Goddess Saraswati and President Obama

Goddess Saraswati and Obama Symbolize Relationship Between Indonesia and the U.S.

First, as an Indian American, I welcome this gesture by the Indonesian Embassy and congratulate them. They have indeed honored India, my motherland by honoring her Iconic figure; Goddess Saraswati. Bhupen Ganatra and Amol Mukherjee, the Indian leaders in Dallas add, "That this is great gift of highest level... awesome gesture by Indonesia expressing the best of religious harmony and importance of education by a Muslim nation offering a statue of Hindu Goddess to a mostly Christian nation. For this, Indonesia should be recognized by all nations... all religions."

Devi Saraswathi, an icon of learning and Obama at her feet.

As an Indian American Muslim, I am proud of Indonesia for following the principles taught by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that each one of us is responsible for the well being of our neighbors, communities, nations and our world. We all came from a single couple and are made into different tribes, communities and nations and the best ones among us, God says in Quran are the ones who learn, understand and respect the others. Dr. Akbar Ahmed, who heads the ibn-Khaldun chair at the American University and a leading Muslim in America adds, "These symbolic gestures build upon each other in building peaceful societies."


To promote pluralism, I would encourage you to click LIKE and Share on Twitter and Facebook from the following link - a comment would be encouraging. Thank you.

Full story -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/goddess-saraswati-statue-_b_3460615.html

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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 has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links.

Texas Faith: Are Interfaith Marriages Good for Couples?

Interfaith couples must be admired by one and all. When couples are having difficulty in getting along, they are setting a new standard: respecting the otherness of someone else and accepting the God-given uniqueness of each other. They may have grown up in different religious traditions, but yet, religion is not a barrier. The poet philosopher of the East, Dr. Allama Iqbal, says, Religion does not teach one to have ill-will. 

Texas Faith :Are Interfaith Marriages Good for Couples?
Dallas Morning News | Published on June 18, 2013
By Bill McKenzie  
 

Naomi Schaefer Riley has a new book out with the title Til Faith Do Us Part: How Interfaith Marriage is Transforming America. You can read about that book at this link and then this link.

Interestingly, Riley, a former Wall Street Journal editor who has written extensively about religion and culture, notes that 45 percent of all U.S. marriages in the last decade were between people of different faiths. Naturally, we may look at that as a sign of greater acceptance and tolerance, which a broad society needs to remain dynamic and growing.

But Riley also reports that marrying across religious lines may be very difficult for the couples involved. Their deeply-held differences may eventually become a problem, especially when it comes to raising children.

There are a number of ways we could go with this question, including why dating couples may spend more time worrying about political differences than religious distinctions. Feel free to chime in on that aspect, if you like. But the main point I would like you to consider is this: Interfaith marriages may help the broader society, but are they good for the couples?

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, and Speaker on interfaith matters, diversity and pluralism

Marriage is between two individuals who are willing to commit to each other’s well-being. They dedicate their lives to each other till death does them apart. The couple marries as a fulfillment of their desire for each other, and there is rarely a consideration to help the broader society.

However, interfaith, inter-racial and inter-ethnic marriages have paved the way for others in the larger societies who were once denied the right to pursue their happiness. Stories abound, where the lovers were prevented, harassed or killed by the parents, society or the clergy. We must appreciate their sacrifice, even though that was not their intention.

I must add a couplet from Urdu and Hindi Language, written by the Master Indian poet Mirza Ghalib:

Ishq par zor naheeN, hai ye woh aatish ‘GHalib’
ki lagaaye na lage aur bujhaaye na bane

Love is such a flame Ghalib (pen name),
you cannot lit or extinguish it, it just happens.

Like all couples, the interfaith couple also endures similar strains in their relationship, (8.4 and 7.9 marital satisfaction on Riley Scale) but it may take the avatar of faith if they are at each other’s throat. It is always easy to blame the religion for our failings. However, interfaith and other inter-relationships tend to be stronger.

