Moderate Muslims speak out

Moderate Muslims speak out

Since 9/11, talk show hosts, journalists, lawmakers, interfaith authorities and thought leaders have asked: “Who are the authentic moderates of Islam?” Where are moderate Muslims to join the debate on social, civic, religious and political issues, including racism and violent extremism? And, “Who speaks for American Muslims?”

Steve Blow of Dallas Morning News wrote, "Over and over you hear it said: If Muslims oppose terrorism, why don't they stand up and say it? If that has been you, Mike Ghouse ought to be your hero."

Muslims are sick of the terrorists, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and their ilk committing evil acts and conveniently passing the buck to their religion, and Muslims are neither happy with those few gullible Americans who are too eager to buy the poor excuses of these gangs. Instead of punishing these criminals, they are hell bent on finding faults with the religion.

In behalf of American Muslim Institution a rally was organized on the steps of Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, on Friday, November 20, 2015. The symbolic location was chosen to mirror the effort of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who brought a positive change to the American civil Society with his famous, “I have a dream” speech.  Dr. Ghouse believes that this effort has seeded the momentum for yet another positive change; acceptance of Muslims as equals with the process of integration.

A reporter asked what would be achieved by condemning or demonstrating here at Lincoln Memorial.  Dr. Ghouse responded, “Evil exists because good people do nothing about it, we the good people are doing something about it; we are condemning the evil acts of ISIS, and sending them a clear message that the world condemns their act and that they have no place among the civil societies unless they surrender and give up terrorism, violence and extremism.

At the National Press Club, Dr. Ben Carson was asked if he verifies the information he relays about Muslims and Islam. The lack of response led Dr. Ghouse to offer advice and guidance to him, and if he considers the advice, he will save himself a lot of regrets and time on doubling down on the false information, and if he were smart, he can earn at least 3 Million Muslim votes.

Dr. Mike Ghouse is a proud, unapologetic Moderate Muslim and a passionate advocate of Pluralism in religion, society, politics, race, dining, clothing, dancing, sports and every aspect of life. He is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator who is considered an authority on Pluralism and Interfaith relations in America, and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.

Phyllis Curott, the Vice Chair of Parliament of World’s Religions writes," Mike Ghouse has the courage of his convictions - he carries a spark of inspiration that can only be called Divine…..”

Religion News Service,
" (RNS) A Florida pastor plans to burn a pile of Qurans on the 9/11 anniversary, and interfaith activist Mike Ghouse says, “It is not what (the pastor) will do, it is what we do as Americans and American Muslims that matters.”

Dr. Ghouse has appeared in more than 150 TV Talk shows, including 102 with Sean Hannity alone. He has served as
subject expert hundreds of times on nationally syndicated radio shows. Many listeners have heard his informed opinions at the time of the Quran Burning issue in Mulberry, Florida, Quran Bashing in Dallas Texas, during the Ground Zero Mosque, Boston Bombing, Garland, Phoenix, Washington and other major conflicts.

He has published more than 3000 articles on a variety of topics, of these; more than 1000 are on Pluralism, including 225 pieces in the “Texas Faith” column of the Dallas Morning News and 130 articles at Huffington Post.  A thousand articles on politics, Israel Palestine Dialogue, India, and Terrorism, foreign policy, movies, sports, culture and motivation. The rest of the thousand are about the Pluralistic values of Islam and Muslims.

American Muslims are committed to a prosperous and secure American for every one of the 318 Million Americans.

Full story and the links at: http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-voice-of-moderate-islam-in-america.html

Contact:

Mike Ghouse (214) 325-1916

SpeakerMikeGhouse@gmail.com

www.TheGhouseDiary.com

Published at
1. http://empowerednews.net/moderate-muslims-speak-out/1860967/

The right winger in you

URL - http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-right-winger-in-you.html

It is not you, nor is there a group called right wingers. It is each one of us once a while, occasionally or frequently a right winger.  There is a right winger in each one of us be it politically, ethnically or religiously at least once in a life time.  Check the following seven things out;

