Texas Faith : : When is a city ban on feeding the poor an infringement on religious liberty?

Dallas Morning News, Interfaith Speaker, Muslim Speaker Mike Ghouse, Pluralism Speaker, religious violence, Rudy Bush, Wayne Slater,  Homeless ban, Feeding the homeless, TEXAS FAITH

The mayor of Fort Lauderdale is assuming that the homeless are not a part of the community, and have no say in the community affairs as they do not contribute towards the revenue of the city. He is also influenced by a few uncompassionate members of the business community as the presence of homeless people around their shops is ‘apparently’ hurting their business.

Texas Faith : : When is a city ban on feeding the poor an infringement on religious liberty?
By Wayne Slater published by Dallas Morning News at 1:57 pm on November 18, 2014  

When is a city ban on feeding the homeless in a public place an infringement on religious freedom?

In Florida, a 90-year-old WWII veteran was arrested for feeding the homeless at a public park. He’s been doing it for over 20 years through a program called Love Thy Neighbor. But a new ordinance in Fort Lauderdale has put a mountain of obstacles in the way, making it virtually impossible for the group to operate as it has.

Feeding the homeless in Fort Lauderdale(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

On one side are local businesses that fear feeding the homeless in a conspicuous place was bad for business and tourism. On the other side are advocates of Love Thy Neighbor who say the group is within its constitutional rights. The city tried to balance the interests of both sides with rules aimed at moving such homeless programs into houses of worship or private property. But the organization wants to continue feeding the homeless as it has, in a seaside public park.

The clash between religious rights and the public interest is a common story line. We’ve weighed in on the dustup in Houston in which the city tried to subpoena the sermons of evangelical ministers opposed to a gay-rights ordinance. And every week, it seems, there’s a new report in which the advocates of religious liberty decry a rule or action at a public school.

Religious liberty isn’t absolute. There’s no right to hold a serpent-handling service at Disneyland. Or to shout “fire” in a crowded church because your religion told you to. Or to build a megachurch in a city neighborhood with a parking lot for only 10 cars.

In the case of feeding the homeless in Fort Lauderdale, the name of the organization is from a biblical injunction. Its mission is an act of faith. And if some businesses are inconvenienced or tourists would prefer not having to see the homeless by the beach, whose rights should prevail?

That’s this week’s question: Is a city ban on feeding the homeless in a public place an infringement on religious freedom? Our Texas Faith panel weighs in:

MIKE GHOUSE: President, Foundation for Pluralism and speaker on interfaith matters, Dallas

The city ban on feeding the homeless in public places is motivated by business politics rather than needs of the community.

The mayor of Fort Lauderdale is assuming that the homeless are not a part of the community, and have no say in the community affairs as they do not contribute towards the revenue of the city. He is also influenced by a few uncompassionate members of the business community as the presence of homeless people around their shops is ‘apparently’ hurting their business.

Since when have we started valuing individuals based on their contribution to the revenues of a city? That attitude renders nearly 15% of poor Americans valueless. Since when have we quit valuing our elderly with Alzheimer’s or kids with severe handicaps, or the homeless veterans?

Whether homelessness is a choice or not, they are a part of our communities and we have a responsibility for their safety and well being. Public safety is a prime responsibility of the elected we choose for governance.

The ordinance banning men and women from serving the homeless, out of their religious conviction amounts to infringement on their religious freedom and the ban needs to be challenged. The city cannot establish or ban a religion from doing public good. I believe the Becket funding takes up these cases. I sure will do my share of passing the information to them.

There is a way out. The city ought to withdraw the ordinance and consider forging or facilitating partnerships between the business community and those who want to serve the homeless, and serve them healthy food as a requirement for public safety.

Shame on us, we give away $48 billion dollars a year in military assistance to other nations for killing each other, and we cannot spend 1/100th of that on our homeless?

Those of us who are callous, ought to re-look in to the idea of human development, by investing in pulling people from ditches on to a level playing field, we would be enlarging our consumer base, boosting business all around. Pope Francis is indeed setting examples after examples – the latest news is he is building showers for the homeless in the square.

Caliph Omar was known for justice, and he forgave a thief against the norms of the society at that time. Instead, he took the responsibility and declared that the society ought to be ashamed, that a man was humiliated to stealing food for his sick child. We have to take care of our fellow beings no matter who they are. As a society we have to figure out a better system to take care of the hungry.

