Rick Perry embraces Muslims, a gutsy political first

Rick Perry embraces Muslims, a gutsy political first http://centerforamericanpolitics.blogspot.com/

Abstracts from my upcoming article, pending publication

Addison, Texas – June 4, 2015 – It takes guts, a lot of guts for a Presidential candidate to embrace Muslims from the word go!  Perry has got that. Given the unabashed bigotry displayed by a number of Presidential candidates against Muslims, Rick Perry took the bold step in paving the way for inclusionary politics in the GOP.  This is a historic event in the annals of America’s evolution of pluralistic politics. Perry may turn the tide and knock out bigotry in other candidates minds, even if it is in their hearts. 

I hope to interview all the presidential candidates to see how pluralistic they are, and how much they really understand about the need to have a strongly woven social fabric for a safe, secure and prosperous America. We cannot have a candidate who is prejudiced towards fellow Americans.   

Click on the pictures to see a larger version

What a joy it was to see two Muslims with Perry on the first 
day of announcement - Amir and Arman Rupani

A few minutes with Sean Hannity

After the event

Among the array of 2016 candidates, four will pass the initial test; Hilary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and Rick Perry. 

I don’t know how many of the Presidential candidates we have to be forgiven for ‘they know not’ about fellow Americans.  In the 2012 run, the following candidates displayed their shameless bigotry towards Muslims and some of them have said they will not hire a Muslim in their administration, and they are;  Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Michelle Bachman. Carson, Huckabee, Santorum and Jindal will not even make it through the primaries, they are too biased to lead an America of different faiths, races and ethnicity - there is enough material to nail them, they may be good for a Hospital, Arkansas, Pennsylvania and Louisiana respectively, but not for America. 

Sean Hannity was at the announcement for an exclusive interview with candidate Perry, and prior to that he asked me, if I was supporting Perry, I said, not yet, not until I talk to him about what kind of America he envisions, is he committed to a cohesive America?  Sean asked me what I mean by it.   I said it is an America where every American is given equal access to employment, entrepreneurship, and governance in his or her pursuit of happiness, and where no American has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. 

What is a cohesive America – please watch this 10 minutes trailer of a documentary coming up - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMXsTo4VYh8

Full article is pending publication in Huffington post; your thoughtful comments will be included in the comments section of the blog http://centerforamericanpolitics.blogspot.com/

Mike Ghouse is a thinker, writer and a public speaker, and is committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. All about him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net

British Muslims on a Pluralism tour of America

When a group of people from overseas visits the United States to understand religious landscape of America, I am blessed to receive them and conduct half a day workshop to familiarize them, and address their concerns and issues.

I see three groups of people in a given year and generally they are Muslims from Albania to Zaire and every one in between. I have met with the Muftis of China and Russia to religious ministers from Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, Chad.... and the like.  

Today, I met the British Muslim youth and for the first time in a decade, the conversation was without translators! It was funny, in the beginning I was speaking with a slow Rick Perry speed as though a translator was going to translate, then I realized my conditioning! It was funny, they probably thought I had speech impediment. 

Shan Bhagat and Rizwan Ali - Thank you for the facility.

My expertise is studies in religious, social, political and cultural pluralism and have been researching, watching and shaping the trends and writing and speaking for the last 22 years.  There are over 800 articles written up on Pluralism - 200 of them are published in Dallas Morning News, and over 100 at Huffington post and other places. There are another 1700 articles, and about 900 are on Islam, the rest are motivational, inspirational, sports, movies, festivals, India, Pakistan, Israel, Palestine and human rights including standing up for others, add to this 520 hours of Radio talk on "Understanding Religion, each beautiful religion" and 26 workshops to learn the wisdom of every tradition including Atheism.
 

Our conversation ranged from dealing with social and political issues during peace times as well as conflicting times starting with the film clip about building a cohesive America. Dealing with the right wing Americans, and civic engagement to bring positive outcomes.

It was a joy to have the conversation with this group, they were thoughtful, critical and above all inclusive! Most of them were open to the idea of reaching out to people of other faiths to build cohesive societies, it was an extended topic. They said, I was speaking to the choir and I liked that very much and gives me hopes that we are doing things to make our lives better.

The British Muslims have similar issues as we do; dealing with right wingers.  The non-sense falsities spread by Gov. Bobby Jindal and Fox News this week about "no go zones" for non-Muslims in UK, France and Europe is a myth.

When I was talking about Prophet Muhammad's examples of being Amin, and the post-story thoughts about Najran Christians and Hudaibiyah treaty - I thought there might be some resistance, but it was a joy, and they clarified it that it was not a radical thought.

I loved this group for being so interactive and open to newer expressions in Islam. I hope to be available to them in the future. They can turn British society around to be more inclusive through their initiatives we discussed today.

When I get the time, I will write the details of this productive constructive conversation.

We have to accept that every society is composed of right wing, left wing, intolerant, ultra liberal and moderates. We have to chart a course with the give situation.

Here is the outline:

PROPHET MUHAMMAD & COHESIVE SOCIETIES

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was the ultimate peace maker, indeed he was called Rahmatul Aalameen, that is mercy to the whole humanity. He believed in building a cohesive society, where no human had to live in apprehension, discomfort or fear of the other.

Towards this goal, the first Sunnah or the tradition he established was the Amin Model, a peace building citizen.  Indeed, to be a Muslim is to be a peacemaker who mitigates conflicts and nurtures goodwill.
 

