Misogyny and Gender Pluralism

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At the Gender Pluralism Center, we
will explore if misogyny is religiously sanctioned or men took it upon
themselves to make things work for them, and in the process, the
un-intended consequence was making a villain out of God and religion.

A few Men tend to be insecure about their own worth compared to women, and
devise ways to feel secure by causing women to be insecure. I am not talking
about the Taliban in a far off land, but our own Taliban mind set right here in
America denying women the right to choose what she does with her body,
rejecting her equal pay or expect her to the husband.  

“A woman should behave like a woman” “Her place is home” echo the   conservative religious men from Christian,
Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and other traditions.

Women have put up with this crap
from men far too long, it’s time we feel, act and talk like equals. The silence
of the good people is considered an endorsement to the right wing views on
women. Do the good men give permission to the right? If not, we need to speak
up. We need to be good for some good values and not good for nothing people.

A good functional society strives to be just to every citizen, when justness
becomes a norm in every aspect of life – be it between spouses, family members,
members of the community, town, state and the nation, then people trust each
other and mind their own business.

Don’t look to anyone group to blame,
look at yourselves first. A sentence that I have been repeating lately is
“for every Muslim ass, there is a Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh or other
ass” add hole if you need to. 

This blog will make an effort to find the other bad guys for every one
projected and blamed in the society.  Eventually we need to realize that
individuals must be held accountable for their wrong doing, and not their
religion.   

I believe everything on the earth is created to seek its own balance, whether
it is matter or individual, family or a nation. Every one struggles to have
that elusive equilibrium which goes off balance as regularly as it is desired
to be in balance.
For years,
Islam has been in the forefront of receiving the accusations, but when I study
Islam, it is not the religion, it is the men.  The Christians find it
convenient to blame the Old Testament, instead of doing the research and
finding what God meant. 

Prophet Muhammad had time and again said, “Justice:” among people,
within family, among nations and tribe is the key to building a successful
cohesive society where no one has to live in fear of the other. The other word
for Islam would be Justice – obviously that is not what you see in the world
today. Neither do you see Jesus’s teachings practiced by Christians or Jews
follow Torah or Bhagvad Gita by Hindus.


To me all religions are equally beautiful and divine; no religion is superior
or inferior to any. If any on claims superiority, he or she does not understand
the nature of his or her religion. Religion is not about arrogance which kills
relationships and balance in the society, but it is about humility, that which
builds bridges between people.

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 atwww.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 his
work through many links.

Phony Muslimness among Muslim boys in Schools and Colleges in UK – World Muslim Congress.com

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I
am concerned about the segregated seating arrangements in colleges and
Universities for seminars and other educational activities organized by
Muslim Students Associations in the United Kingdom.

Unlike the
Students Association in the United States, where both men and women
manage and participate, the MSA’s in UK seem to be run over by the boys.
These boys become instantaneously
Sanctimonious Muslims when they have a responsibility to manage a
Muslim loaded event. The more they “control” women to go sit elsewhere,
the greater the Muslim they become! What a phony Muslimness!

It’s
not only the boys, some of the Imams who come around to give Sermons at
special events, invariably make a comment to women sitting somewhere in
the darkness in the back to quit gossiping! Darn it, when your lecture
is so idiotic, men do the same, either gossip or go to their i-phones
and Samsungs.  I am glad I don’t go to these events, but when I do, I
will tear them apart for such an abusive and disrespectful comment
towards women. Remember, our silence gives them permission to continue
doing the wrong. Speak up; the other goats will jump in later.

Steering
women and men to different sitting areas in the name of Islam needs to
go. A man or a woman should have the freedom to choose, where he or she
is comfortable to sit, nothing should be forced on. There should be no
compulsion.

