Understanding Homosexuality, bestiality, incest, rape, necrophilia and polygamy.

UNDERSTANDING HOMOSEXUALITY, BESTIALITY, INCEST, RAPE AND POLYGAMY

I stand opposed to bestiality, incest, rape, necrophilia, abortion (with exceptions), polygamy and other ills of the society. Let me explain why - it is the justice aspect and consensuality. As it stands, Homosexuality is forbidden in both Islam and Christianity, and there is severe retribution for that. This is the given understanding of the scriptures,What we have not done is to find out the true meaning of what God has said; instead we have believed what was given to us. A majority of people mind their own business and it does not matter to them what others do, however a minority within us – insists the world be run as they understand. This has necessitated a dialogue to understand the situation.

CONTINUED AT -  http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/07/understanding-homosexuality-bestiality.html

NOTE: You are invited to add to the conversation to make it more meaningful and clear. This is how the society gains the knowledge.  Please share your thoughts without attacking the individuals or the writer of this piece. Discussions yes, judgments no. If your comments make sense to me, I will include them as your quote in the article to be published. Let your comments not exceed 50 words and you can post them at: Here is my 50 word comment 

I stand opposed to bestiality, zoophilia incest, rape, necrophilia, abortion (with exceptions), polygamy and other ills of the society. Let me explain why.

First the justice aspect; Prophet Muhammad did not advocate polygamy; more than one marriage was allowed for social justice and not for sex. Right now, Iraq is left with over 100,000 women with no support for them to live on – no matter what man – Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Jew, Buddhist or whoever who wants to provide her food and shelter, shamefully he would eye for a pound of flesh. It is humiliating experience for these women – the only option left for them is selling their body – which has its own ills.

It is to prevent this humiliation to women prophet in his time allowed men to respect women by marrying them and not lust after them behind their wife’s back; many men do that no matter what race, religion or ethnicity they come from. The prophet added, one has to be just and has to seek permission from his wife to ensure that it is not lust.  Of course most men Muslim or other do not follow their religion entirely – they lose it when it comes to Zun, Zewar and Zameen (Urdu/Hindi language expression for women, wealth and land) and that is why we have the problems.

The reverse is happening in China, Haryana and possibly in Gujarat states in India now. With the shortage of girls due to killing of girl babies, the woman is being shared by many men including brothers and friends and also she is being sold off for money. She means nothing to these freaks. How humiliating it is for her, and I am glad Aamir Khan did a show on it, and Haryana has a pilot program to prevent killing baby girls now and I believe it is a law now and needs to be enforced.

The second reason is consent – in bestiality, zoophilia, incest, rape, and necrophilia, one forces on the other, even if there is an unwilling consent in case of incest out of fear or out of pressure, the damage is done to the innocent, and physically, it has genetic consequences. It also damages one’s psyche. The Law of karma is as truthful as the laws of physics. You hurt someone, you aren’t going scot free, and you will pay for it in terms of your own mental balance. God has created everything in balance, if we mess with it we pay for it in anguish.

Thirdly in case of abortion – I am torn on the topic. If a woman’s life is in danger or if she is going to through trauma, I am comfortable with her choice of abortion, however, I stand against abortion and death penalty.

Yes, whenever and wherever I can speak, I do speak or write. The evil exists around us because we do nothing about it. If you want to change the society, be a part of it - said Mahatma Gandhi.

The homosexuality issue.

I am not advocating homosexuality, nor am I condemning it.  Let me be clear on it.

 As it stands, Homosexuality is forbidden in both Islam and Christianity, and there is severe retribution by the society for that. This is the given understanding of the scriptures, just as earth was considered flat  once, and whoever said otherwise went to the gallows in the Christian and Muslim world. Both the traditions quote the Sodom, Gomorrah and the Lot stories and how God punished them by destroying the whole township for their homosexuality.

