Bias against Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad; is he a Khalifa, Pope or what?

Bias against Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad; is he a Khalifa, Pope or what?

As an individual, my intention is to stand up for every one's right, every one's right to be who he or she wants to be,  and as an individual, I  stand against those who want to deny and oppress those basic humans rights to any one, yes anyone, and that makes me a stronger Muslim.   

I call on you to think critically by dropping your bias against Ahmadiyya Muslims. I am writing this particular note, and hope you will take the time to understand the depth of it.

Didn't the Prophet say something to this effect, that if you are un-just to a Jew or a Christian, he will stand up for him against you on the Day of Judgment? Did he not say that? Isn’t he the Rahmatul Aalameen?

Western World is familiar with Dalai Lama for over 40 years now, his case has been made by major movie stars, and he has been invited all over the world. He is Dalai Lama. The western media is scrambling to find a title for the Ahmadiyya Khalifa; POPE is a description that they understand to describe the head of a religious institution, hence they have called Hazrat Mirza Masroor the POPE. You may consider writing to Wall Street journal and offer them the alternatives.

 In contrast Ahmadiyya Muslim Khalifa Mirza Masroor Ahmed is relatively unknown in the western world. He can legitimately make the case in the western world about the denial of voting rights to the Ahmadiyya in Pakistan, the humiliation they have to undergo to apply for the passport or visa and violation of basic human rights to have their name as a Muslim on their graves. If he does, he will eventually be known as the Khalifa - with whatever prefixes or suffixes suits his community. 

Just as Martin Luther King Jr., freed the American people from the eternal burden of prejudice, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad can free the people of Pakistan from drowning in the cess pool of prejudice. What is shameful is a majority of Pakistanis are free people without prejudices and bias, but held hostage by a few, and someone needs to speak up for them. A majority of Republicans are great people, but a few are giving us an ugly name, and we need to speak up. A majority of Muslims are great people, a few of them give us the bad name, and we need to speak up. 

Alhamdu Lillah, I am doing my personal share of speaking up as a Republican as well as a Muslim. If ten of us in each city can muster the courage to write and speak in every major city in the world, people will switch gears toward where the wind seems to be blowing. The right wing Christians, Muslims, Jews and Hindus effectively practice this technique.  I have experimented in Dallas Morning News and Washington post and a few forums – if three ugly comments are made, experiment overwhelming them with six people writing goodness notes – they will shut up and run. Guaranteed!

You may want to consider listening to the Message of Hazrat Masroor Ahmed in Los Angeles. You will appreciate him. When the media is hitting negative images of Islam, he is giving a positive image of Islam. We should be thanking him and not criticizing him.  Indeed, the three hundred plus men and women who attended the event walked away thinking positively about Islam. I appreciate and thank Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad for the same.

Recently, I received an email with picture and audio clips, where a man and a woman comments on each one of the statements by the Hazrat in Southern California. I could not find the link although I spent time searching for it. As a Muslim when we see something wrong, it is our duty to spend the time to share the right information, it is up to the recipient to receive the message. To me, my time is worth doing and talking what is right, even if one person gets it. Here is an alternate link. http://www.themuslimtimes.org/2013/05/ahmadiyyat-true-islam/head-of-ahmadiyya-muslim-community-delivers-historic-address-in-southern-california . If I find the right one, I will plug it in here.

Shame on our bias, if Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad was a Jew, Hindu or a Christian saying the exact same words, word for word, we will be so excited and start sharing the link with everyone we know with a note, “see this Jewish man speaks the truth about Islam, or see this Hindu woman speaks the truth about Islam”... what is wrong with us in appreciating a fellow Muslim saying the same thing. 


As a Muslim I cannot conclusively say, my method of praying, or admiring the prophet is the right way, there are at least 10 different ways even among Sunnis and Shias. Homogeneity can reasonably be expected among smaller branches of Islam, like Ahmadiyya, Ismaili, Bohra, Wahhabi or WD Muhammad denominations. Let’s be respectful of each other; it restores sanity within. Hate and bias eats our psyche, whereas repentance, forgiveness and acceptance make us a healthy human.

.......

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 showon Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly atHuffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes his work through many links.

5th Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides -2

This is one of the most difficult programs I have organized and endured. Thank God, I have been able to survive the scathing remarks, biased attitudes, outright belligerence, threats and boycotts for five years.

Why should anyone stand up for you, if you are not willing to do the same for others?

