even Sean Hannity saw acknowledged that in one of our interviews.

Have they come with anything reliable from Iran to Afghanistan to Iraq and Egypt? They will be wrong again on the other nations and eventually on Pakistan. People can take only so much shit; they will revolt and those of us in America need to stand firmly and prepare the right-wingers to support the people movements; else, we are going to lose many of those nations to Russia or Iran. Militarily, we cannot fight in every nook and corner and go through another budget deficit and ruin our own country in attempting to ruin others. Our own interests should be a priority.

As a Muslim, I am thrilled to see an end to dictatorships and theocracies. Here is a challenge for Muslims; Prophet Muhammad did not have an Islamic Government during his time, it was more like pluralistic governance where the Jews, Christians and others were signatories to the Madinah pact, he has repeatedly said and demonstrated to treat all the people of the book (meaning following written guidelines) with respect and the Qur’aan says whether you are a Jew, Christian or other God will. We need to find the original document where the prophet may have signed it as Muhammad bin Abdullah as opposed to Muhammad Rasool Allah, as he had done in another peace treaty with Meccans.  

Mike Ghouse is a thinker, writer, speaker, futurist and an activist of Pluralism, Interfaith, Co-existence, Peace and Islam. He is a frequent guest at the TV, radio and print media offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His work is reflected at three websites and 21 Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Muslim politics Motamar Alalam Islami and World Muslim Congress

Muslim Politics;
Motamar AlAlam AlIslami, Ahmadiyya Muslims and the World Muslim Congress.

An effort was made to connect Motamar AlAlam AlIslami and the World Muslim Congress. The response from Motamar was “your organization has Qadianis too and Qadianis are considered non Muslims as such there cannot be an alliance with your organization - Sorry “.  I understand the politics involved in bringing Muslims together.

When the Qur’aan burning incident in Florida was announced, we took a pro-active role and wrote the following:

Quraan Burning, an appeal to Muslims
http://wisdomofreligion.blogspot.com/2010/09/quraan-burning-appeal-to-muslims.html

A prominent group of Muslims liked this piece and asked me to reduce it to 600 words to run it as an ad in New York Times and get translated in at least 5 languages and publish in the local papers. The idea was to mitigate Muslims reaction around the world.  We got the work done and had an endorsement from Muslims of all Shades including Ahmadiyya. The inclusion of Ahmadiyya endorsement turned the “Men” from going forward. It was disappointing to the core, an appeal they considered will bring positive changes was sacked because of their prejudice towards Ahmadiyya. Does anyone has a gut to stand up?

My role Models are Prophet Muhammad, Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. What I learned from them was a simple fact;  If you do something right, meaning something that does not benefit you but benefits others, people will question you and the men in power will oppose you, never think for a moment that you are alone, God is with you when you care about his creation.

The thoughts of compromising surfaced many a times and were even encouraged; dump the Ahmadiyya vocabulary from my work and I will have a ton of support and funding to go forward.  You can call whatever you want, I chose not to compromise, I will do my share of the work to build cohesive societies without discrimination towards any one of God’s creation.

I consider the greatest sin on earth is discriminating others because of how each one of the 7 billion of us looks, works or talks.  As God told Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to just do his work and it is up to others to receive it.  With all my flaws, Alhamdu Lillah, I am committed to do my share of work. I hope someday, at least in America, our future generation will see the value in coming together as Muslims regardless of our hues, as humans regardless of our religion for doing good and knowing each other (Q49:13).

It’s amazing how people are brainwashed, the Pakistan Government declares them to be non-Muslims and many (but not all) Muslims instantly change their heart, as if they don’t have their own mind and keep building on it. The virus has reached the free Indonesian people as well, even Bangalore, my home town is not free from this divisive politics. Is your religiosity anchored in denying others their religiosity?

Americans are no exception, whatever the Bush Government put out, many a Americans believed in it, when Reagan called the Russians an evil empire, a lot of Americans believed in it and looked at the Russians in that manner. Again, no nation or people are free from this bias, Jesus had said the eternal truth, that no one can cast the first stone. We have to be truly free people and be independent of what the Government or the Media bombards us with.

The world has indeed become a global community. Everyone is a neighbor to everyone else; we aspire to nurture the concept of good neighborliness in the world. Our advisory board will be represented by individuals from every faith. It is time for us to be equal citizens of one world, our home. This is a major paradigm shift in how the religious organizations would be conducting their business in the coming years. Our Mission is to work for a world of co-existence through inclusiveness and participation.  (http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/WorldMuslimCongress/Articles/Mission-Statement.asp )

I hear the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “keep working.”

Mike Ghouse committed to building cohesive societies and is available to speak on Pluralism, Islam, Cohesive Societies, Peace and Justice. His work is listed in 3 Websites and 22 blogs at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

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REFERENCES

You are welcome to review over 1000 articles on Islam and co-existence on the blogs, but a few related to Ahmadiyya Muslims are enclosed here:

Appeal to Indonesia about Ahmadiyya Muslims
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2010/09/appeal-to-indonesia-about-ahmadi.html

Muslims condemn murdering fellow Ahmadiyya Muslimshttp://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/02/muslims-condemn-murdering-ahmadiyya.html

One Islam for Ahamdiyya, Bohra, Isamilia, Shia, Sunni and othershttp://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2010/04/there-is-only-one-islam.html

Ahmadiyya Muslims Among Muslimhttp://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2010/03/ahmadiyya-muslims-among-muslims.html

Ahmadiyya Muslims, what next?http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/04/ahmadiyya-muslims-what-next.html

You are welcome to join the discussion group by sending an email to :
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CELL PHONES; save the names thoughtfully

http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/02/cell-phones-save-names-thoughtfully.html
CELL PHONES, SAVE THE NAMES THOUGHTFULLY

If you are in an accident and the police, a friendly person or a nurse wants to notify your relative, how do they know who to call? Saving the names in a particular way on your cell phone is critical. Here are some examples of how my own family members have saved and what you can do about it.

I just finished talking with Yasmeen’s brother on her phone, and upon ending the call, I noticed the name was saved as “bhaijan” meaning dear brother.  When I was in India last November, Tamanna my niece had saved the name of her dear uncle, my younger brother as “pyare mam” and I was “Chan Mam.” It is a tradition where the younger ones never call the older ones with their names. Many a kids don’t even know the “names” of their grandparents.

Let me share what I have been doing, and you may have your own system. I thought everyone has a system and found out that they don’t.

I have listed Yasmeen’s name (my wife carries a different last name than mine)  is saved three ways: Emergency contact #1, wife and by her name. My Son Jeff is listed as emergency contact2, Son, Attorney and Jeff and I have not listed my daughter Mina as emergency contact as she does not pick up the phone. My third emergency contact is my friend Adil with a note that he does not answer the phone on the weekends. You can add your attorney, doctor and others by trade.

My family members in India are listed as Sister, India, Family and her name Dilshad and brothers go with their relations.

Should something happen to me on the road, in the mall or the office, anyone can look up my emergency contact, wife, son, daughter, brother, or any one, it would be easy for them. I used to place a (.) dot before the name, as it scrolls the name to the top of the list. Now Iphone and some other phones have a favorite list that makes it easy as well.

Is there a book written about it? If not, let this note lead into it.

LINK TO THE ARTICLE: http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/02/cell-phones-save-names-thoughtfully.html

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Mike Ghouse is a thinker, writer, speaker, futurist and an activist of Pluralism, Interfaith, Co-existence, Peace, Islam and India. He is committed to build a cohesive America and is a frequent guest at the TV, radio and print media offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His work is reflected at three websites and 21 Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/