Thursday, April 5, 2012 – Denton.
It was a pleasure to deliver a powerful key note message at the Rotary club of Denton today at El Chapparell Restaurant in Downtown, Denton.
It was a joy to see Rotarian’s actively involved in the community. Nearly 60 of them made it to the meeting.
The message was about the need for building a cohesive America, where no American has to live in discomfort, anxiety or fear of the other.
If we can learn to respect the otherness of the other, and accept the God given uniqueness of each one of the 312 million of us, then conflicts fade an solutions emerge.
Ever since we got our independence, the social, religious and economic issues have pit one American against the other, however after enduring the turmoil, we have always come back strong as one nation.
If we can focus on prosperity and safety of America, all other issues become secondary and resolvable.
On the way out, I was thinking about the social structures we have in place, a way for diverse people to come together for doing common good. It is a natural progression in American Pluralism, there was a time when the Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterians… and others had their own silos, their own groupings with least interaction with the others.
When Henry Ford made automobiles affordable, it gave us all increased mobility and with that, we moved and interacted with people of different religions. Necessity is the mother of invention as they say, sure enough we figured out the best way to live and come together for common good. The Rotary club along with other social organizations has facilitated pluralism in America; we still have ways to go.
I have a dream, a dream to see a cohesive America where we focus on safety and prosperity of every American. Indeed, prosperity is pluralistic in nature; you cannot have it, unless others around you have it. You cannot be safe unless others around you are safe. As an Indian- Muslim-Indian American I am committed to contribute towards the safety and prosperity of America.
The following information is from their website: http://www.dentonrotary.com/
I thank the officers, organizers and members of the Rotary club, a great group of people!
What Is Rotary?
The original Rotary Club was organized in Chicago, Illinois, by Paul P. Harris, a lawyer. It first met February 23, 1905. The name “Rotary” was chosen because the club met in rotation at each member’s place of business. The Rotary idea of friendship, fellowship and service to others spread to six continents and over one million members.
Rotary is an organization of business and professional leaders united worldwide that provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the world. In more than 160 countries worldwide approximately 1.2 million Rotarians belong to more than 30,000 Rotary Clubs.
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| L-R: Karen Dickson, Rita Burleson, Pete Bradbury and Mike Ghouse |
More Pictures in the following slide show:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157629384179220/show/
Link to this note: http://nabsites.net/demo/rotary-club-denton/
Mike Ghouse is a leading thinker, writer and a speaker on Pluralism/Interfaith and America.
Mike Ghouse 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. www.TheGhousediary.com is Mike’s daily blog.