There are Muslims and Christians who see the same verses differently, they don’t see a retribution in it, what they see is a retribution for lewdness and not for homosexuality – that would be applicable to both homo and heterosexuals in that period. That practice is still good in every nation that I know of – you cannot make it out in a park or in a public place or around your family, you could be arrested in Dallas or Delhi, but most certainly get beaten in Singapore or Saudi Arabia. They also argue that if God had destroyed homosexuality, he would have wiped it completely off, hence it was not homosexuality but lewdness that was the problem.

What we have not done is to find out the true meaning of what God has said; instead we have believed what was given to us. In the past, homosexuals would have been killed and still it goes on in Christian and Muslim nations like Uganda and Saudi Arabia.

Medically it is not proven yet, but just like a heterosexual man or a woman never gets attracted towards another man or woman, the homosexual men and women never get attracted towards the opposite sex.

The world, particularly the democratic world is different today, we truly believe in God more than ever; we value the God given life and do not want to kill another human, and you can find enough verses in most all scriptures about it.

A majority of people mind their own business and it does not matter to them what others do, however a minority within us – insists the world be run as they understand. This has necessitated a dialogue to understand the situation.

I hope to write a full article on the subject and speak about it. I have been on several panels including churches, as well as UNT panel on the topic, and its funny someone is reading my stuff, and just yesterday, a university had offered me to teach homosexuality. I would have taken it up if it was in Dallas. I am no expert nor do I claim to be, but I am a critical student and know enough to discuss about it.

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links.  

Miss Nada Al-Ahdal - a new Malala in the Arab world

Thank God for the display of courage by Nada Al-Ahdal, an eleven year old girl who refused to get married or sold off to some old fart against her will. Thanks to the CNN and western media for bringing Nada Al-Ahdal story to the fore. This is my reactionary note, and I hope the Muslim world wakes up and restores the liberation Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) brought to women to be free, to be educated and to determine their own future and be herself. Full CNN video and my op-ed at: http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2013/07/here-is-another-malala-in-yemen-nada-al.html

Video: http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2013/07/31/dnt-jamjoom-nada-story-yemen.cnn.html

I sincerely hope the conservatives among us will speak up against this non-sense of child marriage, and getting one's daughter married instead of sending her to the school.

The good news is the child protective agency took a stand and I hope they continue to do the good work. It was good to see the little girl signing the settlement agreement. 

Big stories came out of Hyderabad India, where the rich old men from Middle East and Africa went there, and bought the girls from the parents, and a month later, abandoned her and fly back.  Indeed for a long time Vietnamese, Filipino, Czech, Russian and other women were in a similar situation.

This is a reactionary note, and I hope the Muslim world wakes up and restores the liberation Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) brought to women.

 When Malala spoke up for the rights of girls education, the conservatives among us made every effort to destroy the good by cooking up stories that she was an agent of CIA or she was an agent of the west. Where the heck were the conservatives when she was prevented from going to school and shot in the head? Malala is not alone, a lot many girls are being harassed, but the conservative big mouths remain silent and no one would have known about it, had it not for the western media. They are God sent to bring the issues to fore, so the moderate Muslims can start speaking up.

Let me be clear selling daughters is not a Muslim thing; it is practiced in most communities including Hindu, Sikh and others in Asia and Africa. In India in the state of Haryana and Gujarat there is a severe shortage of women due to the ugly practice of killing the girl babies,  and the boys end up sharing one woman by his friends or even brothers for money. Google it out and learn yourselves first hand.

As a Moderate Muslim, I condemn this practice and urge the useless 57 member Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) to take steps to bring in legal changes in each one of the member nations, which will lead to social changes over a period of time. It takes guts to drive any thing in life, they need to get rid of their executive director and get someone who can get things done. I will be happy to do that. 

We need to restore the work of Prophet Muhammad. 1400 years ago he liberated women from the traditional slavery to men – she was free to marry, divorce, own the property and business, and she was not a chattel any more. Not only that she did not have to obey her husband if he was a hurdle in practice of her beliefs.


Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer committed to building cohesive societies, and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More details at www.MikeGhouse.net

Two Lesbian Marriages : Seema weds Shanon | Rehana weds Sobia

LESBIAN MARRIAGES AMONG HINDUS AND MUSLIMS

Lesbian and Gay Marriages are a reality and the future of America and most of the democracies around the world.  At World Muslim Congress, we bring issues to discuss and learn about it without judgment. We will face the issue today or tomorrow, running away from it is will not release us from the agony, accepting it does not give us relief either.

Muslims and Christians have come to believe in the traditional narration that God punished Sodom and Gomorrah for their gay sexual orgies. The Christians early on also believed that the earth was flat and any thing contrary to that was considered a slap on the religion. Muslims have also believed in certain interpretations of Quran on different issues, but now have seen the fallacies of it - like the wrong use of the word Jihad and other words. 

God's wisdom is still to be unearthed and it will continue till the planet ceases to exist. All I have understood is that God has intentionally created everything to be unique and by design, he did not goof up, he meant what he created, and in the Quran he says so - that he has created us all different. He also says in Quran, had he willed, he would have created us all alike. If we can learn to respect God's will and accept the given uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge - and hope we all can live in peace, that is Islam. 

A few notes and then the pictures.

1. Not to see, listen, read or talk about it, and distance ourselves from it as it is wrong.

2. It is a reality in America, Canada, UK and most of the democracies. None of the religious groups can stop it, despite strong opposition from several Christian groups, LGBT Marriages are a reality and the future of America.

Now don't jump to conclusions that every one will become a gay or lesbian - that is irrational. God has endowed each human being the ability to connect with the other, a majority of men and women will continue to be attracted to the opposite sex, those who were inclined and attracted towards the same sex will continue to do so. If a boy does not have a feeling towards a girl, you cannot do anything about it - that's the way he or she is set up, however, a girl who feels for a boy will not seek a girl... take it easy, your wife, daughter, husband or son will not become gay or lesbian if he or she does not have the proclivities to be.

The question is - if your kid, sibling or spouse decides to be a gay or lesbian - what will you do? If you were in a traditional society - Hindu, Muslim or otherwise, it becomes your honor and you want the problem be gone by killing the person. It is the insecure man or woman in you, it is the intolerance in you that makes you do that - for convenience you may plead insanity, religion or tradition whichever saves your tail.

But in a civil society, you cannot do that. First of all,  you have no right to take the life of another being, God does not tell any one to kill another soul, because he retains the right to judge, no one bears the burden of other. 

Let's learn to respect the otherness of others and accept the God given uniqueness of each one of us.

This item is posted at:

Website: www.WorldMuslimCongress.com 
facebook: www.facebook.com/TexasMuslims
discussion: WorldMuslimCongress@yahoogroups.com

You are welcome to participate in the discussions, but no judgments please.

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer committed to building cohesive societies where all of us can live without the fear of the other. www.MikeGhouse.net

Wedding pictures at  
URL- http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2013/07/two-lesbian-marriages-seema-weds-shanon.html

Dr. Amina Wadud banned to speak in Madras University in India

Dr. Amina Wadud is Muslim scholar well respected around the world,  and has earned the distinction of being the first woman to lead the mixed congregation prayers on a Friday in 2003 or 2004. On that day and from that day forward, the whole Muslim orthodoxy has gone to work against her. Some of the placards held outside the prayer hall were disgustingly shameful. Muslims in general value free speech and subscribe to it but not the conservatives among them. Oddly the conservatives want to scream, stop and prevent others from free speech, but themselves? They want to have it all. They almost sound like my fellow Republicans.The only way to change is to speak up - enough of us to speak up to make sense to them.

URL - http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2013/07/dr-amina-wadud-banned-to-speak-in.html

On a Friday in 2003/04, just before the prayers Dr. Wadud, Asra Nomani and Saleema were on my radio show to talk about what it means to lead the mixed congregational prayers. 

