America is God's own Country

America is God’s own country | AmericansTogether.org

Indeed, America is God’s own country!  It is a representation of everything God has created on this planet from sea to the shining sea.

We are one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. We are represented by every race, nationality, ethnicity, language, culture and religion. 

We are blessed with every possible faith that you can imagine on the earth, there is no other nation with this many faith representations as we are.

Together as Americans we believe in one God, no God and many God representations;  we believe him to be male, female and genderless; we believe it to be a being, non being and everything;  nameless and innumerable names.

We have green pastures, rivers, mountains, deserts, snow, rainfall, storms; we have cold to hot climates.

We have families who opt to live a simple life with no modern amenities and we families who live in lap of the luxury that is unmatched anywhere.

We believe in our immortal declaration of independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed;”

Indeed, America is God's own country, a miniature universe represented by all of God's intentional diverse creation.We have the freedom to be who we want to be and achieve whatever we want to be.

God bless America!

Thank you

mike
Mike Ghouse, Speaker
(214) 325-1916 text/talk
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Mike Ghouse is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator onPluralism, Islam, India, Israel-Palestine, Politics and other issues of the day. He is a human rights activist, and his book standing up for others will be out soon | He is producing a full feature film " Sacred" to be released on 9/11 and a documentary "Americans together" for a July 4 release.  He is a frequent guest 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 63 links atwww.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at www.TheGhousediary.com - Mike is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.
 

Foreign Policy - Rouhani and Obama, thank God for them.

URL - http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/09/foreign-policy-rouhani-and-obama-thank.html

Imagine two idiots in power – Mahmud Ahmedinejad and Mitt Romney; one was a prick constantly creating chaos and tension with his foul mouth, and the other one would have nailed America by bombing Iran, and costing American lives, jobs, homes, foreclosures, businesses and budget deficit.

Romney was driven by pleasing and taking care of his buddies like President Bush.  He would have kissed ass with Netanyahu to get a few claps from the right wing Republicans. But at the end his actions would have brought disaster to Israel and the United States; further isolation of Israel in the community of nations, and increased Anti-Semitism along with insecurity for another decade or two.

Neither cared for the people, they were just for themselves.  Although I don’t believe that God meddles in our problems, but somehow I want to believe in divine intervention. Thank God, they are gone out of public life and God saved humanity. 

Here comes Obama and Rouhani – making a difference. We have to check it out, but it’s a good beginning.

Sean Hannity had oddly agreed with me on his show – that we cannot trust the information from FBI and Mossad, they have been consistently wrong, and have provided false information when it comes to the foreign policy in the Middle East.

Obama has done many a things right in restoring our respect in the community of nations with his foreign policy, particularly after Bush earned us the title of a bully and secretly a rogue nation that we don’t want to hear.

When the Egyptian public was sick of Mubarak, Obama made the right decision to ask Mubarak to step down, despite the tremendous pressure from the short-sighted Netanyahu and my fellow Republicans. The result is Egyptians have not gone wild with Anti-Americanism, because we were with them as opposed to their tyrant fascist dictator Mubarak.

Contrast that with Iran of 1979, had we sided with the Iranian Public, after-all our allegiance is with the people and not the tin pot dictators that come and go, they would have been no Anti-American demonstrations, as we would have been with them and not their oppressor.

Now in McCain’s word, despite the rogue rhetoric of McCain and Romney of bombing Iran, Obama preferred dialogue, the American public spoke and re-elected him.

Obama is doing it again – talking with Rouhani and I hope we resolve the conflicts – did you notice the gas prices have dropped from 3:59 to 3:03 overnight? We will be beneficiaries of the dialogue. All we need to do is pick up the phone and call the Republicans to tell them to shut up and let Obama do his job, and not be a hurdle. If they are bought by the Gas companies they will oppose, if they are like us, the average Americans they would want the benefit of lower gas prices. I filled my tank for $51.00 this morning; it was $62.00 two weeks ago.

What is happening bodes well for Israel, Palestinians, Middle East, Iran and the United States. Please don't let Republican mess it up.

Disclosure: I am a Moderate Republican and do not support the rogue elements of my party and speak out for the sake of America.

 Mike Ghouse
(214) 325-1916 text/talk
. . . . .

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.

Obama’s ideal Inaugural interfaith Benediction

We are yet to be truthful to our own pledge that we take, that we are, “one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”. Our benediction should strongly reflect the sentiment of oneness of our nation under God, and shed our hypocrisies of excluding fellow Americans even in our national prayers.

One of the many roles of a president is to shape and nurture the direction of the nation, and president Obama has been a good shepherd. Indeed, he is committed to building an America, where each one of us becomes a nurturer to the other, and eventually, each strand in the web of our society will coalesce in building our nation to function cohesively. The president’s wisdom is crystal clear, “We rise and fall together as one nation.”

I hope this benediction paves the way for us to be inclusive without having to agree. 

