Texas Faith: What to make of Rep. Peter King's hearings

Texas Faith - What to make of Rep. Peter King's hearings into Muslim American radicalization?
Sam Hodges, Dallas Morning News

Rep. Peter King, R-New York, last week held the first of a series of hearings into what he describes as Muslim American radicalization. He says he wants to do everything he can to prevent a recurrence of the 9-11 attacks. He has faced criticism from Muslims and others for singling out Islam. But at least one Muslim commentator welcomed the hearings as a chance for educating about the faith and addressing head on the fears many Americans have about it.

We asked our Texas Faith panelists for their reaction to the whole idea of King's hearings. Then we asked: Whether or not you support them, what advice would you give to make such hearings as responsible and constructive as possible?

Here's what they said
Ten panelists have shared their opinion, here is mine and all of them are at:

http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/texas-faith-what-to-make-of-re.html#

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas

We should be concerned about the hearings and pray that Mr. King would be honest, sincere and fair. We hope he will not destroy the fabric of our nation and pit one American against the other.

King's hearings are reflective of sheer political desperation. The right-wing Republicans rode in with a thumping majority in mid-term elections, and now their goal is to win the Senate and the White House. These hearing are to augment that process.

They do not have an honest reason to win in 2012, so they manufacture "Sharia", "Caliphate" and other devils. They frighten the crap out of constipated men and women and guarantee them that they will defend their rights and keep the bogeymen out. In reality nothing really will change; no one gets hired or sees the prosperity. We hope that Americans will not be duped into believing there has been a win against the imaginary enemy.

I trust our systems and the moral goodness of our nation. If Mr. King takes the wrong step, the American people will not put up with it. They have turned around Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq wars; supported Roe V. Wade, civil rights, gender equality and laws against discrimination, including anti-Semitism. We will continue to guard America from anyone tearing its fabric.

Acknowledging that "some of our own" are a security threat to our nation is the right thing to do. Muslims have nothing to fear and nothing to worry about; let the man fall flat on his face if he resorts to untruths. What if he turns out to be honest and finds guys like Shehzad? Then we owe him gratitude - not just Muslims, but the whole nation.

Rightfully, Muslims do not want to legitimize this kind of singling out; neither should anyone. But given the ride the right wingers are cherishing in Oklahoma, Tennessee and elsewhere, Muslim must welcome this and take this as a God-sent opportunity for America in general and Muslims in particular to clear the mine fields.

It is our duty to keep law and order and faithfully guard the safety of every citizen. Hate is one of the many sources of disrupting peace in a society, and it is our responsibility to seek the source of such hate and work to mitigate and find lasting solutions.

If nothing else comes from the hearings, one thing is for sure. Muslims are not a monolithic lot. Four Muslims in America have welcomed the hearings: Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, Dr. Akbar Ahmed, Ms. Asra Nomani and me. It is not an easy thing, but thank God Muslims have made it easy for us. The American values of democracy flow through their veins; they appreciate the freedom and value the differences, and have learned to respect the otherness of others. We thank God for this opportunity to put the doubts and nagging behind for good so we can continue to participate in and contribute towards the well-being of America, our homeland.

# # #

Mike Ghouse is president of Americans Together and Muslims Together Foundations and is committed to building cohesive societies offering pluralistic solution on issues of the day. He will speak at your work place, place of worship or seminars and conferences on the subjects of pluralism, cohesive societies, Islam, interfaith, India and Peace; he is a speaker thinker and a writer on the topics.  His work is indexed in 4 websites and 27 Blogs at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Happy Monday, March 14, 2011

Last week was a diffucult week. The Earth Quake and Tsunami in Japan devastated so many families , members lost and they still cannot find about 100,000 people.  I am at loss for words, I just wrote about human race was the first one of the species to have manages the furies of nature and survive, and today I see this devastation, there is nothing one could do, it is beyond human control. The 30' waves were swallowing buildings, homes, cars, ships and just about everything.

I just bow to that superior power whatever one wants to call or not call and submit to the higher power, which is beyond human control.

May God protect the survivors and bring their families back together.

Gaddaffi continues to rein in against his people in Libya, I hope we the Americans stay out of it, we do not have a good overall record in interventions, we have messed it up, better stay home and take care of our own, they have been around longer than us and they know how to make it work.

Peter King continues with his hearings and hope he shows integrity and honesty... as a Muslim I welcome the hearings as it has the potential to lay to rest, the hype the right wing republicans create. It is all political and hope the truth emerges sooner.

It was a shame that some Gazans were celebrating the massacre of a Jewish family, as an individual and on behalf of Muslims around the world, I condemn that behavior, there is no justification for such behavior.

