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Thursday, December 31, 2015

Results by Mike Ghouse

Results for America Together Foundation, World Muslim Congress and the Foundation for Pluralism. 
RESULTS FOR AMERICAN MUSLIMS

Here is what we have done and will continue to do, and if this appeals to you, we ask your support. 



It is a successful strategic action plan; engage with the Media ( TV, Print and Radio), engage with polarized minds and, be a catalyst in social integration. If we learn about each other with respect, despite the existing stance we have, conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

All our work is about taking the relationships from detached estrangement to positive engagement with successful outcomes, almost all our activities are bridge building in nature, and as a result we are becoming a catalyst in social integration.

1. Positive engagement with Fox News, instead of running away from it. We chose to work with Sean Hannity and Stuart Varney, who finally promised not to use the phrase “Muslim Terrorist” or bash Quran.  I have been on Hannity for six years and have appeared on 110 TV shows and innumerable Syndicated Radio shows and about 5 times on Stuart Varney Show, and nearly 150 times on Fox News. Video-1Video -2

2. Unity Day USA, turning a negative 9/11 day into a positive unifying day for over 12 years in a row now. www.Unitydayusa.com

3. Holocaust and Genocides – for 10 years now, we have been building bridges with people, and almost all communities who have endured these brutalities by coming together and seeing the humanness in each one of us and reflect on never again.  www.HolocaustandGenocides.com

 
4. Thanksgiving Celebrations and Awards Night – for 18 years, we have been sharing different cultural expressions with fellow Americans. www.thanksgivingcelebrations.org
5. Peacefully easing the Quran burning pastor Terry Jones into oblivion through non-violent positive engagement. If funds become available a documentary will be made for the Muslim world to understand free speech and for non-Muslims to clearly understand that violence is not Islamic but comes from the fringe among us.  http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2014/04/reestablishing-right-muslim-attitudes.html

6.  Successfully handled Quran bashing by Pastor Robert Jeffers into an educational event and creating a positive understanding about Quran among pastors, clergy, rabbis, and others. These ten pastors in Dallas will defend the sanctity of Quran with their church members, as they were a part of the solutions in the conference.  Umpteen TV and Newspaper write ups about it. www.QuraanConference.com

 
7. In Summary – over 3000 Articles on Islam, Pluralism and other matters are written. 175 TV appearances, over 150 syndicated Radio shows, and over 30 major events to bring people together.

Our mission at America Together Foundation is simply this; “To build a cohesive America where no American has to live in tension, apprehension or fear of the others.”  We need an America where Muslim, Jews, African Americans, Latinos and all others feel safe, and want their children’s life style to continue to be secure despite Trumps and other hiccups.

 www.Americatogetherfoundation.com,www.foundationforpluralism.com
and www.WorldMuslimCongress.com ;



We can do a lot more to turn things around for Muslims and fellow Americans, please donate generously athttp://americatogetherfoundation.com/donate/


What did I write about Sean Hannity, Stuart Varney and Fox News today?
Let me know, and I will be happy to email you.


Mike Ghouse
(214) 325-1916

Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, newsmaker and a professional speaker 
on PluralismInterfaithIslam politicshuman rights,  Terrorism,
  and foreign policy.  Mike is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Visit him - 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at TheGhousediary.com 

Monday, December 28, 2015

History is made by Muslims and Christians of America

HISTORY IS MADE BY CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS

This the first time in the history of Christianity and Islam, that Christians and Muslims have jointly celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad, on the steps of Lincoln Memorial,  a good first step in creating a safe and secure America for all its inhabitants.  

If you participate in any fashion, congratulations, you are a part of the American history now. 

We want to include your comments in the records, please keep it to 50 words or less, as our volunteers will include the first 50 words.

 While we are waiting for the other reports, we have the Arab Daily News run the following story today, and it is expressive of the sentiments of many.

Here is the full story-  http://thearabdailynews.com/2015/12/27/jesus-muhammad-mlk-and-we-have-a-dream/
t
Pictures and videos will be uploaded soon

Thank you.
Mike Ghouse

Friday, December 25, 2015

Holiday readings on Christmas day and Milad-un-Nabi

Holiday readings on Christmas day and Milad-un-Nabi  www.TheGhouseDiary.com 

I am pleased to share a few notes for your joyful reading on this auspicious day, when more than half of the world population is praising two men who brought the message of peace to the world, and who wanted the world to live in harmony and balance between each other and their environment. 