I was fortunate to be a co-speaker with her at DePaul University in Chicago a couple of years ago and I was also thrilled when she used some of my symbols from my facebook. I wrote a piece on Sharia in July 2010, and she wrote an identical piece in November of the same year - both were novel write ups and followed the same logic to the point of being duplicate. Sharia was never looked in that fashion before.

Enough of us have not taken the time to nurture the values of respecting different opinions... and even expanding on Prophet's Hadith - combat evil (their perception) with good.

Muslim men, like all other men seem to deal with women from an insecurities of losing to her or acknolwedging her knowledge. "what does she know" or "she is a woman". It is a fashion among a few prominent Muslims to criticize women scholarship and discount their knowledge off the bat. Its the old generation, the new ones in America are growing up to believe in equality of men and women. However there are some out there who are trained by their parents to be bigots, again, it is not only Muslims, you find them among Christians, Hindus, Jews and even Buddhists and Bahai's.

The men need to learn to debate her and not be afraid to learn and share the knowledge exchange.  Even a non-scholar like Taslima Nasreen, deserves to be engaged in a debate, a fair debate; instead of physically pushing here out of the stage. A disgusting act by an elected official in Hyderabad, India.

Is bigotry shown towards Dr. Wadud because she is a woman? A lot of Muslims shamelessly discount women - what does she know? 

We all have to learn to grow up. Prophet Muhammad, the mercy to mankind liberated women from the ugly clutches of men giving her all the liberties that were God given – free to practice her faith even against her husband’s wishes, free to choose her partner, divorce, own property and business, and she was no more a man’s property. She is on her own and responsible for her karma on the Day of Judgment, not her husband. What you see how women are treated has nothing to do with any religion, it is the men! And we we need to work on changing by assuring them that by debating with a woman and losing should be no different than debating with a man.


At worldmuslimcongress@yahoogroups.com, we bring tough issues to the fore, and with hesitation present the orthodox, liberal and moderate views on a given topic. However it is moderated to keep off tangent comments, and personal attacks.

The group has 1800 members including 50+ imams, scholar/academics, activist, extremists (intolerant of others) and ordinary folks.

Its facebook companion www.facebook.com/TexasMuslims has about 1400 members and about 2000 people who read the site www.WorldMuslimCongress.com every day.

We also share the information regularly on our mailing list of over 36000 people across the globe – the message of pluralism and pluralism in Islam.

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on Islam, pluralism, interfaith and other topics and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day - all about him at www.MikeGhouse.net

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Courtesy of Wall Street Journal

Texas faith: Is it more important to do the right thing or to have the right beliefs?

One of the joys of being a pluralist is to play Mr. Spock, and I would conclude, “Religion is a system of beliefs and rituals designed to bring tranquility to an individual and guide him to live in balance with what

surrounds him/her; life and the environment. Now turning to the religious folks to find what does it mean to be religious, we will run into three sets of people within each tradition; literalists, pragmatist, and essence-ialists. Mike Ghouse

URL - http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/07/texas-faith-is-it-more-important-to-do.html

TEXAS FAITH: Is it more important to do the right thing or to have the right beliefs?
By Wayne Slater | wslater@dallasnews.com
12:34 pm on July 30, 2013

What does it mean to be a religious person? Is it about what you do or what you think? A new study finds that about two-thirds of Americans say being a religious person “is primarily about living a good life and doing the right thing.” About a third hold that being religious “is primarily about having faith and the right beliefs.”The report was just published by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution.

The study suggests that political orientation influences on how people think about what it means to be religious. Or maybe it’s vice versa – the way you think about being religious guides your political orientation. Religious progressives are more likely than religious conservatives to say being a religious person is mostly about doing the right thing, not holding the rights beliefs. And that difference– thinking vs. doing – is not just an intellectual exercise. It says something about how people view social problems and what to do about them. For example, 8-in-10 religious conservatives agree that if enough people had a personal relationship with God, social problems would take care of themselves. Only about 3-in-10 religious progressives believe that.