Do they teach that Islam is about regulating your own
behavior to be a kind, gentle, truthful, trustworthy and caring and
just individual,  the Amin, as the Prophet was called. Indeed, that
should be the first foundational Sunnah for Muslims to follow. Islam is not about controlling others personal behavior.  Islam
is about freedom – you are individually rewarded or deprived with the
grace of God for your acts, neither the Muslim Students Association nor
the Mufti of your town is even remotely accountable for your acts.  Even
Prophet Muhammad, let alone your parents, spouse, siblings, or your
Imam will not come to your rescue in your reflective solitude or the Day
of Judgment. Prophet Muhammad did not assign the responsibility to
teach Quran to anyone either.

The Hijab or segregation is a
cultural product of predominantly Muslim nations, there is no sanction
for it in Islam. The very first and foremost place of worship does not
have segregation, even to this day.  Men and women perform Hajj
together, God wants all of us together without distinction.

Muslims
living in UK, US, France, Canada or elsewhere have their own culture,
or modified culture without any reluctance. Unlike Saudi Arabia, where
women are taken care of, the women living in other nations have to learn
to live on their own, earn their own and support their kids if they
have to, and their culture should be based on their needs and not the
needs of Saudi Arabia. 

Shame on those parents who make their
daughters dependent on men, and when that man dies, or runs off – it
puts the woman in a difficult situation. Is that how the parents care
for their daughters?  She should be free and able to handle her own
affairs. The prophet had said to Fatima, you will not get a free ticket
to paradise just because you are my daughter; you have to earn it like
everyone else.

If a woman is trained to live in segregation how
would she handle in situations when her father, brother, husband or son
is not around. Love is not making a dependent out of the loved ones. If
we love, yes, if we love our loved ones, we make them independent, free
and able to stand on their own in contingencies with the least
suffering.

By the way the stories are similar with Sikhs, Hindus, Jains,  Christians and others from Asia.

# # #
How do universities deal with gender segregation?

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/may/27/gender-segregation-university-voluntary-equality
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

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.

First woman to lead Friday prayers in UK

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UK has its first (born) Muslim woman lead prayers

The
story is same with Muslims as it is with Jews, Christians, Sikhs,
Buddhists and others. A woman cannot lead the respective prayers. At the
Parliament of world’s religions in Melbourne in 2009, we pushed the
panel of some 12 men representing each faith as to why? The best honest
answer came from the Catholic Bishop, “this is what we are told to do”.
Indeed, the change has to ease into the new norms, it just cannot happen
because some one wants it. As we go forward, we will present the
stories of all faiths with similar stories.

However, the
reformed movements in all the faiths have opened it up. Just this week
in the UK, a Synagogue was severely criticized for letting women touch
the Torah Scrolls and carry it to read in the Temple.

Muslims
have raised hell and have gotten ugly when the first Muslim woman led
prayers were held in New York by Dr. Amina Wadud in 2003 or 2004. They
held disgusting placards outside the place of worship, it was
embarrassing the way a few Muslims reacted to it.

There
is nothing wrong in a woman leading the prayer. Islam is not a negative
religion, it’s positive. No where in Quran or Hadith it’s banned women
from leading the prayers. Just because it was not done before, it does
not mean you cannot do it now. Prophet would
have driven a car if there was one, that does not mean we have to ride
camels.
Men should feel secure, they are not losing their
jobs.

Blaming
the west is not true and it is a conspiracy spun by a
few.  I have been a supporter of this movement since 2003, when Dr.
Amina Wadud
led the first Juma prayers – she was on my Radio show. A lot has been
debated
since, it will take another generation to accept this, but it will be
over a
period of time. It will take another three generations to get this
change to
become a norm in Asia and perhaps a century in Arab lands.  The
Christians, Jews and Hindus need to gloat, on one can have the last
laugh.


Islam is
not a negative and restrictive religion… it started with a command to recite,
learn, read…. and we must.