Indeed, the bias and prejudice is limited to a handful of people among Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and others with no exception. A few in each group have said to me in my face, if you are not going to talk about the plight of Palestinians, you are not a Muslim,  a few Jewish friends have said, if you talk about Gaza, you are anti-Israel and will not attend the program. My Hindus friends were stuck with Kashmiri Pundits issue, the African Americans talked about the plight of  millions of captured men and women thrown in the Atlantic with rocks tied to their feet, and of course our Native Americans friends have endured endless humiliation, suffeing and annhilation....

Thank God, many of them attended the progams, not to understand but to report and gossip, but  I thank God again that they saw that Justice has got to be blind and each one of us need to look at the ruthelessness within. Blame no one, but reflect on our own nature and do what we can do as indviduals to prevent these attrocities from happening.  I am glad they walked out with a committment to be less biased, less prejudiced and willing to stand up for the others.

As a group together participating in a dialouge,  we have talked, mentioned and shared about more atrocities than an averege person can list, I mean the average you and not the Human rights activists. Here are a few of the many graphic pictures we have shown in our programs. If you have a weak heart, do not watch it, they are too difficult, but imagine the folks who lived through this hell. Please pay homage to them and their suffering by spending two hours a year and accepting our share of  individual responsibly to work and to mean the famous Jewish phrase, "Never Again".  http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157622461372216/show/

If we have not shared a picture or a representation of a genocide, it is simply because we are not aware of it, it is humanly impossibe for any, including you to list every attrocity out there. So please take the resonsiblity to share the pictures of genocides so we can add.  Thank you.

We can bring small changes, if we value the lives of other groups as our own. There is not a religion that has not taught one to treat others as you would want to be treated. Not one and it is called the Golden rule.

The overriding desire to highlight our own suffering blinds us from other’s suffering.
Other people’s suffering is as legitimate as ours; when we strip the politics out of a conflict, we see hope; we can value others suffering without lessening our own;

My usual response is, are you serious about it?  If you are, I invite you to be a part of the commemoration to talk about it.  If we miss mentioning the name of a massacre or genocide, it is because folks like you do not speak up or shows up to witness other people’s suffering.

You and I owe to those who stood up for us, or stood up for someone up our line.  The only way to pay our debt is to stand up for others. It is worth your time to pay homage to millions who were killed for no other reason than they were humans like you and I who did not harm anyone.

If you are in blame mood think about finding a solution. Is it likely that the oppressors and criminals erroneously blamed the individuals or group before they slaughtered them? It is this attitude that we need to purge from our hearts and minds, if we expect others to be free from prejudice and stereo typing, we need to make sure we are clean.

A sense of responsibility for creating a better world gets awakened; ultimately co-existence and every one's safety and peace should be the driving thought.

We invite sponsors, facilitators, speakers, writers and volunteers from individuals and organizations to make this happen. It is an initiative of American Muslims striving to build responsible civic societies, where justice and co-existence are our values.

Please join us for the 5^th Annual Commemoration on Sunday,  January 22 between 5 and 7 PM at Unity Church of Dallas on Forest Lane.

Website: www.HolocaustandGenocides.com

America Together Foundation
Committed to building a cohesive America

 
Mike Ghouse
www.AmericatogetherFoundation.com

Interfaith film in the making and Carrollton interfaith meeting

Wednesday, November 09, 2011.
Monthly Interfaith meeting Sponsored by Horizon Unitarian Universalist Church, Carrollton
Hosted by Rev. Dennis Hamilton & Mike Ghouse

The Cities of Carrollton, Farmers Branch and Coppell have an interfaith group that meets on 2^nd Wednesday of the month, and each month one of the organizations hosts the luncheon and shares about their place of worship and what they do.  I am blessed to a part of this esteemed group for nearly five years.

Rev. Hamilton talked about diversity in language from Genesis and it was amazing how diversity is built into that chapter and indeed, in all holy books.

Interfaith gatherings are viewed with suspicion by less than 1% of people from any group, they rumor that it is for conversion and for some gain. There may be a case or two here and there, but they are  very rare, I am humbled to say that, I am blessed to have been a part of most interfaith gatherings than most people. Like everything else in life, about 1% of of any group tends to be suspicious, arrogant and gripped in phobias, you will find them in every religious denomination, religion, race, ethnicity and other groupings.   Interfaith is no exception, a few have commented on my forums and blogs that interfaith is a scheme to convert people or find out what is going on with the other ; a fodder for gossip.  I don’t know where it is true, but certainly not in the interfaith gatherings in Dallas/ Fort Worth area. The Carrollton group is very sensitive and have developed a great system and humorously we add, no conversion and no one has done that inthe last five years, I have been a part of it.

