Burqa Ban – Hannity, Gabrielle and Ghouse on Fox TV
On Hannity Show June 29, 2010

Each one of us can spread the beauty of living a bias free life.

Just wanted to share the biggest lesson my Dad taught me was to be free from Prejudice. In a time when caste system (India in 50’s and 60’s) was prevalent, where the “untouchables” were not allowed in homes… My mom made tea and we shared the tea in the same cups and ate the food in the same plates inside our homes. We sat on the same mat (floor covering).

No one was ever looked down by my parents. And whenever there were clashes between the communities over silly things…they pointed to the individuals causing it and offered an alternative that could prevent a repeat, but they never blamed a group. … Read More

I am greatful to them for freeing me from bias and thank God, my kids are free from it and they are on a similar mission.
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We have a lot of work to do to free the society from bias and prejudices. We have come a long way, and far more to go.

Martin Luther King liberated us from a huge burden of racial bias, and now we need movies and forums to raise awareness of the very basic American value ; Life and respect for others life. The murder of Abortion Doctor was a shame… We need to rope in our religious leaders to bring about a gradual and sustainable change…. Read More

We have to learn to Live and Let live and accept the otherness of other, and as individuals we need to continue to stoke the american values of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
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Treatment of any human being with less than full dignity shrinks the spirit of goodness within each one of us, the way the African Americans were treated “whites only” was a moral drain on the psyche of the society. MLK lifted that burden off us by taking a courageous stand against what it appeared to be the norm of the society, that others didn’t dare to speak out. The singular goal he pursued was worth living and he gave his life for it. I express my gratitude to him for liberating us from such in-human and ir-religious attitudes.

Of course every day is father’s day, but once you have your own nucleus of a family, father’s day becomes special. My father was very special to me and I am blessed with his infinite affection to last for my life time, and I deeply feel for those who did not have one.

There are many of us out there who grew up without a father, or if we had one, he was not there for us. I feel the pain and incompleteness one feels and I extend that fatherly affection to you, even if you don’t know me, I hope you feel the energy, I am with you. You are welcome to call me to chat for a few moments. This father’s day belongs to my kids and you; you could be of any age.

God (causer/creator/she/it) has programmed us to be adaptable, what we miss in a father, we may find in a Mother, an older brother, uncle or a friend. My heart goes out to those of you who have had an abusive father, and I want you to know that God may have appeared to be cruel to you at times, but you endured it and your rewards with the lord would be bountiful, spiritually you are ahead of most of us. Indeed, you are truly blessed by God to experience the pain just as Jesus had endured it for the humanity.

Continued: http://mikeghouseforamerica.blogspot.com/2010/06/happy-fathers-daughters-and-sons-day.html

Thank God all the bad news is consolidated on our Television sets. Shamelessly most of the talk shows run 100% bad news, creating chaos rather than find solutions. Is life that way? The Good: Bad news component ought to be 80:20 reflecting the real world, rather than 1:99 as they portray.

This morning NPR (National Public Radio) carried a beautiful story of a non-profit gym in the inner Boston, where many a people cannot afford to go to gym and end up being out of shape. So this Gym is built to facilitate those who want to be in shape, some of the funding comes from the other for profit gyms and those who can afford pay $10/month. There is whole lot of good going on there and am sure you are surrounded with those stories, why not make a habit of sharing good stories and uplift ourselves and others around us?

Disproportionate news sinks you, so limit what drowns you to a maximum of 30 minutes a week and the time saved can be spent on serving others, see the joy you receive from it, it is incredible. It is in your hands how you want your day to be. It will change your life.

I have not watched NEWS in 2 and Half years now except the two super bowls, even though I have been on it many a times. I do catch up with major News items on the public Radio (NPR) every now and then, and watch clips of critical items of major disasters where we can do something. I have not missed a thing. Who wants to hear the hate talks and pollute the purity of our hearts? You and I perhaps don’t eat rotted food worried that it will mess our tummy, then why should we consume talks that does the same to our mind? Every time I got the temptation to watch the TV, pick up the phone and call friends to see how they are doing.

Doing things for others gives you joy as long as you do not expect a return or reward, the moment you want wages, it depletes the joy in a hurry. The Bhagvad Gita adds, “let not the fruits of action be thy motive; neither let there be in thee any attachment to inaction”.

You will find your blessings and joy when you are not driven by results in the pursuits of your life (except business). Simply doing things for others enhances the quality of your life, try it, you will get hooked, it is contagious.

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, writer, optimist, educator and an activist of Pluralism, Justice, Islam, India, Peace and Civil Societies. He is a conflict mitigater and a goodwill nurturer offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day and is a frequent guest on the media. Mike’s work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed athttp://www.mikeghouse.net/

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What is freedom?
Is it freedom from bondage?
Remember how “hate” is binding. Whenever someone mentions about that class mate, office mate, the parent or the ex, your blood pressure goes up, anger grips you and you go into imaginary violence.
You wish that person disappears.Who is your real enemy? It is yourselves.

That other person is not infront of you,
nor is he or she standing with a sword,
gun or a bat to knock you down.
It is all in your own mind and
you are really bonded to that person.

How do you un-bond and get freedom?

