Tornadoes Hit Dallas/ Fort Worth

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Video and photo links included below

Let’s reflect for a moment, whether a tornadoes rips through the town, or a flood or an earth quake devastates lives. We do not have time to escape from it. Life becomes so precarious – its here now gone in the next moment leaving behind devastation.

Let’s reflect and thank the advancement we have made in foreseeing the calamities and warning people to save as many lives as we can. Thank God, we are able to do that in the United States.
Thank God, no life is lost, but the damage is quite extensive.
The last time tornado hit Dallas was in 1983-84,  a KFC store went up in the air near Elam and LBJ intersection in Balch Springs Texas, it happened a few hours after I had passed through there. I was driving from Arlington towards Mesquite….Again, I was there two days ago on Sunday, the new KFC was still there… that year was the first year they had introduced the Chicken Nuggets and had eaten there two hours before it was gone.
Thank God we are safe and pray for the safety of every one around us and around the world,
This video has captured the big truck flying in the airhttp://www.cnn.com/2012/04/03/us/texas-weather/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Another one
Pictures

TEXAS FAITH: Is God good?

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God is neither good nor bad. He is like the nuclear power, in itself, in the right hands he is a blessing, and in the wrong hands he is a barbarian. We can make the Bible, Quran, Torah, Bhagvad Gita, Guru Granth Saheb and other religious text to be hell or heaven; it is not about God, but about the disgusting selfishness in us. We need to take responsibility for the balance and not blame God or Religion for it.
Now, onto this week’s question, which panelist Cindy Rigby suggested after she read this column by Gary Gutting, a Notre Dame Philosophy professor. The essay hits on several major questions, but the one for this week deals with this issue: If you believe in God, do you believe God is good? If so, why?

Fifteen Texas Faith Panelists weigh in on this, here is Mike’s take:

If you don’t believe God is good, please explain. 

MIKE GHOUSE, President Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas

God is neither good nor bad, and it is not micro-managing every moment of the universe either.
It is not a being, not a thing, and not an entity but simply the energy that caused a “balanced universe” and functions on the principle of balance, where every component of it is programmed to seek its own balance; both physical and metaphysical.
For lack of linguistic expression, we normally address God as “him” instead of “her.” God only knows what it is. Indeed, we have created God in our own image. Each one of the 7 billion of us has a belief and a perception, each perception is unique like our thumb print.
The Jewish culture expresses it beautifully in a dialogue between God and Abraham to illustrate the point. Apparently God tells Abraham to be grateful. He says, “I created you, and you exist because of me.” To which Abraham retorts, “Wait a minute, you exist because of me. Had it not for me, who would have known you? “
The dished-out versions of God did not appeal to me for nearly half of my life, but in my reflective moments, I believed that there is something that is causing life and death, and systematically changing forms of matter, not necessarily second by second, but according to a well-defined system.
There is a song in Urdu/ Hindi language by the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. It was a signature song for my talk radio show between 2003 and 2005. And it was called “Wisdom of Religion, all the beautiful Religions.”
Our fellow panelist Nityananda Das co- hosted over 100 hours of talk on Hinduism with me, while I did 500 hours of wisdom of all religions. The show opened with the song, “Koi to hai jo nizam-e-hasti chala raha hai, wahi khuda hai.”
There is some energy, some power out there that has programmed to run the world systems with precision; someone who is causing day and night, someone who is changing the seasons, someone who is causing the planets to remain in orbits and someone who gives life and ends it as well… that someone must be God. 
When universe came into being, through evolution, creation or big bang, it produced two major items: Matter and Life.
Matter is programmed to “remain” balanced with a few anomalies built into it. But overall the universe is on autopilot. It is programmed to run with precision and it will. Jupiter, Earth and the moon will orbit precisely, planets and other universes are expanding and shrinking but have their own space, and their own systems functioning with the laws of physics in place.
However, life in general, but human life in particular was not set on autopilot. A new component was added between balance and life; free will and a brain capable of finding the balance.
So this creator or causer of life is about balance. When we are at balance we have found home (God), defined in terms of living without anxiety, fear or discomfort. I believe this was the bottom line message of Abraham, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Jesus, Muhammad, Nanak, Bahaullah, Confucius and all the great teachers.
They manifested love of the creator God (balance) and sought creating cohesive societies where no one has to live with fear of the other. Their intensified effort was directed to get us out of utterly disgustingly selfish interests to the interests of the humanity to achieve salvation, mukti, moksha, nijaat and freedom. Also known as being in heaven.
God is like the nuclear power, in itself, it is neither good nor bad, but in the right hands he is a blessing, and in the wrong hands he is a barbarian (Quran 84:7-15). We can make the Bible, Quran, Torah, Bhagvad Gita, Guru Granth Saheb and other religious text to be hell or heaven; it is not about God, but about the disgusting selfishness in us. We need to take responsibility for the balance and not blame God or Religion for it.
 For the rest of the fourteen opinions, please visit Dallas Morning News: http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2012/04/texas-faith-is-god-good.html
MikeGhouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he writes weekly at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, The Smirking Chimp and several other periodicals. His daily blog is www.TheGhousediary.com

