Swami Vivekananda gave a new meaning to the Hindu philosophy of tolerance.

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http://nabsites.net/demo/swami-vivekananda-gave-new-meaning-to/

As I was reading the article about Swami Vivekananda, several paragraphs struck me and I am inspired to write the following article.

When Swamiji talks about, “The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist,” He was talking about religion is a pathway to spirituality. I had just responded to Mr. Yogi Sikand on an article about Dawah work in Islam by Maulana Wahiduddin, and Missionary work in Christianity.   
In my note, I was hoping to read what the Dawah (an invitation to convert) was for? Is it to make one a Muslim or to guide the person to become the righteous one?  Same question goes to Christianity, Sikh, Baha’i, Hindu and other traditions.
When Jesus said, “follow me”, Krishna said, “Surrender to me” and Allah says, “submit to my will”, the call was to follow God’s law of nature; to live cohesively and in harmony. It is about bringing a balance and equilibrium to everything we do. Balance is sustainable and extremity is not.
Personally I value every religion, and do not consider the need for any one to change his or her faith unless he or she finds solace in a different faith other than the one s/he is accustomed to. Every faith does what it is suppose to do to the believer; bring peace of mind.  No one should compel one to convert or prevent one from converting, let one choose what one believes to bring tranquility to him and harmony with others.   Let it be an individual’s choice.  What difference does it make to you if I eat different food, wear different clothes and speak a different language?
Swamiji touches on diversity, indeed, because we are diverse we have survived if we were all one, we could have been wiped out with one single disease. Each one of us is endowed with a different thumb print, DNA, eye print etc, so let’s have a different faith as well. To repeat his words, “The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist,”
Conversion assumes a deficiency in the other faith and that is sheer arrogance. However, I would guide one to be a better Hindu, Jew, Christian, Muslim and ultimately a better human, which is the essence of every religion.  Mahatma Gandhi had emphasized the same thought and Prophet Muhammad’s first model of education was to be truthful, trustworthy and caring and he was called Amin by the people around him.  Jesus embraced every one without flinching, and accepted the otherness of other, in fact he said let’s condemn the sin but not sinner, that was the ultimate in inclusion or I call it Pluralism.
The other thought that really touched me was, “Swamiji was in favour of harmony among religious beliefs and against one religion for all.” 
Indeed the Foundation for Pluralism is about that, and the Parliament of Worlds Religion has set the lofty but simple goals such as: harmony rather than unity, convergence of purpose rather than consensus of belief and facilitation rather than structuring.
Those of us who feel insecure about the interfaith movement and fear losing our identity or diluting it, please be assured that the goal of the Parliament is NOT to UNITE religions, but to facilitate a platform to learn about the others first hand and work together for the common good of mankind. 90% of religion is about doing common good; only 10% of it is rituals that give it its own uniqueness.

There is no proselytization element in any of the events the Parliament facilitates. You may love the theme in Melbourne, “hearing each other and healing the earth”. Indeed, that is the need of the day; hearing each other first hand.
The City of Chicago has honored the Swami by naming a street after him, and now get ready to honor the Swami again in 2014 at the Parliament of World’s religions in Brussels. Save the monies and get ready. Insha Allah, God willing, see you there with a topic on Swami Vivekananda.
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Mike Ghouse, President of America Together foundation is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day, and is available to speak at your place of worship, work or in seminars and conferences.

Through the Foundation for Pluralism, Mike champions the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other, and is committed to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam through the World Muslim Congress.  He is a speaker thinker and a writer on the topics of pluralism, cohesive societies, Islam, interfaith, India and Peace. His work is reflected in 4 website’s and 27 Blogs at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

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Reference: http://www.thehindu.com/arts/history-and-culture/article1587374.ece

The story of Desi Americans in Dallas/ Fort Worth

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Here is little story about the Desi* people of  Dallas/ Forth Worth.

