Religion - My fascination with religions

www.TheGhousediary.com - My Fascination with religions

Religions fascinate me, although I was an Agnostic-Atheist for nearly 30 years of my life, I was respectful of religions and attended religious rituals of almost all religions.

In the last sixties and early seventies, I was a big fan of Dr. Abraham Kovoor, the father of modern Atheism, and also followed the writings of Mahatma Gandhi, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Swami Vivekananda, Allama Iqbal, Jiddu Krishnamurthy, Rumi, Dale Carnegie, and a German Scholar who wrote the book Man and Religion.

Some day, I will elaborate on this, but for now, here is the summary.

I am grateful to my father for opening the windows of knowledge to me. He was always kind and respectful to me. Except once, he never hit me or belittled me. I hope my kids can say the same about me.

On the day of Ramadan Eid celebrations,  the Muslims in my town (Yelahanka) gather near the mosque, and walk a mile to the outdoor Mosque by the cemetery to pray and pay respects to the buried ones; a beautiful Muslim tradition that I have come to respect even when I was an atheist.

On that particular Eid, I refused to go to prayers as I did not believe in God or the prayers. My father looked me over, I had dared him. He gave me a short lecture and explained – "One day, I will be dead and gone, and you will be living in this town and have to live with others. No one will trust or do business with you, including my Hindu friends if you do not follow a system. Religion is a part of the society and it is up to you what you do with your life… God doesn't need your prayers, but you have to live with others"…. of course, I went to the Mosque, had he pushed me, I would not have gone and would probably have hated religion. I wish all parents treat their kids in that fashion, particularly the rebellious ones.

Thanks to my parents, they had friends from many religious traditions and have carried on conversations with them in the most civil manner I can imagine. My mother had weekly conversations with the only Zoroastrian lady in town, whom we called ‘Parsiamma” Behramji and chatted with our neighbor Sugalchand, a Jain family.  

My 5th or 6th grade social studies book has never left me, it created a positive life time impression about religions. There was a page dedicated to each one of the great religious teachers including Krishna, Rama, Buddha, Mahavir, Jesus, Moses, Prophet Muhammad, Zoroaster and Nanak, and the there was a two page summary of each one of the faiths. Top it up with my parents consistent reminders from Quran - that each faith is beautiful to its believer and that we must acknowledge it. Faith is like a mother to the believer.  

Most of my friends that I knew and grew up with have a similar respectful attitude towards religions, including every member of my family. I will have to find that dream book, and see if it is still there, and if not why not?

I am concerned about the future of India, I wish Prime Minister Modi was taught in a similar school as I did. I went to a public Urdu Medium school,  and he went to RSS Madrasa where exclusivity is taught, and no mention of other faiths and traditions, had he gone to a school like mine, his language would have been inclusive and he would have wished festival greetings to Muslims, Christians and others.  
Of course, the leaders in Pakistan, Malaysia and other Muslim nations do not greet their Hindu, Christian and other minorities either. Do we want to be like them?  Or do we want to set a new standard of inclusion for them to emulate us? Are we leaders?

As a young man I attended the Mahabodhi (Buddhist) Society every Wednesday in Bangalore and went to Friday prayers in a nearby Mosque (I went to different Mosques) and joined the Bhajan Mandir across my home on Saturday evenings to chant the Hindu Kirtans. I enjoyed my lengthy conversations with Sikhs who came from the Air force base to our Flour Mill on Sundays, and like wise, I learned a lot about the Adivasis (native Indian tribals) and Banjaray who made it to our mill on Sundays.  

I listened to hours of conversation between my father Abdul Rahman, maternal grandfather Shaikh Hussain and a Shia scholar Hussain Sahib. My English Teacher Rama Chandra was a big Sai Baba devotee and my friend Fakhru Bhai was a Muslim Sufi, the three of us would spend Saturdays discussing religion. I grew up with our Christian neighbors Robert and Swaran Latha since I was three or four years old. The last time I met them was upon my mothers’ death in 2001.