I have also been a part of a number of groups around the world,  including the Rev. Moon's Unificationist Church, I have never been asked to convert, instead they ask each religious group to express their own belief, as they believe and respectfully listen to the otherness of other. I have spoken in a number of their conventions and world wide gatherings, but never have I had the inkling of conversion.

Richardson has a Faith group that meets on first Sunday of every month; they do have a clear policy; listen to others and share yours. We had two gentlemen that came in and wanted to prove to others that their belief was right, which was ok with ever one, but when they say others are wrong, it messes with the cohesion of the group. In the matters of faith, no one is wrong if the belief works for them let it.  Fortunately, they did not come back, they need more time to cushion and understand that there is another point of view.

On my turn,  I talked about the essence of teaching of all the great teachers; to bring society to functioning again, where people can trust each other and go on about their ways. Religion brings a balance in a society where every one learns to respect other’s space, nourishment and nurturance.  Jesus, Moses, Krishna, Muhammad, Buddha, Nanak and all others were reformers who restored the trust and righteousness for the society to function well with the given differences.

Americans together is a documentary about Americans working towards building that cohesive society. Indeed, it is the vision of all the great teachers including Jesus, Muhammad, Krishna, Moses and others. Our Mission is to build a cohesive America, where no American has to live in anxieties, discomfort or fear of the other. Our founding fathers laid the ground work for such a society, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Martin Luther King Jr. expressed that in his speech, “I have a dream that our little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

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

The questions we face are;

1. What are you and I doing to preserve that web?
2. What are our initiatives?
3. What are the divisive issues?
4. How would we allay the prevalent phobias and fears?
5. What is your vision for America?

John F Kennedy, "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country". We hope to capture your responses in a moving story about America. The occupy movement is a reflection of doing something about it. We need to channel that.

I salute the gentleman from the group, who was kind enough to mention that he did not agree with the idea, most probably about placing all religions on the same footing. I love that spirit. If all of us can disagree with civility and express it, instead of repressing it or agressing it out, life becomes so much better. This is what I mean by accepting the otherness of other, without having to agree and respecting the God given uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.  

I shared the incident I had with Pastor Robert Jeffress who probably read the wrong translation of Quraan and said the things he said.  I thought he had backed off, but he repeated the denigration when he introduced Presidential Candidate Rick Perry. 

Here is an abstract from Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/columnists/steve-blow/20100919-In-defense-of-Islam-pursuing-9397.ece

Ghouse said he can understand fear and criticism of Islam because he went through a time of similar feelings. As a teen, he was troubled by passages of the Quran. He called himself an atheist for a while.

But he said deeper study led him to realize the Quran had been purposely mistranslated down through history. In the middle Ages, European leaders commissioned a hostile Quran translation to foster warfare against Muslim invaders. Later, Muslim leaders produced another translation to inflame Muslims against Christians and Jews.

"It was all for politics," he said. Ghouse said he hopes to present Jeffress with a modern, faithful translation and challenge him to find evil verses.

"If he can, I will convert. I will join his church," Ghouse said. "If he can't, I will call on him to retract his statements and become a peacemaker."

I was delighted to know that some of our members wanted to know the good translation of Quraan. By far the best available translation is by Muhammad Asad, even in this translation, there are two items that needs to be updated. The one you don't want to see is the one by Hilali Khan fraught with deliberate insertions in the translations to create ill-will between the people, most of the non-Muslims Islamic scholars based their knowledge on that false foundation.  Hilali Khan was a right wing Muslim like the right wingers in all Religions.    

I am looking for ideas and stories where people have done all they can to make America a beautiful nation, the heaven on the earth where no American is apprehensive of the other. We are one nation under God with liberty and justice for all.

 Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His work is indexed at www.MikeGhouse.net
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The Conference on Islam in America

The Conference on Islam in America
DePaul University’s loop campus
Depaul University, Chicago
September 23-24, 2011

News and Media Representations of Islam and Muslims
The Face of Islam in America: Racialization and Space in the Media Panel

Mike Ghouse presents:

ABSTRACT:

            Since Sept. 11, 2001, a negative image of Muslims was successfully portrayed in the media, tilting Americans toward buying stereotypical images of Muslims. However, the year 2010 witnessed a dramatic shift in auto-correcting that error.

The Ground Zero Mosque, nay, the Muslim community center in New York was a major turning point in adding the average American Muslim to the media mix of public faces who were not only moderates but also contributors to the overall prosperity and security of America. This has gradually changed the perceptions about Muslims; the average American can relate with this segment of common Muslim voices sidelined heretofore.