Political differences provide humor to some couples. My father and mother voted differently but never had a fight over it except the occasional cold wars. I am a Republican and my wife is a Democrat, and we make attempts to convince each other, but back off as quickly as we initiate it, when she quotes me the Quran, “That you cannot compel your spouse to believe what she does not want to believe.”

Interfaith couples must be admired by one and all. When couples are having difficulty in getting along, they are setting a new standard: respecting the otherness of someone else and accepting the God-given uniqueness of each other. They may have grown up in different religious traditions, but yet, religion is not a barrier. The poet philosopher of the East, Dr. Allama Iqbal, says, Religion does not teach one to have ill-will.

I am a marriage officiant and have performed a range of interfaith marriages as a part of my pluralism work.

To see all the other responses, at Dallas Morning News at:http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/2013/06/texas-faith-are-interfaith-marriages-good-for-couples.html/
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Added: Interfaith marriages performed include; Jewish-Christian; Hindu-Christian; Muslim-Jain; Hindu-Muslim, Atheist Hindu and  Jewish-Muslim and other combinations. For details, please visit: http://www.interfaithmarriages.blogspot.com/

This is my 133rd contribution at Dallas Morning News

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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 has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links. 

Fantasies of impotent Muslim clerics; Virgins in heaven with endless sex

First of all Memri-TV focus on making their money by  providing entertainment based in making fun of Arabs in particular, and Muslims in general. They pick some idiot in some corner of the Middle East and present him as the main stream Muslim leader. Unfortunately for many, this looks like the view of all Muslims, because it is coming from “Memri Research Institute,” Baloney!  It is not the view of Muslims. 

The talk about virgins is a fantasy of impotent men to live off in an elusive world.  They have fired up their own imaginations with endless sexual apetite, that they dont' have it.  It is just not a few random Muslim clerics, but it is the fantasy of men from different races, ethnicities and religions,   men who are disappointed in their own manhood. 

 The ugly part of this story these guys are talking about is in the literature,  just like the hard core pornographic magazines in American society is avaialable, there is hard core literature among a few Muslim clerics– which does not represent the values of Islam. Even though most Muslims do not subscribe to this, they are afraid to question.

Here are three videos that I have watched: 

1. No Black women or Asian women found or wanted in Muslim heavenhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8lhuMG1fbQ&feature=youtu.be
2. Saudi Cleric Al Sweilem Extols Paradise's Black Eyed Virginshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60kEEdkWgzE
3. جنت میں حوروں کا تصورvirgins of Paradise Ur V  
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkT_P3FRjg4

The 3rd video is 7:38 Minute video and in Urdu language, the first part through 3rd minute is pure pornography. I bet the teens with raging sexual desires will possibly masturbate to this guys talk.


I am glad I ran into this video because of 2nd part of this video: It is by Mirza Tahir Ahmad and he interprets this as fantasy – he talks about “hoor” as an ideal man and woman in paradise free from the cycle of desires and satisfaction. Pleasure is a mental thing. I like his interpretation and response, except one small thing: The way he compares spicy Asian foods to the “tasteless” western food.  If he can improve on that comparison without the tone of denigration, I would pass this as an educational video.

Is it possible he is talking about the abstract ideals?
When the cleric in firs video talks about women should look at their men only, is he talking about super focused relationship with total loyalty? - It should have been vice versa also which the misogynistic idiot refuses to see.

When he talks about the strength of 1000 men, (in the 3rd video, the guy talks about 100 men) is he talking about what guys dream about in a relationship to please the woman sexually?

It sounds like fantasy of impotent men. Impotency is not derogatory, some men like this sheikh really believe in fantasy of being a potent man in that elusive paradise.
Are these guys transferring the ideal of this world- good sex, loyalty and exclusivity which they may not have to the fantasy of Paradise? Is their paradise a fantasy of day dreaming, that they consider being real and looking forward to it.