Mike Ghouse is a Muslim speaker,
thinker and a writer on pluralism, Islam, interfaith and other topics. He
is committed to nurturing pluralistic values embedded in Islam and
building cohesive Socieities and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the
day, all his writings are at www.TheGhouseDiary.com   

—

First woman to lead Friday prayers in UK
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/first-woman-to-lead-friday-prayers-in-uk-1996228.html

Aga Khan and Malala; Muslim Role Models

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URL – http://nabsites.net/demo/aga-khan-and-malala-muslim-role-models/

Every
child, teen and an adult has someone or the other to look up to in his or her life, and wants
to-be-like that person and eventually becomes one.  Indeed, good role
models are a key to the success of a civil society.

I have been
studying religious pluralism and civil societies for the last twenty
years, and have found a sense of regret among Muslims for the dearth of
role models. Invariably they compare themselves with the Jewish
community more often than they care to admit.  At least twice a year, an
email makes the rounds showing the innumerable Nobel laureates among
the tiny Jewish community versus the negligible numbers among the big
Muslim community. It almost appears that they cannot move forward
without some one leading them.

Don’t
despair, there is hope, we have a few good men and women who are great role
models.

In the last 100 years we have had legends like Syed Ahmed Khan, Allama Iqbal, Maulana
Abul Kalam Azad and others who have created institutions of learning or left a legacy of
critical thinking.  They were not only heroes for Muslims, but for others
as well.

These individuals followed the foundational Sunnah of the prophet to
be Amins, the truthful, trustworthy, Just and without barriers between
them and people of other faiths and traditions. They contributed towards
the common good of humanity. Indeed, Prophet Muhammad was called Amin
by fellow Citizens who were Jewish, Christian and Pagans. That should be our model; to be contributors and be the Amins of the society.

In
the last 50 years, we have had a few great men and women, but we did
not accord them the place they deserved.  It’s time for us to recognize
them for their contributions and their legacy in building better
societies for humanity.

There are plenty of men and women in religion, business, arts, sports,
music, entertainment and academic fields, but very few in civil
societies. 

The following men and women have created enduring
values to last for generations to come, it is their legacy. I am embarrassed that I could
not come up with
more names from around 56 Muslims nations, but I welcome them all.

  1. Abdurrahman Wahid  (planted the vision of Madinah like society),  
  2. Javed Ahmad Ghamidi (Critical thinking in Islam),
  3. Malala Yousafzai (Role model for women),
  4. Aga Khan (Role Model for Universal human development) ,  
  5. Benazir Bhutto (a symbol of Democracy), 
  6. Muhammad Yunus (an economic model of uplifting the down trodden)
  7. Aamir Khan (Cultural Pluralism and his Satyameva Jayate Series), 
  8. Abdus Salam (Physicist and Nobel Laureate),
  9. Abdus Sattar Edhi (Charity),
  10. Al-Waleed bin Talal (Research in Education)
  11. Abusaleh Shariff (Solutions for up-liftment of minorities )

Abusaleh Shariff is relatively less known than the others, but his pioneering research work
about Indian Muslims has become the foundation for economic, educational, social and
statistical models for planning societies, and finding pluralistic solutions
for the majoritarian-minoritarian conflict mitigation in a given society.

Gamal Abdel Nasser could have been one of the heroes, had he succeeded in
creating a value for Arab Unification, he could not make it.  Mahathir
Muhammad could have been an economic hero, but his work was time-bound and not
timeless, and he did not leave anything impactful other than the rhetoric. What
did Yasser Arafat leave behind?  I am not sure about the legacy of
Muhammad Ali Jinnah- is anyone following his vision other than hanging his
pictures on event walls?  General
Pervaz Musharraf had all the potential to re-establish Jinnah’s vision, a
secular pluralistic Islamic model nation – but he blew it. 

Even
though Kings Abdullah of Jordan and Saudi Arabia, Muhammad Ali, Dilip
Kumar or Shahrukh Khan are big names, they have not
contributed to the common good of humanity, once they are gone, they are
gone. Would they be legends in Muslim history? Are they Amins of the
society at large? We need to discuss.

I am glad at least Malala and Aga Khan have been
recognized worldwide, and their work is not restricted to just
one community, but most people around the globe will look up to them for
what they represent. 


