tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43660962180850146862024-03-16T17:26:36.500-07:00Muslim Speaker Mike GhouseMike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.comBlogger123125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-58037228774102510152020-01-19T09:12:00.000-08:002020-01-19T09:12:58.890-08:00Holocaust and Genocides 2020<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://holocaustandgenocides.blogspot.com/2019/12/15th-annual-holocaust-and-genocides.html" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">15th Annual Holocaust and Genocides</span></span></a></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 20.7px;"><span style="font-size: small;">PRESS RELEASE<span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20.7px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1e29; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dr. Mike Ghouse</span></span></span></div>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Center for Pluralism</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Website: </span><a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="http://www.centerforpluralism.com/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #4a6ee0; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">www.CenterforPluralism.com</span></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Website: </span><a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #4a6ee0; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">www.HolocaustandGenocides.com</span></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">email: MikeGhouse@gmail.com </span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1e29; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Office: (202) 290-3560</span></span></span></div>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Cell: (214) 325-1916</span></span></span></div>
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<ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1e29; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0pt 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0pt 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Press Release - </span><a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="http://www.einpresswire.com/shareable-preview/Ph3gI72imCk3afsvJWZbZA" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #4a6ee0; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">http://www.einpresswire.com/shareable-preview/Ph3gI72imCk3afsvJWZbZA</span></a></span></span></span></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0pt 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">RSVP - </span><a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/reflections-on-holocaust-and-genocides-tickets-86666932127" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #4a6ee0; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">https://www.eventbrite.com/e/reflections-on-holocaust-and-genocides-tickets-86666932127</span></a><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0pt 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Facebook: </span><a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/2929516827067272/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #4a6ee0; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">https://www.facebook.com/events/2929516827067272/</span></a><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0pt 0px; padding: 0px;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">At this time, it is published in 148 News outlets </span></span></span></li>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1e29; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">15th Annual Reflections on the Holocaust and Genocides </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1e29; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The purpose of this event is education, information, and activism. We hope to learn and acknowledge our failings and make a personal commitment to our share of saying, "Never Again."</span></span></span></div>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">15th Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides</span></span></span></div>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">5:30 PM - 8:30 PM Sunday, January 26, 2020</span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Arlington Central Library, 1015 N. Quincy Street</span></span></span></div>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Arlington, VA 22201</span></span></span></div>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tickets are complimentary, but donations are accepted </span></span></span></div>
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<a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="http://centerforpluralism.com/donate/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #4a6ee0; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">http://centerforpluralism.com/donate/</span></span></span></a></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1e29; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1e29; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">RSVP: </span><a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/reflections-on-holocaust-and-genocides-tickets-86666932127" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #4a6ee0; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">https://www.eventbrite.com/e/reflections-on-holocaust-and-genocides-tickets-86666932127</span></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 20.7px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br /></span><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1e29; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We hope you will walk out of the event with a genuine feeling of being a contributor towards building a cohesive world where no human has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrb0yWGsw9WMBr6S3mSZoHiDS5fzSifqiB-Jb-KWMSeZPg5jQxR78cDkJ49OJ-HxNb2oxUb1nz6vtKWLq2k73FUeiHmC_-96TVOEg87ANL1c4SmQQ0JuEkXssEvEAI5eZPDinMNbUtVQJI/s1600/HG2020+Flier+in+making.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: #0d0d4a; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1056" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrb0yWGsw9WMBr6S3mSZoHiDS5fzSifqiB-Jb-KWMSeZPg5jQxR78cDkJ49OJ-HxNb2oxUb1nz6vtKWLq2k73FUeiHmC_-96TVOEg87ANL1c4SmQQ0JuEkXssEvEAI5eZPDinMNbUtVQJI/s400/HG2020+Flier+in+making.