Why Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu Leaders Have High Hopes for Pope Francis

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The Yes! Magazine interviewed me, and part of the interview is published in the article below, and the rest of the interview follows the article.  This particular blog is exclusively my writings  however when others write about me, it is included here.

URL –http://nabsites.net/demo/why-jewish-muslim-and-hindu-leaders/

Mike Ghouse

……… 
 Why Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu Leaders Have High Hopes for Pope Francis
 
Leaders from many faiths are expecting better relations with the Vatican under Pope Francis. Here YES! speaks to some of them about why that is.
Document Action
by Chris Francis
As the Catholic Church enters a new era of leadership under Pope Francis I, religious organizations around the world have congratulated and welcomed the new pope, hoping for a new era of interfaith cooperation. Several were willing to offer advice to both Pope Francis and the Catholic faithful that, if followed, could let Catholics, Muslims, Jews, and others better work together for a more peaceful world.

Pope Francis follows one of the most conservative and contentious popes in recent memory in respect to interfaith relations, and he may have his work cut out for him restoring the trust and mutual respect compromised by Pope Benedict XVI’s lack of tact toward Judaism, Islam, and Native American religions.

In 2006, Benedict gave a lecture at the University of Regensburg in which he quoted a 14th century Byzantine Emperor, saying, “Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.” Benedict later explained the quote was for the purposes of the lecture and not his personal opinion. In 2007, Benedict lifted restrictions on the Tridentine Mass—a Latin liturgy banned by the Second Vatican Council that calls in part for the conversion of Jews to Christianity and an end to what it calls Jewish spiritual “blindness.” Also in 2007, Benedict claimed in an address to the Brazilian people that the Native Americans “silently longed” for Christianity, causing another storm of indignation and disappointment.

Pope Francis follows one of the most conservative and contentious popes in recent memory.

“Pope Francis can certainly repair the damage,” said Mike Ghouse, a spokesperson for the World Muslim Congress in Dallas, Texas. By distancing the modern church from the destructive closed-mindedness of the past and admitting wrongs “in the humility of Jesus,” Francis can help restore the relationship between Christians and Muslims, according to Ghouse.

Already, Pope Francis has displayed such humility. Last Thursday, he visited a jail in Rome where he washed the feet of prisoners, including a female Muslim convict. This marks a notable break with tradition, as Muslims are not typically included in clerical foot-washing ceremonies.

As far as Ghouse is concerned, both Christianity and Islam “focus on serving mankind, [and] treating others as you want to be treated” regardless of theological differences, and any violent conflict between the two is “politics” as a “byproduct of fear and insecurity.”

Ghouse, also president of the Foundation for Pluralism, believes the pope has the power to bring faiths together in order to achieve practical goals as well.

“Pope Francis can call on Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Sikhs, Buddhists, atheists, and others to jointly serve,” Ghouse said. “Eventually the feeling of doing good things will minimize the conflicts to the back burner, and people will learn to respect the otherness of others without having to agree.”

Pope Francis might be especially suited to changing education and practice, thanks to his career with the Jesuit clerical order

The Hindu American Foundation represents an inherently pluralistic faith and hopes that Pope Francis will reaffirm the church’s past commitments to respecting varieties of doctrine and celebrating similar values.

“Foundation leaders expressed hope that the Catholic Church, under Pope Francis I, as he will be called, will respect and privilege pluralism and interfaith relations, based on earlier efforts with Nostra Aetate,” the foundation said in a press release.

The Nostra Aetate is a proclamation, made by Pope Paul VI in 1965, that defines the Catholic Church’s relationship with non-Catholic religions. “[The church] considers above all in this declaration what men have in common and what draws them to fellowship,” the Nostra Aetate says. It continues:

    The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in [non-Catholic religions]. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men.

Despite this official recognition of truth in other faiths, the Hindu American Foundation is concerned the Nostra Aetate doesn’t go far enough. According to Padma Kupta, a member of the foundation’s board of directors, Catholicism as a whole needs to better understand religious pluralism and the effect evangelism has on pluralistic faiths if Catholics are to mend damaged relationships.

“Whenever a faith has a mission of conversion, that’s something that needs to be examined,” Kupta said, referring to what she called “predatory proselytizing”—everything from social pressure to conform to forceful conversions throughout Western history—on the part of Catholics. Kupta encouraged the church and its leaders to be conscious of the impact these practices had and have on non-Catholics throughout the world.

“People will learn to respect the otherness of others without having to agree.”

The American Jewish Committee, an organization devoted to global Jewish advocacy, is confident in Pope Francis’ ability to strengthen interfaith dialogue and collaboration, especially with the Jewish faith and community. “There has never been a pope who has had so much personal experience, engagement, and involvement with a contemporary Jewish community as Pope Francis,” said Rabbi David Rosen, the International Director of Interreligious Affairs for the committee and one of few non-Catholics to be awarded the title of Papal Knight.
Considering the new pope’s immediate gestures of goodwill to Jewish and other faith communities, including letters and invitations to inaugural ceremonies, Rosen finds it easy to be confident in strengthening Catholic-Jewish relations.

When it comes to any “unfinished business” between the faiths, Rosen said, “The major challenge is an educational challenge.” Despite a massive shift in church culture over the past several decades, from discriminating against Jews to embracing Judaism as the theological root of Christianity, “there are many places in the world where…Jews do not appear on the Catholic ‘radar screen’ and places where even bishops don’t know the content of the Nostra Aetate,” Rosen said. Pope Francis’ decades working with Jewish communities could provide a greater shift toward universal Catholic understanding of Judaism.

Pope Francis might be especially suited to changing education and practice within the wide variety of Catholic faithful, thanks to his career with the Jesuit clerical order, a catholic order known for their 16th to 18th century evangelism in Asia and the Americas. “The Jesuits had some issues with the Vatican over questions of local adaptation of Catholic rites,” said Dr. Jose Bento da Silva, a professor at Warwick University and author of the upcoming book The Government of the Society of Jesus.

“Pope Francis I is not only a former member of an organization that knows several practices need to be adapted; he himself is quite a multinational figure.” Francis was born to Italian parents in Argentina, where he was raised and served as Bishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio before being elected pope.

Regardless of past insensitivities, tensions, and ignorance between the Catholic Church and other faiths, all agree that “what’s done is done,” Kupta said. “What we need to do is focus on the future.”

URL – http://www.yesmagazine.org/happiness/why-jewish-muslim-hindu-leaders-have-high-hopes-pope-francis

Chris Francis wrote this article for YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas with practical actions. Chris is a recent graduate from Illinois Wesleyan University where he studied English literature and religion while working as managing editor and editor-in-chief of IWU’s student newspaper, The Argus.