DesiPlaza in Dallas is doing a series of interviews of people around the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex and I was pleased to be one of them, here it is in 2 segments, each one is about 9 minutes, if you have the time, please share your comments, the whole interview was done in one single shot and as a result I was striving to talk, I was thirsty.
I thank Dr. Krishna Puttaparthi for hosting this series at www.desiplaza.us. If you speak or understand Telugu, there are a few good interviews in Telugu as well.
I had done a whole series of interviews on my Radio show in 1996 where we had invited the earliest of Indians, Pakistanis and Caribbean Indians as well as Bangladeshis. I have been a part of the Nepalese and Sri Lankan communities as well.
It was followed by religions; Hindus (Pallana [1946], Dr. Prabhakar [1963], Mr. Sharma), Muslims (a couple came from Pakistan in 1952, Dr. Bukhari [1963] Dr. Khan [63], Dr. Afzal [65]), Christians, Sikhs (Late Ike Sekhon [1956]), Jews [1932] I have not seen him in five years), Zoroastrians and Jains (Dr. Kapadia[63], Dilip Travel King).
I am also blessed to be listed in Texas Indians History written by a researcher from UT Austin.  I have not listed all the names of the people who have been in Dallas/ Fort Worth as I am going blank and my apologies to them, and I have met them all. I am writing from my memories without going to my archives. Some day, I would like to write the history of Dallas… I do have over 5000 pictures of the Dallas community, if I croak; it will be in a box that ya’ll can get from Yasmeen my wife or my kids Jeff and Mina.
Shabnam Modgil and I go back to 1993 or earlier, she is another person who can identify a lot of people in the community. Lately, my presence is diminishing as I am looking to serve every American in building a cohesive America.  You can see all of my work listed at my site.
Segement 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCrNhDrFYL4&feature=related
Segment 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLiQeOo9oEs&feature=related
Thank you.
Mike Ghouse
http://www.mikeghouse.net/

*Desi – prounounced as “They-See” meaning the people of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Diaspora.
Please share your comments at : http://nabsites.net/demo/story-of-desi-americans-in-dallas-for/
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Mike Ghouse is a frequent guest at the TV, radio and print media offering pluralistic solutions to issues of the day. He is a thinker, writer, speaker, optimist and an activist of Pluralism, Interfaith, Co-existence, Peace, Islam and India. He His work is reflected at three websites and 22 Blogs at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Defining Cohesive Socities

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I have been struggling to put words together about the spiritual balance in a society and I was just thrilled and excited to read this, it describes my belief in the universal energy and the individual energies that make the whole. Indeed, I am working on redefining sin in the future societies and this one helps tremendously.

I found this pic in the bathroom of Unity Church of Richardson, thanks to iphone and I am pleased to share this wisdom. I will be posting this at www.AmericatogetherFoundation.com and Foundation for pluralism as well.

Who are the Rebels in Libya, my talking points on Hannity

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http://nabsites.net/demo/who-are-rebels-in-libya-my-talking/

Who are the Rebels in Libya, my talking points
Mike Ghouse on Hannity Show.

The commanders are having difficulty identifying the Gaddaffi loyalists, as all of them are in civil clothing.
The intelligence sources are finding an easy way out to “guess” Al Qaeda and Hezbollah among rebels.

President Reagan’s wisdom echoes in my ears, “Trust but verify,” we need to quit guessing and blunder as we did with WMD and Iraq. 

If we cannot aim target Gaddafi, we should not fire.
Caution is preferable to blind shooting; we are not there to shoot, but there to protect the civilians from the massacre. 
Throwing Gaddafi is the responsibility of the Libyans and not ours, we are there to prevent a massacre and NOT to fight for them.

It would be wrong for us to take the responsibility and deprive the Libyans the freedom they would have earned, cherished and worked to preserve it. They should own their freedom; it is theirs to be had. We should be no more than a catalyst.

We need to demand the NATO commander to produce verifiable information to be certain that Al Qaeda and Hezbollah are with the rebels. We should not simply be nincompoops to buy what is dished out. The media needs to question every thing to the point of harassment. Truth is more important.

