We applaud the Parliaments of World's religions decision to withdraw its support from Swami Vivekanand's birthday Celebrations by right wing political outfits

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URL – http://nabsites.net/demo/we-applaud-parliaments-of-worlds/

The
Parliament of World’s Religions decision to withdraw its name as a sponsor from
the event celebrating Swami Vivekananda was the right thing to do and their
press release, appended below clarifies their position.

The VHPA – Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, RSSA,
Rashtriya Swayam Sevak of America, and other right wing political organizations
of India were seeking refuge in celebrating Swami Vivekananda’s birthday
celebrations, a Hindu sage and one of the most respected pluralistic scholars of
the world; I grew up admiring him and continue to do so.

The
organizations named above have a sad record of hate peddling and anti-Muslim and
anti-Christian activities. Please remember, they are right wing political
outfits of Hinduism, a beautiful religion, just as Brotherhood, Jamat Islami,
Lashker Jhangvi, Hamas and other outfits are political outfits of Islam. Both of
these groups of organizations are a stain on Hinduism and Islam respectively.
 I hope a day will come when the organizations have to meet certain
qualifications to be registered with certain names.


Sadly the celebratory event included area Hindu
Temples and Hindu Organizations; it is a good event with good people except the
affiliations with some of these political organizations. I wish the Hindu
Temples had done it on their own without the political outfits as partners.
As a Pluralist, I believe in inclusion. If these
organizations want to be respected by Indians and Americans, Hindus,
Christians and Muslims equally,  they need to renounce extremism, renounce the
hatred for Muslims and Christians, stop calling Sikhs, Buddhist and Jains as
Hindus and instead respect their uniqueness, indeed years ago on my Radio show
it happened – my panel included representatives of all religions, and the
respective religious leaders asked to be respected as fully established
religions. Is that asking too much?

These organizations – both sets
among Hindus and Muslims are anti-Nationalistic in nature, they don’t believe in
liberty and justice for all, they do not treat all citizenry as equals, and they
want Muslims,  Christians and others to be subservient and obedient to their
whims. They are not bashful either of their stand. Just read their literature
and hear them speak to see it yourselves.

If they are genuinely
interested in changing for the common good of the people, I am willing to sit
down with them, talk with them, and ask them to be inclusive partners in
building cohesive societies, where no one has to live in fear of the other. I
have received invitations to meet and discuss, and I will be happy to do that,
as long as we learn to respect the otherness of others, and accept the
uniqueness of each one of us. I don’t need to change nor they need to change,
but if we have to live together in one nation, we better respect each other’s
liberty to be who we are and not mess with each other’s freedom to eat, drink,
wear and believe whatever we want.

A letter came from one of the
respected organizations, here was my response;

 
Respected Acharyaji,
May the Good in you connect with the good in me,
Namaste!

We met at the Swami Narayan Temple in Dallas; I gave a talk on
Pluralism. We also met at the PWR’s event in Melbourne.

We do support the coalition against Genocide, and are
willing to work with any organization that expresses hate, prejudice or attempts
to restrict the practices or denigrate other religions. We pray and hope that
someday VHP values the great Hindu legacy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbukum. May be you
can lead the organization and fix it to be truly pluralistic; i.e., respecting
the otherness of others in building cohesive societies.
We hope you appreciate our work (a lot more needs to be
updated) we have stood up for everyone. http://standingupforothers.blogspot.com/2012/04/standing-with-hindus.html
This note is copied to the members of the CAG and will be
shared it with the Board of Directors of the Parliament of Worlds Religions.
The Parliament’s decision to withdraw its name as a sponsor
from the event was the right thing to do and the following press release
clarifies their position.
Mike Ghouse, President
Foundation for Pluralism
World
Muslim Congress
(214) 325-1916

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. 