We did not have any Jews and Baha’is’ in our town; if not more than likely we would have attended their festivities as we did with others. However, I made it up with Jews, here is that part of my story; Holocaust and the Muslim guy. and also with Bahai's as I am closest to being a Bahai and perfectly align with Unitarian Universalist. My father was a Mayor of the town and his friends were mainly Hindus, and Bellur Muniyappa was the closest of them.   They discussed politics every day, yes every day in the evenings. 

While I was in Saudi Arabia, I had the greatest exposure to people from 40 different cultures and nationalities. I was the Chief Cashier with Fluor corporation, and every one of the group leaders came to me with bills for reimbursement in Shedgum, Saudi Arabia. I learned about each one of them, and additionally, I developed my abilities to understand English in just about every accent.

Coming back to Dallas, I published a paper called Asian News (1993-2001) and the information about all religions and festivals became a major item. In 1996, I started the first commercial radio for the Asian community called Asian news Radio, and again religion was a major part of it.

Between 2004 and 2005, I did 520 hours of Radio show, an hour a day, 5 days a week and it was called “Wisdom of religion, all the beautiful religions of the world” and did 100 hours each of Christianity, Islam and Hinduism and 50 hours on all other religions including Atheism. We completed Torah, Bible, Quran, Bhagvad Gita and other books on the show. 

In 2005 and 2006 two sets of three hour workshops were done for 13 traditions from Atheist to Zoroastrians and everyone in between.

In 2009 I camped out for a whole 9 days at the Parliament of World’s religions in Melbourne and attended every possible religious event I can. I moderated a few Panels and presented a few papers.  I danced with the Pagans, animists, and spent time with the Native Australians and their Museum.

Here in Dallas, I have been to most places of worship, and took my children to them as well.

Thanks to Huffington Post and other news papers I continue to write the essence of festivals, all the major festivals of the world and God willing I will continue the work. The work is also logged at www.FoundationforPluralism.blogspot.com and www.TheGhousediary.com

The Foundation for Pluralism came into being, when my application to be a member of Thanksgiving Square was rejected in mid Nineties, because I did not fit into a pigeon hole, at that time, I was a Humanist (another name for Atheist) and was told to belong to some religion. I said to myself, we need an organization that includes all humanity, thus the Foundation for Pluralism was officially born, even though it was in practice since 1993.

Ironically, I my application was rejected in an Atheist group in 2006, when I wanted to become a member and include them in our Unity Day program.

Presently, I am a member in most of the religious groups. Do you know God is a life member of every religious group I belong to? LOL!
I regret not completing my PhD in religion, but pleased with the amount of work I have done on religions, all the beautiful religions.

I must say, pluralism runs in my veins. Please feel free to read my yet to be updated profile as pluralism speaker at: http://www.mikeghouse.net/InterfaithSpeaker_MikeGhouse.asp

Thank you

Mike Ghouse
(214) 325-1916 text/talk
............................................................................................................................... Mike Ghouse is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator on Pluralism at work place, politics, religion, society, gender, race, culture, ethnicity, food and foreign policy. He is a staunch defender of human rights and his book standing up for others will be out soon, and a movie "Americans together" is in the making.  He is a frequent guest commentator on Fox News and syndicated Talk Radio shows and a writer at major news papers including Dallas Morning News and Huffington Post. All about him is listed in 63 links atwww.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at www.TheGhousediary.com and 10 other blogs. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. 

Atheism making space in Saudi Arabia

ATHEISTS IN SAUDI ARABIA
URL - http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2014/06/in-cradle-of-islam-growing-number-of.html

God tells in Qur'an, " ... Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error ..." [2:256]

This is Islam's unambiguous affirmation of freedom of faith, which also applies to changing of faith. The Qur'an illuminates before the humanity the two highways [90:10], one of which leads to salvation. Islam is an invitation to the highway toward salvation, but it is based on

FREEDOM OF CHOICE.

The role of the Prophet was to explain what it means.  To paraphrase his quote, you cannot force anyone to believe what they don't, it has to come from within and if they can see the value in it.

The sad part of religion, any religion be it Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism or the others, a majority of the folks get it, some don't.  No one should trample on one's freedom to eat, drink, wear, or believe what he wants. There shall be no compulsion.