1. Holiday Reading
2. Joan and Katherine made my day
3. What is Pluralism?
4. Invitation to a historic event
5. How can you help?

 

The current world population is 7.3 Billion,  and the Christians and Muslims together add up to 3.9 Billion (2.2 Billion Christians and 1.7 billion Muslims ). God places a huge responsibility on our shoulders to keep the world intact, they way he created, with all elements of the creation functioning together cohesively. We have an obligation to create safe and secure societies for all of us, every human, where everyone minds his own unique life (be it social, cultural, spiritual or religious) but yet nurtures the connectivity of all beings. At American Muslim Institution, we take this responsibility seriously and will take the initiatives to forge the ideals of one nation, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. We are committed to a cohesive and safe America for everyone. 

To understand a cohesive world, our bodies are an example. Each organ of our body system is interconnected, and the heart, brain, kidneys, lungs, liver, stomach and anus are all coded to work with each other, no organ is superior to the other and all are equally partners in our system.  If one element malfunctions, or loses its balance, it will affect the normal functioning of all. That is how God created a cohesive universe, and the cohesive planet earth, where life, matter and environment function together in balance.  If we lose any balance, we mess up our own safeness. 

Chief Seattle, a Native American said this perfectly, “All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the webs, he does it to himself."


Both Jesus and Muhammad created a vision of such a cohesive world in the form of heaven, where every soul would live in eternal bliss, a conflict free zone, living their own bliss and letting others live theirs.  This vision is expressed in the form of Pluralism, an attitude of respecting the otherness of others and accepting the God given uniqueness of each one of us, and when we reach that level of integrity in our attitudes,  conflicts fade and solutions emerge,  and that was their vision.  

I call Jesus, the first pluralist in the world and Muhammad the second one sequentially. Indeed, both the men were (are) a mercy to mankind.  Neither of them was needed, if the world was created to be 100% perfect, the world is indeed built-in with 1/10th of 1% of extremity or anomaly, that is capable of messing the balance of the entire 99 - 9/10th of the world. One embraced the diversity of God’s creation and the other prayed for the ignorance embedded within others.  Together they offered solutions to restore the world through forgiveness, humility, kindness, justness and acceptance of the otherness of others.


The other half of the population is guided by great men like Zarathustra,  Moses,  Krishna, Rama, Buddha, Confucius, Mahavir, Nanak, Bahaullah and a host of others from the native and earth based traditions including those who do not believe in a defined God, but advocate creating balance in the society.  All of spiritual masters taught us to be kind and gentle to the fringe among us.  Each one of them taught to respect the sanctity of life.  A majority of us get that right and the fringe among us don’t, and it is our duty to include them kindly and gently to be a part of the norm as Jesus did.    

Joan and Katherine made my day! 
While driving to Staples this morning to pick up the banner for the event on Saturday, I got a call from a Katherine, she seemed so happy about the joint birth celebration of Jesus and Muhammad (pbuh)  that I had to pull over to listen to her sentiments and what a joy it was to hear her out.  She said, she sees hope, when the people of two of the largest religions come together to create harmony in the world. She was full of praise for Rizwan Jaka, the chairman of the board of trustees for ADAMS center.  It was indeed a joy to know the work of Rizwan and his entire team at ADAMS center in creating such a cohesive environment. 

I reached Staples, and had to wait, while waiting, I opened the email, the first one was from Joan Greenbaum, and it read, “And thank you for the invitation and honor to be a part of the Season of Peace celebration.  My hope is that the celebrations of the births of these two men, who were instrumental in teaching all of us about peace and humanity, will remind those who have lost sight of our shared heritage, that we are all children of God.  And remind them that we want a civil society that values all.”


Both of them made my day! They were good positive voices and notes. I was excited and had to call in my friends, as many as I can, including  Ambassador Islam Siddiqui and Dr. Aquilur Rahman, President and Chairman of AMI respectively, and who inspire me to do more, but then I did not call other friends as I got tied up on the phone. Thanks to my board of Directors at AMI who encourage me and are committed to a beautiful America.
There is more! The Muslim community in Washington, DC has done a great job in building relationship with members of the families of faiths. As we have done in Dallas with so many events from the Foundation for Pluralism, America Together Foundation, Irving Mosque, The Islamic Center of Richardson and others. Louisville Kentucky has also set a great example, and the Phoenix people have set a record in turning hostility into friendliness with the armed protesters. 