In a message dated 9/19/2013 10:29:15 P.M. Central Daylight Time, ar@hindu.org
writes:

Namaste,

I found your organization listed as supporters of “Coalition Against
Genocide” on this web page:
This organization recently convinced the Parliament of the World’s
Religions to withdraw from a Chicago event sponsored by a Hindu organization
(see news report below).
Was this done with any input or consultation with the Foundation for
Pluralism? 
I asked because for by all appearances the Coalition Against Genocide is
claiming your organization as a supporter. 
Clarification would be appreciated.


Acharya
Arumuganathaswami
Managing Editor, Hinduism Today
www.hinduismtoday.com

 The Parliament Blog

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THE COUNCIL FOR A PARLIAMENT OF THE WORLD’S RELIGIONS REFUTES ALLEGATIONS AND CLARIFIES ITS POSITION

Considering that the Hindu America Foundation is issuing press releases and statements condemning the Parliament of the World’s Religions withdrawal from Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America’s event, it is important to clarify why the Parliament made the decision to withdraw. This press release clarifies our positions.

9/30/13                           Contact: 1. Phyllis Curott
For Immediate Release      Contact: 2. Prof. Robert Sellers
THE COUNCIL FOR A PARLIAMENT OF THE WORLD’S RELIGIONS
REFUTES ALLEGATIONS AND CLARIFIES ITS POSITION

Chicago, IL—“The reason for the Parliament’s decision not to be involved in the World Without Borders event in Chicago was, and always will be, the Parliament’s identity as an interfaith organization.  ‘To cultivate harmony among the world’s spiritual communities . . . in order to achieve a just, peaceful, and sustainable world’ is our guiding principle, one that cannot be adjusted or ‘bent’ because of pressure from any outside organization, whether on the right or the left,” said Dr. Rob Sellers, professor of religion from Texas and a Vice Chair of the CPWR Board of Trustees.

Swami Vivekananda, who was not only a Hindu saint but an historical luminary whose conviction about harmony among the world’s religions, initially inspired the formation of this organization.   The Council itself was the brilliant idea of two Chicago monks from the Vivekananda Vedanta Society.  To remember the influence of this 19th-century holy man, each of the modern Parliaments in Chicago (1993), Cape Town (1999), Barcelona (2004), and Melbourne (2009) have honored Swami Vivekananda’s legacy in multiple ways.  We have organized three programs on Vivekananda in the last couple of years and plan to do more this year including one on November 10th where our chair is schedule to speak which is organized by Vivekananda Vedanta Society of Chicago and another on November 16th when the Parliament celebrates its 120th anniversary. So it is both historic and current that the Parliament continues to uphold an unbroken tradition of acceptance, collaboration, and respect for Hinduism and Swami Vivekananda.

    It was, rather, two of the sponsoring bodies of the event, and its two main speakers, which caused the Trustees to uphold their earlier decision not to be involved in World Without Borders, despite strong lobbying by the Hindu American Foundation to reverse this position.  “As an interfaith body, the Parliament simply cannot co-sponsor an event with political parties, organizations, or individuals,” explained Ms. Phyllis Curott, an attorney and the other Vice Chair of the CPWR Board of Trustees.  Some have questioned the Parliament’s use of the word, “controversial,” in referring to these groups and speakers, but Sellers points out that “the word ‘controversial’ means, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, ‘marked by controversy, or giving rise or likely to give rise to public disagreement.’”  While there may be disagreement about whether the event can be interpreted politically, Sellers asserts that “It is not simply a matter of perceptions or of differing opinions, for the facts are clear and have been verified.”  Here are some of those facts.

 1. A political party is involved.  One of the cohosts of the event, The Overseas Friends of Bharatiya Janata Party (OFBJP) is connected to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India, a political party led by Narendra Modi, who has been banned from entering the United States.

 2. The BJP and anti-minority speakers were an advertised presence at the event.  There are two individuals of concern:

a. Dr. Subramanian Swamy, the keynote speaker of the event, is a leader of the BJP.  A vote taken by the Harvard faculty decided by a large margin to deny Swamy the right to teach at the University since he calls for the destruction of mosques as well as the disenfranchisement of Indian Muslims who refuse to acknowledge Hindu ancestry.

b. Swami Ramdev, “Chief Guest” of the event, not only endorses BJP’s leader Narendra Modi but also campaigns for him in India.