Indeed, Islam or any religion thrives where there is freedom. Saudi Arabia can enforce their extreme rules as the policy of their government but not as Islam. I cannot call it repugnant, because in the United States we still have the Death Penalty, and our Congressmen and Senators still make stupid remarks about women. Had we not had the rule of law, or if we vote in the conservatives by mistake, we can see them want to emulate Saudi Arabia when it comes to LGTB, Women's rights and other rights.

Freedom of speech, assembly and expression are the way to go, the governments have to be righteous to feel secure. Indeed, I can safely conclude,  freedom is directly proportional to how secure the government is, and Saudi Government (Not Islamic) is not, will crumble within two decades.

Mike Ghouse
Center for Pluralism
www.FoundationforPluralism.com
www.MikeGhouse.net

Studies in Social, religious, cultural, Gender, Political and work Place Pluralism. Pluralism is neither a religion nor rule of law, it is merely our attitude of "Respecting the otherness of others." and accepting the God-given uniqueness of each one of the 7.2 Billion of us.

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http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/belief/atheism-saudi-arabia-illegal
Caryle Murphy, GlobalPost

 

 

Worshippers outside of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia (Credit: Associated Press)

Gee Dad, God can be worshiped in so many ways!.

GEE DAD, GOD CAN BE WORSHIPED IN SO MANY WAYS. LESSONS IN PLURALISM

I am pleased to share the wisdom of a seven year old girl, my daughter. Who wants to raise their child as a bigot? Some of us recklessly do.

When we hear hate spout out of the mouths of men and women in politics or religion against Jews, Muslims, Christians, Atheists, Hindus, Blacks, Mormons, Gays and Lesbians, Hispanics or Immigrants, we just shake our heads with disbelief, that is of course, if we are not bigots ourselves.

I must give credit to face book, a great equalizer for humanity. Even though the hate mongers and bigots don't survive on the face book, they still continue to rant with a few or no friends liking their hate material. They still don't get the message - hate is not natural. .

When she was visiting the Baptist Church, as a father, I just advised her, if the Pastor by any chance denigrates other faiths, he is not being truthful and you don't need to listen to him. She was around 9 then, and argued with me, a part of our routine to argue as equals, "Dad, if he does not say bad things about other religions, why would people to go his Church when they can go somewhere else? I know it, don't worry Dad, I won't hate anyone".

I took my kids to every place of worship, so they were raised with familiarity of fellow humans with no bigotry towards others. At each place of worship, I would summarize to her what they were saying…over the years, I learned that, all she wanted to hear, a six year old, was a simplified version of the talk. I had gotten it down well - a standard reply - "Sweetie, they are telling that we must thank God, that God gives us life, ability to breath and live…" Mind you, I was an atheist then, but not anti-religious.

One day, we were in DFW Hindu Temple joining the group singing Bhajans (Chanting) in the sanctuary. In the middle of a Bhajan, she leans over me, and asks the standard question, "Dad, what are they singing"… out came my standard reply. To that, oblivious to the crowd, she gets up, and throws her hands up in the air, and cheerfully announces "Gee Dad, God can be worshiped in so many ways" to the amazement of the devotees!

That, my friends is pluralism. "Respecting the otherness of others." Thank God she ain't a bigot today. She is a rationalist and would question any one's ill-will or hate towards the other. If nothing else in my life, I have feel good about raising my kids with no bigotry. Like me, she would defend any faith, we won't let any one put down a faith, any faith - individuals yes, but not their faith.

I am writing a fuller article with Religion News with a few more anecdotes with my daughter. Meanwhile, enjoy this.
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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 a book with the same title is coming up. Mike has a strong 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.
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The rise of atheism in America

COMMENTARY -Mike offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. This particular response to a comment from a Muslim to worry about Atheism.

Let's be realistic, it's not the west that causes one to be an Atheist, I chose to be one in India (raised in a secular but religious family) when I was in my teens and remained so thru the last century. It's human to be an atheist or have an atheist streak in one.

There is nothing evil being an Atheist, and one should not look down on it, if we do that, it amounts to arrogance of being righteous, to God, the righteous ones are the ones who care about fellow beings.

And I'm a muslim, perhaps a very strong one, without negating other paths, but appreciating them all in creating societies that God wanted- where people honored the otherness of others and accepted the God given uniqueness of each one.

