Fighting Idolatry of a different kind

FIGHTING IDOLATRY OF A DIFFERENT KIND | www.TheGhouseDiary.com 

… The other day, three individuals attacked me in unison about holding the protest against Terrorists on the steps of Lincoln Memorial; all was going good, but the criticism unnerved me. It was a major mile stone and I did not want to make a mistake. I took a deep breath and meditated for a few minutes to restore myself.

A brilliant idea came to my mind; I placed my father’s picture in front me, an affectionate man who had no enemies, even those who thought were his enemies, mellowed with his caring non-hostile affectionate attitude towards them. I gazed at his picture for a while with admiration, in turn I became affectionate in my response to my future friends, one of them apologized later, the other two have not yet, but that’s fine, the hostility seems to has ceased.

This morning, I woke up at 2:30 AM, and could not sleep, so I sat up looking at the things I needed to do this week, reworking the priorities. I looked up, and found my Dad was looking at me and telling me something powerful; I heard him, son, remove my picture, you don’t need me as a symbol to calm you down, go ahead and take it down. He said don’t you worship me, I am gone long time ago, take the picture down but keep me alive in your mind if you want! I hesitated, but took down not only his picture, but out went Mahatma Gandhi’s picture as well. There is nothing wrong with that, but being independent is more important, being inspired without symbolism or idolatry is much better.

I keep wondering why Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) insisted on not having his portrait or sculpt his bust, when every King or famous person likes to see his ego boosting images plastered all over. He did not want to be the object of admiration but remain an inspiration, so he said, I will be dead and gone like everyone else, and you keep honoring the eternal energy that created you, and the energy that wants you to keep a balance within you and with others around you. Harmony is they name, that is indeed God’s will.

However, I still have the pictures of Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Pope Frances, MLK and my Father on the facebook page, I see them each time I open the facebook, and they inspire me. My main inspirers are Muhammad and Jesus, and I don’t intend to imagine them in any fashion but remembering and following their message of love, equality, mercy and humility. It’s 3:23 AM.

Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker, and a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, politics, human rights, India, Israel-Palestine and foreign policy. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More about him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and bulk of his writings are at TheGhousediary.com  

Pope Francis is a genuine religious guide, there is no one like him.

Mike Ghouse

It is such a joy to read the following article about the Pope's stand on evolution. The word God-sent applies to him.

He is everything  a true religious person ought to be - whether you are an Atheist (yes!) Bahai, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Earth Based Religions, Wicca, Zoroastrians or the other, he could be your genuine religious leader.  The more I read about him, the more I like him. He is the first live person in my life, that I would humbly follow and take as my religious leader with of course a few differences.

Indeed, to this Muslim he is a genuine Muslim sans-rituals, and I am sure the Hindus, Jews and others feel the same about him, he is one of us, indeed, he belongs to all of us. 

This is what Quran calls for (as other holy books do) - i.e., God is not the property of any one, but he is the creator, sustainer and changer  of all the universes that we can see, hear, think and imagine. 

Prophet Muhammad and all other peacemakers from Zoroaster, Abraham, Moses, Jacob, David, Solomon,  Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Rama, Nanak, Bahaullah and an innumerable masters in native traditions,  and civic leaders such as Gandhi, MLK, Mandela and others have done the same job - to build cohesive societies where no human has to live in fear of the other.  Pope Francis is getting there. 

God created everything in balance and harmony, and all that he wants us to do is preserve it. Relgions are his expression of love for humanity, he gave his guidance to every tribe, nation and community, and all are legitimate means to seek peace and build cohesive societies.

Everything I had asked of him in my March 13 letter,  he has delivered it more than I had asked for,  and that more is in his following take on evolution. Mine is similar. He is my guru, the first one in my life I have wholeheartedly accepted him.

I have kept up with Pope Francis, from the day he was appointed through now. A press release was issued on March 13, 2013 and I expressed my expectations of him, and since then I continue to write about him, in all, I have written nearly 20 pieces about him.  Thank God, now, I can say, I have a religious mentor, even though he is a Catholic Christian, I receive the same essence of religion from him, if he were a pious Muslim. He is the most genuine human being we have today. I hope to meet with him and work towards a resolution to the Jewish-Christian, Christian-Muslim and Christian-Hindu conflicts.  This is my dream!

I will update this at http://mikeghouse.net/PopeFrancis.asp

Thank you
mike
Mike Ghouse
(214) 325-1916 text/talk
www.MikeGhouse.net www.FoundationforPluralism.com
www.WorldMuslimCongress.com

 

The Rachel Maddow Show / The MaddowBlog

Pope Francis takes a stand for evolution, against ‘magic wands’

10/28/14 04:54 PM—Updated 10/28/14 04:58 PM

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By Steve Benen

Social conservatives in the United States who’ve been unhappy with Pope Francis’ moderation today have one more reason to be upset. Daniel Berger reported this afternoon:

Pope Francis broke with Catholic tradition Monday by declaring that the theories of evolution and the Big Bang are real, and remarking that God is not “a magician with a magic wand.”

 

“When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything. But that is not so,” the pope said at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, during a plenary meeting dedicated to evolving concepts of nature.

The pope’s remarks came earlier today in a speech to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

 

“The Big Bang, that today is considered to be the origin of the world, does not contradict the creative intervention of God; on the contrary, it requires it,” the Roman Catholic pontiff said. “Evolution in nature is not in contrast with the notion of [divine] creation because evolution requires the creation of the beings that evolve.”

Francis described a vision in which living beings evolve naturally, “in accordance with the internal laws” ascribed by God.

 

It is important to note, as the report from the Religion News Service emphasized, that this is not exactly a theological breakthrough: “Unlike much of evangelical Protestantism in the U.S., Catholic teaching traditionally has not been at odds with evolution. In 1950, Pope Pius XII proclaimed there was no opposition between evolution and Catholic doctrine. In 1996, St. John Paul II endorsed Pius’ statement.”

 

When it comes to Christian hostility towards modern biology, most of the opposition comes by way of Evangelical Protestants, not Roman Catholics.

 

Still, Francis’ remarks are welcome for supporters of science in light of his immediate predecessor.

 

The msnbc report added, The language was a significant departure from Benedict XVI and his close advisers, who had voiced support for the idea that intelligent design underpins evolution. In 2005, close Benedict associate Cardinal Schoenborn wrote a New York Times op-ed in which he declared, “evolution in the sense of common ancestry might be true, but evolution in the neo-Darwinian sense – an unguided, unplanned process – is not.”

 

The Religion News Service report noted that Giovanni Bignami, a professor and president of Italy’s National Institute for Astrophysics, welcomed Francis’ comments, saying he had buried the “pseudo theories” of creationists.

 

“The pope’s statement is significant,” Bignami told Italian news agency Adnkronos. “We are the direct descendants from the Big Bang that created the universe. Evolution came from creation.”