No doubt, living out one’s faith is a virtuous thing. But is that what it means to be religious — or simply virtuous. To invert a Christian idea, are works without faith dead?

What does it mean to be a religious person?

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas, and speaker on interfaith issues

If Mr. Spock were to be hired to study various religions and present a report, he would study each tradition from Aztec to Zoroastrianism, and how individuals or groups live with the teachings, and struggle when he or she is off the course on a given set of norms.

One of the joys of being a pluralist is to play Mr. Spock, and I would conclude, “Religion is a system of beliefs and rituals designed to bring tranquility to an individual and guide him to live in balance with what surrounds him/her; life and the environment.

Now turning to the religious folks to find what does it mean to be religious, we will run into three sets of people within each tradition; literalists, pragmatist, and essence-ialists.

Each individual is driven by the politics of life –what is in it for me (selfishness), insecurity, and self preservation (greed).

To the literalists and conservatives, life is a simple affair; to be religious is to obey God! They believe in God and follow the Bible, Quran, Torah, Bhagvad Gita, the Gathas, Granth saheb, Pali or the other books to the literal meaning of the word, and most of them tend to be ritualistic observers.

Some of them literally believe in the Sodom and Gomorrah story and want to make life difficult for those who do not comply. To some, it is about making a business of calling others tradition a ‘false religion”, and to some, stoning an adulterer to death or waging jihad is religious. Their faith is the only true faith and all others are not, such is the simplicity of these folks. As long as they live in silos, they can actually live a happier life.

The pragmatists believe to be religious is to mind your own business, your own God and go on living a comfortable life. Their focus is not going to church, to them being religious, “is primarily about living a good life and doing the right thing.”

The essence-ialists are folks who see the beauty and wisdom of each religion in bringing solace to individual and building cohesive societies where no one has to live in apprehension, discomfort or fear of the other. They understand the value of religion and follow its essence without the rituals. To them, to be religious, “is about living a good life and doing the right thing.”

To read the other ten panelists thoughts, please go to Dallas Morning News at : http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/2013/07/texas-faith-is-it-more-important-to-do-the-right-thing-or-to-have-the-right-beliefs.html/

. . . . .

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links.

Dr. Amartya Sen Won’t apologize for Modi remarks

URL- http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/07/dr-amartya-sen-wont-apologize-for-modi.html

It was exciting to read a part of the interview of Dr. Sen about 10:30 PM tonight, Friday the 26^th of July 2013. The rest of the interview will be published by Times of India on Sunday. 

Dr. Amartya Sen and Mike Ghouse at SMU

Most people appreciate when some one speaks out against the atrocities of the majorities, powerful dictators, monarchs and bullies. The politically motivated Hindu, Muslim and Christian men and women in particular appreciate it,  if it favors them. 

My Hindus friends have rejoiced every time I have routinely stood up for them (incomplete list at: http://standingupforothers.blogspot.com/2012/04/standing-with-hindus.html ), but won't appreciate if a Hindu Dr. Amartya Sen does the same.

Let me assure you this,  the good people outnumber all others 95:5, eventually  some one or the other from the majority, be it in India, America, Bolivia or South Africa, and even from Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Christians and Buddhist speaks up for the rights of the deprived, disadvantaged, women, minorities and the weak. God of all creation makes sure his creation has boundaries and has enough peace makers to prevent the world from total annihilation. Bhagvad Gita is clear, "Whenever there is adharma, God will bring about some one to restore Dharma" and Quran beefs it up, "To every tribe, every community and every nation God sends his peace makers to keep peace."