To read the opinions of other panelists, please visit Dallas Morning News at http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/11/texas-faith-when-is-a-city-ban-on-feeding-the-poor-an-infringement-on-religious-liberty.html/#more-47834

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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.

Texas Faith - What does the decision by Southwestern Baptist to accept a Muslim student say about how one faith can reach out to another?

SHOULD BAPTIST SEMINARY ADMIT A MUSLIM STUDENT ??

God emphasized in Quran to “know each other”, and those who make that effort; he callled them the noblest. Jesus called them "Blessed are the peacemakers." Indeed, every religion and every civil society organizes itself to create peace for the individuals and what surrounds him/her: life and environment. If we can learn to respect the otherness of others, and accept the God given uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

I would urge Southern Baptist Seminary President Paige Patterson to consider developing a teaching policy based on the essence of Jesus’ mission: peace on earth. If all religions can genuinely teach about other faiths to their students, the world would be a much better place.

Here is my fortnightly piece at Dallas Morning News:
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2014/05/texas-faith-what-does-decision-by.html 

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What does the decision by Southwestern Baptist to accept a Muslim student say about how one faith can reach out to another?

By Wayne Slater | wslater@dallasnews.com | 1:33 pm on May 27, 2014 | Permalink
The decision by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to admit a Palestinian Muslim to the school’s Ph.D. archaeology program has stirred attention. For one thing, the decision was an exception to the seminary’s admissions policy. Southern Baptist seminaries have historically admitted those who intend to become Southern Baptist ministers. Churches send money to help pay for each student’s tuition. And the idea that churchgoers were sending their money to educate a Muslim student didn’t seem right in some quarters.

Seminary President Paige Patterson says the student is “a peace-loving man” who worked with other Southwestern students at the school’s archaeological dig in Israel and will abide by the school’s moral conduct requirements. He said non-Christians have been accepted in the past in rare cases with hopes they would convert.

Texas Faith contributor Jim Denison, a former faculty member and alumni of Southwestern, raises the issue on his website of religious exclusivity. “For a Baptist seminary to admit a Muslim student seems like the Republican National Convention inviting Bill Clinton to be its keynote speaker.  Both decisions would make headlines.”  http://www.denisonforum.org/cultural-commentary/1049-muslim-enrolled-at-baptist-seminary-why-is-this-national-news

All religious faiths are exclusive in one form or another. All have their rules, regulations and conventions. No question that Southwestern has the right to set the conditions for admission – and even the obligation to do so in furtherance of its religious faith. Denison asks a question: What’s the best way to engage people of other faiths?

The Southwestern decision raises some provocative questions: If it were a, say, Methodist seminary, not Southern Baptist, would it have been news? What if the student hadn’t been Muslim? When are a religious faith’s principles and guidelines helpful and when are they not? How should people of one faith engage people of another faith?
Texas Faith Panelists share their views, here is Mike Ghouse:
MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism and speaker on interfaith matters, Dallas

The discussion about why and how to engage people of other faiths becomes a good foundation to build upon cohesive societies, where none of us has to fear the other and continue living in peace. I am glad the issue of admission of a Muslim student at the Southwestern Baptist Seminary has come up; it’s a pivot for a positive change.

God created everything in harmony and set the matter aspect of the universe to be in balance – like the Jupiter, Moon and other items that function precisely on a trajectory in their own space. However, when it comes to humans, one of the other aspects of creation, God did not put us on auto-pilot. Instead, he gave us freedom and a brain to figure out such balance, maintain, and restore if lost.

Being the programmer of the universe, and because he intentionally created each one of us to be different, he knew we are bound to have conflicts and tear each other apart.  So he offered guidance to each tribe, community or a nation to preserve that harmony and live in peace.

The Quran is one such book of guidance and God says in verse 49:13 (Asad translation), “O men! Behold, we have created you all out of a male and a female, and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another. Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Behold, God is all-knowing, all-aware.”

God’s emphasis is on “knowing each other” and those who make that effort; he calls them the noblest among you.  Indeed, if we can learn to respect the otherness of others, and accept the God given uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

Jesus called on such individuals on the Mount of Beatitudes, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Indeed, I would urge Seminary President Paige Patterson to consider developing a teaching policy based on the essence of Jesus’ mission: peace on earth.