 3. The U.S. State Department has classified the VHP as “extremist.”  Almost every year since 2001, the U.S. State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report has classified the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), in India, with this terminology because of its activities against other religious groups in India.

4. The VHPA claims that Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists are Hindus. Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA), the main organizer of the event in Chicago, states on its website that Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists “are Hindus.”

Concerning this last point, Curott asserts that “as an interfaith body, the Parliament also cannot co-sponsor an event with an organization that does not respect the independent nature of Jain, Sikh, and Buddhist communities.”

The Trustees did not come to their decision easily or quickly.  Numerous emails were exchanged between Board members seeking clarity and understanding of the issues; lengthy phone calls, some between Board leaders and the two Hindu Trustees, gave an opportunity for serious reflection and debate; multiple versions of resolutions for moving forward were drafted for consideration by the Council; a special meeting with the seven Trustees of Indian heritage enabled valuable sharing about Indian history and politics; and four Executive Committee meetings and two full Board meetings totaling many hours were held. CPWR has reached out to the Hindu community, and to the various organizations and faith groups that have contacted us. The trustees have also offered to facilitate dialogue among various communities and faith groups and have been attending and speaking at various apolitical events across the United States to honor Swami Vivekananda.

And all of this labor-intensive research and deliberation, lasting almost a full week, was conducted by persons of integrity, honesty, spiritual depth, and compassion—persons who are respected members of many faith communities, professions, and walks of life.  The Trustees of the Parliament are people who, if we did not believe in justice and fair treatment of all, would certainly not have used our time and money as volunteer Trustees of an organization dedicated to that very end.  They have done nothing other than what Trustees are expected to do in every circumstance in which we must make decisions on behalf of the Parliament—namely, to listen attentively to information that is shared and then to vote our consciences and best judgment.

In the end, CPWR’s Hindu Trustees presented their case passionately and cogently, and it was heard and considered carefully by representatives from nine different faith traditions, who then democratically concluded that the wisest course of action for the Parliament, as an interfaith organization, was not to co-sponsor the event.

Texas Faith : What would Jesus tweet?

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I
have always wondered what the spiritual masters would have done if they
had access to the social media, television and twitter? Of course, it
would have been the norm like anything else in life. If Buddha or any
one of them wanted to go to the next town, the norm was to walk, or ride
an animal, just as it is a norm for you and me to fly or drive out of
Dallas. – Mike Ghouse

Texas Faith: What would Jesus Tweet?

By Wayne Slater
wslater@dallasnews.com
4:05 pm on October 1, 2013 | Perm
What would Jesus tweet? If Jesus were here today – or if Twitter had
been an available app 2,000 years ago – would Jesus have used it as a
communication tool to reach larger audiences? More broadly, would Jesus
have used social media to spread his message? Cardinal Gianfranco
Ravasi, the Vatican’s media-savvy minister of culture, has suggested
that Jesus “used tweets before anyone else.” What he meant was that
Jesus made statements that were brief, punchy and full of meaning as a
way of spreading his particular message of faith.

Elementary phrases like ‘Love one another’ would have fit within
Twitter’s 140-character convention with room to spare for a hashtag.
After all, Pope Francis has more than 3 million followers on Twitter.
And presumably only the most steadfast Luddite would say that people of
faith shouldn’t use every tool necessary to advance the faith. And this
is likely true regardless of faith tradition – Christian, Muslim,
Buddhist, Hindu, whatever the spiritual expression of our lives.

But back to the original idea. How would Jesus have used Twitter?
What would he have said in 140 characters? The Texas Faith panel
considers the question offers some provocative ideas (What if the Sermon
on the Mount had been live-streamed? The clearing of the temple posted
on YouTube?) about technology, faith and the modern world. What would
Jesus tweet?