 On a personal level, we all have endured difficulties and tragedies and we need to honor that.

Despite all that, a new week has begun, as it has been happening since we knew what Monday was. Let's focus on this week, smile a little and have an as complete a life as we can. We need to live with full range of emotions. Have a great week!

Legitimizing Islamic Radicalization

Legitimizing Islamic Radicalization

Prompted by Marylou’s search for the truth.

As a civil society, we must resist the temptations to blame one's family, nation or religion for his or her individual acts,  and we must not give them the cover to hide under a religious label for their evil acts either.

Indeed, when they quote the scripture for their acts, instead of eagerly accepting their excuse, we must open the scriptures and find the truth. There is a successful experiment on the subject and it was a neglected story in the media.

In 2008, a judge in Yemen challenged the Al-Qaida inmates to find the verses in Quraan that propel them to kill the infidels,  he gave them three months to find and said  I'll join you in your movement if you find the verses,  if not, would you reject it ? Not only they rejected, but were outraged for being duped and have become hunters for the Al-Qaida men.

Pastor Robert Jeffress of Dallas called Quraan an evil book written by a false prophet, instead of getting angry I visite him in his church and then on the public platform of TV and Dallas Morning News,  I asked him to find three verses in Quraan that were evil and if he did, I will give up my faith and join him. He chickened out. We then produced the Quraan conference in Dallas with non-Muslim clergy on the panel to evaporate the lies the right wingers have fabricated about Quraan.  Full story, interviews and videos at: www.Quraanconference.com

Finding the truth is a responsibility, the society would be better off by freeing themselves from suspicion and anxieties from our hearts and finding peace within.

Mike Ghouse is the founder of America Together foundation, committed to building cohesive societies offering pluralistic solution on the issues of the day.  His work is indexed in 4 websites and 21 Blogs at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

 # # #

Mike, you say :  Phrases such as "Islamic radicalism" are oxymoron and must be avoided to uphold our civility.    What would be a your term?  I think the term "Islam" is used because they quote scripture to justify.  Perhaps you could give some clarity on this.  Thanks. Blessings, M.

Re: http://peterkinghearings.blogspot.com/2011/03/muslims-welcome-hearings-by-congressman.html

I welcome hearings on Islam - II

There are responses on the Morning News, Huffington Post and several newspapers to the article I wrote, this was the short version in letter format at Dallas Morning News, you are welcome to respond as well. The links are provided below. # # RESPONSES AND THOUGHTS Thanks for expressing your opinions   We all should be concerned about the hearings and hope and pray that Mr. King would be honest, sincere and fair, although his record is marred with bigotry. We hope he will not destroy the fabric of our society and pit one American against the other.   Acknowledging that “some of our own” are a security threat to our nation is the right thing to do; Mr. King is not the right one to do that with his own bias and his support for IRA terrorism. We Muslims should have done it ourselves, since we did not, we have to accept the bad choice of Mr. King. I trust our Systems and the moral goodness of our nation, if Mr. King takes the wrong step, the American people will not put up with it, as they have done that time and again. I trust the Americans, the moderate Americans who are a majority and have supported and turned around Vietnam War, Iraq war, abortion issues, civil rights and other issues.   I welcome the hearings, Muslims have nothing to fear and nothing to worry, let the man fall flat on his face “if” he resorts to untruths. What if he turns out to be honest and finds guys like Shehzad? Then we owe him gratitude, not just Muslims but the whole nation. Just as we produced the Quraan conference in Dallas to evaporate the lies the right wingers had propagated, this will perhaps become the first nail in their coffin and hope they will stop pitting one American against the other to have political gains. Solutions abound.   If nothing else comes from the hearings, one thing is for sure. Muslims are not a monolithic lot and they are no different than any of the 301 million of us. Each one of has a different thumb print, eye print, DNA, different sizes, shapes and colors, political affiliations. Let there be different faiths or no faiths as well. That is God’s universe.

I welcome hearings on Islam

http://letterstotheeditorblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/i-welcome-heari.html

 

I welcome the initiative by U.S. Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, to hold hearings on Islamic radicalism.

It is our duty to keep law and order and faithfully guard the safety of every citizen. Hate is one of the many sources of disrupting peace in a society, and it is our responsibility to seek the source of such hate and work to mitigate and find lasting solutions.

Indeed, the last few attempts to mess with our nation's security have come from men flaunting the Muslim label, and, as Muslim Americans, it becomes our individual and collective responsibility to participate in ensuring the safety of every American.

We have to identify the criminals who are individually accountable for their actions and need to punish them expediently according to the law.

As a civil society, we must also resist the temptation to blame their family, nation and religion and not legitimize their attempts to hide under a religious label for their evil acts.