If you trace the bloodshed, hatred and ill-will over the last 12 known centuries of conflict between Muslims and Christians, a few men among them have gone against the teachings of their own faiths. Indeed, more students of other faiths need to be admitted, not to convert, but to teach “blessed are the peacemakers” and the “noblest among you” and produce conflict mitigaters.

Note: I had a radio show called Wisdom of religion, all the beautiful religions and the Dallas Baptist Seminary had called me to let me know that they are recording it, and teaching it.

To read the views of other panelists please visit Dallas Morning News at:
http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/05/texas-faith-what-does-the-decision-by-southwestern-baptist-to-accept-a-muslim-student-say-about-how-one-faith-can-reach-out-to-another.html/#more-39668

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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and a book with the same title is coming up. 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 all his work through many links.

 

Texas Faith - What’s the balance between religious freedom and freedom from discrimination?

We may not agree on the definition of sin, but the folks who see religion literally ought to consider keeping their doors open to bring the “sinners’ back into the fold of their brand of religion (any religion), instead of condemning them to hell and keeping them at bay. If the literalists want to earn the brownie points with God, then don’t shut the door.

 

TEXAS FAITH: What’s the balance between religious freedom and freedom from discrimination?
By Wayne Slater
wslater@dallasnews.com
2:31 pm on March 4, 2014 |

 

When Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer announced she was vetoing a “religious freedom” bill that targeted gay men and lesbians, she said religious liberty remains a “core value” in Arizona. But, she added, “So is non-discrimination.”

 

The debate over the Arizona bill – and similar proposals under consideration elsewhere – highlights the tension between two competing and deeply held American values: the right of people to practice their religion vs. the right to be free from discrimination. It’s a balancing act, and not an easy one.

 

It is at the heart of the debate over the Obama administration policy requiring businesses to provide health insurance for their employees that includes forms of contraception. It’s central to the argument by supporters of the Arizona bill that a baker who opposes same-sex marriage shouldn’t be required to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple. Both sides make a claim on liberty.

 

Clearly, nobody’s advocating that the government sanction, say, the right to deny service to black people at a lunch counter – regardless of whether the owner says it violates his religious beliefs. At the same time, nobody’s saying a Jewish caterer must work the Nazi rally, even if the Nazis claim they’re being discriminated against.

 

The question is, as a matter of public policy, how to reconcile competing rights? How do we protect both the religious rights of one person (which may involve discriminating against some people) and the deeply held right to be free from discrimination? What’s the balance and how best do we achieve it?

 

As expected, our Texas Faith panel of experts on faith and public policy – theologians, activists, clergy, scholars – don’t agree. And in so doing, they offer provocative, thoughtful reasons. If you think you know what side you’re on, read our Texas Faith panel and think again.

 

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism and speaker on interfaith matters, Dallas

 

The question of protecting the religious rights of a person and the right to be free from discrimination comes up time and again like a new day every day.

 

As a nation, we began our life with the immortal “declaration of independence” as our very first document, and we continue to rely upon it as our guiding principle.   “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.”

 

No man is an island; and no one can survive by himself or herself without living or relating with others.  From the day we were born to the day we die, and the time in between is spent in connection with someone or the other. The systems of governance and civil society are shaped for co-existence; we cannot function without the other for a considerable period of time.

 

On the civil side of the equation, any law that breaks the “One nation” into many nations of my nation versus yours, knocks out the immortal declaration “that all men are created equal” is flawed. We have drawn a line and our current anti-discrimination laws are good, and must be improved upon rather than decimate them.

 

However, on the religious side, we need to debate and understand the morality of discrimination. Jesus did not condemn the sinner, and went a step further to prevent bigotry and discrimination by embracing the prostitute to make the point that we cannot refuse services to others.

 

We may not agree on the definition of sin, but the folks who see religion literally ought to consider keeping their doors open to bring the “sinners’ back into the fold of their brand of religion (any religion), instead of condemning them to hell and keeping them at bay. If the literalists want to earn the brownie points with God, then don’t shut the door.

 

Refusing service or products to an individual because I do not agree with his or her sexual orientation violates the fundamental bounds set by the civil society and religion.

 

To read the take of other panelists, please visit Dallas Morning news at -  http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/03/texas-faith-whats-the-balance-between-religious-freedom-and-freedom-from-discrimination.html/#more-35528

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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and a book with the same title is coming up. 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 all his work through many links.