A fuller picture of engaging Muslim diversity has thus emerged in civic society; from speakers with beards and head coverings to no head coverings and no beards, just as a majority of Muslims live their day to day life like all others.

While the intolerant ones in all groupings are in a panic mode, the religious leaders from every faith spoke up against gratuitous divisiveness caused by demonstrations at a Mosque in California or other mosques including the Ground Zero Mosque. The Anti-Sharia theme is not going to fade away, even though many a Muslims have articulated against a remote possibility of Sharia in America, the fears are hyped and the perceptions are real.

During all of this Americans got to hear the common Muslim voices sidelined heretofore. The peaceful revolutions in the Middle East have upset the business of a few who had successfully cashed in on painting Muslims as terrorists. Time Magazine lists several Muslims among the 100 Influential individuals of 2011. They are not only the heroes for heralding a new era but they also provide positive role models for Muslims to look up to. The capstone to this sea change is the end of an evil era; thank God Osama bin Laden is now gone for good. It is the best news Muslims have had in a decade.

             Questions about freedom of religion and the first amendment were dangled and a range of discussion were carried on including the character of the nation; should America lead the world and set the standards for co-existence or dig in her heels?   

The Muslims in Media have emerged in the last year and are pounding sense with the main stream public. Muslims are engaged in building cohesive societies where no one has to live in apprehension of the other.

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

# # #

British Actress Inspired by Prophet Muhammad’s Life

Thanks to Hasni Essa for sharing this article with a great introduction, I read it and I really liked it. I can relate with Myriam Francois-Cerrah. The following note is written with the intention of a long term sustainable cohesive societies and I hope some of my Muslim and Christian friends get it and I know most of them do.

 

My story is similar in the sense I came to Islam for similar reasons that she did. As a Pluralist who respects all of God's creation and honors every which way one adores the creator, I found Quraan (Beware, there are two bad translations that the right wingers go by, rather than 23 good ones – details at www.Quraantoday.com ) to be a book of guidance in living with justice and fairness to every human being, where no one is afraid of the other, it was about creating peaceful societies and that is really what Islam is all about. Myriam has summed it up very well in her story and I am deeply inspired by Prophet Muhammad’s guidance and I urge individuals to find it on their own.

Religions indeed came into being to fix the dysfunctional societies, a majority of the people gets it and a few don't. Those who don't get it wear the same religious label but act entirely opposite of what their religion guides them. Neither Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews nor others act their religion out, they act their greed out. 

Rarely do I read conversion stories as I do not see the need for it, each religion is beautiful and serves the purpose of bringing tranquility and balance to the individual. The missionizing operations in Islam and Christianity are more interested in religionizing and branding the individuals rather than bringing tranquility and peace to them. Quraan was clear when it said, whether you are a Jew, Christian or other, you need not worry about God's grace, he will shower you with this blessings if you are good to his creation; people and the environment. Indeed, Prophet Muhammad fortified it by saying that if you marry a Jewish or a Christian woman, you don't need to convert. Those are powerful statements from a Pluralism point of view. Prophet Muhammad and Jesus (and all the messengers) offered models of living that will serve the individuals and the humanity, their models were so good that people would want to emulate them and that was the right approach, it was about free will.

However, if one is not satisfied with the given set of beliefs be it Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu or the other, she or he must explore and find what works and go for it. It is a shame that a few states in my India place restrictions on one's choices. No one should dictate what one eats, drinks, breathes, wears or believes.  

I get a lot of calls from people asking me about Islam, and I always tell them to take time to learn their own beautiful faith and not jump, despite that about nine have converted in the last year. At least 3 are Mormon girls and one an Atheist, Hindu and others.  I want to share an interesting sentence I heard a few weeks ago in my sermon on Pluralism – he asked if there is a way for him to follow Islam without being associated with Muslims? Most likely the few Muslims he met may have invited him to become a Muslim brand based on belief rather than what the belief will do to him; bring tranquility and peace.  Miryam has alluded to it, “I did not immediately identify with the Muslim community. I found many things odd and many attitudes perplexing. The attention given to the outward over the inward continues to trouble me deeply.” Indeed, a few visible Muslims have subdued the significance of the inward attainment and reduced the religion to external manifestations.

Let religion be a solution to your peaceful existence and not a brand.

 

Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and is available to speak on the topic of Pluralism, Islam, India and Just societies. Details at www.MikeGhouse.net

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British Actress Inspired by Prophet's (peace be upon him) Life
Myriam Francois-Cerrah Embraces Islam

http://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/my-journey-to-islam/contemporary-stories/452274-british-actress-inspired-by-prophets-life.html

TEXAS FAITH: Why do some religious affiliations produce more political leaders?