Phrases such as "Islamic radicalism" are oxymoron and must be avoided to uphold our civility. 

Mike Ghouse, President

World Muslim Congress

  # # #

Mike Ghouse, Peter King Strategy for Muslims

Part of the following response was shared with the key Muslim leadership in America and as the questions come up, I will be sharing my responses in the comment section below. I hope to address all the questions thrown on the issue.

Peter King has made statements that are repulsive, and on the top of it they have no foundation or not sources to it. He pulls things out of thin air or acts out of the seat of his pants.

We are concerned about the hearings and hope and pray that Mr. King would be honest, sincere and fair, although his record is marred with bigotry. We hope he will not destroy the fabric of our society and pit one American against the other. If he goes wrong, the American people will not put up with it, as they have done that time and again. I trust the Americans, the moderate Americans who are a majority and have supported and turned around Vietnam War, Iraq war, abortion issues, civil rights etc.

We have sadly elected the Republican Majority, which I had advocated all along; unfortunately it turned out to be a disaster. The right wings among them are riding on “hate agenda” and shamelessly the majority of the Good for nothing Republican Party is letting them carry it and evil thoughts continue to perpetuate.

The Republican Party rode to power in 2010 on hate agenda, shame on us to put them-in for their hate and not for addressing our issues. If they don’t get their act together we have to dump the leadership and fix them. I am a Republican and will stay one and count on me to attend the meetings, questioning and demanding proof for their non-sense and I hope many Republican will have the spine to speak up against what is wrong with their leadership.

# # #

About 1:00 PM on Tuesday, March 8
Muslims and Peter King strategy

There are a lot of things we can do; a conference on Sharia, Quraan and other issues facing the nation to build cohesive societies. Get people to participate and for God’s sake attend the interfaith meetings, go the churches, synagogues and temples as a part of the learning. 

Let’s develop a group of Muslims to go speak about Islam in churches; they are hungry to hear us out, they are eager to have friendship. We are not doing our part.

Check these sites out:
www.QuraanConference.com ,
www.Unitydayusa.com,
www.HolocaustandGenocides.com
and teach Muslims to stand for others,
for every American and that is the right thing to do. 

Plan on July 4^th Barbeque in Mosque parking lot, I will write more about it, but we must do it, it builds relationships, and we become part of the American story.

Are we a part of the American Society?  
http://wisdomofreligion.blogspot.com/2009/04/are-muslims-part-of-american-story.html

I am working on doing a talk on Sean Hannity show on the above topic, contrary to what he has been in the past and I see the improvement and desire in him to present another point of view. If I get the time, I will put videos clips together – he is not condemning Sharia out rightly anymore, at least he asks the other guests is this the Sharia Mr. Ghouse talks about or the Iranian Sharia? He asks me about Egypt, “Michael, what if you are wrong?” that element of doubt is good and intellectualism is taking root in him. He grudgingly acknowledges, he even agreed that CIA and Mossad have provided false information to America.  

Though it is difficult, in every show, I have been able to get a few key points out. Insha Allah, if I get the time, I will put the analysis together.
  
Today, Dallas Morning News and Huffington post will publish my articles about Federal debt and Evolution – it is a main stream article but I have included Islam into the conversation, it easy for the reader to absorb tid-bits here and there than a full talk on Islam.

We need to put our heads together and bring about a positive change.
# # #

Guess what! I stopped at 1:05 and now it is 1:22, I was on Hannity Radio a nationally syndicated show against Brigit Gabrielle – The clear points I made are:

1)     Muslims have condemned 9/11, condemned Osama, just Google it or check out World Muslim Congress website or American Muslim website, the list is there.

2)     Muslims believe in justice and they are happy with the American laws and very few entertain Sharia Laws in America

3)     Imam Anjem Choudhary is radical, his views are as representative of Muslims as Pat Robertson representing Christians.

4)     She misquoted Quraan and I corrected her, she said Prophet Muhammad divided the world in Dar al harb and dar al Islam, I corrected her, prophet Muhammad did not do that, it was done by the kings later on for their own political reasons

5)     I may lose you on my take on Abrogation theory, you may disagree with me, that is Ok, I believe God did not screw up by saying one thing and then coming back and saying “what I said before is negated what I am saying now.” The Non-Muslims are confused with this idea, so what do we believe, what is abrogated and what is not…

6)     … I will attach the radio link on my site, that was 15 minutes of talk and I said Sean that as a Muslim, I will stand with him to protect him if that Choudhary guy has threatened him.