________________________________

 My full interview was as follows:

1.   
Given
the long history of conflict between Christians and Muslims and the current
world in which Western Christian culture tends to be especially fearful of
Islam, what sort of actions or gestures can the new pope make that would be
most effective at encouraging reconciliation between Christians and Muslims?



The
foundation for the conflict between Muslims and Christians is genuine and is
irreconcilable, but not out of the realm of solutions. The crux of the problem
is God himself and how he is viewed in both traditions. The issue is the Holy
Trinity V Tauheed (monotheism).

Politics is a byproduct of fear and insecurity. When Muslims outnumbered
Christians through conversions in the 10th century Syria, the Christians
legitimately feared the possibility of Muslim fanatics making their life
difficult, although that was not the case at that time. However, to keep the
Christians within the fold, a pastor in 957 AD declared that “Quran was a false
book written by a false prophet” – those words continue to reverberate in halls
of Christian corridors even today.

Muslims’ strongly believe in Quran; 112:3 لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ
يُولَدْ    (Asad) “He
(God) begets not, and neither is He begotten;” and the unforgivable sin for a
Muslim is to associate any one with God as his deputy, assistant or a partner.
The idea is articulated in many verses including  is 31:13 (Asad) And, lo, Luqman spoke thus unto his son,
admonishing him: “O my dear son! Do not ascribe divine powers to aught beside
God: for, behold, such [a false] ascribing of divinity is indeed an awesome
wrong!”

The above completely goes against the doctrine of trinity, Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit who exists together as a communion of three persons. 
Muslims just cannot fathom that, and Christians can’t grasp a God who is not a
being and not a thing.

Many of us, including me,
who is active in interfaith dialogue has understood Christian belief in Christ
as a son of God, or God in flesh and what it means to Christians, and
respecting the Christian belief without agreeing with it. Unfortunately, most
Muslims do not have that opportunity and are hung up with the idea that God can
have a son; likewise, many Christians do understand Muslim belief in Christ as
a prophet, but those who do not interact take it as an offense that Muslims
reduce God to a mere mortal prophet.

Christianity and Islam are based on diagonally opposite idea of God, however
both still believe in one Supreme God, there is a room  for understanding
there.

There is a greater call from God than reconciliation; to coexist. In one of the
verses of Quran God acknowledges the diversity of his creation, and guides us
that conflicts are a part of the diversity and advises, the best one among you
is the most righteous one among you. The righteous one is one who treats others
as he would want to be treated.

That brings me to the topic of Pluralism. Pluralism is not about appeasing each
other; pluralism is not about converging or meshing our beliefs; and Pluralism
is not about faking civility, but rather, genuinely  respecting the
otherness of others and accepting each other’s path as equally divine. It is
indeed truly respecting the creator for creating us to be unique, respecting
you with all my heart and mind is respecting the one who created you. If we can
learn to accept each other’s uniqueness, then conflicts fade and solutions
emerge.

 49:13 (Y.Ali) “O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male
and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other
(not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the
sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full
knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things)”

Quran further guides;  you believe what works for you and I believe what
works for me, as long as we do not mess with each other’s space, sustenance and
nurturance. Both will go to Janna (paradise) if we care about God’s creation.

It is all there, what is needed is genuine leadership who
can urge Muslims and Christians to accept the otherness of the other without
the temptation to correct the other. 


2.    How can the new pope repair the damaged caused by the previous Pope Benedict’s statements against Islam?

Pope Francis can certainly repair the damage caused by the previous Pope Benedict’s statement. If he has the power, he can make a proclamation that the reference made to the unsavory remark made by the Byzantine emperor will not be a part of future Church reference or a statement. Following Jesus, in humility he can seek forgiveness from Muslims in attending his highness’s place made up of different denominations, to complete the transaction and put this behind. If it is not political he can forgive Pope Benedict as well to release him from the anguish. 

3.    And how can the pope use his influence to bring both Catholics and members of other faiths together to create a more just and tolerant society?

Pope Francis has all what it takes. I pray and hope that his strong background of living a austere life, and focused on poverty elimination, Pope Francis can call on Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Sikhs, Buddhists, Atheists and others  to jointly serve in poverty reduction programs, health care, Aid elimination, potable water and basic common education.  Let each unit be represented by all faiths to work together. Eventually the feeling of doing good things will minimize the conflicts to the back burner and people will learn to respect the otherness of others without having to agree.

4.    In your blog, you say that Islam is a pluralistic faith. In what ways is Islam compatible with Christianity and Catholicism?

Islam is certainly compatible with Christianity in all aspects of life except the God issue of Trinity/Tauheed.

Both the traditions are fully compatible in terms of birth control, pre-marital
and extra marital sexual relations, taking care of the elderly, poor, the
hungry, sharing, caring,  charity and
raising kids with sound religious values. If it is not news, any Muslim who can
afford to send his or her child will invariably send his child to a Catholic
Convent over other schools.


They focus on serving the mankind, treating others as you wanted to be treated.
The Catholic Charities are admired by the whole humanity, Mother Teresa’s
compassion is legendary, indeed, and she is one of my mentors as Jesus is. Then
there is Abdul Sattar Edhi, a Muslim in Pakistan who serves mankind without
distinction.


5.    How
can Christians and Muslims come together for worship and theological study?
Prophet Muhammad had established a beautiful tradition
1400 years ago; as a matter of fact he is the first religious figure to have
initiated interfaith dialogue. He used to invite Christians, Jews and others to
have religious discussion in his Mosque; 
Masjid-e-Nabawi in Medina. One of the famous stories is when Christians
from Najran (Yemen) were having a dialogue with him in the Mosque, the time for
Christians to pray came up, as the guests sought permission to be excused, the
Prophet offered them to pray at the Mosque, as it was not the time for Muslims
prayer at that time.  Of course, the
Christians went out and prayed, but the incident established one of the most
fundamentals of a civil dialogue; to respect the otherness of others.  Prophet knew well that they would invoke
Jesus as son of the God, which was against his own preaching.

If Muslims and Christians can come together and continue
the dialogue on the basis of pluralism, that is respecting the otherness of
others, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.
6     In a
broader sense, how is Islam compatible with all faiths?
Although theologians of all faiths have tightly wrapped
religion in divinity leaving little room for critical analysis, the bottom line
essence of all religions is to bring solace to an individual so he can function
coherently within, and with others around him.

The 2nd bottom line of Islam and all faiths is- to build a cohesive
society where no one has to be afraid of the other. The religions stand on
accountability of one’s action, truthfulness and justice which builds trust in
the society, so each member of the society feels secure.

The incompatibility comes when we talk about God; no God, One God or many Gods
and each one of us is hung up and probably God is laughing at us.