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="400" /></span></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBjjy5eIAZ2V_tu2JbnSFogwLsiLvJQDOBIoJ2WB3nbOHPpEu2h81I2xdEdNjDllFckeAhWAKtknuTuS032nACo6f13KMK3tJ3ZMGhhDkIea5hRWurYZA8UviZmVNO5GSBlZsVKDyHQJok/s1600/HG20+poster+for+email.png" imageanchor="1" style="color: #0d0d4a; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></a></div>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Jewish community has been commemorating the Holocaust event since 1953, known as Yom HaShoah in Synagogues around the world. The general public learns it by visiting the Holocaust Museums and educational institutions.</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">At the Center for Pluralism, we are committed to spreading knowledge of the Holocaust and Genocide through interfaith and public events, including the Annual reflections. </span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Speakers: </span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Robert F. Teitel - Holocaust Story</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dr. Gregory Stanton - Signs of Genocides</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rushan Abbas & Omer Kanat - Uyghur Updates</span></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dr. Wakar Uddin - Rohingya Update</span></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Muneer Baig - Kashmir Update</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dr. TO Shanavas - India Update</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dr. Rani Khan - Peace Pledge</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dr. Mike Ghouse - Genesis of this event</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rabia Baig - Mistress of Ceremony</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Volunteers:</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Nausheen Baig</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rabbi Alana Suskin</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jafer Imam</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dr. Zafar Iqbal</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Charles Stevenson</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sponsors:</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Would you like to be a sponsor?</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our budget is $2000, full or any part </span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Co-Chairs:</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dr. Rani Khan</span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dr. Mike Ghouse</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Organized by:</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Center for Pluralism</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our format consists of four parts; Interfaith prayers, Holocaust, Genocides, Massacred and the Pledge of Peace. Silently, we will acknowledge all suffering, but physically we are limited to a few Genocides each year. </span></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> This year, a Holocaust survivor will share his story, followed by updated Uyghur, Rohingya, and the signs of making of Genocide in India. I urge everyone to watch the Schindler's list and Civil War movies to grasp the signs.</span></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I believe, when we acknowledge each other's grief and participate in each other's commemoration, we connect with the humanness within ourselves and seed the relationship of understanding and caring for each other. </span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There is a shameless cruelty in us, either we shy away or refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own, or amounts to infidelity to our pain, and every community and nation has suffered through this. To all those who have endured the Holocaust, Genocides, Massacres, Ethnic Cleansing, Land Mines, Hunger, Rape, Torture, Occupation, Expulsion, and inhuman brutality, we must say, you are not alone. The least we can do in the process of healing is to acknowledge every one's pain in one voice. </span></span></span></h3>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I cannot be safe if the people around me are not, and I will not have peace if people around me don't. It is in my interest to seek a peaceful world for one and all.</span></span></span></h3>
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<h3 style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #1c1e29; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0pt 0px; position: relative;">
<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is a Muslim initiative to assure fellow humans who have endured the Holocaust, Genocide, ethnic cleansing, massacres, rapes, injustice and other atrocities that we are all in this together to create a better world. Tikkun Olam is our sacred duty. </span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 27.6px;">List of Supporting Organizations (links embedded)</span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 27.6px;"></span><br /></span></span><ul style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 20.7px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://ifcmw.org/" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: small;">Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Washington</span></a></span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 20.7px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.mpac.org/" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: small;">Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)</span></a></span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 20.7px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.thej.org/" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pozez Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia</span></a></span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 20.7px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Foundation for Ethnic Understanding</span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 20.7px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">American Sikhi Educational and Empowerment Network </span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 20.7px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jews, Muslims and Allies Acting Together (JAMAAT<span style="color: #222222;">)</span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.528px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Response USA for Relief and Development (RUSARD)</span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.528px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://iswamd.org/" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;">Islamic Society of Washington Area</a> (ISWA)</span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.528px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Church of Scientology National Affairs Office </span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.528px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jews for Jewish Muslim Understanding</span></span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 21.528px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></li>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #1c1e29;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Send email t</span>o</span><span style="color: #1c1e29; font-weight: normal;"> </span><a href="mailto:HolocaustandGenocides20@gmail.com" style="color: #0d0d4a; font-weight: normal; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue;">HolocaustandGenocides20@gmail.com</span></a><span style="color: #1c1e29; font-weight: normal;"><br /># # #</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span data-preserver-spaces="true" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Published at 148 News Outlets<br />A few are listed below </span></span></span></span></h2>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #1c1e29;">Fox News, Washington, DC<br /><a href="https://www.fox34.com/story/41548532/holocaust-and-genocides-commemoration-in-washington-dc" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue;">https://www.fox34.com/story/41548532/holocaust-and-genocides-commemoration-in-washington-dc</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #1c1e29;">Fox News<br /><a href="http://www.wicz.com/story/41548532/holocaust-and-genocides-commemoration-in-washington-dc" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.wicz.com/story/41548532/holocaust-and-genocides-commemoration-in-washington-dc</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #1c1e29;">NBC News<br /><a href="http://www.nbc-2.com/story/41548532/holocaust-and-genocides-commemoration-in-washington-dc" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.nbc-2.com/story/41548532/holocaust-and-genocides-commemoration-in-washington-dc</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 14pt; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #1c1e29;">Boston Herald<br /><a href="http://markets.financialcontent.com/bostonherald/news/read/39355237" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue;">http://markets.financialcontent.com/bostonherald/news/read/39355237</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4a6ee0;">All Event<br /><a href="https://allevents.in/arlington/reflections-on-holocaust-and-genocides/1000086666932127" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #4a6ee0;">https://allevents.in/arlington/reflections-on-holocaust-and-genocides/1000086666932127</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #1c1e29;">African American News <a href="https://africanamericans.einnews.com/pr_news/506869723/holocaust-and-genocides-commemoration-in-washington-dc" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue;">https://africanamericans.einnews.com/pr_news/506869723/holocaust-and-genocides-commemoration-in-washington-dc</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #1c1e29; font-weight: normal;">Religion News<a href="https://religion.einnews.com/pr_news/506869723/holocaust-and-genocides-commemoration-in-washington-dc" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue;"> https://religion.einnews.com/pr_news/506869723/holocaust-and-genocides-commemoration-in-washington-dc</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-45714006073150537982016-12-09T08:39:00.002-08:002016-12-09T08:39:49.371-08:00President's Mood <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">At this point in history, we are going through difficult times. Whether you are on the right, left or the center, you are concerned about the liberties and freedoms of all Americans. The divisiveness, even though temporary, has caused us to lose trust in each other to function effectively as a nation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So what can we do?<br /><br />Our President John Kennedy had famously urged us, “Ask not what the country can do - ask what you can do for your country.” and Professor William James had written that our actions can change the moods.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Here is what we can to do to restore America where no Americans feels left out, but feels included in nation building.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Let’s close 2016 on a positive note, let’s come together as Americans, and celebrate our collective Festivals of Hanukkah, Christmas, Milad, Kwanza, Janamashtami, Gurpurab and the festivities of Native Americans, and other traditions including Atheist/Humanist. Each group will get to sing honoring their faith tradition.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />When we are together, it is uplifting!<br />We can change our moods! </span></span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 48px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The following video has clips from Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Milad, Janamashtami and other great celebrations. On the actual day of Festival of Faiths, Americans Together will celebrate their traditions. </span></span></div>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">Video </span></span><span style="line-height: 18.4px; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjhbRkN7soQ" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0.5in;" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjhbRkN7soQ</span></a><b style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"> </span></b></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Details <a href="http://centerforpluralism.com/festival-of-faiths/" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0.5in;" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">http://centerforpluralism.com/festival-of-faiths/</span></a></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Attend RSVP – <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/celebrating-america-festival-of-faiths-tickets-30055750559" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">Eventbrite</span></a></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Sing? If