It is our duty to honor
and cherish individuals who have dedicated their lives in building bridges
between communities. Their pioneering spirit in facilitating communities to
know and to respect each other must be appreciated.


I urge
fellow Muslims to work on writing about these men and women, and how their work
can last for centuries to come. Can we include them in our school text books,
Islamic social education at Mosques and private schools? They are our role
models, aren’t they?   

To be a Muslim
is to be a peacemaker, one who mitigates conflicts and nurtures goodwill for
peaceful co-existence of humanity. God wants us to live in peace and harmony
with his creation; life and matter.# # #

Remarks
by His Highness the Aga Khan at the Presentation of the Gold Medal by
the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, Ottawa
URL

  1. http://www.countercurrents.org/ghouse061213.htm
  2. http://www.newageislam.com/islamic-society/muslim-heroes-and-role-models/d/34729
  3. http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2013/12/hh-aga-khans-speech-at-royal.html

Mike Ghouse is a Muslim speaker,
thinker and a writer on pluralism, Islam, interfaith and other topics. He
is committed to nurturing pluralistic values embedded in Islam and
building cohesive Societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the
day, all his writings are at www.TheGhouseDiary.com   

Funeral Prayers

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URL – http://nabsites.net/demo/funeral-prayers/

I was completely taken back when I wished prayers for a friend’s mother today.
He was from a different faith, and deleted my message on Facebook with an
apology. I understood it; we all have to deal with our friends who may have
difficulty in seeing goodness coming from others.

As
a society we need to grow up, and not get bogged down with petty details. Pope Francis
said it well, “The
church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules.”

If
you translate the Funeral prayers from Sanskrit, Arabic, Hebrew, Pali,
Latin and other languages into English – it simply means well. You wish
peace for the deceased and express that you care for those who are
alive.

Over the years, I have recited Jewish, Hindu, Jain,
Zoroastrian, Christian, Sikh and Muslim prayers on different occasions
when my respective friends could not make it, and I would recite prayers
from every religious tradition. If I am alone on the Himalayas or in
the Jungles of Amazon, and a person gets sick around me and wanted
someone to pray, I will honor that person with his beliefs – I will
recite and chant the prayers that comforts that individual. I may not
bow to an idol or bow in front of the cross, but I will recite the
prayers. Have you ever translated a prayer and understood what it means?

Upon
my Mother’s death, Bible, Bhagvad Gita and Quran were recited. Of
course my mother had Zoroastrian and Jain friends, not sure if they did
something. There were no Jews and Sikhs in my town then.  Upon my late
wife’s death, everyone from Baha’i to Zoroastrians and everyone in
between prayed and attended the funeral prayers at the mosque to pay
their tributes.

I am not alone, there are many like me who would
do that, wouldn’t you? I expect at least 2/3rds of the population to do
that and respect those who won’t.

I perform interfaith weddings and my sermons are customized to suit the religious traditions of the bride and the groom.

Over
the years, at the Unity Day events, we have experimented different
combinations for people to be in other’s shoes, and almost everyone felt
good about it.

A full article and sample prayers with
English translations will be uploaded in a few weeks at this site
–www.PluralismCenter.com and www.TheGhousediary.com
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

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.

Who would not love Pope Francis?

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URL – http://nabsites.net/demo/who-would-not-love-pope-francis/

I am fascinated by Pope Francis, he is an ideal religious man and I like
him a lot. I will do anything for him to restore harmony in the
world. I know him now, he would not ask me to become a Catholic,
because he sees the bottom line of being a good Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Catholic,
Wicca, Sikh or other would be the same – to create societies where no one has
to live in apprehension or fear of the other, that’s how God had created the
world; in harmony. 

He said
it’s enough to be a witness of hope and, as St. Peter said, “always be
ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your
hope.”

I really like this, with this I am getting closer to his thinking.
“Hypocrisy is a grave sin,” he said, underlining how important
credibility was in helping the church grow, not through proselytism, but by
attraction.” Indeed those were identical words of Prophet Muhammad; he
said be a good example that people wanted to emulate you for the common good of
humanity.