Some of my work on Catholic tradition in the last thirty days:

————–
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 Americaand 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 his work through many links.

Sri Srinivasan – The Supreme Court Nominee-in-Waiting

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This is one hell of happy news for us; it’s an expression of integration, that Indians are fully participating and contributing members of the society at large. Despite the flaws in our democracies (American and Indian), we are the most inclusive societies.

The New Yorker reports this great news: “The next Supreme Court confirmation hearing begins on Wednesday afternoon, April 10th. Technically, Sri Srinivasan is just a candidate for the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, but few are misled. The stakes in this nomination are clear: if Srinivasan passes this test and wins confirmation, he’ll be on the Supreme Court before President Obama’s term ends.”

We have a lot more work to do in India and the United States to truly make it a society, where every individual is honored for his or her contributions to the nation building without regards to his or her religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and nationality. 

We do have bigots in both nations and we need to continue to have a dialogue with them to treat every American (USA) or Indian (India) as an individual to be treated with full dignity without prejudice.


When a Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Christian, Dalit, Muslim and Hindu achieves success, and if each one of us can celebrate that success by draining sewerage out of our hearts that he is a Christian, Muslim or Sikh… then we have achieved Moksha, Mukti and freedom, and congratulations to all those who have achieved that, and those who have not, please do not miss out that opportunity in your life time.
 Mike Ghouse is an Indian American speaker, thinker, writer and a pluralist committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day – details atwww.MikeGhouse.net and his daily writings are atwww.TheGhousediary.com

URL – http://nabsites.net/demo/sri-srinivasan-supreme-court-nominee-in/ 

Texas Faith: Do we believe differently about different kinds of truths?

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I had a hard time swallowing that Moses split the Red Sea, Jesus walked on water, Muhammad put a crack on the moon or Hanuman (Monkey in Hindu tradition) carried the mountain on his palm. Of course, I do believe in miracles now as metaphors to convey a point about the power of faith.
  

Continued: http://nabsites.net/demo/texas-faith-do-we-believe-differently/
 
Texas Faith: Do we believe differently about different kinds of truths?

By Bill McKenzie/ Editorial columnist |  wmckenzie@dallasnews.com  | 4:57 pm on April 2, 2013

What does it mean that we may believe differently about certain issues, particularly about ultimate questions? I’m not looking for a discussion about how Jews differ from Christians or Christians from Muslims or Buddhists from Taoists or some other contrasts. Rather, what does it mean that as individuals we may believe differently about different kinds of truths? How, for example, do your beliefs in history or science differ from your religious beliefs?

This is a more theological and even philosophical question, so I look forward to your answers.

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas, and Speaker on interfaith matters, diversity and pluralism

When Neil Armstrong landed on the moon, I took pride in it against some of my Neanderthalic religious friends who did not believe. My Muslim friend said, it is against God’s will, and the Hindu said, it must be a camera trick. I laughed at them; I was a vainglorious rationalist then, a follower of the father of modern atheism, Dr. Abraham Kovoor.

Neil Armstrong’s words “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” have never left me. Reason and rationality must have made home in me. I believed in science and shied away from mythology. I had a hard time swallowing that Moses split the Red Sea, Jesus walked on water, Muhammad put a crack on the moon or Hanuman (Monkey in Hindu tradition) carried the mountain on his palm. Of course, I do believe in miracles now as metaphors to convey a point about the power of faith.

In the 1970’s, the vice-chancellor of Bangalore University, Dr. H. Narsimaiah, had challenged the famous Sai Baba of White Field to investigate his miracles. But the politicians shut him down.

My mother’s oft-used phrase, “Ashraful Mukhlooqat,” which means humans are honored creatures, came alive when the asteroid hit Russia and the meteor struck San Diego in February this year. CNN carried some thoughtful interviews, and one of them said that in the next fifty years we would have developed systems to detect and divert those loose cannons away from our planet.

I said, Praise the Lord!

In Chapter 55, Quran says, God has created everything, and has scheduled the sun and moon to function for you precisely. Elsewhere he says, look for the signs, you need to manage the planet for your benefit.

My father shared how humans were blessed with intelligence to survive the furies of nature while other species got blasted away with fire, lightning, floods and disease. Indeed, the first species that survived against all odds was the human species. The first such man was Adam, whose evolutionary path transitioned him into a new survivable creation: man.

It’s amazing to watch how religions throw out fantastic theories, and then the scientists go out and prove it. Who would have thought that the Prophet Muhammad would describe the process of baby birth fourteen hundred years ago, and the scientist would prove it twelve hundred years later. Indeed, science beefs up the belief in God and creation.

To see all the 15 responses, please visit:   http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/2013/04/texas-faith-do-we-believe-differently-about-different-kinds-of-truths.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 Americaand 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 onSean 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 atHuffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal sitewww.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links.

What made me go to the Catholic Church today for Easter?

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What made me go to Mary Immaculate Church in Farmers Branch for this Easter,  instead of Baptist, Unitarian, Mormon, Presbyterian, Marthoma, Unity, Methodist or a New age church?

URL http://nabsites.net/demo/what-made-me-go-to-catholic-churc/

For six years in a row, I have been taking the beliefnet quiz about one’s religiosity.  I have scored 100 straight as Unitarian Universalist, 97 for Quakers, 86 for Reformed Judaism; 85 for Neo Paganism; 78 for Baha’i and most others around 70, but the lowest score came for Catholicism; 49.

As a Pluralist, it has bothered me, what am I missing? What is it that makes me score so low?  My score for Islam remains around 74, Hinduism 69 and Catholicism 49, which was 35 six years ago. I figured my lower score for Islam (my own faith) and Hinduism – was caused by difference in the ritual side of religion and polytheism respectively. 

More pictures :http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157633131363627/show/

Three factors contributed to the lower score on Islam – i) Hijab, the scarf Muslim women wear is not mandated by religion, it is a cultural thing, whereas the quiz was geared as if Hijab format worn today is religiously mandated, ii) Sharia, the law designed to serve justice is not divine, it was a body of law created by men inspired by Quran and Prophet’s saying. But since it is human, it has flaws that need updating and iii) There is no punishment for Apostasy or Blasphemy in Quran, even though it is carried out by a few Muslim majority nations.

I had no idea why my score on Catholic faith was less than 70, so I set out to learn and remove the sense of guilt I have had.  In just one month, the new Pope, Pope Francis, the real man of the spirit has extraordinary impact on me; I have read everything about him. He is a true servant of God and I will do anything I can for him to bring about peace on earth, and about mitigating religious conflicts, particularly between Muslims, Catholics, Christians, Jews and Hindus.