Happy Hanuman Jayanthi – A Hindu festival

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Hanuman is an iconic representation of valor, loyalty and devotion expressed in the form of an animal; Monkey.He is called by many names includingAnjaneya, Maruti,  Pavanputra, Kesharinandan,  Arbiter, Anjaniputra, Bajrang Bali and Hanumat.

Hanuman plays a critical role in the Indian epic Ramayana. It is the story of King Rama who was banished to the forest for fourteen years. While in exile, he remains defacto king, as his younger brother Bharata who was the king, submits to the will of Rama, his elder step brother.
Rama is known for running a truthful and just kingdom called Ram Rajya. During the exile, Ravana, an evil man abducts Sita, Ram’s wife and the search begins. It is here that Hanuman plays a crucial role in the story, he steps in to find the whereabouts of Sita and finally assists Rama in bringing her back home after a fierce battle with Ravana. Hanuman is said to be able to assume any form at will, wield rocks, move mountains, dart through the air, seize the clouds and rival Garuda in swiftness of flight.

The story is about valor, bravery, loyalty and commitment of Hanuman to Rama, it is also a narration of triumph of good over evil. 

Last week Rama’s birth celebrations took place and now this week in April, it is Hanuman’s turn. Hindus honor him for his unflinching devotion to Rama and go to the temples and sing Hanuman Chalisa (songs).

In my town,  a new Hanuman Temple was built not far from my home.  I had just finished my college. It was the initiative of a friend Anjaneya who and I traveled in the train to school. My father was one of the first one’s to donate funds towards the temple. 

Here around Dallas in 2006 or 7, a new Hanuman Temple was built in Frisco, and I had talked with my friend Mayor Mike Simpson to work on getting the permit to the temple and had shared a few tips with the organizers initially. The City of Parker (Next to Plano) had a history of denying permit to build the temple in the eighties and an Arabic school in Richardson in the Nineties… that is all the in the past. Thank God it is history now.

Wiki, “Hanuman Jayanti is an important festival of Hindus. Hanuman is the symbol of strength and energy.  He is worshipped in folk tradition as a deity with magical powers and the ability to conquer evil spirits.”

My dream is to build a cohesive America, where none  of the 312 Million of us have to live in discomfort, anxiety or apprehensions.  More about my dream at America Together Foundation.  

HANUMAN CHALISA ( VARIETY)
1.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYsDtI1QTl4 
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhzyuIeP_dM
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqHiyRxykZw&feature=related
4. 
Mike
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MikeGhouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he writes weekly at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, The Smirking Chimp and several other periodicals. His daily blog is www.TheGhousediary.com

Religion formula

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Here is a Religious formula that needs empirical data to support it. However, if you make a serious observation of your groups,  of people over 100, you can comfortably see these numbers work more often than not. 
Click on the pic to see a larger image

If you meet a Muslim, Hindu, Christian or a Jew and he or she turns out to be a bad person, you can claim that 100% of Muslims, Hindus, Christians or Jews are bad.

And if you meet two of each and only one of them is a bad dude, your statistic is Half of all Muslims, Jews… are bad. 

But when you meet 1000 of them in each group, most likely the following statistics will emerge.

95% of people in every religious group get their religion right
02% of people in every religious group are enforcers
02% of people in every religious group are easy goers
01% of people in every religious group are intolerant ones

The statisticians can tell what a reliable sample is, which will yield similar results no matter where and when you test. This has been my observation of several groups that I have been a part of for nearly 20 years, and  a part of my e-lists that I mail to Atheists, Baha’i, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, Jews, Muslims, Native Americans, Sikhs, Wicca,  Zoroastrians and others.

Whether you are a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Atheist or other… the formula works… Most people do what their religion teaches them to – to be a good human being and few don’t get it. 

MODERATES

95% of people in any group, religious, race, ethnicity, national or otherwise, tend to be moderate and want to get along with every one… and mind their own business.

It is the 1% intolerant and 2% enforcers that make it difficult for every one… and oddly, this group knows the other group that is similar to them in the opposite camp – they both recognize each other and hate the other with passion. No group is free from the three percenters.

Just imagine the previous meeting in your family reunion, school, church, board meeting, office meeting or a town hall meeting, you can actually count the ones who bully others, instead of giving value to other’s ideas. Their usual motivation is insecurity – it is the end of the world to them if their idea is rejected, and that is why they fight so hard. 