1) You have to have a strong desire to be free
2) Your quest is solely freedom
3) Forgive the other person in your own mind and heart
4) Ask for forgiveness If you were partly responsible
5) Share the feelings with a close friend
6) Seek God’s blessing if you are a theist
7) Figure out a strategy if you were to encounter him or her
8) If that person is capable of harming you, figure out a strategy.
9) Be inclined to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill.

When it come to your negative bonding with a group…
More tomorrow.

All you have to do is consciously drop bias, malice and streotyping towards others, and then you light the same flame in other hearts. There is so much joy in life to be had. May you be blessed with Moksha, Mukti, Nijaat, Salvation, Nirvana and freedom.

Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker, Writer, Moderator and a Blogger on Pluralism, Interfaith, civil societies, Terrorism, Peace, Islam, and India. His comments, news analysis and columns can be found on the Websites and Blogs listed at his personal website www.MikeGhouse.net . Mike is a conflict mitigator and a goodwill nurturer. The theme is consistent in his speeches, writings and workshops he conducts.

Is diversity a standard? It appears that way, look at the nature no tree is alike, no snow flake is alike and no dirt is alike. Look up in the sky, there are trillions of stars out there and none of them is alike; billions of galaxies yet each one is different, and we accept their uniqueness without an iota of doubt.

Imagine going to a party where every male is 6′ tall and female is 5’6″. All men have their hair cut short and have parted their hair precisely the same way, and the women have done their hair as if it came from the same dye. All women wear size 6 shoes and are 5” heeled black pumps whereas all men wear size ten. Every woman weighs 128 pound; not an ounce less or more and men weigh 160 pounds on the needle.

Then every one walks up to the perfect rose garden ever; some 500 rose plants cut exactly to 4’ tall, and esactly five flowers per plant were blooming and each one of them is pink with 25 petals to be exact.

Who sets the standards?

A few men resent the hair styles of some other men or hate their pants sliding off over their butt; a few women would like to comment on the dresses of other women… think about it, who sets the standards as to what to wear?

There are nearly seven billion of us and each one of has a different thumb print and a unique DNA combination which we accept that as our uniqueness.

There are at least 250 religious traditions out there, perhaps even more, and each tradition is beautiful to the followers, then what really holds us from accepting the uniqueness of other’s faith? Arrogance and insecurity!

Who cares if your faith is wise, older, smart, easy, simple… every one has to live his or her own life and is answerable in his or her own solitude. It is you within you that have to live with you. I am thinking of good ole Charlene’s song, “Never been to me”, she says, she’s been to georgia, been to the aisle of greece, but never been to me. Ha!, that’s where we need to go to be with ourselves and to live our own life and set our own standards for ourselves.

Diversity is crucial to survival and existence. On an abandoned Island after the shipwreck we cannot have men and women possessing the same skills, we need diversity of skills to get out of there. Tall girls and guys can pluck apples from a tree (if the tree is tall) short men and women can crawl into the cave and grab that hidden food the animals store for their use.

I wish I was tall particularly when a crowd is watching a street muscian to stand behind and watch with ease, I wish I was short to receive the full shade of a building in the summer… we wish to be everything we are not.. heck, it is time to be happy with who we are, there is no one like you.

Bottom line?

Each one of us is our own standard;we have to bear our doings and undoings;our anguish and anxiety is exclusively ours;we have to live with our bad dreams;we are responsible for our standards;Let’s learn to respect and accept the uniqueness each one is endowed with, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

Be yourselves!

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, writer, optimist, educator and an activist of Pluralism, Justice, Islam, India, Peace and Civil Societies. He is a conflict mitigater and a goodwill nurturer offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day and is a frequent guest on the media. Mike’s work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed athttp://www.mikeghouse.net/
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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, writer, optimist, educator and an activist of Pluralism, Justice, Islam, India, Peace and Civil Societies. He is a conflict mitigater and a goodwill nurturer offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day and is a frequent guest on the media. Mike’s work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed athttp://www.mikeghouse.net/

I am grateful to each one of the 4700 Facebook friends, it is very encouraging indeed. Your participation in the dialogues adds and enhances the collective understanding on a given subject. This morning I had 35 friends request to be friends. Let’s all join together and do our share, yes, our share of good in creating peace and not chaos, in developing understanding not ill-will. Thank you.

Saturday at 10:19am · Comment ·LikeUnlike – 30 comments on facebook

A good solid apology from Helen is due; if she were not a celebrity we could have ignored her. I demand her to step down from her position as an ace journalist.A good solid apology from Helen is due; if she were not a celebrity we could have ignored her. I demand her to step down from her position as an ace journalist.There is a big question for the Jewish community and all of us; how to go to the roots of bigotry and evaporate it with a meaningful dialogue. In the short run we can squelch bigotry with laws, but that would breed resentment and flare up every now and then. The problem is deeper and as a society, we all need to sit down and talk, place all the cards on the table, then only we can find lasting solutions.Helen may resign and go, but the spark of bigotry is in the air,

It is unpatriotic if one does not have the courage to acknowledge and criticize one’s own nation, and it is a gross disloyalty to let the nation morally degenerate itself. My heroes are those who criticize my nation and prevent it from moral decay, my heroes are those who keep the government rascals on the…ir toes, and my heros are those who are committed to working for security of every one.The truth is that no individual or a nation can be secure when others who surround them aren’t. It behooves us to make friends but not frigthen and harass others, if we threaten even the weakling will develop the energy to cause insecurity to us.

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