A woman asked the pope how she should pray for one of her relatives who was
going to become a Franciscan friar. The pope said to pray that the man would
have “the perseverance to go forward, but also the courage to turn back if
he understands that this is not the right path.”

This is the kind of confidence I like to see
in religious men and women.  When I challenged a Pastor in Dallas, who
called Quran an evil book, I said, I will give you a copy of the right
translation of Quran (2 of 25 are bad) and if you find three things that
are evil, I will abandon my faith and join yours. To which a few of my Muslim
friends said I should not have said that. They did not have the confidence in
the book of wisdom and were worried that they will lose me to the Pastor. I
have full confidence in Quran, it is a book of guidance to create just
societies, just as other holy books.

I have written the following pieces on Pope:

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.

Thanksgiving 2013 – The Ghouse family

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My son’s birthday falls around thanksgiving, to be precise; Nov 26.

For about 14 years I organized a big event called Thanksgiving
Celebrations and Awards Night – about 500 people attended the first one,
and we had mayors, congress persons and other including members of
different communities joined in for the celebrations.

I
learned a lot in the process. One of the senior citizens Mr. Shah from
the Jain tradition taught me a big lesson, thanks to him. He called on
me – being an Indian, it is very cultural and acceptable to me – he said
what did your father teach you? don’t you know how to separate the food
for vegetarians? From that day forward, I have been super sensitive to
the needs of my multifaith and multicultural friends about Kosher,
Halal and Vegetarian needs. Indeed, my father taught me to respect every
one.

It all started when I discovered that many a immigrants
had no idea what thanksgiving was all about. The event was organized to
familiarize immigrants with the festivities of thanksgiving. It was a
full program starting with gratitude to Native Americans and then
carving the Turkey on the stage and have the same fixings…followed by
recognizing individuals who have gone beyond their way to build bridges.
http://thanksgivingcelebrations.blogspot.com/
– The Jewish community, the African communities were appreciated for
their contributions towards making America a better pluralistic nation.

The highlight of the program was – 5 Cultural dances to reflect
cultural pluralism. We always started it with a Native American dance
and prayer to the four corners followed by 4 different cultural dance
each time… Czech to Filipino, Belly dancing to Taiwanese, Brazilians
display of colors the Mexican, Indian Bhangra to polka dances….

Finally, I yielded to my son to spend exclusive time with family on
thanksgiving. I am glad I listened to him… it is good to be with the
family… This is my son’s family – wife, her sister and friend, her
parents, Jeff’s mom, sister and Dad… and of course Jayden, the little
rascal in the family! In my case, at this time, I have to split my
holidays – Thanksgiving lunch with Jeff’s family in Dallas, and then
Thanksgiving Dinner with Yasmeen in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

Mike Ghouse

Hannity: Iran nuclear deal shows America's weakness on world stage?

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I am happy to be
an assertive moderate. Hannity is misinformed, that is three times and I am glad I stuck to my knowledge of foreign policy. No one has
challenged him before on these issues
One
of the key points I challenged Hannity was that Iran did not say to
wipe out Israel, what Hitler Nejad had said was Zionism, which is
understood differently.  Never before this has been
challenged on Fox National TV.  I am glad to be right again, here is Israel’s deputy PM
acknowledging it when pushed to corner. I hope, I have put an end to this false
claim of two decades. Thanks to Juan Cole, whom Dallas Peace Center had invited 
to speak, he had clarified that point to me, and I was able to forcefully say it
on National TV today. It’s been picked up by many Iranian News agencies.