1. No tolerance for criticism of the president, as long as president is from their own party. For example, a right wing Republican would not tolerate any criticism of Bush, it amounts to disloyalty to the nation and without blinking an eye, you are unpatriotic, and they will accuse you and blame your religion, race, ethnicity or immigrant status or whatever they can find that is different in you.  
   They usually attack the person instead of the issue, the far left Democrats have the same germ in them. The attacks on Obama by these right wing possessed individuals is pathetic, they lost the election, and instead of gracefully accepting the will of the people, they attack the person of Obama, some of those assess, even attack Michelle Obama. This is not good for the nation.  For every accusation you hurl on Obama, the same can be hurled on his predecessor - Obama went to Vegas when Sandy hit the shores, what did Bush do when Katrina hit Louisiana?
   
2. If you are Chinese, Nigerian, Brazilian, German, Arab or African, simply substitute the words India or Pakistan with the name of your nation, the following experience would be the same. The Indian and Pakistani right wingers are no different. Criticism of what goes on there amounts to India or Pakistan bashing to them, they find it easy on their intellect to go ahead and make a judgment on you, instead of dealing with facts. Of course,  facts don’t matter to them. They hunger to create passionate supporters by painting the other guy their enemy. I see this every day among these two groups as well as the Bangladeshis’, switch it to Nigerian or Libyan and see if it works.
   
3. Religiously, the right wing Muslims, Christians, Jews or Hindus behave the same. By the way, there are right wingers among Buddhists, Sikhs, and even Bahai’s.  I have experienced all of these; it will be in my book, something you already know. No matter what is suggested, their minds quickly decide that others are attacking them, and that the others are their enemies. They ruin the joy of their life by living in constant anxiety.
   
4. By the way, conservatives are not right wingers, although right wingers can be conservatives. The right wingers are calling themselves conservatives, they are not. Conservatives want to stick with what is proven, what is known and what is working, and resist experimentation. They are not risk takers. You and I are conservatives in some areas and in the same areas occasionally, frequently or never. 
   
5. What makes one a right winger? You can observe the following; facts don’t matter to them, they insist their version is the final truth, and how dare you not accept their view as a fact? They are usually blunt and tell you that you are wrong, facts don't matter to them.  If you disagree with them, they become a passionate enemy of you; they will make the time to tell all the bad they they imagine about you, and tell others. They are risk takers, and are not embarrassed if they make the sense or not, if they don’t, they get louder and chase you to the end of the world. They usually bond on the basis of hate for others, which are temporary associations.  
   
6. Relax, you are not a right winger, if you are reading these words. Right wingers moved on out after item # 1 and have already responded in their minds, or passed it on to their friends… They rarely read things… remember facts don’t matter to them. They may be engaged in item # 5 right after # 1.
7. We need to be compassionate, I wrote this as an example, some of my closest friends are right wingers in religion, politics, culture and cuisine and I have found a way with some of them in my workshops, talks and dealings - to respect the otherness of others and accept the God given uniqueness of each one of us. Pluralism is an attitude of respecting who you are, without having to agree with you. I have found that their attitudes are molded by lack of knowledge about you, of inexplicable phobias....if you take the time, and when they see that you care, the fears vanish for them. They can become great friends with the same intensity for friendship. 

God bless us all with peace, may our anxieties recede, and may we give each other full value as we give to ourselves. Amen! We may all learn to respect the intentional diversity of God's creation, it amounts to genuine worship of God.

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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 and standing up for others as an activist. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. 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 everything you want to know about him.

Tony Powerz and Mike Ghouse on Fox Radio, South Carolina

It was a delight to be on Tony Powerz Radio Show this afternoon, a conservative popular talk Show Radio host in South Carolina. The live conversation went on  air between 3:30 PM EST and 4:00 PM on Fox Radio AM 1380.  The topics sequenced from President Obama’s speech, Taxing the rich, Middle East, foriegn policy and aid to Pakistan.

It is a great news for the moderates around the nation to hear one among them is speaking assertively.  Tony Powerz was an incredible host in framing the questions to get the best out of his guests.  Tony was indeed open to hearing a moderate point of view where President Obama was not only criticized but praised on the things he has done well.  For disclosure purposes, I am a Republican, a moderate one and firmly believe that my loyalty to America comes first and then to the party. The statement I made in 2007 and was also articulated by Congressman Ron Paul this week.