Indeed, we are doing the right things; we need to continue doing them as the work is not a match for the gravity of the negativity out there.  That negativity can be minimized by doing more interfaith understanding. 

I appeal to those few Muslims among us to seriously look at the larger picture and examples of the prophet and his work.  He was the first man in the universe to conduct interfaith dialogue, right in his Mosque; this is a great Sunnah we need to follow.  He was Amin (a great citizen who is trust worthy, truthful, just, and kind with no barriers between him and God’s creation) first, and that is what we have to work on, to be the Amins, the great citizens of this nation,  and all else will fall in its place.  

Thank God, over the last 22 years, I am blessed to have written over 3000 articles, and ahve given innumerable talks. Of them, 1000 were on every aspect of Islam, a thousand on politics, foreign policy, sports, movies, personalities etc and a 1000 about Pluralism.  I am also blessed to have many friends from every faith (including Atheists) cultural, social and racial and ethnic traditions.  

What is Pluralism? 

We have crystallized the definition of pluralism to, “respecting the otherness of the others and accepting the uniqueness of each one of us”. Pluralism is nothing but an attitude of live and let live, and it is applicable in every aspect of life including culture, society, religion, politics, gender, food, ethnicity, race and other uniqueness’s.

By the end of 2020, there will not be a major city in America, and perhaps in the world, where you will not find people of different faiths, cultures, ethnicities, races, nationalities and social backgrounds working, eating, playing, marrying, and doing things together.

We need to prepare ourselves for those eventualities to prevent possible conflicts, and lay a good foundation for nurturing goodwill and effective functioning of the societies. Exclusive communities will become a thing of the past.  If you live amidst others, you must also respect the otherness of others, as you expect them to do the same for you.
You are who you are, and I am who I am. As long as we don't mess with each other’s space, sustenance and nurturence, and mind our own business, we all will do well.  If we can learn to respect the otherness of other and accept the God-given uniqueness of each one of the seven billion of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge. 

You are responsible for other’s actions but your own. Internally it will burn you inside; externally you’ll be punished by the society. No one but you should be blamed for your actions. If you murder someone, it’s you, who needs to be hauled off, not your parents, spouse, siblings, or your children. If you are a rapist, it is you who needs to be punished and not your teacher, mayor, congressman, senator, imam, pastor, pundit, rabbi, shaman, clergy, Quran, Bible, Torah, Avesta, Bhagvad Gita, Guru Granth Saheb, Kitab al Muqaddas and other holy books of any religion for that matter.

Pluralism is not a set of rules, it is simply an attitude of live and let live religiously, politically, culturally and socially.  We are committed to building cohesive societies, where no human has to live in apprehension, discomfort or fear of a fellow being.

Invitation

"To a historic event"

It is for the first time in history of Christianity and Islam, that Muslims and Christians are celebrating the birth of Jesus and Prophet Muhammad on the yet another historic place; the steps of Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.  

Saturday, December 26, 2015 at 1:00 PM
Enjoy the Christmas Carols & Milad Nasheeds
Bring your own chair and an umbrella




Parking - Road side public parking subject to availability.

Rail and Bus - The nearest metro stations are Foggy Bottom (23rd St. & I St. NW) and Smithsonian (12th St. &Independence Ave. SW). The Circulator Bus also runs to the Lincoln Memorial along Independence directly from the Union Station.

How can you help? 


1. First attend the event on Saturday and invite your friends to join.
2. Write a heart felt note, why is it necessary to know each other**
3. Depending on the time, I may record your 1 Minute speech as a feed back of the event.
4. Donate if you can.

We have a lot more work to do to build a cohesive America where no American has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. To do this work, takes money, and we invite you to seriously your tax deductible donations to American Together Foundation, 110 Maryland Av, NE, Suite 508, Washington, DC 2002.

God bless you and God bless America. 


If you wish to read more about these two guys:








Thank you, 

Mike Ghouse
(214) 325-1916

Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker, and a speaker on 
PluralismInterfaithIslampolitics, human rights, India, Israel-Palestine Terrorism and foreign policy. Over 3000 Articles have been published on the subjects. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More about him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and bulk of his writings are at TheGhousediary.com

** send the note to MikeGhouse@aol.com 

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Argument on Prophet Muhammad's birth celebrations

Here is a short face off about Milad.  A man walked up to me and questioned who designed the flier about Milad Mubarak? He knew it was me, but he was confrontational, and I wasn’t going to fall in that trap, instead I listened.