As a rule of thumb, I start the idea meetings with an understanding that we are going to pool all ideas, once and idea is out of your mouth, it is not yours anymore, it ours and we will find which combination produces the best results for the goals. Most times it works.

Click the pic for larger image


Deep down all of us are good people… we have to find and stoke it in others, others are our mirrors, we see us in them, and we hate them or love them. I have saved emails from right wing Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Jews and others and they use the same language and identical words. Hope, I can place all of that in my next book. If a right wing Jew looks in to the mirror, he will see the right wing Muslim in it and not the moderate from 95% of them.

The problem exists in the world because we believe and blame others without hard facts. Even if my preacher, my brother, my book, and my friend “tells” me about others, and if it bad, I will trust the friend, but will verify it, after all, it is me who will bear the pain of anxiety. 

My life is shaped by one singular statement from Bhagvad Gita, “finding the truth is one’s own responsibility.”I was an atheist for nearly 30 years of my life, I had walked away from Islam because of the wrong translations of Quraan I could not bear, then the guidance I sought from the knowledgeable ones was not good either. I walked away from religion altogether and had nothing to do with it.  But, that verse from Bhagvad Gita led me to do my own research, and Karen Armstrong’s book Muhammad beefed me up with the desire to find the truth, and thank God, I did. 

Islam is about pluralism, just as all other religions are. Each one of the known spiritual masters from  Zarthustra, Krishna, Buddha, Mahavir, Confucius, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Nanak, the Bab, the Native traditions and many un-recorded masters have all had one singular purpose: to restore trust in the society and bring orderly functioning, or cohesive functioning to it.  That is their clear bottom line and that is what the creator wants; for his creation to live in harmony. 

Shame on you and me, if we draw conclusions about other groups based on the actions of the 1%. Statistically that is dumb.  Let the 97% of the people in that group represent that group. Here is an example of possible stereotyping each other between Jews and Muslims. I am compiling real examples with other groups as well. http://nabsites.net/demo/stereotyping-muslims-and-jews/

I see the beauty, inclusiveness, and pluralism in every religion – just as my fellow 97%ers see it.  Let me be clear –  my religion is not superior to others, that would be sheer arrogance, all religions do what they are suppose to do; make you a better person and a responsible citizen, if you are not, then study your religion again and again till you get it right. But hating, conspiring and ill-talking about others reflects the amount of meanness you have nurtured in you. You will be at peace, if you are wiling to be free from prejudice. 

God bless you, it’s not too late.
Make the U-turn for good.

Mike
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MikeGhouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he writes weekly at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, The Smirking Chimp and several other periodicals. His daily blog is www.TheGhousediary.com

Happy Ramnvami – Lord Rama's birthday celebrations

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It is a Hindu festival, celebrating the birth of Lord Rama to King Dasharatha and Queen Kausalya of Ayodhya. Ram is the 7th incarnation of the Dashavatara of Vishnu.SreeRama Navami festival falls on the ninth day of the month of Chaitra in the Hindu calendar. and marks the end of the nine-day Chaitra-Navratri celebrations. I will be happy to do a presentation on the event. I enjoy listening to the stories about Rama, an exemplary person to model life after.

I grew up in a town where the epic ramayana was played out on the stage every nignt for 9 nights across my home.. and I watched and enjoyed it.

 

Mahavir Jayanthi – Birthday Celebrations of Mahavira

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Mahavir Jayanti is the most important festival in Jainism, celebrating birth of Mahavira, the last Tirthankara ( Avatar) who established the religion of Jainism 2600 years ago.  

Mahavira presented the concept of “anekantvad” meaning, respecting different points of view on a gien subject, indeed, the definition of Pluralism at the Foundation for pluralism is influenced by that concept. 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.

Wiki, “ Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation.  Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state of supreme being is called a jina (“conqueror” or “victor”). The ultimate status of these perfect souls is called siddha. Ancient texts also refer to Jainism as shramana dharma (self-reliant) or the “path of the niganthas” (those without attachments or aversions).”

Texas Faith: Is there too much "God talk" in politics?

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Extremism in religion has always been repulsive to the general public, but seldom expressed with an equal intensity. Indeed, it was the extremism in religion that chased out many to our shores, to escape from the wrath of the tyrants. Those genes are still alive in most of the Americans who are in one way are the other value freedom.


Texas Faith: Is there too much “God talk” in politics?

http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/03/texas-faith-is-there-too-much-god-talk.html

A new Pew Forum in Religion & Public Life survey shows that voters across the political spectrum are growing tired of hearing politicians talk so much about religion. The survey shows that almost 40 percent of the respondents are weary of hearing so much talk about faith. That figure represents a turn-around from recent years, including only two years ago, when polling data showed that voters thought candidates talked too little about their faith.

