Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Texas Faith: Is it really possible to heal the world?

The human inclination to see justice in one’s own life time causes people to lean on the end-times, where no one goes free. They are fixed up here, pay for it in the next life (Abrahamic) or go thru reincarnation (Dharmic). Religions offer those beliefs to heal one’s soul. The mere thought of justice relieves one from the anguish. Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, Navaratri and other festivities are restorative therapies to heal the soul. Continued: http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/12/texas-faith-is-it-really-possible-to.html

Dallas Morning News, Texas Faith Column.
Is it really possible to heal the world?

Rabbi Michael Lerner wrote last week about Chanukah, describing it as “the holiday celebrating the triumph of hope over fear, light over darkness, the powerless over the powerful.”

He went on to say that Chanukah is about “understanding that when we connect with the transformative power of the universe, the Force of Healing and Transformation, YHVH, we become aware that the powerless can become powerful, that oppression of any sort is in contradiction to the fundamental nature of human beings as loving, kind, generous, free, creative, intelligent, attuned to beauty, caring for and needing each other beings created in the image of God. When that energy and awareness permeates our consciousness, no ruling elite and no system of exploitation can possibly last for very long.”

Of course, this also is the month when Christians will hear much about bringing joy to the world, peace on earth and goodwill to all.

But is that so? Is it really possible to heal the world?

Some whose theology predicts end-times see the world as marching from bad to worse, with God intervening at the end. Others hold to a theology that sees them as being used by God to bring his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Still others are neither so fatalistic nor optimistic.
Where do you stand? What does your faith tradition say about healing the world?

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas

The physical or the spiritual world sustains its equilibrium through the self-balancing mechanism built into it. When that balance is knocked off through our recklessness, like global warming or the destruction of nations and families through wars and egregious selfishness, the God-given system becomes energized and becomes capable of restoring to its pristine equilibrium, as it was created, provided an effort is made to heal. That way, we can live freely from anxiety again.

When the world came into being through evolution, creation or big bang, it produced two significant things: matter and life.

Every piece of matter in the universe is programmed to have its own balance whether it is the sun, moon or other galaxies. In chapter 55: 5-8, the Quran says, God has set a place for everything in the scheme of things and has designed them to maintain their own cohesion.

On the spiritual plane, God advises in Quran (55:9), “weigh, therefore, [your deeds] with equity, and cut not the measure short!” Indeed, the human life is not put on auto-pilot like matter. We were endowed with the free will to strive for that continual balance.

Rabbi Lerner sets the fundamental loving nature as the base of balance and peace. Human selfishness continuously knocks that balance off.

If the balance is not restored in our life-time, when tyrants get away, murderers cannot be found, then the end-time scenarios come into play.

The human inclination and desire to see justice in one’s own life time causes people to lean on the end times, where no one goes free. They are fixed up, pay for it in the next life (Abrahamic) or go thru reincarnation (Dharmic). Religions offer those beliefs to heal one’s soul. The mere thought of justice relieves one from the anguish.

We have the responsibility to heal the world to live a conflict-free life. Chief Seattle puts it precisely, that we are all interconnected in this massive web, which we did not create, but happen to a be a strand in it. If we mess with any strand, we mess with the whole web and ourselves.

Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, Navaratri or other festivities are restorative therapies to heal the soul.

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas!

. . . . .

The Texas Faith blog is a discussion among formal and informal religious leaders whose faith traditions express a belief in a transcendent power – or the possibility of one. While all readers are invited to participate in this blog, by responding in the comments section, discussion leaders are those whose religion involves belief in a divine higher power or those who may not believe in a transcendent power but leave room for the possibility of one. Within this framework, moderators William McKenzie and Wayne Slater seek to bring a diversity of thinkers onto the Texas Faith panels.

To see responses from all the panelists, please visit Dallas Morning News at:
http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/2012/12/texas-faith-is-it-really-possible-to-heal-the-world.html/

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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place and standing up for others as an activist. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He 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, fortnightly at Huffington post, and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes everything you want to know about

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Muslim Speaker Mike Ghouse
NURTURING PLURALISTIC VALUES EMBEDDED IN ISLAM

A Muslim Speaker, thinker, organizer and an activist committed to building cohesive societies with a belief that what is good for Muslims has got to be good for the world and vice versa to sustain peace, harmony and prosperity.