This deal is good for Israel, good for Iran and good for America. My
foreign policy advocacy is based on building a cohesive world where no nation
needs to live in threats of the other.  Please read out the details in my
talking points and in my Op-Ed in Huffington post linked below. Mr. Netanyahu
needs to be checked, he cannot see good things happening, he is not good for
Israel’s long term security, although he pleases men who cherish death
and destruction.   URL- http://nabsites.net/demo/hannity-iran-nuclear-deal-shows/

Hannity and Ghouse on Fox . http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/hannity/2013/11/27/iran-nuclear-deal-shows-americas-weakness-world-stage
 
Israel’s deputy Prime Minister acknowledges that Iran did not say that. here is the video and script: http://www.dailybuzzle.com/en/topical/israels-deputy-pm-admits-iran-didnt-threaten-to-wipe-israel-out-405256856932995072.html

My talking points:
http://nabsites.net/demo/fox-news-with-sean-hannity-brigitte/

My article on the issue at Huffington post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/congratulations-finally-i_b_4344526.html 

Iran nuclear deal shows America’s weakness on world stage?

Published November 26, 2013 | Hannity | Sean Hannity

With: Brigitte Gabriel, Michael Ghouse 
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/hannity/2013/11/27/iran-nuclear-deal-shows-americas-weakness-world-stage

This is a rush transcript from “Hannity,” November 26, 2013. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: And welcome back to “Hannity.”
President Obama’s willingness to sit down and negotiate with the
terrorists in Tehran proves once again his weakness on the world stage
and his failure to understand the threat that is posed to America by
radical Islam. Now, sadly, we shouldn’t be surprised because back in
2008, then candidate Obama — remember? He said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, D-ILL., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But
I reserve the right as president of the United States to meet with
anybody at a time and place of my choosing if I think it’s going to keep
America safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: And since taking office, his foreign policy
blunders have been on full display, from the gifting of U.S. military
F-16s and Abrams tanks to former president Mohammed Morsi in the radical
Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt to his failure to act on his words in the
so-called red line regarding Syria after its government used chemical
weapons against its own people.

Now, it’s clear the President does not have a clue and that he is more than comfortable from, quote, “leading from behind.”

Here with reaction, Act for America president Brigitte Gabriel, and
from the America Together Foundation, Mike Ghouse is with us. Welcome
both of you. Mike…

MIKE GHOUSE, AMERICA TOGETHER FOUNDATION: Thank you, Sean.

HANNITY: Is Iran a state that has killed Americans
in Iraq and Afghanistan? Are they fighting proxy wars? Are they
fomenting terrorism around the world? Simple question. Is that regime
doing all of that?

GHOUSE: No, Sean.

HANNITY: No?

GHOUSE: First of all, they were our friends. No. They were our friends before 1979.

HANNITY: I didn’t ask you about 1979. Right now, did
they not kill Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan? Let’s go through it
one by one. Did they, yes or no?

GHOUSE: They did, but I want to give you…

HANNITY: Yes!

GHOUSE: … a prelude to that. I want to give you (INAUDIBLE)

HANNITY: Are they fighting a proxy war through Hezbollah and different radical groups in the Middle East? The answer is yes.

GHOUSE: They’re not fighting with us.

HANNITY: No, I didn’t ask you if they’re fighting —
I said, are they fighting proxy wars, and are they a terrorist state?
And the answer is yes. They are spreading terror.

GHOUSE: I wouldn’t call it terrorism. What they’re doing is terror, but I would not qualify them as a terrorist state, Sean.

HANNITY: Wait a minute! What they’re doing is terror but it’s not — it’s not a terrorist state? How can you say that?

GHOUSE: It is — they’re not committed to do
terrorism. Once justice is done, whenever that is, the conflicts are,
they’re going to back out, like they’re doing peace with Israel with the
nuclear treaty now. This is the right thing to do. I’m glad Rouhani is
helping their people put food on the table…

HANNITY: The day — wait a minute! The week before
this agreement, he was talking again about wiping Israel off the map and
destroying the Zionist state, one week before the announcement was
announced!

GHOUSE: Sean, Iran has never said those words.

HANNITY: Yes, he did!

GHOUSE: Those words were mistranslated. No, sir, he said…

HANNITY: I have them right here.