Not now. Democrats, Republicans and independents all show a growing distaste for so much talk about religion. Democrats scored the highest, followed by independents and then Republicans.

There are exceptions. White and black evangelicals are more comfortable with religion being a big part of the political debate than most other traditions.

But this data represents a serious shift from the past. In 2001, for example, only 14 percent of independents thought there was too much talk about religion. Today, that number is 42 percent. (You can read more about historic trends in this link.)

So, here’s the question for this week, and it is a two-part one:

Why do you think Americans are expressing a rising discomfort with the role of religion in national affairs? Do you consider this a dangerous trend?

Why do you think Americans are expressing a rising discomfort with the role of religion in national affairs? Do you consider this a dangerous trend?
Our Texas Faith panel weighs in – This is a weekly column at Dallas Morning News, addressing the issues facing the nation.
MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas, Texas
Extremism in religion has always been repulsive to the general public, but seldom expressed with an equal intensity. Indeed, it was the extremism in religion that chased out many to our shores, to escape from the wrath of the tyrants. Those genes are still alive in most of the Americans who are in one way are the other value freedom.
Indeed, the Americans are “expressing a rising discomfort with the role of religion in national affairs.” They are tired of the extremism espoused by a few among Republicans. Romney is still the consistent moderate out there, but when the evangelicals ganged up and unleashed Santorum on him, just because he was a Mormon, it made a majority of Americans sick in their stomachs. Not that they would support Romney, but to go against him for his religion and to hear, “he is not Christian enough” was disgusting to a majority of the Americans.
Furthermore, subject to polls, I bet the word “conservative” would be one of the top ten hated words in American vocabulary. It is abused to promote the hate and misogyny in the guise of conservatism.
Much of the hate spewed against “other than evangelical religion” has shamefully come from a few Republicans. State Senator Williams called Hinduism names when Kentucky Governor attended the ground breaking ceremony of a factory in Elizabeth town that created 275 jobs, what should those Christian Republican employees think of Republicans? Pastor Jeffress has consistently said that Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and Mormons will go to hell, as though God has signed a deal with his group behind other’s back. Would God do such a sneaky thing? The blatant connivance is bothersome, since no big name Republican has condemned it, should an average American take it as Republican posture?
I draw on two references; as a moderate Republican and a moderate Muslim, both of whom are plenty in supply but silenced amply, I am in a constant battle to get the moderates to speak up and counter the extremists among us who have become parasites on Republicans and Muslims respectively. All it takes is a few bad dudes to give us a bad label, the pew survey is indicative of that trend.
However, the moderates among Muslims have gathered courage and are speaking out to become the representative voices of Muslims. It is time for us, the Republicans to do the same; to speak out against extremism from within.
Either we don’t have the guts to speak out against the extremists among us, or it just does not matter to us. Well it should matter to us if we have to have a say in governance of the governed, if not, we will be routed out like we were in 2008.
It is critical for the political health of America and stability of our fiscal policies to preserve a simple (not arrogant) majority in the house while Democrats maintain their majority in the senate. Let them debate and fight every penny they spend in our behalf. The monopoly of a singular party in all the three branches produces nothing but bad news for America. As Americans of all hues, we need to speak up.
The independents, moderate Democrats and the moderate Republicans will determine what they will do with extremism espoused by Mullah Santorum and Griping Gingrich. Thank God, Bachman, Pawlenty and Cain were dumped long before they were able to place a chasm between Americans and decimate the Republican Party.
The repugnance of the public comes from their exposure to the extremist talks and it has been a dangerous trend since 2010 Republican sweep in. But I have full faith in the common sense of Americans, who have already expressed their dislike towards this trend.
For all the responses from the panelists, please visit Dallas Morning News at  http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2012/03/texas-faith-is-there-too-much.html
 
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MikeGhouse

 

is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he writes weekly at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, The Smirking Chimp and several other periodicals. His daily blog is www.TheGhousediary.com

Get the hell out of Afghanistan

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The longer we are there, the more Americans we would lose and more mistakes we will make, the more Afghans we will kill and the lesser respect we will earn.   If Obama does not pull the troops immediately, he might as well give up for the second term.  Bush did not listen to Americans and bullied his way through destroying America and Americans life styles with loss of jobs, piling up debts and budget deficit and foreclosures and Obama has messed it up further… 

 Obama needs to heed this report from Reuters today.

Two-thirds of those polled – 69 percent – said the United States should no longer be fighting in Afghanistan, up from 53 percent in November and the highest percentage since the New York Times/CBS News poll started asking that question in 2009, CBS reported. Reuters reports.