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

I have always wondered what the spiritual masters would have done if they had access to the social media, television and twitter? Of course, it would have been the norm like anything else in life. If Buddha or any one of them wanted to go to the next town, the norm was to walk, or ride an animal, just as it is a norm for you and me to fly or drive out of Dallas.

God has conditioned us, and it has become natural for humans to understand and remember whole sentences that are “brief, punchy and full of meaning.”  According to twitter, due to the limitations of Mobile technology, one can receive a maximum of 160 characters in a whole tweet without spilling over into a second or third message that pops up minutes later.

Indeed, Moses was the first known man to have received the written tweets from God. Each one of the Ten Commandments Moses received was short, and the longest tweet was 140 Characters without spaces, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”

Jesus’ first tweet was, “Allow it now, for this is the fitting way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Matthew 3:15.  Here righteousness means obedience to God in finding solutions to a conflict.  One of his last sentences was, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

Amazingly the first revelation God passed on to Prophet Muhammad through angel Gabriel, was around 80 characters as well. Quran 96:1 “Read in the name of thy Sustainer, who has created man out of a cell.”

Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism’s first words was, “There is no Hindu, nor any Mussalman.” Meaning, no one is born a Hindu or a Muslim but a human being.

Jesus, Moses, Zarathustra, Muhammad, Krishna, Native American Chiefs and others would have viewed social media as a God-given tool to communicate. If it were available to them, their “followers” would have grown exponentially and perhaps their tweets would have become universal wisdom rather than boxed in for Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindu or others.

Texas Faith Panel is weekly contributions from Panelists about various issues published, and to see the filing from all the panelists, please visit Dallas Morning News at: http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/2013/10/texas-faith-what-would-jesus-tweet.html/
# # # 

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.

Government Shut down – Ted Cruz and the Republican Villains of the Nation

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URL – http://nabsites.net/demo/government-shut-down-ted-cruz-and/

Yesterday, I asked if we have Republicans who have the balls to break ranks from GOP and speak up. I am glad, there are two in these United States of America; John McCain and Peter King. It assures me that GOP is not 100% loaded with a herd, who will do whatever is told them to do.

The American Public including the moderate Republicans like me, are waiting to punish these idiots in 2014, they need to get ready for the slaughter in the 2014 elections. Slaughtering them is not good for the country, but the Public needs to tell them that they are sheepish, and don’t give a crap about other Americans, and are not in connection with the the needs, wants and the sentiments of the American Public. They need to go, we need clean governance. 

time for Republican extremists to be punished in 2014.

A few random notes I made on facebook:

MYTH ABOUT CHARITY

As
a nation, collectively we are insured. We are protected from external
attacks and for that we pay our armed forces, every American pays
through Sales Tax or Income Tax. After that insurance, we have mandated
auto insurance… and now we have mandated health insurance- this is the
for the benefit of all Americans, not just who can afford, but all who
want to be healthy and productive Citizens. We “give” billions in aid to
other nations, what is wrong even if it were an aid to fellow
Americans? Of course, health care is not charity, healthy Americans are
good for America and would contribute to the overall well being of the
nation.

———–
Obama
Care will be appreciated by those average Americans whose loved ones
died or were not given much care due to affordability and pre-existing
conditions. The primary responsibility of the government is the safety
of her citizens, when it can count on productive contributing
citizens… Finally, we have a president who had the vision to care
about average Americans, Republicans have fought hard on every front =-
but their belligerency and fighting the to the end of their life is
insane. Obama care is the law.

——–
There
are millions of Americans out there, whose life is precious – my fellow
Republicans would them rather die because they cannot afford or
pre-existing conditions would prevent them from care… yet they call
themselves pro-life, that does not square with.

Tricia
I am a Republican and I don’t have to be a obedient follower of the
party to be a loyalist – I am a loyalist to the principles of the party
and not the rogue leadership our party is infested with.
——–
Barry, thanks for the note.
COULD
not agree more with you – its a public forum, when we post for the
public to see. If it is a private item, we should communicate privately.