Indeed the work of all religious masters and great statesmen was to build cohesive societies, where no one has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. India is going through big controversy now about the kind of leadership it wants. Nobel Laureate Dr. Amratya Sen is under attack. Mr. Narendra Modi is the contentious Chief Minister ( Like Governor) of Gujarat in India.

Dr. Sen has spoken like a true statesman, an India that belongs to all Indians, I found the expressions of a similar language in my writings. Indeed whether it was Zarthustra, Moses, Krishna, Buddha and the others - the message was same - how to live without fear of the other.

The more people speak up, the better the world would be. So, please do your part.
This morning I defended Dr. Sen’s action with a few friends (appended below) and now, when I read the partial interview, it caused me to go searching on my blog of the similar thoughts I have struggled with.

I have consistently advocated that the peace is the responsibility of the majority; indeed, the civility of a nation is determined by how it treats its women, children, disadvantage, the weak and the minorities. It is in the interest of the nation, particularly the responsible men and women from the political, civic or religious majorities to speak up. It is in everyone's interest for every one to walk well together and not limp.Two of the statements, I wrote resonate with Dr. Amartya Sen’s words


On March 15, 2013, a press release was sent and was published in Bangladeshi News papers and at www.WorldMuslimCongress.com , this was also a part of my speech at Bangladesh Human rights organization in Dallas.

 “The success of a nation depends when her citizens feel secure; in this case, it is   the duty of the state to ensure the safety of Hindus, Buddhist, Shia, Ahmadiyya, Christian and other minorities.

It is also the obligation of the Bangladeshi majority to continue to speak up against the brutal treatment of fellow Bangladeshis who are Hindu. Indeed, the safety of a community is the responsibility of the majority.”
(URL - http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2013/03/muslims-condemn-brutal-attacks-on.html )

The Daily Times of Pakistan published my piece on Imran Khan, and I wrote, “Humanity in general and Muslims in particular are guided to stand up for justice. Only the civility of majority can change things. Minorities do not have a voice in Pakistan and they live on with apprehensions. The Hindu parents worry when their daughter will be abducted and forced to convert or when the Ahmadiyya girl student will be kicked out of school or their graves are desecrated, Shias ordered out of the bus and shot point blank and Christians will be framed with blasphemy charges. Societies are judged by how they treat their minorities, women and children. Good Pakistanis are letting bad things happen in their names.”

(URL - http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013%5C05%5C08%5Cstory_8-5-2013_pg3_5 )

A note came from a friend, “What irked me was his (Dr. Sen) comment on Modi not doing enough for the minorities.” And, “Sen does not address those issue but more interested in bad mouthing Modi on minority issues because it is a very popular and sophisticated issue.”

My response was, “I must add that collectively different Indians have to speak on different topics - including far and against to bring different angles to the fore - Dr. Sen has picked one that he probably feels has not been given enough attention. Each one of us has to focus on many strands of democracy.”

Glad to see a positive response about democracy from my friend later. 


If there were to be an apology, the apology is owed to the families of people who were burnt alive in the train, families of the people who were raped, families of children who were burnt alive on every street corner, family of the MP who was tortured to death,  and all the families who were uprooted for improper management of the law and order in the state. And that apology must come from the Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Won’t apologize for Modi remarks, Amartya Sen says

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Wont-apologize-for-Modi-remarks-Amartya-Sen-says/articleshow/21380639.cms?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral

MUMBAI: Even as the firestorm over Amartya Sen's remarks about Narendra Modi refuses to die down, the Nobel-winning economist said he had nothing to apologize for saying that he did not wish to see the Gujarat chief minister become India's next Prime Minister.

In an exclusive interview to TOI (read the full interview on Sunday), Sen pointed to his fundamental right to raise such issues and also clarified that it was his duty as a member of the majority community to speak up about the fears of minorities.

"I am not apologizing for the statement on Modi," he said, while explaining that "as an Indian citizen I am very worried that we're not doing enough on many things in public discourse, that we're not raising the right viewpoints on several issues."