The world's history records endless stories of chasing minorities or the powerless out of their own dwellings and it continues today. They were driven out, annihilated, enslaved, forcibly converted or made to run, whether you are a native American, African American, Jewish, Catholic, Mormon, Palestinian, Hindu, Muslim, Baha'i, Zoroastrian, Sikh, Buddhist, Dalit, Pagan, Wicca, Gay, Falun Dafa, Tutsi, Bosnians, or other minority or the powerless. You know your painful story.

This is a weekly column in Dallas Morning News that I contribute to, this weeks questions was why do some religious affiliations produce more political leaders? This week 9 members of the panel responded to the question, here is mine:

This week 9 members of the panel responded to the question, here is mine:

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas

The world's history records endless stories of chasing minorities or the powerless out of their own dwellings and it continues today. They were driven out, annihilated, enslaved, forcibly converted or made to run, whether you are a native American, African American, Jewish, Catholic, Mormon, Palestinian, Hindu, Muslim, Baha'i, Zoroastrian, Sikh, Buddhist, Dalit, Pagan, Wicca, Gay, Falun Dafa, Tutsi, Bosnians, or other minority or the powerless. You know your painful story.

Oddly, chasing-out took several avatars in the guise of civility; creating reservations and the idea of 'paying to move' was born. In 1649 the Puritans paid a stipend to Solomon Franco, the first Jewish man to step on American soil to go back to Holland. Indeed, the Jewish people have the longest recorded history of enduring oppression; the birth of Israel gave hopes of security and peace to them. Thus, protection of Israel became their prime motivator followed by instinctive involvement in affairs of the nation, and the disproportionate representation will continue until they feel secure.

Gays, lesbians and Muslims are next in line to seek representation in governance and at the beginning it will be a disproportionate representation. I am writing a book to nurture a balanced approach for Muslims with this theme: "What is good for Muslims has got to be good for others and vice-versa to sustain a balance in a cohesive society."

It will take some time and momentum for members of Congress to be truthful about their affiliation and it is getting closer. When I came to America some thirty years ago, I was taken back by the bizarre looks when I said I was an atheist. It was not acceptable. Indeed it was demonic to be an atheist then.

America has come a long way in accepting and absorbing the non-majoritarian norms and practices into her mainstream and the strand of political representation of minorities was born out of necessity. The need for security will continue to drive groups to seek representation, and until such time we become a cohesive society and accept the otherness of other as legitimately as our own, the pendulum will swing from over-representation to under-representation.

Thank God for the vision of the founding fathers to inculcate and nurture the values of separation of state and church, the biggest contributor towards the political stability of our nation and our way of life, a value we need to worship.

 To Read 8 other response - http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/01/texas-faith-why-do-some-religi.html

Mike Ghouse is a speaker on Pluralism and Islam offering pluralistic solutions to the media and public on issues of the day. His blogs and sites are listed at www.MikeGhouse.net 

Dalai Lama and Worlds Religions

DALAI LAMA & WORLDS RELIGIONS - DALLAS
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2010/12/dalai-lama-and-worlds-religions.html|

December 9, 2010. This very day last year, I was in Melbourne with HH Dalai Lama along with 6000 (plus) people from across the world representing over 200 religious traditions. He was the key note speaker on the last day of the weeklong conference by the Parliament of World's religions.

 He stayed in the Crown Plaza Hotel across Melbourne Convention Center and a full rainbow cascaded over the Hotel on the last day of the conference. Indeed, it was a welcome rain at Melbourne after a long draught of several years.  What a coincidence, Dalai Lama’s presence made it all happen, the rainbow and the rain. This was also the day he had received the Nobel Peace Prize some 20 years ago.

To continue the work of building bridges,  the folks in Dallas are working the bid to bring the Parliament of Worlds Religions in 2014, and they are getting closer on winning the race over Guadalajara, Mexico and Brussels, Belgium. Dallas has got what it takes to host the event, and most importantly, the impact of the event will be deeper and lasting in building cohesive societies around the World. It is this aspect of the event that will make a big difference in the United States through her American City; Dallas.   

Check out the websites for details:

http://www.facebook.com/DFWInterfaithCoalition

http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/dallasfortworth/

The Foundation for Pluralism and the World Muslim Congress are taking bold initiatives to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill in building cohesive societies for America and have planned ion conferences dealing with the issues about Anti-Semitism, Demystifying myths about Quraan,  Racial Profiling,  Homosexuality, and other issues. The first in series was conducted on Sunday, December 5, 2010 – more at www.Quraanconference.com

No American has to live in anxieties, discomfort or fear of the other. The purpose of this conference is to understand the issues and find ways to remove such fears in an open forum and restore the cohesiveness of our society and work towards building a safe and secure America. 