Please review this, and if you like it, kindly click like, tweet, share and send to your friends from Huffngton post... and above all, if you could comment in the Huffington post, I would appreciate it.

Continued at:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/president-obamas-ideal-inaugural-benediction_b_2481579.html#es_share_ended

REQUEST your likes, tweets, shares and comments at the Huffpost:
 
Thanks

Mike

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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 and standing up for others as an activist. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. Mike has a strong 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 everything you want to know about him.

Honoring Fathers - Happy fathers day

http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/06/honoring-fathers-happy-fathers-day.html

My father Abdul Rahman, my dadly-friends Everett Blauvelt and DD Maini

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 close,  I would like to have my head stone read "zero prejudice".  Thank you Dad! 

Much of my sense of equality and feeling on par with everyone comes from his life model. 

I have to use the disgusting word “Untouchable” to describe the situation in the early 60's of India. Yes, a group of people were called untouchables, indeed they make up 3rd of India's population. I will share a few examples that may make you shudder. Indeed, the grand parents of African American youth, and the older generation of Native Americans may relate with this.  Thank God, both America and India have made tremendous progress in civility, but it is shameful, this is still a practice in many nations.


Unfortunately, that was a fact of life when I was growing up in India. “They” worked outside, and were not allowed in  Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh and other homes. My Dad broke all the rules, not only they would come in our home, but would eat in the same plates we would eat, and my mother would cheerfully make tea for them in the same cups we would drink. Never were they looked down or talked down… (This was common) to Mara, Naga…and others who worked for us from time to time.  My Dad’s actions had a big impact on me, and my mother had continuously reinforced those values. He said it was the right thing to do.

In the early sixties, water was drawn from the open wells in my town, and I watched the first water lines laid in the town. The public water faucets were set in the corner of every other street. We all went to collect water, and I watched some of the most humiliating acts there.  After one of “them” collected the water, a few from my line would go to the faucet and bloody wash the faucet  several times before they collected the water,  and I could see the pain on the faces of others waiting in the line. The only good thing was the lines and “they” had equal opportunity with every one, even thought there were two lines.

We simply cannot appreciate Mahatma Gandhi enough, the father of my nation of birth, he called them “Harijan” God’s people and gradually the word became a descriptor of the people. They are called Dalits as well. The founding fathers were ahead of their times, like the founding fathers of America. The wrote great constitutions which are gradually being emancipated, we still have a long ways to go.

My Dad was screamed at by his friends and local leaders (he was a council man and a Mayor of the town) for allowing “these” people in our homes. My Dad had the balls to defy the world and always did what was the right thing, and thanks to my Dad for passing on those balls to me.

He treated all of us kids with dignity and I am pleased I got to be disciplined at least once, the memory of which consistently reminds me to get my act together. I guess I replicated that with my children to the point my kids would actually say, Dad, you should have disciplined us. I did not see the need for it. I am fine and they are fine too. I did give them the cold shoulder that my father had given me to straighten me out, and it worked both ways, although my daughter was a tough cookie, she would not budge, she almost behaves like my mother with me and I loved it.
 
He taught that life isn't worth as much if we cannot stand up and help a fellow being.  I was about ten years old and watched a man fall off his bicycle with his big bag of raw rice (paddy) and was struggling to get back on it, and I wasn't going to help the man. I saw my father about 100 feet away, and the way he sped towards me got me frightened for the first time in my life... Instincts work as my guilt warned it.  I dashed inside the home and a few minutes later after helping the guy he was in… I climbed on top of the paddy bags in a corner of the house, I thought he could not get me there, so he goes outside and plucks a long branch off the mulberry tree and gives me a few good ones. "My son will never do that" after that conditioning, I have developed the habit of stopping for everyone who needs help. I dare not watch and not do something about it.

He was affectionate, caring and kind towards everyone I know. Every one in the town called him "Mamu"- uncle. They all came to him with issues, they trusted his integrity to do the just thing. 


He was rarely angry, and I can count on the number of times I have been angry on my finger tips; thanks to him, he passed it on.  If you are a father, remember, your kids are likely to emulate you, think for them what you want them to be as grownups. What would you want them to be? 

When I was about 5 years old, one of our tenants was angry at his brother, he was nearly white but had turned red in anger, he picked up a big slab of rock and was about to slam it on his brother.. my Dad rushed and grabbed the rock… the seething look on that man’s face is permanently etched in my mind… the moment, I find myself angered, I think of him and said to myself, Ayyo (Bangalore expression for amazement) I don’t want to look that ugly and my anger  vanishes. In the last 15 years I must have been angry no more than three times. Ruben, my serviceman went to cash the check from the bank, and the bank asked too many ID’s because he was Mexican. I flew off the handle on the phone and cursed the hell out of the manger, until he gave him the cash.

Pluralism indeed runs in my family. He taught one of the biggest lessons of my life in social cohesiveness and dealing with extremism that I continue to reflect in my talks, acts and write ups. 