'Gujarat model not good'

Defending his remarks on Gujarat CM, Nobel-winning economist Amartya Sen told TOI, "I've tried to point to this when it kept being brought up about why I made that statement about Modi. I felt that as a member of the majority community in India it is my duty, not merely my right, to speak up about the concerns of the minority. We often forget that as members of the majority," Sen said.

"Despite the fact that there are many things that Modi has done as CM which are interesting and important — and I've talked about them even though when held up as a model I don't think it makes for a very good one — there's still that scare, that sense of fear," he said.

Quoting 19th-century English philosopher John Stuart Mill, who wrote that the security of minority rights really depends on the majority, Sen also pointed to how debates in the US (where he spends some time teaching at Harvard University) often go on at great length about the need to better secure minority rights.

"I live there as part of a minority and you see how concerned they are about these issues. Here, I have to exercise my duty as part of the majority and bring up my concerns. This is essential to the practice of democracy, which, like liberty, must be vigorously defended. Eternal vigilance is the price you pay for that liberty," he said.

. . . . . 

EDITORIAL: Mr. Narendra Modi, you have a choice

http://www.indianmuslimobserver.com/2012/06/latest-editorial-mr-narendra-modi-you.html
. . . . .


Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links

I was surprised to hear from Google today - the following article was written in July 2009 and now it hits the conservative Blog - http://www.theconservativespeaker.com/wordpress/?p=37971 - Original article at: http://interfaithmarriages.blogspot.com/2009/07/for-love-of-huma-jewish-muslim-story.html

 For the Love of Huma – Jewish-Muslim story

By Mike Ghouse

The Jews should be proud of this man Anthony Weiner and Muslims ought to be proud of Huma Abedin.

Personally I admire this couple for coming together for love which transcends all other created differences. It takes a lot of maturity to accept each other despite the differences and we need to salute that maturity in every couple.

Politically he is a staunch pro-Israeli, and ideologically Huma may to be pro-justice and would be fair to the Jews and Palestinians. Both have demonstrated their ability to discern the personal, political and religious difference and have based their relationship on love.

Despite the differences, they are setting an example of co-existence and we need to encourage them, we need more of them, through many such interfaith marriages, we can perhaps bring about peaceful coexistence to the people of Israel and Palestine. Isn’t that a dream of every Jew and a Muslim? If not, then I am wrong.

I am pleased to invite the couple to get married – Jewish, Islam and interfaith way here in Dallas on May 2nd, 2010. No system will negate the other, indeed, they reinforce the value of bonding between each other, every religious way.

The role of conservatives ought to be to hold on to the values of peace, justice and co-existence. However, in truth those who claim to be conservative are indeed extremists opposed to the very values that are conservative. God has communicated through Moses, Jesus, Mohammad, Krishna, Buddha and all the spiritual masters the values of co-existence, inculcated via values like the ones spelled out in the Ten Commandments in one form or the other. God wants all of us to get along and live in harmony; no faith preaches hate, chaos, ill-will, malice or chopping God into pieces for each faith to consume a piece of it.

The conservative Jews and Muslims, nay, the extremist Jews and Muslims will start issuing fatwas against these two beautiful human beings and attempt to stick their version of the religion on them, which has been dished out by the middle men, and not God.

“Observant Jews view intermarriage as religious treason” and oddly the “Observant Muslims” claim that it is religiously unlawful for a Muslim woman to marry a non Muslim man”. Why do they call themselves “observant” when they are not, they should call themselves stick in the muds.

To be religious is to be a peace maker, one who mitigates conflicts and nurtures goodwill. That is the purpose of all religions, to bring sense to mankind and live and let live.

The foundation for Pluralism and the World Muslim congress have embarked on creating events that builds bridges between the people, these are model events to mitigate conflicts and nurtutre goodwill. We are entering our XIII Annual Thanksgivign Celebrations this year, V Annual Unity day USA, III Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides and the first event of Religious Weddings. All the links are listed on the left panel of this site.