INITIATIVES DURING PEACE TIMES
  

1. Unity Day USA—www.UnityDayUSA.com

2. Thanksgiving Celebrations—www.ThanksgivingCelebrations.org

3. Holocaust and Genocides—www.HolocuastandGenocides.com

4. The Amin Model—
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/american-muslim-agenda-a-_b_5528706.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/how-i-connect-with-prophet-muhammad_b_2547782.html
 

5. The power of Engagement  - Fox News
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2014/06/youre-dangerous-sparks-fly-between.html

6. Standing up for others, if you don’t stand up for others, why should any one stand up for you?  Www.Standingupforothers.com

7. Intra-faith Conference—Shia, Sunni, Ahmadiyya and others
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2013/02/muslims-talk-with-muslims-at-boniuk.html

8. Shia Studies in Iran - my application http://www.worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2014/11/my-application-for-short-term-course-on.html

9. Ramadan Intra faith and Interfaith Iftaars
http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/

10. Sharia Conference— www.ShariaLaws.com

11. Quran Conference - www.QuraanConference.com 

11. Interfaith Dialogue events.

12. Youth participation

   

IDEAL RESPONSES TO CONFLICTS

1. Quran Burning Pastor Terry Jones
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2014/04/reestablishing-right-muslim-attitudes.html

2. Quran Cursing Pastor Robert Jeffress—www.QuraanConference.com

3. Investigating Muslims:  Congressman Peter King
http://peterkinghearings.blogspot.com/

4. Ground Zero Mosque
http://groundzeromosque.blogspot.com/

5. ISIS Response Go ahead and Destroy ISIS http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/president-obama-go-ahead-_b_5765264.html#es_share_ended

6. Charlie Hebdo http://thearabdailynews.com/2015/01/11/muslim-solutions-terrorism-paris/

7. Criticism of Prophet, Quran and Islam - http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2012/11/criticism-of-islam-prophet-muhammad.html

7. Free Speech http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2015/01/texas-faith-taking-offense-in-name-of.html

8. Conflicts and issue for discussion

…………………………………………………………….

Mike Ghouse is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator on Pluralism at work place, politics, religion, society, gender, race, culture, ethnicity, food and foreign policy. He is commentator on Fox News and syndicated Talk Radio shows and a writer at major news papers including Dallas Morning News and Huffington Post.  All about him is listed in several links at www.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at www.TheGhousediary.com and 10 other blogs. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.

What is Pluralism?

WHAT IS PLURALISM? 
Pluralism is an attitude of respecting the otherness of others 

We have crystallized the definition of pluralism to, “respecting the otherness of the others and accepting the uniqueness of each one of us”. Pluralism is nothing but an attitude of live and let live, and it is applicable in every aspect of life including culture, society, religion, politics, gender, food, ethnicity, race and other uniqueness’s.

Our Objective is to prepare an individual to function effectively in a multi-faith, multi-cultural, multi-racial, multi-ethnic and multi-sexually oriented society with least conflicts. 

In cultural terms, Pluralism is recognizing your culture as a beautiful expression of life to you, as my own culture is to me. When it comes to food, it is recognizing that you will almost always enjoy what your taste buds are trained to enjoy, you might enjoy a well done steak while, I may relish the medium rare I delight, or vice-versa.  Religiously, it is learning to honor the way you worship or bow to the creator in gratitude, your faith is divine to you as my faith is divine to me.  As beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, faith is in the heart of the believer.

By the end of 2020, there will not be a major city in America, and perhaps in the world, where you will not find people of different faiths, cultures, ethnicities, races, nationalities and social backgrounds working, eating, playing, marrying, and doing things together.

We need to prepare ourselves for those eventualities to prevent possible conflicts, and lay a good foundation for nurturing goodwill and effective functioning of the societies. Exclusive communities will become a thing of the past.  If you live amidst others, you must also respect the otherness of others, as you expect them to do the same for you.You are who you are, and I am who I am. As long as we don't mess with each others space, sustenance and nurturance, and mind our own business, we all will do well.  If we can learn to respect the otherness of other and accept the God-given uniqueness of each one of the seven billion of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

Pluralism is not a set of rules, it is simply the attitude of live and let live religiously, politically, culturally and socially.  We are committed to building cohesive societies, where no human has to live in apprehension, discomfort or fear of a fellow being.

Pluralism is our future, and as a futurist, based on the trends, I foresee, that two generations from now, we would be comfortable in saying, my religion, culture or life style is my personal choice, and further down the road, a significant number will proclaim that my way of life is not superior or inferior to any.

They will consider claiming superiority would be sheer arrogance and religion (a major part of life to many) is believed to imbue humility that builds bridges between cohabitants of the given space, communities and nations in creating that elusive kingdom of heaven where all live their lives without apprehension or fear of the other.

Ideal society is where, no individual has to live in apprehension or fear of the other, live his or her own life and let others live theirs. If we can learn to accept the otherness of others, and respect the God given uniqueness of each one of the 7 billion of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

......

Mike Ghouse has done extensive work on pluralism and interfaith for nearly two decades and is considered an expert in monitoring the interfaith movements.  He has written over 150 articles on Pluralism at Dallas Morning News, nearly 100 pieces at Huffington Post, and together over 1000 pieces published in different media outlets. 

Mike has conducted 26 Workshops from Atheism to Zoroastrianism, and 520 hours of Radio talk show on every faith and tradition and nearly 100 Shows on Fox News with Sean Hannity. Organized and presented 35 major public events over a course of 20 years.

Mike Ghouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike 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 and regularly at Huffington post, and several other periodicals across the world. The blog www.TheGhousediary.com is updated daily. Talk/Text (214) 325-1916

His interfaith, Islam, motivational speaker profiles and CV are all linked atwww.MikeGhouse.net