President Obama’s speech in Missouri yesterday had the elements of us vs. them; there was no need for the President to deepen that chasm.  Instead, he should have stuck to his usual self, building a cohesive society.  I was critical of the President on his take.

It was a pleasure to share my proposal on taxation policy. Instead of the feds receiving funds through taxing the rich and re-spending, the ideal situation would be to let the rich keep their money and create the jobs.   Give them an equal amount in tax incentives to spend on hiring people and expanding economy and creating jobs, which will generate payroll taxes as well as the income taxs directly from Americans to the IRS. I trust the individual to create the jobs rather than the fed (pun intended). All will gain and no one will be discouraged from making money. The rich should make the money and invest responsibly back in job creation rather than the government.

On the Middle East, President Obama has blundered as well as made some good decisions. The good decision was to stick with the people of Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen, had he supported the damned dictators’ that come and go, we would have lost the people, they would have looked down upon us for supporting the tyrant rulers.

The biggest Obama blunder is rejection of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations. The Jewish people have endured a long history of suffering, and now they are enduring another pain, the pain of sacrificing their principle of Justice for  security. They wanted to be free and get over the anxiety and sit down and discuss with the Palestinians as two legal entities. Obama blew that opportunity. Justice to Palestinians and security to Israel would have put the world on a new tract of co-existence; it would have weakened the Iranian argument as well. Injustice to the Palestinians is the mother of all conflicts in the Middle East. The right refuses to see it, the Muslim majority nations would agree with that analysis. Iran would sit down and work with us for a better Middle East. I hope the policy makers open their eyes to it.  We don't really support Israel, we support those who make money in the name of Israel. The Israelis don't need our duplicity, they need a genuine lasting security.

Buldozer Netanyahu erred  by siding with Dictator Mubarak. The peace treaty was between the people of Egypt and the People of Israel and NOT between Mubarak and Netanyahu, lasting peace happens with acceptance from the people and not the dictators’ who are here today and gone tomorrow.

The same goes with the US Aid to foreign countries. Why are the Pakistani people not with us? The answer is simple, the money we gave to Egypt, Israel or Pakistan did not go to benefit the people of those nations, it went to the people who made their lives miserable.  I am kind of supportive of Governor Perry's idea of Zero Budget.  Let all the foreign aid budget be reworked based on tangible and sustainable goodwill towards us, the Americans.

We have wasted our monies giving to the dictators and oppresses, it was a piss down the drain. Why should people, the public hail us when our monies are used to beat them up?

The foreign policy needs to start from scratch, if America does not have a benefit from the good we do, then why do it? If the work does not yield lasting goodness for the recipients and the benefactors, drop it. Don’t waste our resources.

I thank Tony, Fox and AM 1380 for giving a voice to sanity.

Mike Ghouse is committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His work is embedded in 30 some blogs and a few websites and all is indexed at www.mikeghouse.net

Trust, Democrats and Republicans.

A cursory look at the squabbles within the Republican and Democratic parties on the issue of trust is worth pondering and I hope the media commissions a study on the topic. To a majority of Americans, a good American is a good American, what do the Republicans and Democrats think about it?

Democrats

The Democrats would have no problems in nominating a presidential candidate who is Catholic, African American, Native American, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Woman, Gay or a Lesbian or anyone who is good for America. Democrats' feel secure about themselves and trust the person based on his or her record.

Republicans

Republicans would have problems in nominating a Presidential candidate who is a catholic, African American, Native American, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Gay or a Lesbian or anyone else. The candidate has to have the support from a evangelicals; a few of them are are too insecure to trust anyone other than themselves. Facts don’t matter to them, it did not to President Bush.

They have trusted Colin Powell, Condi Rice and Sarah Palin to a greater degree. However Powel had to lie the story at UN and resign as he could not fabricate any more. I am not sure about Rice. Romney will not make it, the right wing bias stand in his path.  I hope studies  will be conducted to authenticate or falsify the Republican bias.

Mike Ghouse is a moderate Republican, a speaker committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Read the latest on his blog www.TheGhousediary.com and check out his work indexed at www.MikeGhouse.net