Remember your child will work, live and perhaps marry someone from a different race, ethnicity, faith, culture or a nation… as a father (its father’s day - it would have been mother on mother's day) have you thought of preparing your son or daughter for that day and save them misery of prejudice? I believe deep down every father wants “happiness” for their kids, but sometimes, messes up with them by the display of his own un-checked prejudices. I am glad I "dragged" my children to every place of worship for them to be familiar with how other people worship the creator. Happiness is feeling safe and secure with every human out there and it comes when we are exposed to it.

I think of my Dad almost every other day, but today, I am going to sit down, meditate and think about all the good things he has done to me, including my education, and pray for his soul. I do the Muslim way, as that is the way I am familiar with, but you do your own way, whatever makes you comfortable. You Dad will be happy whether he is alive with you or in the heavens.  

I am also going to pray for the health of my fatherly-friends Mr. Everett Blauvelt and Shri D. D. Maini, 97 and 86 respectively and hope to visit both of them today; one is in senior care and the other in hospital. Both are very dear to me.   

Happy father’s day to you as well. If you need a ear to hear you, you are welcome to call me today at (214) 325-1916 - and I would have the affection like a father for you. If you are older than me call me as your son.

This write up is also available at:  http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/06/honoring-fathers-happy-fathers-day.html 

Mike Ghouse
www.MikeGhouse.net 

A call to Republican party

REPUBLICANS WITH GUTS OUT THERE?

Republican fall out in 2012 is preventable,  if they do not let the extremists radical speak up for them. For about a decade Muslims got run over by their extremists resulting in a mess still to fade. I spoke up then, and I am going to speak up now. Any moderate Republicans out there? If you want to save the party and keep the majority in the house, speak up louder than the divisive men and women among us.  Bark in unison, like they do?  Any Republicans with guts?

Trigger happy attacks on Libya

http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/03/trigger-happy-attacks-on-libya.html

If they cannot fire the missiles at Gaddaffi, then they should not fire at all. The target should be Gaddaffi and nothing but him. Reagan missile nearly missed him; Obama missile shouldn't.

The administration needs to demand accurate information from the intelligence agencies; their record has not been great with false information on Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt and Libya. Even on the day Mubarak resigned, they did not get it right. And we should not make destructive decisions based on their information. 
We need to guard ourselves from letting a few sadistic men from the coalition to make Libya a play ground for their devious joys.   There should not be any room for collateral damage, our goal must be specific; to get Gaddafi and resist the temptation to pull the trigger on everything that moves.    

Any protracted involvement will bring untold misery to us, we cannot handle budget deficits any more; we cannot hurt our own families at home. However, if we are smart, we can buy some game machines at hundredths of the cost of this onslaught and give it to these sadistic men to play and get their hate out, rather than destroy the people of Libya.

The pleasure of today's destruction is not worth the misery of tomorrow. We need to consider the opinions of the moderates along with the right and the left to have sustainable policies. Obama knows better, had we listened to him and not gone for the war, we would not have been in the shape.
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ONE LINERS

If we cannot aim the target we should not fire.

110 missiles is nothing but sadistic behavior, men itching to show off their machoness.

Shameless war mongers use the term collateral damage

Obama needs to listen to himself, had we listened to him in 2003, we would not have seen the miseries afflicting an average American today, the rich ones will always be fine but not the majority of Americans.

Is our media going to ask tough questions?  

Shirking our responsibility of not speaking out against the previous commander chief was a bad thing, we demand our government to be accurate and be accountable

A warning and three missiles at his location would have been enough, if the CIA cannot give that location then none of the information they provide is reliable.

After the initial attack, we should have given another notice to stop massacring his people.

110 missiles is nothing but sadistic behavior, men itching to show off and the loosely using the term collateral damage.

CIA and Mossad are useless agencies, when have they been right?

POTUS need to be told to stop before he entangles us into a protracted war.

Aljazeera can deliver what CIA cannot.

For the 1000th of the cost, Gaddaffi can be got, or an accurate missile can get him.

You, me and ever American has the responsibility for the wellbeing of America and what is good for America has got to be good for the world and vice versa to have sustainable peace

Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.    

Messing with American Democracy

One of the dangers of democracy writes Professor Lev Grinberg is that, “it provides a formal opportunity for the majority to force their will on the minority. “

Indeed the Osama Bin Laden formula has been activated in America, though he never represented main stream Muslims yet his actions ascribed his wrong doing on to them.  Here comes, David Yerushalmi, an Arizona-based white supremacist who does not represent the main stream Americans, yet his actions are going to be slapped on the White Majority.  Are we ready to accept this?

The evil man has called for a war on Islam and is behind the racist legislation in Tennessee, once the seat of racism in America. He has opened new expressions for bigots as they have been shut out from their deeply seated Anti-Semitic attitudes.

These attitudes pitch one American against the other and that is not good for America, it will take the country from the path of cohesion to division.

Mike Ghouse is committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day - www.MikeGhouse.net