TEXAS FAITH: Is the Sikh shooting Christian terrorism?

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I am pleased to share a few thoughts on long
term solutions in the light of Sikh Massacre; this is in conjunction with my
column at Dallas Morning news. 

As an American, Indian and a Muslim,
I stand by the Sikh community and hope to find sustainable solutions
to prevent shameless events like this from happening.  As Americans we need to come together to build an America
where no one needs to live in apprehension, discomfort or fear of the other.

Kindly join us for a candlelight vigil on August 8th at the Sikh
Temple of North Texas at 506
Gatewood Rd, Garland, Texas 75043 in Garland, TX at 8 p.m.

Blaming will not
bring the lives back or solve the problems, pushing the bigots to the corner
will not do it, engaging (there is no them, it is all of us) them in a normal
day to day life has a chance of nurturing goodwill.

We need to ask ourselves, am I capable of making friends with fellow Americans
from different backgrounds, races, faiths and ethnicities? If I am reluctant, biased
or bent on blaming others, then half of the problem is me. If I have it, they have
it. Then I need to shed my bias first.


Here is an article on the topic at Dallas Morning News’s Texas Faith Section,  and God willing there will be an article with
statements from a few about the incident in a few days.

Texas
Faith is a weekly column at Dallas Morning News managed by Editors William
McKenzie and Wayne Slater, the material is contributed by several panelists,
for all responses please visit  http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/2012/08/texas-faith-is-the-sikh-shooting-christian-terrorism.html/

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism,
Dallas

The term “Christian Terrorism” is one of the most dangerous
terms to bring into currency. It is as ridiculous as “Islamic Terrorism” or Jewish
and Hindu Terrorism.  I deplore
Juergensmeyer for floating it, as it amounts to advocating an eye for an eye,
making the whole world blind.

We continue to blame Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism or other religions
as though they are individuals who can be slapped, hanged, annihilated, beat up, killed or punished
for the wrong doing. If we can’t do that, then why bark at religion?

Every piece of matter and life is programmed to seek balance and justice respectively. Blaming a
religion is passing the buck to an intangible non-punishable entity, thus deliberately
perpetuating injustice.  Justice is the key to harmony and peaceful
co-existence in the society.

Individuals are always responsible
for the bloodshed and not the religions.  By punishing the individual for the wrong
doing, we serve justice and restore trust and cohesiveness in the society.  We need to go a step further, and find the
individuals who inspire men like Wade Michael Page to massacre the Sikhs in the
temple or the senseless shooting in Colorado.

Hate is one of the sources of disrupting peace in a society and it is our duty
to track down the source of such hate and work on mitigating it. We have an
obligation to maintain law and order and faithfully guard the safety of every
citizen.

Politicians and religious
leaders need to be aware, that as a civilized society, we can hold them
accountable for making irresponsible statements.

If we learn to respect the otherness of others, and accept the genetic
uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.  Ask yourselves, what is my contribution to
America?

As an American, Indian and
a Muslim, I stand by the Sikh community and hope to find long term sustainable
solutions to prevent shameless events like this from happening. 

As Americans
we need to come together to build an America where no one needs to live in
apprehension, discomfort or fear of the other.

URL – http://nabsites.net/demo/texas-faith-is-sikh-shooting-christian/

# # #

Please visit the site http://standingupforothers.blogspot.com/

No
American has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. There are solutions;
here is a trailer of the movie in making:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMXsTo4VYh8&feature=youtu.be

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 contributes weekly
to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington
post, and several other periodicals across the world. The blog
www.TheGhousediary.comis updated daily.


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