Deep down, a majority of Muslims are this way. Are you not?  

Mike Ghouse

The rise of atheism in America

By The Week's Editorial Staff | The Week – 14 hrs ago

The number of disbelievers is growing, but they remain America's least trusted minority. Why?

How many atheists are there?

It depends on your definition of the term. Only between 1.5 and 4 percent of Americans admit to so-called "hard atheism," the conviction that no higher power exists. But a much larger share of the American public (19 percent) spurns organized religion in favor of a nondefined skepticism about faith. This group, sometimes collectively labeled the "Nones," is growing faster than any religious faith in the U.S. About two thirds of Nones say they are former believers; 24 percent are lapsed Catholics and 29 percent once identified with other Christian denominations. David Silverman, president of American Atheists, claims these Nones as members of his tribe. "If you don't have a belief in God, you're an atheist," he said. "It doesn't matter what you call yourself."

Why are so many people leaving religion?

It's primarily a backlash against the religious Right, say political scientists Robert Putnam and David Campbell. In their book, American Grace, they argue that the religious Right's politicization of faith in the 1990s turned younger, socially liberal Christians away from churches, even as conservatives became more zealous. The dropouts were turned off by churches' Old Testament condemnation of homosexuals, premarital sex, contraception, and abortion. The Catholic Church's sex scandals also prompted millions to equate religion with moralistic hypocrisy. "While the Republican base has become ever more committed to mixing religion and politics," Putnam and Campbell write, "the rest of the country has been moving in the opposite direction." As society becomes more secular, researchers say, doubters are more confident about identifying themselves as nonbelievers. "The collapse of institutional religion in the first 10 years of this century [has] freed so many people to say they don't really care," said author Diana Butler Bass.

How are nonbelievers perceived?

Most polls suggest that atheists are among the most disliked groups in the U.S. One study last year asked participants whether a fictional hit-and-run driver was more likely to be an atheist or a rapist. A majority chose atheist. In 2006, another study found that Americans rated atheists as less likely to agree with their vision of America than Muslims, Hispanics, or homosexuals. "Wherever there are religious majorities, atheists are among the least trusted people," said University of British Columbia sociologist Will M. Gervais. As a result, avowed atheists are rare in nearly all areas of public life. Of the 535 legislators in Congress, for example, only one — Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) — calls himself an atheist. Few sports stars or Hollywood celebrities own up to having no religious faith.

Why so much distrust?
Many Americans raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition are convinced that atheists can have no moral compass. Azim Shariff, a University of Oregon psychologist who studies religious thinking, sums up how believers view nonbelievers: "They don't fear God, so we should distrust them. They do not have the same moral obligations as others." The antipathy may have actually grown with the recent emergence of "New Atheist" writers such as Richard Dawkins and the late Christopher Hitchens, who have launched impassioned attacks on organized religion. Dawkins has encouraged his followers to "ridicule" anyone who could believe in "an unforgiving control freak" and "a capriciously malevolent bully" like the God portrayed in the Old Testament. Dawkins's harsh approach, said Barbara J. King, an anthropologist at the College of William and Mary, has confirmed "some of the negative stereotypes associated with the nonreligious — intolerance of the faithful, first and foremost."

How have atheists responded to this negative image?
A coalition of nonbelievers is out to make atheism more acceptable, starting with last month's "Reason Rally" on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., where thousands stood up for their right to not believe. Silverman of American Atheists, who helped organize the rally, said it was intended to give heart to young, "closet atheists" who fear the social stigma of being "outed," in much the same way closeted gays do. "We will never be closeted again," he said. Some within the movement advocate taking a more conciliatory approach to believers, too. Alain de Botton, the Anglo-Swiss writer of the new book Religion for Atheists, assails Dawkins as being "very narrow-minded," and praises religions as "the most successful educational and intellectual movements the planet has ever witnessed."

Will atheism ever be accepted?
If growth continues at the current rate, one in four Americans will profess no religious faith within 20 years. Silverman hopes that as nonbelief spreads, atheists can become a "legitimate political segment of the American population," afforded the same protections as religious groups and ethnic minorities. But he's not advocating a complete secular takeover of the U.S. — nor would he be likely to achieve one, given the abiding religious faith of most Americans. "We don't want the obliteration of religion; we don't want religion wiped off the face of the earth," Silverman said. "All we demand is equality."