God has blessed me to have a presence in every religious gathering including Native Americans and Pagans. The only one I have not been to is the Ismaili Muslim worship.  I hope to achieve that this coming Ramadan.

Few of the most beautiful Catholic Churches I have been are in Louisville, KY – London, UK – Bangalore, India – and Cathedral Guadalupe in down town Dallas.

I chose Mary Immaculate Catholic Church for Easter services for three reasons;  i) named after a woman, the woman Muslims admire and put on the highest of the pedestals, ii)  close to my office  and iii) no one knew me there.  It turns out I knew many including Richard Sombrero of Dept of Justice, and the former council man at City of Carrollton.

I sat in the same pew as the couple in the picture with me – Marci and Mike. She helped me understand a few more rituals than I knew. Even then I goofed up, I was to place my hands on my chest  as I walked in the line, and then stretch my hand to receive the Eucharist,  I just kept my hands folded, the minister and I were looking at each other for a few seconds,  she did not get the signal and I forgot to extend my hand. Any way I moved on there was a line behind me, I wanted to eat that wafer thin coin sized thing… may be next time. I  just cannot believe I did that, and now I know why my score was low on belief-net.

The 12:00 clock mass was conducted by Msgr. Andy Sagra, the parochial vicar.  I loved his sermon, even though he is from Philippines, the way he read from the Bible  was very rhythmic, when he was singing, his songs sounded like the way we Indians attempt to sing English songs in Indian tunes and Indian accent, and it was pleasant and funny.  Whether we (the Indians) recite the verses in Latin (Christians), Sanskrit (Hindus) or Arabic (Muslims), we Indians convert everything into tunes of popular movie songs of yester years.  Msgn Sagar’s songs sounded like Indian songs and I just loved it. Its just not me, even the Priest sings like me, ha!

Once again, it is Pope Francis who has become a catalyst in my inclination to learn more about Catholicism. His Humility sounds like what is taught in Islam to be a Khaksaar, the one who loves dirt, meaning serving others.  I salute the new Pope and I see an emerging pluralist like Jesus in him, and God willing, I will make an effort to meet with him.

Some of my work on Catholic tradition in the last thirty days:

  • I wrote for another Journal – its not published yet, I will add the link when they do.

MUSLIM DILEMMA

We have had some serious discussions on the topic at the face book, and I have summarized the closing as follows:

I fully understand the common Muslim dilemma,
and it is no stranger to me either. 
https://www.facebook.com/MikeGhouse/posts/10152723215125249?comment_id=40528766&offset=0&total_comments=248&notif_t=feed_comment



The
civic and social need to know each other to remove the barrier between me/us
and the “stranger” is religiously guided in Quran 49:13 – The best ones among
you are the ones who know each other and learn about each other. This comes
right after stating that he has created us into many nations and diverse tribes
– God knows that we are bound to have conflicts because of the differences and
security motivations, then he says, the best one is the one who learns about
the other. And I add, If we can learn to respect the otherness of others, then
conflicts fade and solutions emerge.



As
Ismail Bey shared that Prophet and Ali
attended Synagogues and Church Services, I need a reference to consolidate this item.



Prophet
has set the example of kissing the Torah to show (teach) respect to the book
among his followers (even though Quran says that a few Jews have changed parts
of the Torah). Making peace and nurturing goodwill is a consistent and dominant value Prophet taught.



Prophet
was the first one to initiate interfaith dialogue as Moses, Krishna, Buddha and
Jesus did not have that chance. When Christians of Najran wanted to take a
break to go pray outside, Prophet offered them to pray in his own Mosque – the
Masjid e Nabawi. Prophet knew very well that they would pray to Jesus as a son
of God, but yet, he asked them to pray.



I
can recall several more examples, but the point is it is not shirk (
anti-monotheism) to observe and not a shirk to participate.



At
the Church today – I did not say the prayers, there was one short prayer that
was generic without invoking Jesus as the lord, I said Amen to that. I did not
bow, I would have if it was just God and no one but God.  I was there to be with people
to understand them, to appreciate their devotion to the creator; however they
may take that creator; a non-being or son of a God. It is their belief and not
mine.

Understanding
creates respect for the differences. Insecurity about falling into the other
camp creates barriers. I rather have a strong faith in whatever I believe,
rather than live in fears that I might change, in which case, I did not have
the faith to begin with.



I
was in Mexico for a week to visit Maya Temples with my friends, almost everyone was enjoying the drinks in the evening, I quietly drank the Soda or the Virgin margaritas, and they had
their drinks. This is the real world we live in. You draw your own lines. I don’t drink Alcohol and that is my choice, but don’t have to flaunt it.



I
chose Islam to be my religion, not because it is superior or Godly, I chose it
because it is about creating societies where we all can live in harmony. God
created everything in balance (spiritual and physical ) and it is our
responsibility to preserve it.



I
have made a careful choice to draw the line on religious terms and in the
article I made it clear in that article.



Jesus
is indeed a unifier and will herd us all towards the elusive kingdom of heaven,
where we will live an eternal life free from anxieties, fears and
disappointments. The Muslim expression for such life comes from surrendering to
the will of God.



Whether
Jesus was buried and resurrected, or taken up by God, faith in him is shared by
more than half of the world inclusive of Muslims and Christians. Whether you
believe in Jesus or not, his message of love thy enemy, love thy neighbor and
forgive the other will set us free. Can we celebrate that message?



To
this Muslim, Easter represents resurrection of Jesus through his message, and
Easter is a symbolic day to celebrate that message. We have our own religious
boundaries, but that should not prevent us from becoming the Amins (truthful
and trustworthy) of the society.



Thomas,
I hope this eases you a bit. Let me know.



Thanks.
 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.

A Muslim Pluralist Celebrates Easter

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A MUSLIM CELEBRATES EASTER

The first response from a few Muslims would be “no, no and no!” Muslims cannot celebrate resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus did not die, he and his message lives on! 

Whether Jesus was buried and resurrected, or taken up by God, faith in him is shared by more than half of the world inclusive of Muslims and Christians. Whether you believe in Jesus or not, his message of love thy enemy, love thy neighbor and forgive the other will set us free. Can we celebrate that message? 

Perhaps I may be the first Muslim to be baptized. It was an enriching experience to me in particular, feeling the symbolic transformation of the feeling of love towards all of God’s creation. Muslims feel the same upon performance of Hajj Pilgrimage; we become child-like with love for all of God’s creation; life and matter. The Hindus cherish an identical feeling when they take a dip at the Sangam in River Ganges, particularly during the Kumbh Mela.
To this Muslim, Easter represents resurrection of Jesus through his message, and Easter is a symbolic day to celebrate that message.