Tricia,
thanks for your note. I don’t think any one is questioning your
intelligence for you to defend it, I am your friend, and I will defend
you. But what they are questioning is the limited understanding of GOP
you have to push others to be excluded who differ with you. Neither you
own the party nor I. We see GOP from different lenses – I moan the
deviation from the principles, you seem to believe deviation is the
norm.

————–
 Just
because the GOP is top heavy with Loonies does not make GOP looney – we
just have to speak up instead of becoming conformists for the sake of
letting it run the the rogues in our party. We have to speak up.. I
don’t see the need to leave the party because of them. I will stick
around and keep speaking…
————
 

Mike Ghouse
A Moderate Republican who cares about America above the stupidity of the party.

Republicans Beware – get ready for slaugther in 2014

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I
am proud of being a Republican, a true republican to call on the
stupidity and disgusting nasty men like Ted Cruz, who I am shamefully
voted. Its almost all the front line Republicans that needs to
slaughtered by the American public in 2014. They are anti-American.

Very
few Republicans have the balls to break ranks from
these nerds and straighten them out. At Least John McCain and I are
calling the same to distance themselves and save their spot in 2014. 

John Stewart gives it to them.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/jon-stewart-shreds-gop-over-obamacare-utter-insanity-its-a-fcking-law/

Mike Ghouse, a moderate Republican

Congratulations to Native Americans of Texas – The American Indian Heritage Day

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Congratulations to the Native Americans of
Texas. Finally, the Native Americans of Texas have a day to celebrate
their heritage. Thanks to Peggy Larney and the dedicated volunteers to
make this happen. The bill was enacted and signed by the
Governor on April 3, 2013. Thus September 27 was proclaimed as the
American Indian Heritage Day to be observed from here forward every
year.

Several people were acknowledged for the work in the
ceremonies held today at the Lone Star Park including Mary Ann
Thompson-Frenk, Coke Buchanan, Constance Hargrave and myself. It is a
joy to see this day.

Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk and Coke Buchanan
of the Memnosyne Foundation have done tremendous work with Native
Americans, not only in the United States, but also in Mexico including
establishing a medicine garden for the Mayan Indians to continue their
medicine tradition to cure the Native Americans. I salute the
foundation for taking this up. Thank you Mary Ann.


On
February 27, this year, I was to give my testimony in the state Capital,
and I could not make it due to my health, however, it was submitted to
Peggy Larney to read it for me.

As an American committed to
building a cohesive America, where every American feels an integral part
of the society, with no apprehension, discomfort or fear the other, it
is my duty to support the H.B. No. 174, a bill to create the Native
American Heritage day.

Every community, nation and the tribe
has a day dedicated to honor that community. It is a day, on which the
community comes together and celebrates it with fellow members of the
society at large, it builds a sense of community and a sense of
belonging and is a source of self esteem and recognition.

We
are God’s own country; we are blessed with every race, nationality,
ethnicity, language, culture and religion. We see God as one, none and
many and in every form; male, female, genderless and non-existent, being
and non-being, nameless and with innumerable names. We are committed
to preserve this pluralistic heritage of America.

As Texans, it
is our duty to uplift each other, so together we have a peaceful
cohesive society where we are no strangers exist. 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.

This
day, the Native American Heritage day is long overdue, with great
humility we need to approve this bill and celebrate the heritage of
fellow Native American Texans.

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

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

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URL – http://nabsites.net/demo/foreign-policy-rouhani-and-obama-thank/

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.

Harassment of Sikhs in New York and Mississipi

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HARASSMENT OF SIKHS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE
Dr. Prabhojot Singh and Jageet Singh harassed in New York and Mississippi

URL –  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/harassment-of-sikhs-in-ne_b_3997899.html

We have ways to go to fully realize the value of our
constitution, it is violated every day. We take the pledge that we are one
nation under God with liberty and Justice for all, and yet we go out and tear
the nation apart on the basis of race, religion or sexual orientation, and take
away the liberty and justice of others.  It is not acceptable, particularly if the
violations come from the law enforcement officials. We have to fix this and we
need all Americans to take a stand.