The dearth of Muslims to speak up for the moderates has been a major problem in the society; it has created an imbalance in tilting America negatively towards buying in to stereotypical images of Muslims. Mike is an addition to a growing number of Muslim speakers in giving a fuller picture of Muslims engaged in civic society from speakers with beards and head coverings to no head coverings and no beards, just as a majority of Muslims live their day to day life.

Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions to media and to the public on important and complex issues of the day and is available to speak in a variety of settings such as schools, seminars, conferences, and places of worship, or the work place. He welcomes all questions and will address the fears many have about Islam. He welcomes questions concerning misunderstandings about violence (jihad) and women's rights and other issues.

God loves his creation and does not exclude any one from his mercy and kindness and adds that he has sent a peace maker, messenger or a prophet to every tribe and nation, indeed no one is deprived of his love. The Quran lays it out very well in Surah Al-Hujurat 49:13: "O mankind! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. The noblest of you, in sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Allah Knows and is Aware."

God has intentionally created diversity; each one of us has a unique identity with our own thumb print, eye print, DNA and other uniqueness. If we can learn to respect and accept the God given uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge. God in Quraan makes it absolutely clear that no one is to judge the other in matters of faith, only he, he alone is the judge and not today, but on an elusive Day of Judgment.

Mike's Mission is to work for a world of co-existence through inclusiveness and participation. Speaking about the World Muslim Congress, the organization he manages, he adds, "As a member of diverse family of faiths, our efforts will be directed towards justice and equity to attain peace for the humankind with a firm grounding in commonly held values. We cannot have advantages at the cost of others. Such benefits are temporary and deleterious to lasting peace. We believe what is good for Muslims has got to be good for the world, and vice versa, to sustain it.

Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.MikeGhouse.net/ Mike has chosen the path of moderation that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had advocated to his followers. He sees Islam as guidance to humanity to co-exist in harmony with life and what surrounds one without negating the otherness of other. Indeed, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) proclaims that he refreshed and updated the same message delivered by other prophets before him to create the kingdom of heaven on earth, where no human has to live with apprehension of the other.

Indeed we aspire to promote goodwill amongst people of different affiliations, regardless of their faith, gender, race, nationality, culture or any other uniqueness blessed by the creator.

Mike is a frequent guest on Fox News, (The Hannity Show), and has been interviewed on nationally syndicated Radio shows along with Dallas TV, Print and Radio networks and occasional interviews on NPR. He is a member of the Texas Faith panel of Dallas Morning News and writes on issues facing the nation every week. He has spoken at international forums including the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions, in Melbourne, Australia, Middle East Peace Initiative, in Jerusalem, the International Leadership conference, in Hawaii, in Washington, and elsewhere.

The Foundation for Pluralism champions the idea of co-existence by respecting and accepting the otherness of those different from ourselves. The World Muslim Congress is committed to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam, many are not aware that Islam teaches Pluralism. Heavily involved in both, Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and has produced outstanding public events to bring Americans together of different religions, ethnicities and races on common grounds of building a safe and secure America.

He is a speaker, thinker, collaborator and a writer on the subjects of Pluralism, the interfaith movement, cohesive societies, Islam, India, hope and world peace. Over 1000 articles of Mike’s have been published worldwide and two books are poised to be released this summer. His work is reflected in 4 websites and 27 Blogs indexed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/
.............

In defense of Islam, pursuing a civil dialogue

20100919-In-defense-of-Islam-pursuing-9397.ece

By Steve Blow sblow@dallasnews.com Published 19 September 2010 02:28 AM

Over and over you hear it said: If Muslims oppose terrorism, why don't they stand up and say it?

If that has been you, Mike Ghouse ought to be your hero.

It is hard to imagine that anyone has worked harder than the Carrollton resident to demonstrate the peaceful and moderate side of Islam.

And that effort includes personally visiting Dallas' First Baptist Church last Sunday just to put a friendly face on the "evil, evil religion" that the Rev. Robert Jeffress denounced a few weeks before.

"It was wonderful," Ghouse said of the visit. "We were so warmly received."
He hopes a quick chat with Jeffress will be the start of deeper discussion about Islam and the importance of respect between religions.

"I want to have a dialogue with him, not to say he is wrong but to share another point of view," Ghouse said.

The 57-year-old Muslim was born in India and has lived in the United States for 30 years. He owns a small property management firm. But most of his day is devoted to building bridges between people of different faiths.

"It is my passion," he said in his distinctive raspy voice.

He has been a guest a dozen times on Sean Hannity's TV and radio talk shows. "I don't like the way Sean cuts me off, but I have to honor him for giving the American public a semblance of another point of view."