As a Muslim, these videos are repulsive to me, they denigrate women. It’s not just a few Muslims who do this; it is by insecure men in all societies, faiths and races.

Mike Ghouse is a thinker, writer and a speaker on pluralism, interfaith, Islam, politics and building civil societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.www.MikeGhouse.net and www.TheGhousediary.com

Happy Fathers Day

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY
URL - http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/06/happy-fathers-day.html

One of my most affectionate moments with my Dad occurred, when I left home to work in Saudi Arabia in 1977, he hugged me and kissed on my forehead, that meant so much to me. I continue to dwell in that moment.  In the Indian society in the 50’s and 60’s affection was not expressed verbally, but the affection was part of every moment of the life.  

Once I refused to go to Ramadan Eid prayers as I was loosing interest in religion and becoming an Atheist, I was about 15 years old then. My father did not get angry or threw a fit over that, instead, he sat down and had a conversation with me – and offered me choices – that I lived in the society and to survive and live a fuller life, I have to get along with them and have a working relationship. I was expecting a boring lecture or anger – I got neither instead I was moved by his wisdom.   

M. Abdul Rahman

Everett A. Blauvelt

 
He never hit me except once – I was sitting at the porch of my house relaxing, and watched a man fell off from his bicycle with a big bag of rice. He was struggling to get back on it, and I was laughing… at a distance I saw my father coming… and then he sped, that sent a chill in my bones, had never seen him in that mode… I ran inside the home, he helped that guy and followed me. I hid on the heap of Paddy bags in the corner of my house. He went out and pulled the branch of a mulberry tree and bam – he got me and said something to this effect, “my son will not sit and do nothing when someone needs help. He got me brainwashed pretty well to stop and lend a hand to anyone in need.”

My father is my hero. He opened the windows of wisdom to me and led his life as an example. He was one of the most open minded persons I have known; he had prejudice towards none, indeed, if I pass that test and I am getting closer, I would like to have my head stone read "zero prejudice".  Thank you Dad!

Then I owe my gratitude to Dadski Everett Blauvelt. Since my father passed away in 1977, Dadski has been a great father figure to me, he always inquired about my family all his life and was very caring and helped me through the death of my father. He was instrumental in getting me here in the United States and he passed away on April 21, of this year.

The way I have learned to appreciate these men is by taking time. I will do my early morning prayers of gratitude for these two men.

I am blessed to have so many great friends who are fatherly figures to me;  Sri. D D Maini; Rev. Bill Mathews; Dr. Harbans Lal; and Dr. Qureshi. Happy father’s day to ya’ll.

I feel the pain of those who did not have a good father, or had an abusive father or did not even know a thing about him. I am proud of you for making it in life despite not having a father, and respect and understand your pain and struggles. I pray for the well being of all those how feel sad today,  that is the least we can do in a cohesive society. If any one of you considers me a fatherly figure, please feel free to call and talk to me for a few minutes.

Mike Ghouse
www.MikeGhouse.net
(214) 325-1916

Praying for Nelson Mandela; the symbol of freedom

URL - http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/06/praying-for-nelson-mandela-symbol-of.html

Sunday, February 11, 1990 was a heavy day for me, I was glued to the TV to watch the historical event happening in my life time; the release of Nelson Mandela from the South African Prison. I choked, and I cried. And again, today is a heavy day for me. I am anxious about his health. He is in his last days of his life, the president of South Africa has given up on Medicine and counting on blessings and prayers from the people around the world. May God keep his wisdom and the flame of freedom alive? 

Praying for him in essence is rekindling the spirit of freedom within us.

Freedom is the most cherished value for me, and to see freedom at last for a man in an apartheid nation was worth crying. A new tone of democracy was going to be set in the world for the first time in the predominantly Black African Nation.

