Sharia Laws in America

No group of Muslims in America has called for Sharia Laws in America, the American Justice system works for them and they will oppose the Sharia Laws (as they are). I will be one of the first ones, if not the first one to stand up against it, and the Muslim majority in America is happy with the American system and do not want the Sharia Laws in America

Continued: http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2010/07/sharia-laws-in-america.html

Diversity is the standard

Is diversity a standard? It appears that way, look at the nature no tree is alike, no snow flake is alike and no dirt is alike. Look up in the sky, there are trillions of stars out there and none of them is alike; billions of galaxies yet each one is different, and we accept their uniqueness without an iota of doubt.

Imagine going to a party where every male is 6' tall and female is 5'6". All men have their hair cut short and have parted their hair precisely the same way, and the women have done their hair as if it came from the same dye. All women wear size 6 shoes and are 5” heeled black pumps whereas all men wear size ten. Every woman weighs 128 pound; not an ounce less or more and men weigh 160 pounds on the needle.

Then every one walks up to the perfect rose garden ever; some 500 rose plants cut exactly to 4’ tall, and esactly five flowers per plant were blooming and each one of them is pink with 25 petals to be exact.

Who sets the standards?

A few men resent the hair styles of some other men or hate their pants sliding off over their butt; a few women would like to comment on the dresses of other women… think about it, who sets the standards as to what to wear?

There are nearly seven billion of us and each one of has a different thumb print and a unique DNA combination which we accept that as our uniqueness.

There are at least 250 religious traditions out there, perhaps even more, and each tradition is beautiful to the followers, then what really holds us from accepting the uniqueness of other's faith? Arrogance and insecurity!

Who cares if your faith is wise, older, smart, easy, simple... every one has to live his or her own life and is answerable in his or her own solitude. It is you within you that have to live with you. I am thinking of good ole Charlene's song, "Never been to me", she says, she's been to georgia, been to the aisle of greece, but never been to me. Ha!, that's where we need to go to be with ourselves and to live our own life and set our own standards for ourselves.

Diversity is crucial to survival and existence. On an abandoned Island after the shipwreck we cannot have men and women possessing the same skills, we need diversity of skills to get out of there. Tall girls and guys can pluck apples from a tree (if the tree is tall) short men and women can crawl into the cave and grab that hidden food the animals store for their use.

I wish I was tall particularly when a crowd is watching a street muscian to stand behind and watch with ease, I wish I was short to receive the full shade of a building in the summer... we wish to be everything we are not.. heck, it is time to be happy with who we are, there is no one like you.

Bottom line?

Each one of us is our own standard;we have to bear our doings and undoings;our anguish and anxiety is exclusively ours;we have to live with our bad dreams;we are responsible for our standards;Let’s learn to respect and accept the uniqueness each one is endowed with, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

Be yourselves!

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, writer, optimist, educator and an activist of Pluralism, Justice, Islam, India, Peace and Civil Societies. He is a conflict mitigater and a goodwill nurturer offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day and is a frequent guest on the media. Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&&suggest&note_id=442293172773#!/note.php?note_id=442293172773

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, writer, optimist, educator and an activist of Pluralism, Justice, Islam, India, Peace and Civil Societies. He is a conflict mitigater and a goodwill nurturer offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day and is a frequent guest on the media. Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

PATRIOTISM

It is unpatriotic if one does not have the courage to acknowledge and criticize one's own nation, and it is a gross disloyalty to let the nation morally degenerate itself. My heroes are those who criticize my nation and prevent it from moral decay, my heroes are those who keep the government rascals on the...ir toes, and my heros are those who are committed to working for security of every one.The truth is that no individual or a nation can be secure when others who surround them aren't. It behooves us to make friends but not frigthen and harass others, if we threaten even the weakling will develop the energy to cause insecurity to us.

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&&suggest&note_id=442293172773#!/album.php?aid=448259&id=851280248&ref=mf

June 10 at 6:07pm - 51 Comments on Facebook

Helen Thomas

A good solid apology from Helen is due; if she were not a celebrity we could have ignored her. I demand her to step down from her position as an ace journalist.A good solid apology from Helen is due; if she were not a celebrity we could have ignored her. I demand her to step down from her position as an ace journalist.There is a big question for the Jewish community and all of us; how to go to the roots of bigotry and evaporate it with a meaningful dialogue. In the short run we can squelch bigotry with laws, but that would breed resentment and flare up every now and then. The problem is deeper and as a society, we all need to sit down and talk, place all the cards on the table, then only we can find lasting solutions.Helen may resign and go, but the spark of bigotry is in the air,

Continued: http://mikeghouseforamerica.blogspot.com/2010/06/helen-thomas-under-fire-for-comment-on.html

Memorial day reflections

It is a day of remembrance and reflection, it is time to pray for those have passed away, whether they are related to us or not. Please take a few moments to remember all those who have influenced, affected and cared for us, and those who cared for others whether we know them or not. It is not a noble thing or a religious thing, it is a thing that enriches our souls and brings humility and connects us back with ourselves.