The 7th Annual Unity day, 4th Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides and 14th Annual Thanksgiving Celebrations will continue to be the flagship events of the organizations 2011.  

Dalai Lama says, "Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions."  This quote was shared by a facebook friend Hem-e Tazi and it prompted me write this whole story.  Indeed, I have been writing HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE for over a decade now and have actually made a sign that reads Happiness is a choice. You are the master of your feelings, despite the difficulties; you are the one who decides how you feel.
Please remember smile is contagious and comes right back to you. I wish happiness to all of you now and for years to come.

Give a gentle smile to some one this week and check out the sites for Dallas bid and volunteer, donate and partake in this mega event.

Mike Ghouse for cohesive America
Americans working together
http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Mike Ghouse runs the Foundation for Pluralism championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other and has dedicated to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam through the World Muslim Congress. He is a regular commentator on the TV, Radio and Print media offering pluralistic solutions to the issues of the day. He is a speaker, thinker, writer and a peace activist. Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Army Chaplains and their religious convictions

Texas Faith Weekly – Dallas Morning News poses a question to the faith community in Dallas on issues facing the nation, and about a dozen of us respond. Here was this week’s question by Bill McKenzie, “How should army chaplains handle a situation that contradicts their religious convictions, whether it’s about gays in the military or some other issue? They, after all, are called to minister to people of all faiths.

Here is my response followed by fellow Texans
Let us resist the temptations to become the moral police of our nation. We have led the world in innovation, science, technology, medicine and just about every aspect of life and it is time we consider moving from restrictive religious convictions to universalizing our God who loves his creation. It’s a new paradigm in broadening our moral compass.

Some of the restrictive moral convictions are a product of insular religious or cultural traditions; indeed they were practices with narrower applications. Let’s follow the path of Jesus by embracing the whole humanity and lead the world in respecting the otherness of other and setting the model of co-existence for nations like Ghana, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan to emulate us and not vice-versa.  

Once upon a time white man made nearly all of our military brass but that is not the case today; our military is served by both men and women and people of different races, faiths, ethnicities and nationalities.

We have come a long way since the declaration of our independence to believe and live up to the full meaning of the words “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”. It took us nearly 150 years for our men to feel secure enough to treat women as equals to vote; it took us fifty years to honor our World War II hero Jesse Brown, a black man. Three years ago, we finally came to grips with our smallness in denying a Wiccan symbol in the Arlington Cemetery. We still have a long ways to go in fully accepting that all men (and women) are created equal.  Together as Americans we have to be inclusive in serving and be served equally.

When an individual opts to serve our country to defend our freedom, we must honor that individual to the highest degree and treat him or her with dignity. We should never forget that they are defending every American and not just an exclusive club. Those of us who serve them ought not to forget to reciprocate them with equal enthusiasm and unrestrictive honor.

The Army Chaplains are employees of the nation to serve the men and women who defend our nation, and they ought to serve every defender of our nation regardless of their sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, faith, language or appearance.  

Other takes - http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/12/texas-faith-how-should-chaplai.html
Mike Ghouse runs the Foundation for Pluralism championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other and has dedicated to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam through the World Muslim Congress. He is a regular commentator on the TV, Radio and Print media offering pluralistic solutions to the issues of the day. He is a speaker, thinker, writer and a peace activist. Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

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Thanksgiving, an expression of gratitude

Thanksgiving, an expression of gratitude

by Mike Ghouse on Thursday, November 25, 2010 at 11:04am

It is one of my favorite holidays; it is a day to express gratitude to all those who have helped shape our lives. It is also a day to express friendship and kindness to those who are struggling with the difficulties of life. The essence of thanksgiving is an expression of gratitude to balance out the indebtedness or beneifts one receives from others.   Thank you for reading this note and forwarding it to your friends.


The essence of thanksgiving by Mike Ghouse


Well, let’s start with the concept of balance in life. Our happiness is directly dependent on fulfillment of our desires; the greater the desires, the lesser the fulfillment. The more we want, bigger the discontentment. Buddha said, No desire no sorrow!

That was my first philosophical debate with an American traveling in the train to Bombay in the early 70’s. He said, well the animals don’t desire much then what’s the difference between them and us?

Walk the Middle path, said the Prophet, just have enough desires that you can fulfill them, happiness will follow. My mother used to say “don't stretch your feet beyond your sheet”, meaning stay within your means. Every faith and every family is enriched with such an advice.