I am also kicking myself – two weeks ago, my friend Sante Chary and I briefly talked about jumping in the plane and go visit Nelson Mandela, we had to go through a lot of rig morale to see him, we dropped the idea. Sante has a distinction among many things – to have an envelope signed by nearly eight US Presidents and several world leaders. He is a go getter and gets things done. Sante is one of the few friends where he and I have nothing to trade, nothing to gain, but just wish and support each other in our endeavors. I like this guy!

Can you imagine the power Mandela held? He shook the empire, they could have easily killed or poisoned him, but they did not have the guts to do that. What made Gandhi, Mandela, and MLK successful?

None of them had anything to gain, all they wanted was justice and harmony in the society, and that was their drive, when you become unselfish, you can do a lot of good to the world.  It begins with learning to respect the otherness of other and accepting the God given uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

Nelson Mandela is one of my mentors.  Some of the other joy-teary moments that I can recall are - release of Mandela, fall of the Berlin wall, Obama's election night,  Peace treaty between Israeli and Egypt, Peace between Ireland and England, Aung San Su Kyii’s release and Freedom at last for the Egyptian people. 

What made these men and women unique and powerful? They were free from the pettiness and all embracing and affectionate like the spiritual Master of all religions.  Several things were common to them; among them are:

1) No wall between them and another soul
2) No religious and political boundaries for them
3) No preference when it came to serving another human
4) The good they did, benefited larger humanity than self
5)  Justness was a paramount value for them
6) No bone of prejudice in them.
7) Their world is the same size as God's world.  

Here is information about him at Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela

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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 has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes his work through many links. 

Female Genital Mutilation-cutting (FGM) - Muslims condemn the ugly practice

Female Genital Mutilation-cutting (FGM) - Muslims condemn the ugly practice

“Suhair al-Bata'a, a thirteen year old Egyptian girl died while the brutes were mutilating her genitals this week. This is an abhorrent cultural practice.  Indeed, it is not an Islamic practice or the Muslim practices worldwide; it is a shameful practice by many groups including Muslims, such as a few Bohra Muslims in India and other Muslims in Egypt, Somalia and Yemen.  Unless we condemn this ugly practice, it will be propagated as a Muslim practice,” concludes Mike Ghouse, president of the World Muslim Congress, a think tank based in Dallas.

It's time we remove the name of Islam and Muslims from this disgusting practice, just as the Medical Associations of the United States and United Kingdom have banned the practice since 1996, not only was it legal in America but it was covered by the health insurance. Muslims need to join the Christians and all others who condemn this.

Following the condemnation is the ugly history and practice of FGM here in America and Britain.  

The World Muslim Congress joins the American Society for Muslim Advancement in condemning this practice.

The Global Muslim Women's Shura Council (The Council) stands together with the Egyptian National Council for Women in demanding the eradication of this practice. The Council condemns FGC as a harmful and un-Islamic practice that contradicts the teachings of the Qur'an and the Prophet's Example (Sunnah). Laleh Bakhtiar, a Council member and the author of the English translation The Sublime Quran, states: "There is no mention of FGC in the Qur'an, it is a cultural practice growing as it did out of local customs in Egypt and elsewhere."

Daisy Khan, Executive Director of American Society for Muslim Advancement, said, "FGC violates human rights of over 130  million women worldwide and continues to pose a threat to three million girls every year, and as a tradition, it is an absolute corruption of the Islamic doctrine and must be eliminated from all Muslim societies."

In August 2010, 96% of Muslim women polled worldwide declared FGC to be an un-Islamic practice which must be eliminated. The Council has prepared various educational tools to help in the elimination of this practice. The Council appeals to the public to read/view and disseminate the three minute long video-
http://youtu.be/aL7p2omnw_g - the two-page digest "Female Genital Cutting: Harmful and Un-Islamic," and the ten-page full report.