On the Memorial Day, I drove from Louisville to Dallas, a 840 miles journey and stopped at every cemetery that was visible on the road side. I said a short prayer asking the creator to restore the balance on the earth though forgiveness to those who have sinned and bring completeness to those who left incomplete transactions in life.  I particularly remember stopping at 4 national cemeteries, and there was one near Nashville on I-40 for the veterans, which was off the road, and I drove through a creek to get there and paid my homage to the men and women who died for this country's freedom. It just feels good to be a part of the whole.

There is a beautiful Islamic supplication that asks God to forgive the ones who are alive and the ones who are gone, parents, family, friends and believers.


Mike Ghouse
www.MikeGhouse.net

Ghosts, witches and Rohini

I was driving through the Hoosier forest between Louisville and Evansville and witnessed one of the most beautiful landscapes in the recent months. The fog covered forest was incredible and took me to back to my childhood experience of being frightened over the witches and ghosts.

My friend and I missed the bus to our town and had to walk four miles to our home in Yelahanka. We had to pass by an abandoned house and a well near Allalsandra intersection, the legend had it that Rohini lived there, a disturbed girl who had committed suicide in that well and allured wayfarers as a good witch or haunted them as bad witch, sort of bipolar witch. We learned that she would glide over and put her teeth on the necks of the frightened souls and drain them of the blood, or seduced the brave and dissolved them.

Jameel and I had to walk through there, we had no choice but to go, we could not have stayed anywhere, so we walked. We were scared to no end and out of that fear we started singing loud thinking that we would drown every possible sound that surrounded us, at least we would not hear Rohini come towards us and die the slow death under her teeth.

We were wishing that we passed that area instantly in a hurry, it was very painful as the time seemed like eternity, it was just not moving forward. We did not dare look towards that well… and literally peed in our pants and instinctively ran for the next half mile, on the way Jameel tripped and fell flat on the road, we thought that was the end of our lives, we thought she had roped us in… and we both screamed aimlessly, fortunately we got up and ran the next half mile to the truck stop.

Years later, I was in a college dorm. The talk of the dorm was that a girl had committed suicide in the well behind our college building and her soul was searching for her lost mate, and she knew who it was after experiencing them closely.
The principal of the college had actually issued a notice that was posted on the bulletin board to avoid sleeping in the verandas and hallways in the night time. That girl had taken the form of Rohini, a woman wearing white saree with open long lose flowing hair.. and apparently wandered in the area searching for her soul mate.

My roommate Imti and I decided to see this beautiful thing regardless of her being a witch, we thought we would convince her to become human and may be date us. How dumb!

So we slept in the veranda, the open hallway and it was summer time. At exactly 3 minutes past midnight, we heard a huge scream, first we covered ourselves with the blanket sort of hiding, then we both looked at each other, it was the voice of the night watchman Sundereshan. We jumped and ran to him, he was on the floor with eyes open and breathing heavily… we poured water on him.. he woke up and with a troubled voice said that he saw Rohini pass by us towards him and that’s when he screamed. He said she glided in the air over the two of us.

I am still puzzled at it, Sundereshan had served Indian Army and had been in jungles and elsewhere, for him to be scared was puzzling to us. I still have difficulty in not believing him.

Added:

What Ghost or Witches mean to me now are the reflections of oneself; if we do wrong to others, we may have an imaginary witch, an acknowledgement of our wrong and sort of repentance or righting ourselves. Personally, I have come out of that belief, but certain para normal events still make me wonder.

There was an old man in my town; and when my little brother misbehaved, he was led to beleive that the old man had extraordinary powers and that he was going to extricate the evil from my brother, which was enough to frighten him... the old man was more like a behavior modification Icon.

My Aunt, until she passed away in 2000, believed in it, and burned the broom sticks that created a lot of smoke and chased the evil out of her grand son, every time he had a stomach ache. It worked for her and him.

As beautiy is in the eyes of the beholder, faith is in the heart of the believer.

Happy Mahashiva Ratri

HAPPY MAHA SHIVARATRI (A Hindu festival tonite)
According to scholars, the cosmic dance of Shiva, called 'Anandatandava,' meaning, ‘the Dance of Bliss’ symbolizes the cosmic cycles of creation and destruction, as well as the daily rhythm of birth and death. The dance is a pictorial allegory of the five pri...nciple manifestations of eternal energy - creation, destruction, preservation, salvation, and illusion.

Mike Ghouse

~~~~