The usage of the phrase Allahu Akbar, which is God is great is common among Muslims, the Al-Qaida Gang uses it and it is used when the Green bay Packers won the super bowl.  When your Jewish friends little girl kicks the goal in soccer, Allahu Akbar is said out loud.
Muslims routinely use the words like Allahu Akbar to appreciate things and not necessarily as a battle cry. They seek refuge in a higher power. In the Libyan context, it simply means God is great, Gaddaffi is not.
It does not mean they are Al-Qaida or Hezbollah; there are rumors that Israel is helping Gaddaffi with mercenaries as well. None of this must be believed blindly.

Neither CIA nor Mossad had inkling about it, and whatever they mustered to cook up, they did. Even the day before Mubarak resigned, their information was not accurate. 

President Reagan had called the same Al-Qaeda Mujahedeen, the heroes; they were paid by us to fight the Russians. In case of Libya, they people are battling with Gaddaffi for freedom.

President Reagan’s missile nearly missed Gaddaffi, why can’t we focus on getting this one guy out… just this guy out; every one of his loyalists will disperse once the chief is gone.
We have an opportunity to regain our dignity we lost in Iraq and Afghanistan by targeting the civilians; we have to be an example to the world in civility. We should resist all the temptations to act like them, trigger happy.  
Mike Ghouse

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Freelance jihadists’ join Libyan rebels
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/mar/29/1000-freelance-jihadists-join-libyan-rebels/?page=3

Did the King James Version of the Bible change the world?

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Did the King James Version of the Bible change the world?  Bill McKenzie of Dallas Morning News asks this question, here is my take:

Even if Jesus, Muhammad, Krishna, Buddha, Confucius, Moses and the others had the opportunity to print the holy books when they began their missions, the Bible and the Qur’aan would have remained the most influential books in changing the world.
Both the books inspire the followers to believe that the word of God must be spread to all corners of the world. Even though Buddhism was taken up by Asoka, one of the greatest kings of his time who sent emissaries around the world to preach the word of enlightenment, it did not add adherents as fast as the other two perhaps because it addressed the enlightenment within an individual whereas community building was the focus of Christianity and Islam. Since Hinduism does not have the conversion component, it still remains in the top slot mainly because it is one of the oldest religions.
As a pluralist who believes in the divinity of all religions as the pathways to becoming part of the larger energy called God, I believe Qur’aan seems to be the book that leads the pack in changing the world, while the Bible runs toe to toe for many reasons; the biggest of all the reasons was reliance on the book.
Prophet Muhammad was crystal clear in his last sermon, to paraphrase him, “O People, I am leaving this book and my practices to you, that is all you need to know to lead a moral life, and you cannot go wrong with it if you follow them.” The responsibility to be a good human being was placed directly on shoulders of the individuals and hence reliance on the book.
Neither Jesus nor Muhammad encouraged the establishment of clergy; it was between the individual and the creator. Indeed, many Christians and Muslims refer to the book more frequently than the followers of other religions. The profession of clergy was bound to happen with a need for getting the word of God out.
The Muslim prayers require one to recite at least a few chapters during the prayers and without an exception every one of the 1.6 billion Muslims can recite at least five chapters, and about 5% of the Muslims have memorized the whole Qur’aan; word for word.
The phrase “People of the book” was indeed coined by Prophet Muhammad, meaning those who follow a book to live a moral life. The emphasis was on the book. The King James Version of the Bible certainly became available to the masses bolstered by the printing press and it will continue to be number one book in hands of the people.
A majority of Muslims, if not all, start every activity of their day by invoking the blessing of God and place themselves under the trust of God. As a result I place Qur’aan as the book that has changed most people.
Mike Ghouse
www.MikeGhouse.net
12 Opinions including mine are included in this piece at Dallas Morning News;
http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/texas-faith-did-the-king-james.html  

A challenge to Muslims, are we fit to be Americans?