Continued – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/a-muslim-pluralist-celebrates-easter_b_2976582.html#es_share_ended

Facebook – about 200 comments – https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152723213565249&set=pcb.10152723215125249&type=1&theater

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full story in the link at Huffington post

 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.           

Texas Faith : Is it time for religions to double-down on evangelism?

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TEXAS FAITH :: TEEN WISDOM ON SELLING RELIGION

My teen blurts out, “Dad, if my pastor were to tell the truth that all religions are good, then he stands to lose his congregants to other liars.” Indeed, religion has become a sleazy product to a “few” ministers, who sell their religion to the gullible by denigrating other religions.

 How do you know they are sleaze balls? Here are a few pointers;  i) they make you believe all others are your enemies ii) they frighten you with the end of the world scenarios if others grow in numbers iii) they make you feel good by making someone else bad, iv) all other religions, races and ethnicities are inferior, and v) they have nothing good to say about other religions because they really don’t believe in the goodness of their own.

These few Pastors, Imams, Rabbis, Pundits, Shamans and other religious ministers are in business to entertain the congregants and cash in on their vulnerabilities.These men and women are a tiny percent of every group. 

What can you
do? Ask the clergy to talk about peace and building bridges. If they
quote falsities, they need to present at least three different sources. 


URL: http://nabsites.net/demo/texas-faith-is-it-time-for-religions-to/
 

Texas Faith:  Is it time for religions to double-down on evangelism?
By Bill McKenzie/ Editorial columnist |  wmckenzie@dallasnews.com  | 16:16 pm 3:26:2013

In a Time Magazine essay this week, Meacham raised the question of whether it’s time for Christian leaders to double-down on their faiths. Meacham sees some more aggressively promoting the Gospel message instead of watering it down.

Time included his essay in its annual issue of 10 ideas that are changing how we live. And you can read his thoughts at this link:

Now, Meacham, an Episcopalian who helped start The Washington Post’s On Faith blog, is writing here largely about Christians, who are seeing a growing share of their market lose out to the religiously-unaffiliated. But his question can certainly be applied to other religions as well. And that is whether it’s best to “double-down” on evangelism.

What is your view of doubling-down on evangelism? If you agree that it’s time to do that, please explain why. If not, why not? Can your faith tradition really sit by idly and expect its followers to grow?

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas, and Speaker on interfaith matters, diversity and pluralism

The faith in a higher power brings relative stability, and allows us to cruise through the ups and downs of life. Indeed, religion is a peace-anchor to most people as it offers them a sense of grounding.

Doubling-down on evangelism creates opportunities for the tyrants and the greedy. A pastor I know of told his congregation, “I need one hundred people to sign up this morning to be on my special team, and each one will commit to bring a new person a week to Jesus.” He was counting on 400 new guests a month for a total of 3,600 in three quarters.

His call was followed by a film, showing a few individuals who struggled to donate $1,000 once, but now God has blessed them to generously donate in millions. Was the pastor preying on the vulnerabilities of the congregants to support his life style? God only knows the truth.

Doubling-down on religion has the unstated, but expected consequence of having a larger following, usually gained through denigrating other traditions. Religious Politics is indeed a product of greed, by pumping fear and insecurity into the gullible.

When Muslims outnumbered Christians in 10th century Syria, Christians legitimately feared that they were losing to Islam through conversions. However, to keep the Christians within the fold, a pastor resorted to declaring that the “Quran was a false book written by a false prophet.” Those words continue to reverberate in through Christian corridors even today. Muslim evangelicals are no angels either; they do the same, denying legitimacy to parts of the Bible.

As a pluralist, I believe that doubling-down on evangelism will harm the teachings of Jesus. It knocks out the do unto others teaching. Instead of restoring peace to the individual, it will aggravate one’s sense of goodness by disparaging other religions. And many congregants are sick of this. They move on towards places of worship that don’t denigrate others. You can see that in the increasing number of nones.

If our goal is to create the kingdom of heaven where no one fears the other, then we need to focus on the essence of religion. It means assuring the people that all religions will bring peace, and any choice would be a good choice. My daughter could not resist the irony, and blurted out, “Dad, if my pastor were to tell the truth that all religions are good, then he stands to lose his congregants to other liars.”

To see all the 15 responses, please visit:  http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/2013/03/texas-faith-is-it-time-for-religions-to-double-down-on-evangelism.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 Americaand 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 onSean 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 atHuffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal sitewww.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links.

Christian Muslim Conflict mitigation

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The foundation for the conflict between Muslims and Christians is genuine and is irreconcilable, but not out of the realm of solutions. The crux of the problem is God himself and how he is viewed in both traditions. The issue is the Holy Trinity V Tauheed (monotheism).

Politics is a byproduct of fear and insecurity. When Muslims outnumbered Christians through conversions in the 10th century Syria, the Christians legitimately feared the possibility of Muslim fanatics making their life difficult, although that was not the case at that time. However, to keep the Christians within the fold, a pastor in 957 AD declared that “Quran was a false book written by a false prophet” – those words continue to reverberate in halls of Christian corridors even today. 

Muslims’ strongly believe in Quran; 112:3 لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ    (Asad) “He (God) begets not, and neither is He begotten;” and the unforgivable sin for a Muslim is to associate any one with God as his deputy, assistant or a partner. The idea is articulated in many verses including  is 31:13 (Asad) And, lo, Luqman spoke thus unto his son, admonishing him: “O my dear son! Do not ascribe divine powers to aught beside God: for, behold, such [a false] ascribing of divinity is indeed an awesome wrong!” 

The above completely goes against the doctrine of trinity, Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit who exists together as a communion of three persons.  Muslims just cannot fathom that, and Christians can’t grasp a God who is not a being and not a thing.

Many of us, including me, who is active in interfaith dialogue has understood Christian belief in Christ as a son of God, or God in flesh and what it means to Christians, and respecting the Christian belief without agreeing with it. Unfortunately, most Muslims do not have that opportunity and are hung up with the idea that God can have a son; likewise, many Christians do understand Muslim belief in Christ as a prophet, but those who do not interact take it as an offense that Muslims reduce God to a mere mortal prophet. 

Christianity and Islam are based on diagonally opposite idea of God, however both believe in one Supreme God, and that should be good enough.

There is a greater call from God than reconciliation; to coexist. In one of the verses of Quran God acknowledges the diversity of his creation, and conflicts are a part of that diversity. He advises, the best among you is the most righteous one among you. The righteous one is one who treats others as he would want to be treated. 