It's just not you, ask Bill Gates, whom God has blessed proportionately for his intelligence, he would answer, not enough! Ask the Homeless; the answer is still the same, not enough. Who has enough then?

Life is a self-balancing act;

For every good we receive, we have to offer our gratitude to the giver, absence of a simple thank you creates an imbalance in the relationship and the spiritual energy. A simple thank you will tie the loose ends and brings the balance back.

For every hurt we hurl on others, an equal amount of burden gets dumped on us, and until we say sorry and repent genuinely, the energy balance within us deteriorates. The transaction remains incomplete.

Just as the accountant recites his mantra, for every debit there is a credit; the physicist says for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction; heat lost equals heat gained; and as a spiritualist I feel that for every wrong we do, an equal amount of energy is drained from us and for every good we do, energy is recouped.

Life is a continual act of balancing between pain and pleasure, and to lead a normal life we have to maintain that equilibrium. We are constantly receiving and giving energy, intake and output must be equal to have a healthy mindset, else we are thrown off balance.

What is life, what is hope?

Let me share a story from my teen years. It was a Sunday ritual for me to sit and take care of the poor. A line of the needy people would pass in front of my house and being the oldest in the family, my Dad had assigned me the task of doling out the cash and food items to the individuals as they pass our door. I have seen lepers, people who cannot see, hear or talk, and certainly people with missing body parts.

I was fascinated by one such person, he did not have arms and limbs from the base of the body, he was just the torso and the head. He wrapped his body with a tube (those days car tires were inlaid with an air tight rubber tube to hold the air) of a car tire, and would slide inch by inch on his back from door to door... his shoulder and rear part would move in tandem similar to a snake. He would always made me think about life and hope. I was about 14 years old then and was hesitant to speak with him.

Appaiah turned around and asked me instead “Isn’t there so much to thank the lord?” I was rendered speechless. Here is a man with nothing to hope for, yet he is not complaining, that is gratitude. Just that morning, I heard my Dad’s favorite verse from Qur’aan- 55:16 “Then which of the favors of your Lord will ye deny? To this day, if I am down, I to go to the scriptures, I have found solace in opening Bhagvad Gita, Bible, Dale Carnegie’s book, the book of Mormon or Kitáb-i-Aqdas or simply read Sura Rahman, chapter 55 in Qur’aan, to uplift my spirits. We have to be grateful for whatever we have and express it to the unknown giver, a true thanksgiving.

One day, I asked him what made him want to live. He did not have relatives, could not do anything, could not have a family, could not have a place to live, and could not wear clothes.... what made him want to live?

Incredible gratitude.

He took a deep breath and looked at me and said, “Son, I look forward to every morning to see the blue sky or see the rain and smell the earth, I smell and taste the good food people give me, I am thankful to God for giving me these eyes to see the beauty of his creation.. he was quite poetic.

Happy Thanksgiving

Today or tomorrow, please carry a small piece of paper with you anywhere you go, and whenever you find a quiet moment, make a list of all the people you want to thank, you will find a sense of relief in it. Even if you don’t call every one on the list, you have already said your thanks by thinking about the individual and reciting his or her name in your mind. When you express your gratitude to the persons who have made a difference in your life, it brings a ton of relief to you. The tension of the action (good done to you) is released with your re-action of thinking about them or writing their name down and possibly calling them.

Ponder over all the good things people have done to you, the good words they have said to you. Even if you don’t like some of them now, separate the good they have done and say thanks for it. Reign in on your ego and see the victory you feel within you.

My Gratitude, what is yours?

As  always my gratitude goes to the causer of life, my family, friends, my clients and customers, well wishers and acquintances from around the world.
My balance was restored when I viisted my dear friend Everett Blauvelt today, who is a father figure to me and who was the reason for me to be here in the United States and the "Mike" part of my name comes from his blessings.  It was Nirvana visiting my sister, brothers, and their kids and our relatives and my friends Shariff and his sisters.... and ofcourse, I am greatful to  Jeff, Fern, Jasmina and their mother Ella and my wife Yasmeen and kids Maheen, Phillip and grand kids and my friend for making me who I am.


I will be compiling a list of family members, reltives, friends and the people I know and people I have done business with and those who have said a kind word and given me a world of encouragement. I will call as many as I can, email some and text messages some. 


It took me over 16 hours to reach Yasmeen, though the traffic was heavy in Dallas, there was not any from Nashville to Louisville, perhaps I was the only one on the road with an exception of a few trucks and one or two cars. It was incredible to see none on the road... I took a few pics and videos.