Atheists in foxholes
Atheists are barely visible in politics and entertainment, but they are clamoring for recognition in another area of public life — the military. The Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers estimates that 40,000 soldiers identify as nonbelievers, and counts the most famous casualty of the war in Afghanistan, former NFL star Pat Tillman, as one of its own. In attempting to secure the same rights and support enjoyed by religious soldiers, the association lobbies against the idea that "there are no atheists in foxholes," and wants "atheist chaplains" made available for the ranks of the armed nonbelievers. Jason Torpy, the association's president, says that nonbelievers outnumber every religious group in the military except Christians, yet receive no ethical and family counseling geared to their own nonbeliefs. "These are things that chaplains do for everybody," he said, "except us."

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Mike Ghouse is committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, commentator on national radio network, writes weekly at Dallas Morning News and bi monthly at Huffington post, The Smirking Chimp and other periodicals. His daily blog is www.TheGhousediary.com

Texas Faith - Do you think monotheism is a superior form of religious belief?

Monotheism would not be a superior form of religious belief, if it gets Abrahamic faiths to gang up against others. However, if it becomes a panacea to develop cohesive societies where no one has to live with fear of the other, then it is a belief that works superiorly along with the polytheistic, native, pagan, atheistic and humanistic traditions who aspire to create a kingdom of peace for its inhabitants.

If we can learn to accept and respect the God given (genetic for those who do not believe in God) uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

To read the take by all the panelists go to Dallas Morning News at: http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/09/texas-faith-is-monotheism-supe.html

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MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas

In spiritual terms, the phrase superior belief is oxymoronic. Religion is about humility and not arrogance. It is the inculcation of the value of humility that builds cohesiveness in a given society. Arrogance simply destroys it.

Every religious teacher and spiritual master was committed to harmony within the group and with others. Indeed with almost no exceptions, every tradition has established a form of prayer to connect with the creator. That, invariably, involves bowing, leaning, kneeling or prostrating, it is learning to be humble.

Arrogance and spirituality are inversely proportional to each other. The greater the arrogance, the lower the spirituality and vice versa. Arrogance depletes one's spirituality (humility), while humility enhances the blissful connection with oneself and the universe.

Claiming superiority of a "belief" gives a false sense of security to those whose belief is based on the assumption that the other is inferior. To them, other religions have to be wrong or inferior for theirs to be right. That's a false foundation for a belief to rest on. As with every aspect of life, monotheism, polytheism, theism or atheism is a security blanket and not a genuine source of solace to a small portion of the population resulting in discontentment and fear of learning the other.

Monotheism evolved as a panacea to "me and my God" attitudes causing one to dig in his (rarely her) heels leading to irresolvable conflicts and destructiveness. It was to offer a larger tent to accommodate everyone and develop the inclusive attitudes of "me, us and our God".

Much of this development originated in the Zoroastrian tradition and has been a part of Judaism, Christianity and Islamic traditions that firmly believe in Uno God as if God is a physical being. Even though Judaism and Islam do not collapse God into an image or a word, they still posit God as a being.

However, in the Hindu tradition, the causer and the creator was the same and was called by many names including Brahma, the ultimate reality. The societies accepted physical manifestation of that reality in different iconic forms. They found pluralism was the panacea to resolving conflicts involving abstract aspects of life.

The Baha'i and Sikh faiths evolved as unifying and inclusive traditions. Buddhism and Jainism did not see the need to manufacture God as an arbitrator of their conflicts and or a source of peace within. Many earth based and native traditions have their own systems that work beautifully for them.

Monotheism would not be a superior form of religious belief, if it gets Abrahamic faiths to gang up against others. However, if it becomes a panacea to develop cohesive societies where no one has to live with fear of the other, then it is a belief that works superiorly along with the polytheistic, native, pagan, atheistic and humanistic traditions who aspire to create a kingdom of peace for its inhabitants.