That brings me to the topic of Pluralism. Pluralism is not about appeasing each other; pluralism is not about converging or meshing our beliefs; and Pluralism is not about faking civility, but rather, genuinely  respecting the otherness of others and accepting each other’s path as equally divine. It is indeed truly respecting the creator for creating us to be unique, respecting you with all my heart and mind is respecting the one who created you. If we can learn to accept each other’s uniqueness, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

 49:13 (Y.Ali) “O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things)”

Quran further guides;  you believe what works for you and I believe what works for me, as long as we do not mess with each other’s space, sustenance and nurturance. Both will go to Janna (paradise) if we care about God’s creation.

It is all there, what is needed is genuine leadership who can urge Muslims and Christians to accept the otherness of the other without the temptation to correct the other.  

Islam is certainly compatible with Christianity in all aspects of life except the God issue of Trinity/Tauheed.

Both the traditions are fully compatible in terms of birth control, pre-marital and extra marital sexual relations, taking care of the elderly, poor, the hungry, sharing, caring,  charity and raising kids with sound religious values. If it is not news, any Muslim who can afford to send his or her child will invariably send his child to a Catholic Convent over other schools.

Pope Francis is singularly the most influential person on the world stage besides the President of the United States who can affect positive or negative outcomes in a given society. He can aggravate the conflicts or mitigate them and become a Blessed peacemaker.

I hope and pray that he heralds a new beginning for building a better world for the humanity without distinction. After all he represents the man from the Galilee and hopefully follows him in embracing the whole humanity.

As a Muslim and a Pluralist, I welcome Pope Francis,  and make myself available to jump at his call for creating peace in the world, where no human has to live in fear of the others, let the world be the new kingdom of heaven where we all feel safe and secure with each other. Amen!

God willing, through this year, I will be writing on the deep conflicts between different communities.
…
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 aCohesive 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 an
d 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.

Mike Ghouse on Sean Hannity's show about Obama's Israel's visit

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Thursday, March 21, 2013 – Fox Studios in New York.

There were 25 of us, with an exception of three; all were Republicans on the right, including Ambassador Bolton, Congressman Peter King, congressman …… and a few more big guns. 

Hannity pulled congressman Peter King, Pamela Geller and me to the stage. Where Pamela and I jumped and dueled on Sharia. I expressed my support for Sharia expressing that in Muslim nations, the only system of law they know is Sharia, and they know nothing about other laws, and obviously they will opt for the only thing they know. Sharia has of course flaws that need to be rectified and updated, on which Hannity jumped about the 4 witnesses when they can get the DNA to work. If you want to understand Sharia, please go to: www.ShariaLaws.com 

I respect Sean Hannity for not attacking Muslims but the radicals among us, as a principle and as respect to his guest who is Muslim.  I was glad to hear that distinction, I am not sure if it went on the Air. Furthermore, I  appreciate that conversation as every one present there including Congressman Peter king watched us. 

More pictures http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157633066920606/show/

Indeed, who is not against radicals whether they are Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus or anyone. Two men and a woman and walked up to me later and said, that they were glad I took that stand. He said no matter what the topic, Pamela Geller would drives the conversation towards Sharia. He was right, Sean had planned to talk about Obama’s Israel trip, and I wrote a piece about it, and then we got derailed into Sharia.

I’ll be on a New York Radio on Tuesday night to complete the debate about Sharia with Pamela Geller. I get asked by a few MUSLIMS about my credentials, my response is, if you call yourselves a Muslim, you had better know. The prophet expects us to know. There will be bad guys as well as good guys; let freedom prevail, bad guys can do their job, but we need to have enough good people to strengthen the good and weaken the bad.

ISNA 

I made a feeble attempt to clear ISNA from the co-conspirator list on Hannity show in response to Pamela Geller’s accusations.  Dr. Syyed Syeed had shared the documentation with me,  and next time I get the chance, I will do my best to clear ISNA from such charges. 

I am sending a proposal to ISNA about presenting a program on this topic of being a part of the society at their annual convention. I hope our organizations become a catalyst in making Muslims, genuinely a part of the society. Please let me know if you wish to be a part of this presentation. 

My screaming would not change, what would change is for us to be collectively strive to be a part of the society, meaning connecting with humanity on a social level, like attending birthdays, funerals, graduations…. We should not run from any one because they drink alcohol or eat pork, I’m with them and quietly stay away from what is not kosher. I don’t see the need to flaunt that I’m a Muslim.

MY BOOK 

My book is complete and revisions are underway. Sean Hannity read the abstracts of my book in the middle of all this, and I was completely taken back for the amount of time he spent on reading it despite his schedule for the evening. He said, he will talk about this book, and it will have a message to build cohesive societies. It’s about standing up for others.

CAMERA – the battery died on me after a few pics… the studio pics came out of my cell.

MY OP-ED ABOUT OBAMA’S TRIP TO ISRAEL 

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/mike-ghouse/48675/harsh-words-for-hawks-mike-ghouse-on-hannity-show-on-friday-about-obamas-trip-to-israel

FACEBOOK – DISCUSSION 
Between Khalid Ahmed, Mashood Elahi  Thomas Haidon and me, it’s lenghty but makes a few points. 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152705174420249&set=a.10152705174245249.1073741825.851280248&type=1&theater 
HERE WAS MY LAST RESPONSE 

Khalid, Thomas and Mashood, thanks.

Khalid – Sharia is human understanding of what God meant; to create just societies. Its intention was justice, but it has flaws that need be rectified because it human. The word of God (Quraan) is indeed divine, and other words may be divinely inspired but not divine.

In case of Rape, the bottom line was proof, nothing can be more factual than DNA, and there is no need for four male witnesses any more. It will have to change, because it is human.

In case of Divorce, the woman is thrown on the street at the whim of the guy, when he text messages Talaq three times to his wife, she is on the street. Allah’s mercy is challenged and Prophet Muhammad becomes unmerciful to that woman. We cannot call Sharia a divine law.

in the other half of Muslim world comprising Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia, they guy can just shout Talaq three times and divorce takes place, what is divine about it? It squarely contradicts Quran which says allowing three periods – amounting to 90-120 days of wait time, a common sense, which is part of the American law as well.

Khalid you and I may argue that it is not Islamic, but what is practiced by Muslims, becomes Islamic. Have Muslims stopped the above practices? Have the Ulema’s condemned it? What does the general Muslim public believe? Don’t we have the right to speak out?

There is no punishment of Apostasy in Quran, and then we have Pastor Nadir Khani in Iran, Asia Bibi in Pakistan and a number of cases out there. Is that Divine Law?

If we have the space and room, we can put forth umpteen examples, but given the space a few examples are suffice.

Sharia is not divine law, it is a human understanding of what God meant, and its practice and understanding is flawed, not completely but a significant part of it.