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The answer is obvious most of us are,  and those who are not need to catch up, it is your home, your nation and your permanent address, most likely you will be buried here, you can be rest assured that you grave will remain untouched for centuries.
We need to protect and defend the very culture that allowed us to be who we are and who we want to be. Other than democracies only the privileged achieve their dreams. America has welcomed us, embraced us and we need to do our part; to be active participants and contributors towards the peace, security and prosperity of our nation.
A decade ago, I had challenged the ‘excuse producers’ among us that the Jews control the media. I said baloney to that and took upon the challenge to prove it otherwise. Thank God a bunch of us formed MRRP Muslim Rapid Response Team in February 2005 and fired off letters to the media and received the coverage, and at least the public got to hear a different point of view when accusations were leveled against the Mosque in Richardson including Imam Zia Kavakci.

I was told that an Indian Muslim can never be the Prime Minister of India, I said baloney to that and experimented forming Dallas Indians group with 1700 Members in it, literally every  “who is who” among Indians is a part of the group,  with about 25 Muslims in the group.  As long as we are fair and represent all Indians, any Indian can be the Prime Minister of India; the blood of democracy runs through our veins and we are inherently democractic by nature., ofcourse, I am talking about a majority of the Indians of all hues.

We assume that we will not be given a space in the conservative media, I said baloney to that and wrote articles in conservative magazines including the front page, where in I have called Spencer “misinformed” and he has published it under the title “One Islam”. Been on Sean Hannity, a tough battlefield where we will not be given the space. Over a period of one year and 20 appearance on his show and 16 on his nationally syndicated radio show, I have moved from being slaughtered (a few Muslims actually liked it) to being assertive to get my words as the last words.  I have told Hannity that he was wrong and have been aggressive with Brigitte Gabrielle, Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller and have called on them to tell the truth to the American People. Hannity and I seldom agree but we value our right to have that opinion. 