Him: You know it is bidda, an invention.
Me: Just listening (but wondered, how deeply programmed some of my fellow Muslims are, they are so quick to use the word ‘Bidda”, just as a toddler is eager to use a word he or she learns for the first time, is that the limitation of their vocabulary?)
Him: Why are they doing this?


Me: Do you like the Prophet?
Him: What do you mean, I love him.
Me: Really? Do you believe Prophet was a blessing to Mankind, in fact the whole universe?
Him:  Of course, God in Quran says that, he is Rahmatul Aalameen.
Me: Do you think others know about this?
Him: We have to tell them?

Me: How would you do that?
Him: Talk about him..
Me: Would you like to talk about his deeds to hundreds of people?
Him: Yeah, of course
Me: Do you know what Christmas is about?
Him: Bidda


Me: Was Prophet a Mercy to mankind?
Him: What do you mean?
Me: Did he want to have peace with Christians
Him: Naoozu billah, Of course,  he was Rahmatul Aalameen
Me:  Come to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, it is appreciating their work on the birthday.
Him:  Prophet did not celebrate the birthday, why should we?

Me: 
Prophet did not travel in the airplane, nor did he use the computers. He did not eat Biryani or drove a fancy car or lived in an Air-conditioned house, but he said one of the most profound things – a good deed is something you do to benefit humanity, knowing full well that you are not the beneficiary. He said, it is like planting a tree knowing well that by the time it grows to give fruit and shade, you are not the beneficiary, someone else in the Aalameen (Universe) is.

Me:  that is the description of the prophet, isn't it? Shouldn’t we appreciate him?
Him: Yeah, but…. its is B.....



3. The 1444th Birth Celebration of Prophet Muhammad -http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/festivals-of-the-world-mi_b_4579452.html    




Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, newsmaker and a professional speaker on PluralismInterfaithIslam,  politicshuman rights, and foreign policy.  Mike is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More about him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at TheGhousediary.com 

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

PRESS RELEASE - First time in history – Celebration of birth of Jesus and Prophet Muhammad on the steps of Lincoln Memorial.

PRESS RELEASE

Mike Ghouse (214) 325-1916
Mike@AmericanMuslimInstitution.org
www.AmericanMuslimInstituition.org

First time in history – Celebration of birth of Jesus and Prophet Muhammad on the steps of Lincoln Memorial.

Washington, D.C., December 22, 2015 – For the first time in the history of Christianity and Islam, the Christians and Muslims are jointly celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad, and it is on the historic steps of Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.

Mike Ghouse, the Executive Director of American Muslim Institution, a proactive voice for American Muslims said, “It is a God-given opportunity to further strengthen our bonds with each other on the auspicious occasion of the birth of Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad which fall on 25th and 24th of December, respectively.  It provides us a great spiritual incentive to know each other for better.  We have an obligation to create a safe and secure America for all of us.”

Dr. Aquilur Rahman, Chairman of the AMI Board said, “We chose this location, as it signifies another great event in our history, Rev. Martin Luther King’s dream speech which became a catalyst in fulfilling the vision of our founding fathers that we are all created equal. We have one more step to take towards a cohesive America.”


It is a symbolic interfaith event with Christmas Carols and Milaad Nasheeds and a short message from faith leaders, an inclusive event to build a safe, secure and cohesive America. The more we know each other, the fewer misconceptions we will have. “

Rizwan Jaka, Chair, Board of Trustees & Interfaith Co-Chair, All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) adds,“ God wants all of us to come together and create a safe and secure America for each one of us, we are all in this together, and let’s appreciate this to uphold religious freedom and  beckon a peaceful and prosperous 2016 and more.”


Syed Moktadir, President of ADAMS and the Vice Chairman of the U.S. Muslim & Christian Coalition (MCC) for the Protection of Christian and Religious Minorities in Arab World said, "the birth of Jesus and Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Them) brought so much blessing and light to our world that the hearts of the faithful continue to be full of love and passion for both of them and for all the prophets of God who came to guide humanity to worship God alone and unite the humanity through His worship. This event is yet another manifestation of that interfaith unity."