Mike Ghouse
Muslims together nurturing pluralistic values embedded in Islam.
www.WorldMuslimCongress.net 
http://www.mikeghouse.net/

King will hammer the first nail on right wing coffin

This blog will list published opinions on the subject.  If you know a good piece that is not posted on this blog, you may consider sharing it. You can post the link in “YOUR COMMENTS” Link and it will  be post if it adds significantly to the understanding of the situation.   

Peter King has made statements that are repulsive, and have no foundation or sources to it. He pulls things out of thin air or acts out of the seat of his pants.

We are concerned about the hearings and hope and pray that Mr. King would be honest, sincere and fair, although his record is marred with bigotry. We hope he will not destroy the fabric of our society and pit one American against the other.

If he takes the wrong step, the American people will not put up with it, as they have done that time and again. I trust the Americans, the moderate Americans who are a majority and have supported and turned around Vietnam War, Iraq war, abortion issues, civil rights and other issues.

We have sadly elected the Republican Majority, which I had advocated as an individual all along, instead the right-wingers rode in on the “hate agenda” and shamelessly a majority of the Good-for-nothing-Republican Party is letting them carry it, and evil continues to perpetuate.   If they don’t get their act together we have to dump the leadership and fix them.

I am a Republican and will stay one, and I am committed to attend the key meetings for the next season and I will be questioning and demanding proof for their non-sense. I hope other Republicans will have the spine to speak up against what is wrong with the Republican leadership; they are letting the hate mongers become their mascot.

I welcome the hearings, Muslims have nothing to fear and nothing to worry, let the man fall flat on his face. Just as we produced the Quraan conference to evaporate the lies the right wingers had projected, this will perhaps become the first nail on their coffin.   

Mike Ghouse is a speaker commited to building a cohesive America. His work is reflected at three websites and twenty seven blogs indexed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Your comments at:
http://peterkinghearings.blogspot.com/2011/03/peter-king-hearings.html#comments

# # #

Dr Zuhdi Jasser, innoculating Liberty

Indeed, we need to inoculate ourselves with the liberty cells. The sense of liberty has not caught on with a few of the immigrants and unfortunately they are the ones acting out as guardians of the religion.

Libert is an issue with Muslims in particular, but humanity in general.  The Muslim immigrants carry that baggage, if you study the organizational behavior of some these “men”. The Presidents or heads of the organizations right here in the United States, you will find their proclivities to hang on to their seat,  for God’s sake it is a non-profit organization and not a kingdom.  They act like Gaddafi, Mubarak and their ilk and eventually get forced out as the opposing group “take over” the Kingdom.  I have witnessed this over and over again. 

On the other hand there are numerous examples of Muslims who have found themselves in full tune with the ideals of democracy. They serve their term and happily train the next one and turn it over. It is a beautiful transition unlike the other, where hostility for the previous servers continues, as they were taken over.

By acknowledging that “our own” are a security threat to our nation, we will do the right thing. 

By God if those guys like Shehzad were successful, you and I would have a whole lot to answer to our children and fellow Americans.  We do have extremists among us, and those few who know about them, do not have the guts to turn them in and endanger not only the lives of 300 Million Americans, but 6 Million Muslims as well.  

Let me be fair, that is the case with Americans too, they will not stop at an accident or even a rape in process because they do not want to be involved.  This has to change.

Solutions abound.

If nothing else comes from the hearings, one thing is for sure. Muslims are not a monolithic lot. It also proves that Muslims believe in democracy and differ on issues. A few organizations are pushing to be one voice - that is very undemocratic; those oppressive ideas are fading from even the Muslim nation but the Republican right wingers are in that mode in Wisconsin.

Amazingly, Islam teaches free will and non-compulsion. The behavior has nothing to do with religion, but the training they have had growing up, which ought to change by engaging in civil dialogue, again Quraan offers the best course on Civil dialogue.  http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2008/07/sura-kafirun-un-believers.html

However, I must be critical of a few points that Dr. Jasser made; he broad brushed Muslim organizations, suggested government to fund organizations and attacked CAIR unjustly. Calling CAIR an unindicted co-conspirator is perhaps another lie by the Bush Government and we should not value that phrase unless they present proof of it.  Our judicial system is one of the best and its value, that you are innocent until proven guilty needs to be valued, we cannot go wrong with that.

I respect and support many an items that Dr. Jasser proposes. Its time for the right wing Muslims and right wing Republicans to get that inoculation.

# # #

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer. He is committed to building a cohesive America through the America Together Foundation, within it, the Foundation for Pluralism champions the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other, and World Muslim Congress is committed to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam. Mike is available to speak on Pluralism, Islam, Civil Societies, and Peace & Justice at your work place, place of worship, school, seminars or conferences.  He is a media commentator offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty seven Blogs listed at http://www.MikeGhouse.net/