Why am I writing this?
It is to encourage a few among us to spend the time in getting in to the media and changing the false perceptions about Islam and Muslims. We can do it, if we quit wasting time on things that don’t matter in the discussion groups. We spend too much time on debating the rituals.
I am writing this particularly to those who aggressively call this note “self glorification”. I am challenging your capabilities to get out and do something, what holds you?  I know you can do it better than most of us, but you have to quit back biting and focus on producing something substantial. 
Thank God, I have authored over 1000  published articles on Islam and Pluralism in papers such as Tehran Times, Arab News, Jakarta post and even a paper in Somalia… and of course several ones in the United States including Washington post, Huffington and few other including my home town paper, Dallas Morning News.  It has been translated into Arabic and now some in Indonesian.
I have introduced a few aspects of Islam in most of the generic pieces I write; the articles are not about Islam, but about the society in general and have added the Islamic take on issues. I was told that non-Muslims have come to appreciate the little knowledge here and little there about Islam and aborbing the positive values of Islam one at at time, while a few Muslims have appreciated learning about the wisdom of other religions.  We are all part of the large familiy of religions and we must know each other (Q 49:13).
Here is a list of 25 ( of the 33) articles I have written along with others in Dallas Morning news in the last six months, please log in and respond to the notes, have your presence in every aspect of the society.   
  1. TEXAS FAITH: Did the King James Version of the Bible change the world?
http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/texas-faith-did-the-king-james.html
  1. Texas Faith: Should women be required to have a sonogram before undergoing an abortion?
http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/texas-faith-do-you-approve-of.html
  1. TEXAS FAITH: What to make of Rep. Peter King’s hearings into Muslim American radicalization?
http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/texas-faith-what-to-make-of-re.html
  1. TEXAS FAITH: How do we keep the debt from limiting the future of younger Americans?
http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/post-94.html
  1. TEXAS FAITH: Will Facebook kill the church?
http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/texas-faith-will-facebook-kill.html
  1. TEXAS FAITH: The Blessings and Burdens of Life Online
    http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/02/post-93.html
  1. TEXAS FAITH: Religious institutions and assimilating immigrants
    http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/02/texas-faith-religious-institut.html
  1. TEXAS FAITH: How would you advise President Obama on dealing with leaders like Hosni Mubarak?
http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/02/texas-faith-how-would-you-advi.html
  1. TEXAS FAITH: What’s the role of religious faith when there are no good choices?
    http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/02/texas-faith-whats-the-role-of-2.html
  1. TEXAS FAITH: What can religious groups do to help along the Mexican border?
     http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/01/texas-faith-what-can-religious.html
  1. TEXAS FAITH: Why do some religious affiliations produce more political leaders?
    http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/01/texas-faith-why-do-some-religi.html
  1. TEXAS FAITH: What do you do when you see someone showing signs of mental deterioration?
    http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/01/texas-faith-what-do-you-do-whe.html
  1. TEXAS FAITH: Which religion stories merited more and better coverage?
    http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/01/texas-faith-which-religion-sto.html
  1. Texas Faith: Why not worry about your theology?
    http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/12/texas-faith-why-not-worry-abou.html
  1. TEXAS FAITH: How should chaplains deal with Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal?
    http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/12/texas-faith-how-should-chaplai.html
  1. TEXAS FAITH: Was Oklahoma out of line with Sharia amendment?
    http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/11/texas-faith-was-oklahoma-out-o.html
  1. TEXAS FAITH: How do you view God?
    http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/11/texas-faith-how-do-you-view-go.html
  1. TEXAS FAITH: Why does fear sell on the campaign trail?
    http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/11/texas-faith-why-does-fear-sell.html
  1. TEXAS FAITH: Does firing Juan Williams improve our understanding of religious diversity?
    http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/10/does-the-firing-of-juan-willia.html
  1. TEXAS FAITH: Should Christians (and other non-Hindus) beware of yoga?
    http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/10/texas-faith-should-non-hindus.html
  1. TEXAS FAITH: Why do our faiths shape some political views, but not others?
    http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/10/texas-faith-why-do-our-faiths.html
  1. TEXAS FAITH: Why is there such a lack of religious knowledge?
    http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/10/texas-faith-pew-forum-study-on.html
  1. TEXAS FAITH: Why do we pray for Christopher Hitchens?
    http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/09/texas-faith-why-do-we-pray-for.html
  1. TEXAS FAITH: Should faithful focus on charity or justice?
    http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/09/texas-faith-should-faithful-fo.html
  1. Texas Faith: What religion stories should the media focus on?
    http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/09/texas-faith-the-media-and-reli.html
Mike Ghouse, President of America Together foundation is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day, and is available to speak at your place of worship, work or in seminars and conferences.
Through the Foundation for Pluralism, Mike champions the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other, and is committed to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam through the World Muslim Congress.  He is a speaker thinker and a writer on the topics of pluralism, cohesive societies, Islam, interfaith, India and Peace. His work is reflected in 4 website’s and 27 Blogs at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

The Ghouse Anniversary in Smokey Mountains

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Our Anniversary in Smokey Mountains (March 26, 2011)
Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157626250800093/