When Prophet talks about going to China to seek knowledge, he did not restrict mode of transportation to camel exclusively, he meant using the available transportation. God injects the wise can see his hikma/ wisdom in these examples. When Prophet said the knowledgeable among you can lead the prayers, he did not restrict women from leading the prayers; it is the misogynistic attitudes among men that make us shout that woman cannot lead the prayers. Of course, it is my personal view.

I respect your conservatism, and you don’t need to pray behind a woman, if it were my mother, or any woman who is more knowledgeable than a given group, I will pray behind her. It is common sense, and you don’t need to become a takfiri and shove it in my face that I cannot. After all, there is no compulsion in Islam and no one but the individual is responsible for his or her actions.

Khalid you made attempts to be critical of me personally; I would rather stay with the subject. But I do admit, and appreciate your contribution in keeping me and us on the toes. It is good to have friends who fires at your take on the issue, it prevents me from falling in the pit.

I make mistakes regularly, but thank God, it gives me the opportunity to put a dent in what Geller or Horowitz says.

Mashood, my understanding is similar to yours, “Sharia is based on Divine will but as a body of law has been expounded by humans like you and me and therefore, open for debate and constant change as our knowledge of Quran and the universe grows.”

Thomas, thanks for the meaningful points, and I respect your opinions.

Khalid

I could do much better, and I have done well most of the times, but poorly a few times including being trashed. Last time, I did that to Pamela Geller, this time she was respectful.

The feed back I get from the calls and emails has one common underlying theme, thank you for prompting us to do the research, your challenge that the other side is wrong, causes us to look up instead of taking it all from the right wing media.

As a moderate Muslim, I don’t reject everything said by Hannity, Pamela, Spencer, Horowitz or others, they do make a few points that we as Muslims need to address. As Muslims (not Islam) we have our problems. Most Ulema agree that there is no punishment for apostasy, but don’t have the courage to put their name to it, I have gone through that. Same goes with Blasphemy, the one who speaks get thrown out of their country – like Ghamidi in Pakistan. The Indian Muslim law board is working on fixing the talaq issue.

There is hope, the last decade is perhaps is a decade in our history, that can be labeled as a decade of Muslim awakening. For the first time, criticism of Sharia, apostasy, blasphemy, treatment of rape victims, Hadiths (there are some, which Prophet could not have said it at all) are all questioned in public Square. This is perhaps what Allah means by Iqra, and this is what Prophet said – I am leaving this book behind for you to understand.

Mike Ghouse

Pakistanis celebrate Pakistan Day in Dallas-Fort Worth region

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Dallas
Pakistanis Celebrate Pakistan Day
URL – http://nabsites.net/demo/pakistanis-celebrate-pakistan-day-in/

March 23, 2013 – Dallas, Texas
The Pakistan Society
of North Texas (PSNT) celebrated the Pakistan Day, the day on which a decision
was made in 1940 to create the state, and it is also the day in 1956 when
Pakistan adopted her constitution.
I congratulate Mrs.
Anjum Anwar, the new President of PSNT and her team for a job well done.

The leadership of the PSNT must also be congratulated for bringing stability
and continuance of the policies. In the past, when the new team got elected,
they mercilessly dumped the old team, all their good work was rendered useless,
and it’s like someone winning the war and taking over the country and pushing
the old Badshah aside.

For the last five
years, this association has demonstrated stability and continuance, the
immediate past President Mr. Barkat Basaria was actively participating in the
program to make it successful. Indeed, this has been the case for the past few
successions from Dr. Riaz Haider, to Mohammad Yunus, Shan Ali Bhagat, Dr. Rabia
Khan, and Mr. Barkat Basaria down to Mrs. Anjum Anwar (Forgive me for the
sequence or not remembering all the names). This is a healthy and positive
change that the previous Presidents and the teams remain on the honor roll.
What a delight it must be to serve. 

It was good to see many of the past presidents participate in the event. The
organization is on the right path and I wish them all the success.

Each one of the presidents with no exception in the long past has served the
organization and the community well, unfortunately the old system promoted
hostile takeovers, and the previous teams were side lined and blamed out of
pettiness.  Everyone has served well in the past and deserves to be
recognized on occasions and like this, and I am glad Anjum Anwar
acknowledged most of them.

The problem was never
the individual, it was the system. The new system will fix most of the past
ailments, as evidenced by the upbeat positive event on March 23rd. The
new system is good for the Pakistani community.

The team has raised nearly $275,000.00 through individual donations and
contributions to house a center for Pakistani people of North Texas. Despite  the problems, the trustees have preserved the
money and  will rightfully use the funds for the purpose for which they
were collected: to have a Pakistan Center.  A commitment that the Pakistani community will
hopefully appreciate it.

Congratulations to Dr.
Amer Suleman to start a new Organization called Pakistani American Association
of Texas to attend to the un-attended. The North Texas Pakistanis ought to
cherish that they will have two organizations and many events to attend. Dallas/
Fort Worth is massive area, and there are at least 40,000 Pakistanis living who
will be reached out to.

I urge the community members to put things behind,  and resist the temptation to find faults or
bad mouth others. Please don’t beat up the Pakistani community for these
attitudes, the Indians have done exactly the same thing.  Indeed, you might
serve the community well, if you could tell the bad mouthers to hold it
within themselves  This is what I have personally said to a few, “If
you don’t have anything good to say about others, then don’t say anything. I
don’t want to hear and be a party to the ill-will .” Of course, they did not
like it, and I am glad, I chose not to be a carrier or their sewage.

When we have two
organizations, it becomes entertainment for a few to pit one against the other,
we need not fall for those rascals.  I am asking PSNT and PAAT leadership
to understand that most of us, including me, will treat everyone as our friends
with goodwill towards every one.  Insha Allah, time permitting, I will
attend functions and events of both, just as I attend most of the India,
Bangladesh and a few Nepalese and Sri Lankan events besides most of the main stream
events. 

I request Dr. Amer Suleman and Mrs. Anjum Anwar, presidents of the PAAT and
PSNT not to listen to any one who sows the seed of distrust in you about others
from this day forward. Take the organizations forward and do a lot of good
things the community needs.

My hats off to Amer for arranging the April 7th event for our
kids to evaluate the colleges they may want to consider. Its a good program
indeed.  My hats off to Anjum for turning the Pakistan day speeches over
to the youth. The young lady’s speech was excellent, we have got to turn over
the things to youth and it’s time for us to admire and watch the youth take it
over.