This is an initiative of American Muslim Institution and
the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS), one of the largest Muslim communities/mosques in the DC Metro Area and in the United States.

PARKING - Road side parking subject to availability.

BUS & RAIL - The nearest metro stations are Foggy Bottom (23rd St. & I St. NW) and Smithsonian (12th St. &Independence Ave. SW). The Circulator Bus also runs to the Lincoln Memorial from the Union Station
 along Independence. 
 
# # #

CONTACT
  • Mike Ghouse (214) 325-1916
  • Bob Marro (703) 309-6726
  • Islam Siddiqui (202) 725-7409
  • Aquilur Rahman (847) 822-9659
  • Rizwan Jaka (703) 624-6352
  • Syed Moktadir (703) 899-1132

SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS
  • Universal Peace Federation
  • World Association of NGO's (at the UN)
  • The International Cultural Center
  • Aligarh Alumni Association Washington DC
  • Islamic Society of Washington Area
  • Your Organizationplease email us the name of your org to add tp this list to - MikeGhouse@aol.com

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Celebrating Prophet Muhammad's birthday



Prophet Muhammad was an ultimate peacemaker,  and the essence of his work was creating societies of harmony, kindness, peace and Justice, which are indeed expressions of Tauheed; the oneness of the created and the creator with the intentional diversity in all his creation. 

While an over whelming majority of Muslims appreciate his message and celebrate his birth, a few among us choose not to,  and that is fine with most of us. However, the problem comes when a handful of Muslims want to impose their ideas on others and even call it sinful, instead of expressing disagreement. They forget the primary teachings of Islam, that there is no compulsion in the matters of faith,  that no one bears the burden of others, and that no one is accountable for others actions. 

We invite every one to join us in appreciating the two men who were dedicated to creating peace on earth.  




Here is my personal story of admiration for the prophet. 

Each year, between January 30th and April 4th the peace centers around the nation celebrate the time period as a season of peace.  Talks are arranged on the works of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. I wondered what about Prophet Muhammad? Why is no one is talking about his work for creating harmonious societies?  


About a decade ago, as a board member of the Dallas Peace Center, I proposed a topic to be added, “Muhammad the peace maker” – it flipped many including Muslims, they have never heard of him as the peace maker.  


It was a big responsibility to shoulder and to communicate that Prophet Muhammad was indeed the peace maker.  I studied many books written by non-Muslims, and the book that influenced me most was “Muhammad” by Karen Armstrong. There, I saw prophet as a human like you and I, with whom I could relate. The essence of his work was creating societies of harmony, kindness, peace and Justice, which is a descriptor of Tauheed; oneness of the created and the creator with the intentional diversity in all his creation.   


I took 15 of Prophet’s many examples that we cite daily in our mosques and schools and wanted to go deeper into the narratives, and what I found was a formula embedded in all his work, and every time,  “Conflict mitigation and goodwill nurturence.”  Perhaps for the first time, my fellow Americans saw his contribution towards building peaceful societies, and they were pleasantly surprised and chose to hold the prophet in high esteem.


People always relate with something they already know.  They knew Gandhi and MLK and their work, and when they hear about Prophet Muhammad in the same context, they add him as a peace maker in their repertoire.  


We have experimented in communications – for example, I have written over 250 articles in Dallas Morning News on Pluralism, and about 125 in Huffington post. Each article shares the beauty of many faiths, when people see something good of their own faith in the article, they appreciate it, and they accept a quip or a quote of the prophet in good spirit and perhaps narrate it to others with joy.  


How many times have you found yourselves gloating when a non-Muslim speaks good things about Islam? When the President, or a congressman says As-Salaamu Aliakum perfectly, our attitudes instantly change, we give back Wa-alaikum as-salaam enthusiastically.   They are no different, they are people like us, if I were to tell them about the Prophet, the chances of them believing are limited, particularly those with polarized mindsets, but if I tell them about Jesus, Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Mahavir,  Bahaullah, Nanank, and many others, they cherish it,  they gloat, and start seeing Muhammad as the peace maker.

Prophet Muhammad is indeed a mercy to mankind, nay, mercy to the whole universe – i.e., life and matter.  As Muslims we should proudly share his ideals with fellow humans.  After all he was a Rahmat (kind) to the universe, and we should be Rahmat to fellow beings in his footsteps. 