If we can learn to accept and respect the God given (genetic for those who do not believe in God) uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.
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MY NOTES AT DALLAS MORNING NEWS IN RESPONSE TO READERS

There is no such thing as Islamic, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Bahai or God. All that we can see comprehend or believe has evolved from a single act. The people of religion call that cause or the causer with many different names including God. This is the broadest definition.

Whether you call that element Manito, Yahweh, Elahi, Ishwar, Allah, Mahavira, Buddha, Wahe Guru, Ahura Mazda, mother earth, Jesus Christ or any name, it is the same thing.

Monotheism is fine, and I am a monotheist, meaning I see God as one energy and I have no problem if you see God as one, none and many and in every form; male, female, genderless and non-existent, being and non-being, nameless and with innumerable names. I will not claim that my belief is superior to any, it amounts to arrogance. The religion I follow brings humility to me and not arrogance.

Claim of superiority makes the other inferior. Who am I to say that, and who will accept that non-sense? The conflict has continued for thousands of years. The guardians of every religion somehow pose that their faith is the only one, the best, the wise, the scientific, the oldest… so what? It does not make others anything less.

Twenty years ago, almost all Christians believed that Salvation is only through Jesus and others would go to hell – today nearly 30% of Christians subscribe to that, a survey is warranted for Jews, Muslims, Hindus and others. Muslims outside the religious institutions may have a similar percentage based on my discussions and the Quraan supports that where God says, whether you are a Jew, Christian or other, you need not worry, be good to fellow beings and your reward comes through me.

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Tex65

Madjess has addressed your concerns and I appreciate his (or her) take on it, which is very close to my understanding. It is the one that starts with "A person can believe that there is no god but God ….." I have also addressed it in my response to Nityananada Das, which starts with, "Even if there were multiple causes leading to creation, life evolved from one single act…" the following is related to the above referred comments.

Indeed, I am pleased to re-iterate your quote, "I testify that there is no god except God." As a Muslim, I see the corollary "there is no act but one act, the act that we call God. Not every Muslim will subscribe to this but he or she can see the validity. In Islam God is not a material, not a being, not an entity, it is just nature or the energy that powers the creation.

The idea of monotheism was to bring people on singular abstract platform and a form of God where most people can agree with the attributes ascribed to that energy, it was to mitigate the conflicts of your God vs. my god and agree to the idea of our God, hence we are one family (Hinduism – Vasudaiva Kutumubukum and other religions have expressed it in the format the Golden rule, what is good for me has got to be good for the other for both of us to co-exist without apprehension.

We are all learning to see the depth and meaning of God and the search continues, and I am happy for those who believe in absolutes and appreciate those who are on their journey.

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Nityanands Das;

Even if there were multiple causes leading to creation, life evolved from one single act. I believe the people of religion call that cause or the causer with many different names including God. However, the atheist may be content with not giving it a name to that cause; they may not even have the desire to create a system around it.

Monotheism is a belief in that singular energy, whereas polytheism is seeing that one causer in multiple forms. We all create God in our own image, to some it is absolutely one and to some they see different aspects of the same causer, as Hinduism calls it Demi-Gods, or Devas. Both systems work for the believers.

To believe that Monotheistic format is absolutely right and the other ain't reflects the arrogance of the believer. What is the need for such assertion? Monotheistic belief is to lead societies into coherence and reduce conflicts by accepting that we are all diverse people from one source and it is in our interest to maintain that cohesiveness. The polytheistic belief accepts the diversity to begin with, that in itself leads to cohesive societies. It is not the belief in one, none or many Gods that is the problem in the society; rather it is the greed and insecurities of the individuals that is the problem. Both the systems are designed to help the individual gain his own balance and balance in relating with others, they are good systems, most people get it and a few don't. Those who don't get, tend to be intolerant. It is our responsibility to share with them the purpose of life – to live without apprehension or live in balance, to the religious it means in devotion of God where one feels secure.

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Dear Nityananda Chandra Das;

"To claim God supreme is not arrogance but rather a humble recognition of the truth of our position in relation to God. ". Mr. Das, I fully agree with your comment, however to claim Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism or… other faith is superior, or monotheism is superior to polytheism, then it amounts to arrogance. No faith is superior; each faith is beautiful to the believer. Why one's faith has to be superior?