While driving I watched my life film - I recall things since I was two and a half years old... all the way to today. That was quite a joy... I wish I could capture all of that in writing... may be some day. Along the way, I remembered every one who has been kind to me, said encouraging words, critiqued me, lifted me up with my job and the work... the friends who have been great to me... I thank each one of you. I beleive I was able to recall almost every one with gratitude.


Happy thanksgiving

Mike Ghouse runs the Foundation for Pluralism championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other and has dedicated his life to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam through the World Muslim Congress. He is a regular commentator on the TV, Radio and Print media offering pluralistic solutions to the issues of the day. He is a speaker, thinker, writer and a peace activist. Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/  

Sean Hannity Show; Wafa Sultan and Mike Ghouse

http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2010/11/sean-hannity-show-wafa-sultan-and-mike.html

Hannity guests – As a moderate, I am delighted to be in the company of radical right wingers and still get a few points across. I am listed among 20 of Hannity guests including President George Bush (goodman in the wrong company), Carl Rove, New Gingrich (hate peddler), Ann Coulter, Bobby Jindal,  Pat Buchanan (reasonable), Dick Morris (not a radical) and others. http://www.hannity.com/guests

I will be on the air with Sean Hannity and Wafa Sultan on Friday, November 26 at 5:30 PM EST. A range of topics will be discussed including Ground Zero Mosque and the upcoming Quraan Conferences on December 5 in Dallas.

Wafa Sultan is a bellyacher, instead of blaming the societal wrong doers; Wafa Sultan has chosen to blame their religion.  My biggest surprise was "hate speeches were allowed to spew out from the religious places".  

THE RADIO SHOW ( FRIDAY EVE 5:30 PM)

Mark Simone conducted the interview - he sort of alluded to Dr. Sultan and I to go at each other and we did.

She claimed to be native linguist of Arabic and assumed that by the virtue of it, it will give her an upper hand.

She quoted a verse from Chapter 4 about killing the infidels and she made the same dishonest representation about not sharing a few sentences before and after the subject verse. I explained to her - that we if we view the scene where I shoot the intruder, I look bad and criminal - but if you rewind 2 frames, you can see that the intruder threatened me and was about to shoot and then if you see that I treat the person kindly after wards.

She jumped on Qur’aan 4:34 where it is alleged that a man is allowed to beat the wife after warning and admonishing and if she still does not get it, beat her with a feather like object. I reminded her that it was the "men's interpretation" and men all over the world mistreat women even today but look at the usage of the word - 35 times in Qur’aan the word "Daraba" was meant for "separation" and five times " to beat". Some men chose to the 5 timer verse the thirty five times.

Prophet through Qur’aan for the first time in the history of mankind gave rights to women - to initiate marriage and divorce, to own her own business and property - and Qur’aan tells in every sentence that men and women have the same rights and that they are a catalyst to each other’s happiness, respect, dignity and life. Why would it tell to beat...? Some Men, no matter where on the earth they live, they are insecure and always find ways to power over women, we Americans are no exception either. Several among us do not want to see a woman president, how many men you personally know who would not want a woman to speak from the pulpit. Why pick on Muslim men? Indeed, there are several Muslim societies where men force women to obey - hell, that is not Islamic to begin with and what’s the point blaming the religion? Blame the men culture.

Qur’aan (Bible, Torah, Bhagvad Gita or any holy text) is like nuclear power - which is dangerous in the hands of a few, but beneficial in the hands of many in terms of electricity and everything that runs by electricity.

She was putting a childish question to determine where I stand, she asks, do you want Americans to read the Arabic version of Prophet's biography? Of course, I would prefer people to find the truth on their own and not on hearsay. Is she assuming that Americans are dumb people and do not know Arabic? Hell, she is wrong about that, we Americans have the resources to translate every darn code on the earth; we have more people who can translate anything than any other part of the world.

I ended up with the same challenge - find me the faults in Qur’aan directly and not hearsay....   the full interview will be on audio available at Hannity show... the link is given in the write up.

Qur’aan conference is on 5th of December, it’s time to demystify those myths.

REFERENCES:

Mike Ghouse on Hannity - http://www.hannity.com/guests

Conference - www.QuraanConference.com

Wafa Sultan - http://hatesermons.blogspot.com/2010/03/hate-talks-coming-out-of-synagogues.html

Hannity Guests - http://www.hannity.com/guests


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Mike Ghouse runs the Foundation for Pluralism championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other and has dedicated his life to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam through the World Muslim Congress. He is a regular commentator on the TV, Radio and Print media offering pluralistic solutions to the issues of the day. He is a speaker, thinker, writer and a peace activist. Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/