GHOUSE: … wipe the Zionism, not Israel. They’re
not talking about Israel here. They are talking about the Zionist
policy, which is wrong.

HANNITY: All right, let me read to you what he said.
He — quote — on the Wednesday before the Saturday announcement,
Brigitte, he said that the Zionists are rabid dogs, they can’t be called
human beings and vowed that their state will soon disappear.

I don’t know what Mike was saying about interpretation, but he said it many times.

(CROSSTALK)

GHOUSE: They are against Zionism, but not against Israel!

HANNITY: Brigitte?

BRIGITTE GABRIEL, ACT FOR AMERICA PRESIDENT: …
saying it for many times, as well. They have been saying it against the
Jews in particular by name, el Yahud. They have been saying it for
years. They hate Israel. They want to wipe Israel off the map.

And look, Sean, just two weeks ago, they had the largest
demonstration ever on the streets of Iran calling “Death to America,
death to Israel.” This is at the same time while we are negotiating with
these people!

The only time in the Islamic world you come to the negotiating table
is to negotiate the terms of your surrender! Right now, President Obama
has delivered America to Iran as weak, as unable to fight, as unable to
win the war, and that is now empowering our enemies to the point where
Hezbollah hold their Facebooks and in the articles in Beirut today,
coming out and already calling Iran the Islamic nuclear republic of
Iran!

HANNITY: Yes. And by the way, and Hezbollah’s happy
about it and all the terrorist groups in the Middle East are happy about
it. Michael, how could — why would you trust any deal that does not
allow inspectors into every Iranian nuclear facility? This deal does not
allow inspections of every nuclear facility.

GHOUSE: I am with President Reagan’s statement, trust but verify. Without verifying… 

HANNITY: You can’t — wait! Michael, you can’t verify. That’s the point!

GHOUSE: Sean, right now, they agreed to freeze the
development for the next six months. In the six months, we are going to
develop a full-blown policy. This is a good step for Israel. Israel for
the first time in history…

HANNITY: Mike, it does not open…

GHOUSE: … have come to the doors of the security.
If you can control on this, if you can have a hold on this, if Iran can
develop only for peaceful…

HANNITY: All right, Brigitte, I’ll let you handle this.

(CROSSTALK)

GABRIEL: Iran lied to the world for years! Iran has
been lying to the world about their nuclear plans since 2003! This is
nothing new! They have been deceiving the world! This is part of their
tactics! And this is

something we need to be aware of!

We have to remember that with Iran, we are dealing with a mullahcracy
– an Islamic mullahcracy that based their — everything they do on
their religious philosophy!

And right now, they are basing this whole deception of the West on
the treaty of al Habibi (ph), which is an Islamic principle of war! It’s
a strategic way to defeat your — to defeat your enemy that was
exercised by Prophet Mohammed in 628! And this is exactly what the
Iranians are doing! They are basing their lies and deception to defeat
the West, basically buying time in order to finish their nuclear
development plan!

HANNITY: Hey, Mike…

GABRIEL: … and we are falling for it!

HANNITY: Mike, you have to wake up. Mike, you didn’t
get it about the Muslim Brotherhood. You don’t get it here. These are
radical Islamists. They want a worldwide Islamic caliphate and they’re
willing to

kill to get it. And I don’t know what part of that you’re not
understanding because that’s the reality of what this regime is about.

GHOUSE: Sean, I told you Brotherhood would not be in power. They are not. I was damn right about it.

HANNITY: No. You were wrong. They got in power.

GHOUSE: No.

HANNITY: You said they wouldn’t be in power.

GHOUSE: They would get in power but the people —

HANNITY: You didn’t say that.

GHOUSE: I did say that in March of 2011. I was revealing the —

HANNITY: No.

GHOUSE: I did say that. Pull it back. The people who fought for this freedom are going to get right back —

HANNITY: All right. We have to go.

GHOUSE: And there is not going to be caliphate ever at all. I have told you that.

HANNITY: Mark my words, this is his Munich moment.
This is it right here. And we will, as my mother used to say, rue the
day. Guys, good to see you both.