Indeed, our humility is realized when we realize the superiority of God. Humility is essential to build cohesive societies.

Mike Ghouse is committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day to the media and the public. He is a speaker thinker and a writer on the topics of pluralism, cohesive societies, Politics, Islam, interfaith, India and Peace. Over a thousand articles have been published on the topics and two of his books are poised to be released on Pluralism and Islam. Mike's work is reflected in 4 website's and 27 Blogs indexed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/ and you can find all of his current articles at www.TheGhousediary.com

Atheism on rise

ATHEISM ON RISE
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 11:11pm

Whether we admit or not, most of us have a percent of Agnostic or Atheist residing within us, and I was no exception. Mother Teresa in her letters to the Vatican had expressed her occasional doubts, and that has helped me free myself that it was Ok to have doubts. A Catholic Nun and a Saint with fervent conditioning in religious beliefs had the doubts, she happens to be one of my mentors.

I must acknowledge and give credit to the pluralistic ethos of India, where Atheism was a part of the society, and was not shunned as much as much as it was shunned in the United States a few years ago, indeed there was a movie made in India in the early fifties called Nastik (Agnostic /Atheist) and one of its Songs appeals to God to reverse the changes in the society. Thank God (!) the attitudes are changing across the globe and being an Atheist is not looked down any more.

The Atheist movement was huge in India in the sixties, Dr. Abraham Kovoor of Sri Lanka (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Kovoor ) was leading the movement and I was enthused about his rationalism and subscribed to many an ideas he floated. Those were my school days and I did not see the need to believe in God. The Bangalore University Chancellor Dr. Narsimaiah spurred by the movement wanted to initiate scientific investigations into some of the miracles claimed by the healers of the day including the Sri Satya Sai Babaof White Field, Bangalore, but the politicians did not let him proceed.

At times it is the bellycoseness of a few fundamentalist Atheists, that drives others nuts, think about it, don't the fundamentalist in all religions do the same?

As Dawson writes, “Atheists need to develop a reputation for patience and approachability”. I have always dealt with Atheist with an open mind and open heart and have valued their belief. As men and women, they are no different than a Rabbi, Pastor, Shaman, Imam or a Pundit in dealing with emotions and the sense of right and wrong.

I got thrown out of an Atheist group!

Last year, I joined a few Atheist discussion groups, particularly to invite them to the Unity Day USA program that brings together people of different races, ethnicities, nationalities, and religions. I am committed to pluralism, that is no one should be left out in public discourse, every human has the same right to be in the public square whether s/he is religious or not. Two of the four groups, kicked me out, and my membership was denied. I was told that if I believed in God, I didn’t belong there, although I have accepted their belief as legitimate as any other belief. Ironically, once upon a time, when I considered my self un-religious or ir-religious, I was not given admission to a large organization here in Dallas; they wanted me in any one of the religious pigeon holes to belong to that group. That’s when the Foundation for Pluralism was born, to be inclusive and to include every human no matter what they believed.

In my Radio talk show, “Wisdom of Religion, all the beautiful religions” I included Atheism/Humanism as one of the systems and it drew the most number of listeners and callers, same experience was found when I did the monthly workshops on Religions.

One of the thoughts I am driven to communicate in this short write up is the dumbness of “stereotyping”.

Theists are called irrational and I have witnessed in my discussion groups, that some of the Atheists were as irrational and belligerent beings as the Theists.

Morality is not an exclusive product of religion, it is the product of co-existence; Atheist are as moral as theists. Religion is not responsible for wars, it is the individuals, and every war can be traced to an individual; theists as well as atheists from Pharaoh down to Lenin.

The society, regardless of where it flourishes; in America, Timbuktu or Andaman, the pie consists of good, bad and ugly people and every society has different permutations and combinations, but every society be it religious, ethnic, racial or national has a share of 1/10th of 1% of them as plain intolerant people, who are afraid of other and scheme to annihilate those who differ. Don’t laugh at others without laughing at yourselves first, whatever group you belong you have them among you as well. It appears to be a societal norm to have that, just as Tsunami was an anomaly of our planet.

Your sense of getting along with others, having a sense of inclusion of the universe comes with your circle of friends, you ability to embrace different points of view fades conflcits and births solutions.