We chose Pigeon Forge resort in the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee to spend our anniversary weekend. They named the Cabins with amazing names, ours was “changes in latitude” that sat on the ridge of the mountain with a winding road leading up to it. An amazing place with paradise like weather…the temperature was around 43F with Fog and clean air to breathe.
The town of Pigeon forge is designed for full family entertainment with amusement parks for Children; even the Comedy Barn was for the whole family. It was a different comedy with audience participation including several six year olds… I like that clean family environment out there. It was houseful with perhaps 2500 people capacity.
Gatlinburg is a town next door surrounded by the smoke (fog) covered mountains; the other town was Sevierville with lots of shopping. One single street stretches for 10 miles and runs through the Cities like a landing strip; it has shops, hotels, restaurants, amusement parts on either side of the street. Dollywood theme park on the north side is named after Dolly Parton.
Being a tourist destination, the place was truly cosmopolitan, the T shirt store was owned by an Israeli, the knick knack store by a Korean, another store by a Russian, jewelry store was run by an Uzbek lady, plenty of Chinese stores and we ran into an Indian store as well. It was fun to hear that many accents and the openness of the people, Yasmeen thought the people were friendly… Lots of places to eat, we ate at a Thai, and enjoyed the Bang shrimp at Bull fish, there was poor food at some Ribs place, we ended eating grilled Salmon after returning two dishes of Ribs… there was incredible shopping center called Tanger on Sevierville and I believe every major name brand shop was there.
The uphill drive to the Cabin was incredible… I recall my frozen knees whenever I go up the hill, this time, I had zero acrophobia, even when we rode on the air tram that carried over the hill for about 2 KM, I did not feel my knees freezing… it is quite a change for me to drive up the hill and ride the tram without discomfort.
Way back, we pulled over in Jacksboro Tennessee to eat Japanese food; it was one of the smallest farming towns with two lakes and three Japanese restaurants that were odd but good. Two men were eating in three piece suits… I talked to them, one of them was Editor of the Local Newspaper, a Polish American immigrants and the other one was a insurance agent from Germany, both have made home in Jacksboro. We chatted about Murfreesboro issues and perhaps we may hold a conference on Sharia Law there in that town, if he sponsors. He was receptive to the idea of building a cohesive America that I am working through America together Foundation. By the way, the offer is open to your town also, we have to work to mitigate pitting one American against the other, and we have to work towards a cohesive America.
It was a blessed time for both of us, and we are happy to be back home. On the way in I drove and took 7 hours, way back Yasmeen did it in five hours. It was all the way through Mountains till Lexington, Kentucky.
Quiz – Yasmeen has lived in Kentucky for nearly 18 years, and she has not stepped in to KFC – Kentucky Fried Chicken yet! I have had KFC in Saudi Arabia (1978), India, UK and everywhere in the US… next time, we will go to KFC, deal! Their Chicken Pie is fabulous!

Mike Ghouse
http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Muslims condemn today’s attack on the Bus in Jerusalem.

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PRESS RELEASE
March 23, 2011, Dallas, Texas
Muslims condemn today’s attack on the Bus in Jerusalem.
The world Muslim Congress strongly condemns the attack on the bus in Jerusalem as well as the resumption of the rocket attacks on the civilian population. We pray for God’s blessing for the victims and their families.
“It is the responsibility of the Palestinians to speak out and stand up against the few who are tarnishing the peace process” Mike Ghouse, President of the World Muslim Congress and the Foundation for Pluralism adds; “please find the individuals who are responsible for this horrendous crime and bring justice to the victims and their families. They are your real enemies and are bent on destroying the future of your children by their irresponsible malicious acts”.
Killing one human being is like killing the whole humanity, says the Torah and Quraan and its corollary, and saving one life is like saving the whole humanity. And both Muslims and Jews have to listen to God, there is wisdom in it.
I ask the Israelis to arrest the temptation to take revenge, only the one with power can stop the cycle, and let terrorism not force you out the path of peace.”
Mike Ghouse
World Muslim congress
Foundation for Pluralism
2665 Villa Creek Dr, Suite 206, Dallas, TX 75234
Email: MikeGhouse@gmail.com
(214) 325-1916

Senator Durbin to hold hearings on civil rights of Muslims.

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PRESS RELEASE
Americans and Muslims together welcome Senator Durbin’s initiative to hold hearings on civil rights of Muslims.
Dallas, March 23, 2011
Mike Ghouse, President of America Together Foundation, welcomes the initiative of Sen. Dick Durbin’s announcement to hold hearings in to the civil rights of American Muslims.
No American has to live in anxieties, discomfort or fear of the other.  It is in the interests of every Patriotic American to work for a cohesive society where we focus on being a catalyst to each others’ well being, safety and prosperity.
The organization will focus on bringing Americans together with a series of educational programs to address the critical issues facing our nation in an open forum to find pluralistic solutions to restore the cohesiveness of our society and work towards building a safe and secure America.
America Together foundation is an extension of the Foundation for Pluralism championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other, and World Muslim Congress committed to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam.
We hope the hearings will focus on the Civil rights of Muslim Americans and bring justice and hope to fellow Americans.
Mike Ghouse, President
America Together Foundation, committed to building cohesive societies
http://www.americatogetherfoundation.com/