 
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Festivals of the World: Essence of Hanukkah

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“Festivals of the World” is an educational series by Mike Ghouse since 1993.  When we live as neighbors and in the same
communities, we might as well learn about each other. The best way to build
cohesive societies is for its members to participate in festivities as well as
commemorations of each other, or at least understand each others’ joys and
sorrows.  Please note, the simplicity in
writing is designed for people of other faiths to learn and to know, so we can
function cohesively.

Happy
Hanukkah!

The Festival of Hanukkah is a Jewish
celebration, and it is about celebrating the recovery and re-dedication of the
Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in 165 B.C. Hanukkah is spelled in many different ways in case you
want to Google it; Hanukah, Chanukah, Chanuka, Hanukka and other variations.

Please visit Huffington Post, the full articles is likely to be published on 11.28.13 at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/festivals-of-the-world-es_b_4349512.html

If not, it will be here on the evening of 28th.

Texas Faith : How would you describe your search for meaning?

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URL – http://nabsites.net/demo/texas-faith-how-would-you-describe-your/

The meaning of life is buried inside us. Like
radar, it is scanning for all the things in its range. When it finds
them, then it hones in on them. It’s like falling in love. We have no
logical explanation as to why we fall in love with a person, and there
is no rhyme or reason for it either – Mike Ghouse.

TEXAS FAITH: How would you describe your search for meaning?
By Bill McKenzie / Editorial Columnist
wmckenzie@dallasnews.com
5:51 pm on November 26, 2013 | Permalink

This Sally Quinn essay essay from The Washington Post struck me as a provocative piece. In writing about the search for meaning in our lives, she describes an anti-pastor, an anti-gay atheist and Billy Graham at the end of his career.

The piece is worth the read if only for the part about the “tattooed Lutheran pastor, weight lifter, stand-up comic, former alcoholic and drug addict and hard-swearing Nadia Bolz-Weber.”

At the end, Quinn, in talking about the search for meaning, asks: Aren’t we all searching for community and wonder? How would you answer that question? How would you describe your search for meaning?

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

The tattooed Lutheran pastor’s hard-swearing language has an appeal to a segment of the population that prefers to be free from the restrictive mannerism, clothing, language and environment of places of worship.

One of the unstated purposes of going to a place of worship or joining a group is to search for meaning in life. Indeed, this reminds me of a great song, “Looking for love in all the wrong places” by country singer Johnny Lee.

The meaning of life is buried inside us. Like radar, it is scanning for all the things in its range. When it finds them, then it hones in on them. It’s like falling in love. We have no logical explanation as to why we fall in love with a person, and there is no rhyme or reason for it either.

So, we are searching for meaning in all the wrong places until we connect with one. In the process, we make temporary connections with whoever can give us purpose until we align perfectly. We go to known places like churches, spiritual centers, and charities to serve, and also go on drugs, alcohol and other negative activities.

I am glad to read about the pastor, many of us may not like the language, but that pastor is giving a sense of belonging and meaning to lost souls, who would otherwise not connect with anyone.

Thanks to the Internet for liberating us. The more we know, the less we will buy into exclusive claims of truth. We are more likely to run from places of worship that downgrade other forms of worship.

The purpose of any beautiful religion is to bring meaning in one’s life. As beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, faith is in the heart of the believer. It is the control freaks in each faith that make religion an instrument of power and struggle, instead of freedom and liberation.

Twenty years ago, my search connected me with the idea of Pluralism. If we can learn to respect the otherness of others and accept the God-given uniqueness of each one of the seven billion of us on the planet, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge. Later in 1996, I established the Foundation for Pluralism, which is dedicated to studies in social and religious pluralism. Thank God, I am blessed and found the purpose in my life. 

To read the responses from all the Texas Faith Panelists, please go to Dallas Morning News at:  http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2013/11/texas-faith-how-would-you-describe-your-search-for-meaning.html/#more-32184

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

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.