How many of us value our pledge, the pledge of allegiance?

Of course, the majority values it, but the tiny minority of about
1/10th of 1% of the people does not value any laws. That is the case in every
aspect of life. It is that tiny group of individuals who violate the laws of
the land or guidance of the religions as they did in Kenyan Shooting and
bombing the Church in Pakistan.

Unity Day USA – September 11, 2012

Dr. Prabhjot Singh, a Professor at Columbia University lives
in one of the most urban of cities of America, New York. Last week he faced utter
humiliation. Police said one of the men pulled Prabhjot Singh’s beard while the
teenagers yelled “get Osama” and “terrorist.” Singh, who
wears a turban per his Sikh religious tradition, and is a public advocate for
interfaith dialogue, was kicked several times to the body and face.

Jageet Singh, a truck driver was pulled over by the Police
in Mississippi, and the officers demanded that “Mr. Singh remove the
Kirpan. When Mr. Singh explained that he was a Sikh and that the Kirpan was a
sacred religious article, the officers laughed at him and mocked his religious
beliefs. One officer declared that all Sikhs are “depraved” and
“terrorists.” They continued to taunt him, and forced Mr. Singh to
circle his truck with his hands on his turban while they searched the vehicle.
Finally, not content with this humiliation, they arrested him, claiming that
Mr. Singh had refused to obey an officer’s lawful command.” On the top of
that, Judge Rimes, ordered that Mr. Singh would not be allowed to re-enter the
courtroom unless he removed “that rag” from his head and threatened
to call Mr. Singh last on the docket if he continued to wear the religious
headdress.  


First of all, as Americans we condemn the behavior of the
teens, police officers and the judge, this is not acceptable in our country,
and secondly, we need to penalize the involved and have them pay for it to set
a precedent that this behavior is not acceptable.

What do we need to do in the long run? 


We need to learn about each other, not because it is a noble
thing, but because we all have to live together with least tensions.


Our Founding Fathers laid the ground work for such a
society, “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.”

 

Martin Luther King Jr. said that we should be judged by what
we can deliver, rather than our race, religion or ethnicity.


Chief Seattle, a Native American said this perfectly,
“All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of
the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web, he does it to himself.”


How are we going to preserve that delicate web? What issues
divide us and how do we cope with them? 
How do we allay the prevalent phobias? How do we focus on our vision for
a prosperous America?


John F Kennedy was blunt, “ask not what your country
can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”  We need to channel that energy and passion in
building a cohesive America.  


Every American must feel a sense of security, safety and
freedom. 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.


Last year on September 11, we held Unity Day USA, an
inclusive event that brings Americans of different faiths, or no faith and
races together. In its 9th years, the Sikh community was highlighted
for the outstanding Model behavior they created in response to the Wisconsin shooting;
we also focused on the 1984 Sikh Genocide of New Delhi in our 6th
Annual Holocaust and Genocides event. It was good for the fellow Americans to
learn and know about them, and we hope to continue to do programs to bring
people together, so we can learn about each other.


If we can learn to respect the otherness of others, and
accept the God given uniqueness of each one of the 318 Million Americans, then
conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

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

Two Referenced articles are embedded at:  
 http://pluralismcenter.blogspot.com/2013/09/dr-prabhojot-singh-and-jageet-singh.html

Love hate for John McCain

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LOVE /HATE FOR JOHN McCAIN

When he speaks on his own, he is goof ball, but
when he speaks as Wiseman, you’d love him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb-rwXu0TxY


Here he could not have been more honest with American
Public.  Ted Cruz needs to go, what an embarrassment
he is for Texas, idiot is not in touch with the public.

Do the Republican in the last 8 years, know anything about Americans? None whatsoever!
 I am a Republican and hoping for sanity
to return to my party, loaded with idiots on the top, but the majority is still
sane, I wish they have the balls to speak up and stop Cruz making an ass of himself.
I voted for him, I am ashamed.

