January 12, 2016 — Dr. Babar Cheema and I ran into each other in Louisville
Airport terminal. I was heading to Washington and he was returning from
Washington.
From time to time, I would like to write the Muslim success stories, not the ones who make lots of money, but the ones’ who do things that will create better safer and secure societies for all.
What a joy it was toknow that he was an honored guest at President Obama’s state of the Union address last
night. Dr. Mohammad Babar Cheema and a few others have worked relentlessly in building
relationships with fellow Americans of all hues, and this note is to appreciate
his work and to acknowledge his contributions.
If you know any other Muslim who was invited, please let us know with their
information, the least we can do is acknowledge and encourage others to get out
and be a part of the society.
Cheema!
part of the American story, thanks for setting the example.
to make that effort, to get out and be with the people, if you can afford, please
invite a Christian, Jewish, Hindu, African American, Hispanic, Chinese and an
Arab family to dinner, at least once a month. For God’s sake get to know
each other as friends and kindly keep religion and politics out of the
conversation, don’t even try it. We all need to connect with each other as fellow Americans with common concerns.
I want to do something very big this December, and want to celebrate those
Muslims who have built relationships with at least 10 families of different
faiths including- Atheists, Baha’i, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, Jews,
Native Americans, Pagans, Shinto, Sikhs, Wicca, Zoroastrians and others.
Each denomination in Christian and Muslim traditions counts as one.
There is no limit to how many Muslims can do that.
simple guidelines to make the dinner successful and memorable for everyone.
Here is a link to the extraordinary work that testifies their work in building good relationships.
Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer,
news maker, and a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, politics, terrorism, human rights, India, Israel-Palestine and foreign
policy. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers
pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Visit him in 63 links at
www.MikeGhouse.net and a bulk of his writings are at TheGhousediary.com and
several blogs listed there in.