FGM IN AMERICA

Female circumcision was legal in the United States until 1996, and even Blue Cross Blue Shield Covered the costs as a part of the insurance coverage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ORnf1BiL38c

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a harmful traditional practice that involves the removal of part or all of the female genitalia.  The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified FGM into 4 types:

1.    Clitoridectomy: partial or total removal of the clitoris and/or the prepuce

2.    Excision: partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora

3.    Infibulations: the most extreme form, the removal of all external genitalia and the stitching together of the two sides of the vulva

4.    Other: all other harmful procedures done to the female genitalia for nonmedical purposes, for example, pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterization

What are the health consequences of FGM?

FGM is generally performed without anesthetic, and can have lifelong health consequences including chronic infection, hemorrhage, and severe pain during urination, menstruation, and sexual intercourse. It could lead to complications during childbirth and increases the risk of newborn deaths. Women may also suffer psychological trauma as a result of being subjected to FGM. While anti-FGM advocates occasionally report cases of death as a direct or indirect result of FGM, there is no statistical data on how many girls die from the procedure.

FGM is recognized internationally as a human rights violation, torture and an extreme form of discrimination against women and girls.

Why is FGM performed?

To control women's sexuality and to ensure virginity until marriage and fidelity in marriage.

To make a girl more acceptable in the community and increases her eligibility for marriage.

As a traditional rite of passage into adulthood.

FGM is associated with notions of being "feminine," "modest," "clean" and/or "beautiful."

Various myths surround FGM in practicing communities, e.g. that the clitoris will grow into a penis if not cut, or that a baby will die if its head touches the clitoris during birth.

America's Forgotten History of Female Circumcision

In the USA, while involuntary female circumcision never became routine like involuntary male circumcision became, it was promoted and done by some of the same doctors who were doing it to boys.

Clitoridectomy: Nineteenth Century Answer for Masturbation

http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/first/duffy.html

The following six excerpt quotes are from actual American medical journals:

"...that the girl who becomes irritable, disagreeable and hysterical may become charming, interesting and possessed of all feminine graces when her prepuce[clitoral hood] is forcibly peeled away from the glans of the clitoris, and we have made a distinct step forward in civilization..." [Is evolution trying to do away with the clitoris? Transactions of the American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Vol. 5, 1892, pp. 288-302]

http://www.historyofcircumcision.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=50&Itemid=68

"I for one have circumcised as many girls as boys, and always with happy results." [Circumcision of Girls. Journal of Orificial Surgery, Vol. 7, July 1898, pp. 31-33]

"Many neuroses and even psychoses have their origin in pathological conditions of the hood of the clitoris." [Circumcision in the Female: Its Necessity and How to Perform It. American Journal of Clinical Medicine, Vol. 22, No. 6, June 1915, pp. 520-523]

http://www.noharmm.org/CircintheFemale.htm

"Circumcision will relieve one of the greatest causes of masturbation" [Why not circumcise the girl as well as the boy? Texas State Journal of Medicine, Vol. 14, May 1918, pp. 17-19]

"The same reasons that apply for the circumcision of males are generally valid when considered for the female." [Circumcision of the Female. General Practioner, Vol. 18 No. 3, September 1958, pp. 98-99]

http://www.noharmm.org/circumfemale.htm

"If the husband is unusually awkward or difficult to educate, one should at times make the clitoris easier to find[by amputating the clitoral hood]." [Female Circumcision: Indications and a New Technique General Practioner, Vol. 20, No. 3, September 1959, pp. 115-120]

http://www.noharmm.org/femcirctech.htm

Read the talking points on how FGC is un-Islamic and harmful:

http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/images/uploads/WISE_Shura_Council_FGC_2-page_statement.pdf_.pdf

Read the Muslim Women's Shura Council Full Report here:

http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/pdfs/shura_council_fgc_digest.pdf


Learn about ASMA FGC elimination projects in Egypt:

http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/currentissues/femalegenitalcutting/

The World Muslim Congress is committed to sharing and producing literature about the core values of Islam; Pluralism, Justice. www. WorldMuslimCongress.com