This is precisely the program we are working on Religious Weddings in Dallas “The purpose of this event is to familiarize the public, civic and religious leaders the rituals and essence of wedding in each faith tradition. It is to highlight the relationship between two individuals regardless of the faith they don. Don; they will in the different costumes and ceremonies encompassing the following faiths as the time allows within three hours of duration.” http://religiousweddings.blogspot.com/

Mike Ghouse is a thinker, writer and speaker on pluralism, interfaith, co-existence, peace, Islam and India. He is a frequent guest at the TV, radio and print media offering pluralistic solutions to issues of the day. His websites and Blogs are listed on his website

http://www.emgonline.co.uk/news.php?news=6558
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For the Love of Huma – Jewish-Muslim story

For the Love of Huma – Jewish-Muslim story

By Mike Ghouse The Jews should be proud of this man Anthony Weiner and Muslims ought to be proud of Huma Abedin. Personally I admire this couple for coming together for love which transcends all other created differences. It takes a lot of maturity to accept each other despite the differences and we need to salute that maturity in every couple. Politically he is a staunch pro-Israeli, and ideologically Huma may to be pro-justice and would be fair to the Jews and Palestinians. Both have demonstrated their ability to discern the personal, political and religious difference and have based their relationship on love. Despite the differences, they are setting an example of co-existence and we need to encourage them, we need more of them, through many such interfaith marriages, we can perhaps bring about peaceful coexistence to the people of Israel and Palestine. Isn’t that a dream of every Jew and a Muslim? If not, then I am wrong. I am pleased to invite the couple to get married – Jewish, Islam and interfaith way here in Dallas on May 2nd, 2010. No system will negate the other, indeed, they reinforce the value of bonding between each other, every religious way. The role of conservatives ought to be to hold on to the values of peace, justice and co-existence. However, in truth those who claim to be conservative are indeed extremists opposed to the very values that are conservative. God has communicated through Moses, Jesus, Mohammad, Krishna, Buddha and all the spiritual masters the values of co-existence, inculcated via values like the ones spelled out in the Ten Commandments in one form or the other. God wants all of us to get along and live in harmony; no faith preaches hate, chaos, ill-will, malice or chopping God into pieces for each faith to consume a piece of it. The conservative Jews and Muslims, nay, the extremist Jews and Muslims will start issuing fatwas against these two beautiful human beings and attempt to stick their version of the religion on them, which has been dished out by the middle men, and not God. “Observant Jews view intermarriage as religious treason” and oddly the “Observant Muslims” claim that it is religiously unlawful for a Muslim woman to marry a non Muslim man”. Why do they call themselves “observant” when they are not, they should call themselves stick in the muds. To be religious is to be a peace maker, one who mitigates conflicts and nurtures goodwill. That is the purpose of all religions, to bring sense to mankind and live and let live. The foundation for Pluralism and the World Muslim congress have embarked on creating events that builds bridges between the people, these are model events to mitigate conflicts and nurtutre goodwill. We are entering our XIII Annual Thanksgivign Celebrations this year, V Annual Unity day USA, III Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides and the first event of Religious Weddings. All the links are listed on the left panel of this site. This is precisely the program we are working on Religious Weddings in Dallas “The purpose of this event is to familiarize the public, civic and religious leaders the rituals and essence of wedding in each faith tradition. It is to highlight the relationship between two individuals regardless of the faith they don. Don; they will in the different costumes and ceremonies encompassing the following faiths as the time allows within three hours of duration.” http://religiousweddings.blogspot.com/ Mike Ghouse is a thinker, writer and speaker on pluralism, interfaith, co-existence, peace, Islam and India. He is a frequent guest at the TV, radio and print media offering pluralistic solutions to issues of the day. His websites and Blogs are listed on his website http://www.emgonline.co.uk/news.php?news=6558

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