2665 Villa Creek Dr, suite 206

Dallas, TX 75234

(214) 325-1916
# # #
US Sen. Dick Durbin announces plans for hearings into the civil rights of American Muslims
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/fe2fe9670c2845c49c9f1d4cc00ff357/IL–Durbin-Muslim-Civil-Rights/
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin has announced plans to hold congressional hearings on the civil rights of American Muslims.
The assistant Senate majority leader said the hearings will be held Tuesday at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington. The hearing will be held before the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights.
In announcing the hearing, the Illinois Democrat said the Constitution protects the free exercise of religion for all Americans. In noting a spike in anti-Muslim bigotry, Durbin added it is important for the current generation to renew the founding fathers’ commitment to religious diversity.
Durbin’s proposed hearing follows that earlier this month of New York Rep. Peter King of the House Homeland Security Committee, who said he was looking Muslim extremism in the U.S.

Texas Faith: Should women be required to have a sonogram before undergoing an abortion?

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In Texas, state legislators are wrangling over legislation that would require doctors to perform a sonogram on a woman seeking an abortion. There are various technical differences between the House and Senate versions of this legislation, but neither bill would explicitly require a woman to look at the sonogram.
Naturally, this proposal has sparked considerable debate. Some say that we should take extra steps to protect life, even if it means requiring a sonogram, which reports in this newspaper suggest are done by abortion providers in nearly all cases. Others see this as an infringement on the liberties of the woman in question. They also argue that the bill is aimed at humiliating women.
 William McKenzie of Dallas Morning News poses the questions. “Is requiring a woman to have a sonogram before having an abortion the correct move or an incorrect one? Please explain your reasons ” How do you see this?
This is a weekly column from Dallas Morning News, 12 opinions are presented at this link  http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/texas-faith-do-you-approve-of.html
MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas
 Life is about choices; you bear the emotional, physical and spiritual burden for the wrong choices you make or enjoy the life with least conflicts. Humans are the only species equipped with a device called conscience that monitors the mechanism of releasing pain or pleasure to the individual based on the choices he or she makes.
Conscience is a dynamic term constantly expanding its range of acceptability from what the societies set up as a benchmark to the free choices one wants to exercise.
Women have come a long way in regaining their freedom to choose from the patriarchal societies where men had set their boundaries on the issue of abortion. Even today in pockets of China, India and several societies, female infanticide is carried on without apparent remorse, whereas aborting a child in religious societies particularly among Muslims, Catholics and other denominations is strictly forbidden.
There is a revolutionary as well as an evolutionary process of benchmarking the conscience. Some 1400 years ago female infanticide was a common place in the Middle East and Prophet Muhammad turned that around in his life time, calling the female child as God’s blessing, the Catholic Church had pioneered that position and Mahatma Gandhi used a similar approach in terming the hitherto ‘untouchables’ as God’s chosen people, those were revolutionary changes.
As Americans we have set ourselves on the evolutionary path of consensus building, and benchmarking the conscience has been a struggle for us and the issue of abortion remains in the domain of civil societies. We value life regardless of where we stand on abortion and sonogram is one more effort to ask the carrier of fetus to reconsider her choice to be absolutely certain that she is not aborting a life consciously; the pains of carrying through may outweigh the pain of aborting.
Although we are a religiously dominated society, our governance is not. We need to guard ourselves in making decisions based on the needs of today over the burdens of temptations of imposing majority views on those who differ. We need to do a fresh study on abortion remorse and not rush through this, let’s evolve and let’s not lose our basic human value; choice.
This is a weekly column from Dallas Morning News, 12 opinions are presented at http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/texas-faith-do-you-approve-of.html