Obama care is here to stay, and the Republicans don’t need to be villains of
the average American people. 

Mike Ghouse
Moderate Republican

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.

Dawud Walid of CAIR Michigan blundered.

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What’s wrong with CAIR Michigan’s Dawud Walid?

I have known Dawud Walid and I am completely taken back by his biased statement about the Nairobi incident. I am writing this note to remind ourselves and guard ourselves from making reckless statements.

Walid Tweets, “Israeli Army seems to be @#westgate to secure Israeli property. Kenyans just want this to end but Israeli gov doesn’t really care about them”

Israel has every right to protect her people and her assets.  Look at us critically, how many times have we condemned the Jihadists from Saudi Arabia, United States, Pakistan, Sudan, Egypt and elsewhere, who go to other nations not to save life, but destroy life in direct violation of Quran – Killing one person is like killing the whole humanity.

As Muslims we need to be clean before we ask others to be.

Walid reflects the sentiments of the tiny minority of Muslims who are biased against Jews and blame Jews for everything.  The good news is the silent majority does not like these attitudes; these attitudes go against the spirit Quran – to blame anyone without questioning our own motives.

I hope Dawud and those few Muslims ask themselves, how many Muslims really worry about other people’s lives? How many times have we genuinely condemned the atrocities by others against other people?  Aren’t we too selfish? Do we care about others? 

It’s time we correct ourselves, every step of the way.  It is also time to reflect on our own attitudes.

URL – http://nabsites.net/demo/dawud-walid-of-cair-michigan-blundered/

Contact: Mike Ghouse
(214) 325-1916 – Text or Talk
Email: MikeGhouse@aol.com
Skype: MikeGhouse
Website: www.WorldMuslimCongress.com
Forum: WorldMuslimCongress@yahoogroups.com
Dallas, Texas

Press Release : Muslims Condemn the terrorists who attacked Nairobi Mall killing innocent people.

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PRESS RELEASE 

Contact: Mike Ghouse
(214) 325-1916 – Text or Talk
Email: MikeGhouse@aol.com
Skype: MikeGhouse
Website: www.WorldMuslimCongress.com 
Forum: WorldMuslimCongress@yahoogroups.com 
Dallas, Texas

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Dallas, Texas – September 22, 2013.  Muslims condemn the attack on the Mall in Nairobi killing innocent people with a call for action to wipe these criminals off the face of the world. 


Boston Globe reports; Massacre at Nairobi Mall, ” Islamist militants ambushed a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, on Saturday killing more than 50 people and terrorizing the city. The siege was still taking place on Monday, as Kenyan forces tried to drive the militants out of the Westgate mall and save remaining hostages. Somalia’s Al Shabab claimed responsibility for the deadliest attack in Kenya since 1998. -Leanne Burden Seidel”
 
“Shamefully those criminals called themselves Muslims and claimed to do it for Islam. Did Muslims authorize them? Did Islam Authorize them? Hell no.  They are dirty criminals and we need to get them and punish them.” Asserts Mike Ghouse, the president of World Muslim Congress, a think tank committed to building cohesive societies and nurture the pluralistic values of Islam. 


” As the people of the world,we should not buy their alibi that they did it for Islam, the criminals did it on their own and we need to do unto them, what they did to other innocent people; terrorize.” 

Islam forbids killing another human, unless it is purely in self-defense, and it even forbids suicide, which amounts to betrayal of trust God placed in you.

We the people of the World have been giving a pass to these criminals by blaming Islam, rather than blaming the criminals. Its time we do the right thing and knock these guys out, hunt them, find them and lock them up,  unless they surrender and seek to change.

There is absolutely no justification for killing another human being, none whatsoever.

The hallmark of civil societies is that every resident of the society lives in peace with others. No one needs to live in apprehension or fear of the other, we are all God’s creation and God cares for us to take care of each other.

URL – http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2013/09/muslims-condemn-terrorists-who-attacked.html 

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