Ghouse said he can understand fear and criticism of Islam because he went through a time of similar feelings. As a teen, he was troubled by passages of the Quran. He called himself an atheist for a while.

But he said deeper study led him to realize the Quran had been purposely mistranslated down through history.

In the Middle Ages, European leaders commissioned a hostile Quran translation to foster warfare against Muslim invaders.

Later, Muslim leaders produced another translation to inflame Muslims against Christians and Jews.

"It was all for politics," he said.
Ghouse said he hopes to present Jeffress with a modern, faithful translation and challenge him to find evil verses.

"If he can, I will convert. I will join his church," Ghouse said. "If he can't, I will call on him to retract his statements and become a peacemaker."

Ghouse acknowledges that deep problems persist within Islam. "Three steps forward, two steps back," he said with a sigh.

And he agrees that mainstream Muslims have not done enough to counter violent images of their faith.

"That is very true," he said. "But part of it is that many Muslims have given up hope that we will ever be heard."

He said repeated denunciations of terrorism seem to fall on deaf ears.

And some efforts have backfired - like the proposed Islamic information center in New York. He said it should be hailed for furthering the moderate Muslim cause.
Instead, it has deepened hostility toward Muslims.

I have been astounded by the amount of anti-Islam propaganda that circulates via e-mail. Tons of it has come my way in the last few weeks.

One theme is that people like Mike Ghouse can't be trusted, that Islam encourages deception.

But Ghouse says actions speak louder than words. And he points to elections in Muslim nations.

More than half of Muslims live in countries with some degree of democracy. And time and time again, Islamist parties are overwhelmingly rejected in favor of secular, mainstream parties.

"The religious parties don't get more than 3 percent of the vote," Ghouse said.
Polls show deep mistrust of Muslims. "But the most important question in those surveys is: 'Do you know anything about Islam?' " Ghouse said. "Most people say no."
What keeps him going is faith in Americans, he said.

"The majority of Americans, if they know the truth, they will change their minds."

# # #

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, writer, thinker, futurist and an activist of Pluralism, Islam, India and Civil Societies passionately offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.

He is a frequent guest at Fox News on the Hannity show, nationally syndicated Radio shows along with Dallas TV, Print and Radio networks and occasional interviews on NPR. He has spoken at international forums including the Parliament of Worlds Religions in Melbourne, Middle East Peace initiative in Jerusalem, International Leadership conference in Hawaii, Washington and elsewhere.

Concerned by the divisiveness, he saw the need to bring Americans together and founded America Together Foundation committed to building a cohesive America, indeed it is in response to ACT America which is bent on pitching one American against the other. We will be holding series of educational programs, conferences and workshops to address the issues that divide us such as Civil Right, GLBT, Quraan, Abortion, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Racial Profiling and Stereotyping.

The Annual Unity Day USA is in its 7^th year now, it is a purposeful event to bring Americans together, on this Unity Day, we the people of the United States of America of every faith, race, ethnicity, culture and background will gather to express our commitment to co-existence, unity, prosperity and wellbeing of our nation.

Thanksgiving Celebration is in its 15^th year showcasing cultural diversity.

The 5^th Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides is to learn and to acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things we have inflicted upon each other and commit to avert such tragedies. Through this event non-Jewish people have consciously learned about Holocaust for the first time, it was also for the first time that people of 14 faiths came together to join in to commemorate the Holocaust that commemorated within the Jewish Community for years. They are not alone anymore in their anguish, we are all in it together with them, and it is a Muslim initiative to effect a positive change.

The programs, seminars and workshops conducted by the Foundation for Pluralism have become a part of the America Together Foundation. While the Foundation for Pluralism continues championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other, the commitment to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam through the World Muslim Congress continues.

Two books will be released this year; The American Muslim Agenda and My Journey to Pluralism.

Mike has written over 1000 Articles on Pluralism, Islam, India, Peace & Justice and civil societies published in a wide spectrum of Newspapers and Magazines around the world.

Locally, he is a panelist at Dallas Morning News's and writes weekly on a range of issues facing the nation. Washington Post, Huffington Post and other news papers and sites regularly publish his work.

Mike is available to speak on Pluralism, Islam, Civil Societies, and Peace & Justice at your place of worship, school, work place, seminars, workshops or conferences. His work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.MikeGhouse.net/

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Texas Faith: Is it really possible to heal the world?

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Moderate Muslim Speaker

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Moderate Islam