Mike Ghouse is a frequent guest at the media offering pluralistic solutions to issues of the day. He is a thinker, writer, speaker, optimist and an activist of Pluralism, Interfaith, Co-existence, Peace, Islam and India. His work is reflected at 3 websites & 22 Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

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The rise and rise of atheism
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/mar/15/global-atheist-convention-melbourne#history-link-box

The Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne was a boon for rational Australians, with only the occasional sour note Rachel Holkner (http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/rachel-holkner )
It was difficult not to make religious analogies on Sunday morning as I joined 2500 other atheists streaming into the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre for The Rise of Atheism: the 2010 Global Atheist Convention. ( http://www.atheistconvention.org.au/ )

Being a secular, literate city made Melbourne a safe choice to first take the Atheist Convention outside of the US. I saw only three protesters, despite a number of publicised church-based counter-gatherings.

Many participants came looking for techniques to discuss atheism with religious family, friends and door-knockers. Others sought like-minded people, and some came questioning their own position, preferring to describe themselves as agnostic. Even atheist poster boy Richard Dawkins, on a scale of 1 (believes in god) to 7 (atheist) describes himself as a 6.9.

It is difficult to organise any group under the umbrella of non-belief, but the Atheist Alliance International ( http://www.atheistalliance.org/ ) and the Atheist Foundation of Australia (http://www.atheistfoundation.org.au/ ), convention hosts, achieved just that. The terms freethinker, humanist and rationalist were also frequently heard, used to alter the emphasis from being "against" theism and instead "for" scientific reasoning and logical thought.

Churches are social groups for many people, which is something atheists do not have, hence the popularity of this event which sold out six weeks in advance. Many small atheist groups were in attendance, raising their profile among the largest group of like-minded people ever gathered in Australia.

Several speakers commented that they had never addressed such a large group of atheists before, and there were a far greater range of topics presented than many expected. A question put to many attendees before the convention was, "But what can you possibly have to talk about? Nothing?"

The presenters shared some truly horrific stories of things done in the name of God or as part of some religious organisation, but the overall effort was not to paint all religions as always forces for bad. Much was made of the charitable works religious organisations do, but then, alternatives were presented. Charitable works do not need a veil of the supernatural in order to be effective, and you should not need a god looking over your shoulder, monitoring how much you are donating to disaster relief or to alleviate poverty. Peter Singer in particular talked about the evolutionary imperatives for fairness and for rendering aid.

It was not all serious discussion over the weekend. A lot of care had gone into the event to make the The Rise of Atheism a positive experience. There were comedians, and some wag had prepared a themed playlist to play in the background between sessions, including "Superstition" and songs from They Might Be Giants' "Here Comes Science".

Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins closed the convention with a discussion on the probability of our existence, the luck of individual existence, gratitude, evolution and the illusion of design. This is potentially very dry and difficult subject matter yet Dawkins, known for his showmanship, conducted the audience skillfully through his argument. True, he was unable to mention the words god or creationism without trying to making the audience laugh, usually by the use of crude puns, but this is basic psychology and it is why he is so popular among atheists and why he received a standing ovation at the end of his talk.

However, when a Christian stood up to ask a question of Dawkins, there was a vibe not only of hostility, but impatience and frustration – even a sense of violation, as no one expected anyone with honest-to-god beliefs to pay the not-inconsiderate ticket price to learn about atheism. This was a great shame. Part of the challenge of atheism is extending our visibility and educating theists on rational thought. Continuing to play to the stereotype of being scary and intolerant will not help anyone.

Atheists need to develop a reputation for patience and approachability. "Out" atheists are a tiny minority, and public figures even fewer. As Dawkins said in answering a question of how to critique Islam without fear of reprisal, "We will not provoke you. Not out of respect for your beliefs, but out of fear." A reputation like that is the last thing atheism needs.

A tribute to Jesus

A tribute to Jesus on this Christmas;

What does it mean to be religious?

Mike Ghouse

This column is dedicated to Rev. Petra Weldes of the Center for Spiritual Living in Dallas. Some of my conversation with her inspired me to write this tribute to Jesus and what it means to be religious.

Continued: http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/12/tribute-to-jesus.html

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