It was good to see PSNT pay tribute to Mansur Shah, a dedicated volunteer and
past president of PSNT. We have worked together on many of the events including
the day of 9/11/2001. He was a great guy and may his soul rest in peace. He was
the first person to write a check towards Najma’s elections campaign. (Those
who are new,  Najma Ghouse was my late wife who served the Pakistani
community well – she passed away five years ago to Cancer). We had a
misunderstood conflict between us, and I asked Mansur Shah to visit Najma on
her death bed, and both forgave each other, that was one of the most beautiful
moments of releasing each other from tensions. 

I am glad to see
observance of silent duwas for Dr. Muhammad Khalid who is battling with cancer.
Dr. Khalid has worked tirelessly on developing the constitution of the society.
We have worked together on many things including the first unity day. He understands
full well what the community needs to do to go forward. I pray his
recovery. Amen!
The speeches were
short and precise. A student delivered a perfect speech on the occasion. Dr.
Arif Jamal did a fabulous job of interviewing many a members of the community,
he sounded like a good TV show host. Mrs. Anjum Anwar went to each table and
met with most, if not all the people, nice touch!
Here in Dallas, we
have a tradition where Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans and Nepalese
join in each others’ celebrations. Perhaps the catalytic event may be the Desi
Thanksgiving Celebrations in 1993, where all the Desis came together for the
first time. It was beefed up with the Asian News magazine that made its debut
in 1993 representing stories from all communities. Then the first commercial
radio Asian News was established in 1996 that brought communities together. Its
nostalgic to me, when Indians would come on my radio and sing Pakistani Qoumi
taranay on the air on august 14th, and the next day, the Pakistanis would sing
Indian National songs on the 15th. There was a lot of goodwill established
during those formative years and I am proud, John Hammond of FunAsia is
carrying the tradition forward with all his heart and mind, thank you John!
Together as Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Nepalese and Sri Lankans, we are
one of the best communities in the United States.
A few suggestions for
the next event:
1. Prepare a full
script for the entire program to ensure nothing is missed out. Every word we
say at our events including Unity Day, Holocaust and Genocides and thanksgiving
celebrations is written up and memorized. You have got to have a script, it
lends concrete ideas to become a part of the program.

2. Acknowledge all, if
acknowledged at all. It is difficult to acknowledge every one, but put a
booklet out, not the expensive kind, but a simple one to acknowledge all. When
you have a book, you will remember most if not all. 
3. Bring aboard
Christian, Hindu, Sikh and other Muslim Pakistanis. You guys can be a beacon of
hope to the world and other Pakistanis around the nation. Set the example, and
bring aboard each one and give them a stage presence – no speeches or may be a
one minute talk (as we do in the Unity day to bring everyone from Atheist to Zoroastrians and
every one in between). 
Dr. Pervaz Rahman had
a good idea of issuing a solidarity statement in reference to the communal
conflicts in Pakistan. It’s a shame how a few Sunni Pakistanis are treating
fellow Pakistanis who are Shia, Ahmadi, Christian, Hindu and others. If the
Dallas Pakistanis cannot speak up for unity and well being of all Pakistanis, then
who will? If ten American Cities can emulate you, imagine what will do to the
Pakistanis in Pakistan.  I understand GEO TV covers such events to promote
goodwill.
Again, happy Pakistan
Day
Mike Ghouse

Texas Faith: What piece of advice would you give the new pope?

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With  a solid following of 1.2 Billion, he can influence people of faith, and no  faiths to build bridges. The Muslim-Christian, Jewish-Christian, and  Hindu-Christian conflicts are deep and irreconcilable, but not completely out of  the realm of solutions. These conflicts are gnawing the communities in their  hearts and minds and flare up now and then in difficult expressions – Mike Ghouse

TEXAS FAITH: What piece of advice would you give the new pope?
By Wayne Slater/Reporter | wslater@dallasnews.com | 12:06 pm on March 19, 2013 

In taking the name Pope Francis, the new pontiff made a conscious decision that reflects two different aspects of spirituality. He is a Jesuit, an order that embraces the intellect, but he also has invoked the Franciscan ideal of care for the poor. One is the head, the other the heart.

The two Catholic orders haven’t always seen eye-to-eye on things – but together they mirror qualities important to any successful faith tradition. Complexity and simplicity — attention to charity and selfless service as well as to doctrine and intellectual discernment.
With the formal start of his papacy on Tuesday, Pope Francis faces considerable challenges within the Catholic church. But as the leader of the world’s largest Christian church, with 1.2 billion members worldwide, the pope has influence beyond the boundaries of the church itself. How should he use it?
What is one piece of advice you would give the new pope? What single thing could he do to make a tangible difference to you and the people you know? If the pope asked, what would you tell him he should do?
MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas, and Speaker on interfaith matters, diversity and pluralism
Pope  Francis is singularly the most influential person on the world stage besides the  President of the United States who can affect positive or negative outcomes in a  given society. He can aggravate the conflicts or mitigate them and become a  Blessed peacemaker.
I  hope and pray that he heralds a new beginning for building a better world for  the humanity without distinction. After all he represents the man from the  Galilee and hopefully follows him in embracing the whole humanity.
Thanks  to the Cardinals for taking the right step in appointing a Jesuit Pope, ending  the age old conflict between the two factions, now they can see eye to eye. It’s healthy  part of repentance and forgiveness to move forward with a clean  slate.
With  a solid following of 1.2 Billion, he can influence people of faith, and no  faiths to build bridges. The Muslim-Christian, Jewish-Christian, and  Hindu-Christian conflicts are deep and irreconcilable, but not completely out of  the realm of solutions. These conflicts are gnawing the communities in their  hearts and minds and flare up now and then in difficult expressions.
I  would suggest a two-track approach to the pope.
The  theory part would be to initiate a purposeful dialogue with each group, with an  objective of learning to respect the otherness of others for peaceful  co-existence. As a starter, the Christian Muslim Conflict mitigation is listed  at the site www.WorldMuslimCongress.com
The  practical side of the equation would entail calling on people of faith (and  no faith) to serve together in poverty reduction, healthcare, potable water and  basic common educational programs.  Let each unit be consciously represented by all, eventually the feeling  of doing good together will minimize the conflicts and nurtures goodwill among  people.  

Pope Francis has what it  takes. I pray and hope that his strong background of living an austere life with a focus on poverty elimination and serving God’s creation will be a catalyst for  the change. He has got to initiate a dialogue in gender equality, same sex  marriage, birth control and other biting social issues.

As  a Muslim and a Pluralist, I welcome Pope Francis, and make myself available to jump at his  call for creating peace in the world, where no human has to live in fear of the  others, let the world be the new kingdom of heaven where we all feel safe and  secure with each other. Amen!
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To see all the 15 responses, please visit:  http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/2013/03/texas-faith-what-piece-of-advice-would-you-give-the-new-pope.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.