Prophet did not travel in the airplane, nor did he use the computers. He did not eat Biryani or drove a fancy car or lived in an Air-conditioned house, but he said one of the most profound things – a good deed is something you do to benefit humanity, knowing full well that you are not the beneficiary. He said, it is like planting a tree knowing well that by the time it grows to give fruit and shade, you are not the beneficiary, someone else in the Aalameen (Universe) is.  



In response to criticism of holding the “Season of Peace event” Dr. Aquilur Rahman, Chairperson of American Muslim Institution said it perfectly, “However, the main thrust here is to interact with non-Muslims as often as possible to minimize the bigotry and hatred against Muslims. In the last ten years the Islamophobia has gone to the peak and Muslims have no way to counter it.”  He asks, “Do we have any way to challenge them either on the stage or otherwise?" He sums it up, “Having acute lack of resources to run big ads,  the only viable way is to increase the understandings with other faith people and establish an enduring relationship to live cohesively and in harmony with each other."
 


Here is a God-given opportunity to further strengthen our bonds with fellow Americans on the auspicious occasion of the birth of Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad on 25th and 24th of December, respectively.  You and I are not the beneficiaries of this joint celebrations, but we have to be unselfish and think about the future of our kids, and kids of fellow Americans who are not Muslims. Our kids (all kids) should be the beneficiaries of living a life of accepting and respecting each other. Our acts are indeed an emulation of Prophet’s work – it seeds peace and security for generations to come.
Please click the link to register for the event, it is free:

CHRISTMAS AND MILAD CELEBRATIONS TOGETHER

God bless America, and God bless us all.

A few related articles: 



2. The 1444th Birth Celebration of Prophet Muhammad - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/festivals-of-the-world-mi_b_4579452.html  


3. Texas Faith, a Muslim's Christmas http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2015/12/texas-faith-when-baby-jesus-meets-neiman-marcus.html/ 

 Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker, and a speaker on PluralismInterfaithIslampolitics, human rights, India, Israel-Palestine Terrorism and foreign policy. Over 3000 Articles have been published on the subjects. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More about him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and bulk of his writings are at TheGhousediary.com 
 

Saturday, December 19, 2015

Kathleen Matthews: Democratic candidate for the 8th Congressional District from Maryland.

Chevy Chase, MD, December 19, 2015 -- We have to engage with our politicians and be a part of shaping a cohesive America, where each one of us can succeed in our pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. Together we have to work for a strong and secure America. 

My friends, Shafiq Khan and Qaisar Shareef invited me to have a conversation with Kathleen Matthews, who is one of the many candidates running for Congress from the 8th Congressional District from Maryland. We met in Star Bucks coffee house in Chevy Chase, MD.


In the brief conversation we had, we learned that she is making an effort to meet as many people as she can, and wants to do what is good for all Americans. Being a former television anchor in Washington, she is open to listening to diverse opinions, and is caring and sensitive to fellow Americans.  


When I meet politicians, one thing that strikes me most about them is their attitude; you are my fellow American, you are an Indian and I like Indians, you are a Muslim and I have no problem with you, you are Jewish and I support Israel, and the ridiculous, you had better vote for me, I'm doing a favor meeting with you.




Karen Matthews's attitude was, "You are my fellow American."As an American Muslim who considers our constitution as one the most revered documents, I like her genuine attitude of  "you are my fellow American.” That is indeed the promise of America, that we are all created equal.  When we carry the attitude of respecting the otherness of others, and accepting the God given uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

Politically, I'm an independent and have supported both Republican and Democratic candidates and will continue to do so. Trump does not represent Republican values, thanks to Lindsey Graham and a few other good men and women for speaking up.  The candidates who are good for America are those who genuinely believe in an indivisible nation with liberty and justice for all. I hope to meet the other Democratic and Republican candidates and hear them out.

Kathleen Matthews is smart and knows a divisive America would be difficult to manage, and an inclusive America is where her efforts are places, that is the right way to move forward.


Here is an invitation for you to join us in celebrating birth of two great men; Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad. If you cannot, please ask your friends to Register at this link, it is free. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/merry-christmas-milad-mubarak-tickets-20040393356

Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, newsmaker and a professional speaker on PluralismInterfaithIslam,  politicshuman rights, and foreign policy.  Mike is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More about him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at TheGhousediary.com