Dealing with genocide and Holocaust across religious lines: What’s politics got to do with it?

Dealing with genocide and Holocaust across religious lines: What’s politics got to do with it?
  By Wayne Slater | wslater@dallasnews.com
9:35 am on January 25, 2014 | Permalink
http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/2014/01/dealing-with-genocide-and-holocaust-across-religious-lines.html/
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  Mike Ghouse is frequently introduced as ‘the first Muslim guy to commemorate the Holocaust” with an appeal across broad religious lines. The idea is to recognize what people have in common, regardless of their differences as a way of lessening the conflicts, prejudices and intolerance that has produced genocide. And to go beyond politics to find common ground. On Sunday, a program attracting disparate groups around the idea “Never again” is scheduled for Unity Church on Forest Lane in Dallas, sponsored in part by Ghouse’s organization, the Foundation for Pluralism. The event is entitled Holocaust, Genocides of Native Americans and Gujart Massacre.The theme: Sparks of hatred and how to extinguish them.

Mike Ghouse, speaker, writer and advocate of pluralism across religious lines

Ghouse says he hopes attendees will walk out better appreciating the sufferings of others and seeing “the perpetrator in us” as a way of building trust across social and religious lines.


“I called on my friends with the idea of commemorating the event, and thus began this journey,” said Ghouse. “Education is the purpose; we have to learn, acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things that we humans have inflicted upon each other, and we have to understand that our safety hinges on the safety of all others around us.”

Ghouse says the conference is designed as a comprehensive event where various human failings, massacres, genocides and the murder of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust will be addressed. The conference begins at 3 pm with an American Indian genocide museum exhibit, then a program between 4-6 pm.

“I have always believed, and I read the assessments of some of the best brains, that if we can resolve the Jewish-Palestinian conflict, i.e., security to Jews and justice to the Palestinians, most of the world issues will collapse and a period of peace on earth will begin,” said Ghouse.

“There is a shameless cruelty in us, either we shy away or refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own or somehow it amounts to infidelity to our own cause,” he said. “Shame on us that we justifying massacres by believing and propagating that the victims deserved it or asked for it.”
http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/01/dealing-with-genocide-and-holocause-across-religious-lines-whats-politics-got-to-do-with-it.html/

Dallas News: Dealing with genocide and Holocaust across religious lines

By Wayne Slater
wslater@dallasnews.com
9:33 am on January 25, 2014 | Permalink

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http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/2014/01/dealing-with-genocide-and-holocaust-across-religious-lines.html/


Mike Ghouse is frequently introduced as ‘the first Muslim guy to commemorate the Holocaust” with an appeal across broad religious lines. The idea is to recognize what people have in common, regardless of their differences as a way of lessening the conflicts, prejudices and intolerance that have produced genocide. And to go beyond politics to find common ground. On Sunday, a program attracting disparate groups around the idea “Never again” is scheduled for Unity Church on Forest Lane in Dallas, sponsored in part by Ghouse’s organization, the Foundation for Pluralism. The event is entitled Holocaust, Genocides of Native Americans and Gujart Massacre.The theme: Sparks of hatred and how to extinguish them.

Mike Ghouse, speaker, writer and advocate of pluralism across religious lines

Ghouse says he hopes attendees will walk out better appreciating the sufferings of others and seeing “the perpetrator in us” as a way of building trust across social and religious lines.
“I called on my friends with the idea of commemorating the event, and thus began this journey,” said Ghouse. “Education is the purpose; we have to learn, acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things that we humans have inflicted upon each other, and we have to understand that our safety hinges on the safety of all others around us.”
Ghouse says the conference is designed as a comprehensive event where various human failings, massacres, genocides and the murder of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust will be addressed. The conference begins at 3 pm with an American Indian genocide museum exhibit, then a program between 4-6 pm.

“I have always believed, and I read the assessments of some of the best brains, that if we can resolve the Jewish-Palestinian conflict, i.e., security to Jews and justice to the Palestinians, most of the world issues will collapse and a period of peace on earth will begin,” said Ghouse.

“There is a shameless cruelty in us, either we shy away or refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own or somehow it amounts to infidelity to our own cause,” he said. “Shame on us that we justifying massacres by believing and propagating that the victims deserved it or asked for it.”