your group likes to sing <a href="mailto:Register@Centerforpluralism.com" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0.5in;" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">Register@Centerforpluralism.com</span></a><span style="line-height: 18.4px; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">List? Please send an email to <a href="mailto:Register@Centerforpluralism.com" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0.5in;" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">Register@Centerforpluralism.com</span></a><span style="line-height: 18.4px; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Op-Ed<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Ask not what the President can do for us?” will be released soon</span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">More <a href="http://centerforpluralism.com/Workshops" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0.5in;" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">http://Centerforpluralism.com/Workshops</span></a></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Browse<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Tabs at </span><a href="http://www.centerforpluralism.com/" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0.5in;" target="_blank">www.Centerforpluralism.com</a></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Event<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Celebrating America –Festival of Faiths on Sunday, 12/18 – 12 to 2 PM</span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Where<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Jefferson Memorial, Washington, DC </span></span></li>
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<span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">***** <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">Dr. Mike Ghouse is founder and president of Center for Pluralism aka Americans Together. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. All about him in 65 links at </span><a href="http://www.mikeghouse.net/" style="color: #0d0d4a; text-decoration: none;"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;">www.MikeGhouse.net</span></a></span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-58739893020861348232016-05-14T11:36:00.002-07:002016-05-14T11:36:10.151-07:00London’s New Mayor – Fox News’ Charles Payne and Mike Ghouse<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Congratulations to Sadiq Khan, the new Mayor of London.</div>
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Hours before the votes were counted, I was I was on Fox News with Charles Payne and Zuhdi Jasser about Sadiq Khan’s possible victory. Zuhdi was opposed and expressed his concerns, whereas I supported and cheered the democratic process and stood by my decision. Those of you who are moderates and or to the left, please respect Zuhdi’s point of view without having to agree with him, an Islamic tradition in case you have forgotten it. We have to be respectful to others point of view that is the highest form of democracy.</div>
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Here is the link to Fox news: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYhOqT18RBQ" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYhOqT18RBQ</a></div>
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Thursday, May 5, 2016 – 6:10 PM Live</div>
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<img alt="SADIQ-KHAN-1" class="size-medium wp-image-597 alignleft" height="300" src="http://centerforpluralism.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/SADIQ-KHAN-1-300x300.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0.857143rem 1.71429rem 0.857143rem 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="300" />Mike Ghouse’ talking points with Charles Payne on Fox News.</div>
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Tonight is one of the biggest nights for Democracy!</div>
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It is historical and even more important that it is happening in the United Kingdom, a nation of aristocrats, who have risen above it to possibly elect Sadiq Khan, the son of a bus driver, and belonging to a minority community; Muslims.</div>
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I will probably cry with joy, it is not only me, but the entire world will join me in doing that, not because he is a Muslim, but because United Kingdom has finally joined the civilized world led by America, where your race, religion don’t matter, but your capabilities do matter.</div>
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When Barak Obama was elected president on November 4, 2008 – who did not cry? By electing Obama, Americans proved once for all, that we are a nation of righteousness and we are not petty</div>
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We have a few great examples from history – when Prophet Muhammad anointed a freed slave – Hazrat Bilal to be prayer caller – Muezzin, at that time on the higher spiritual pedestal, and whose Arabic was not up to the mark, but the Prophet laid the foundation of knocking out arrogance and establishing ability as the criteria.</div>
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I am proud our democracy and now, the democracy of the United Kingdom for giving value for the one who deserves.</div>
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Trump can turn the tide around, and build a cohesive America where no American has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. I will be happy to guide him through. I am a genuine pluralist, and pluralism runs through my veins.<br />Mike Ghouse is a speaker thinker and a writer with the Center for Pluralism aka America Together Foundation.</div>
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<img alt="LondonMayor.foxNews.Payne.Jasser.MikeGhouse" class="alignnone wp-image-602" height="273" src="http://centerforpluralism.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/LondonMayor.foxNews.Payne_.Jasser.MikeGhouse-300x147.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="558" /></div>
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References:</div>
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Daily Telegraph: <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/06/uk-elections-2016---results-in-full-map-and-find-out-who-won-in/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/06/uk-elections-2016—results-in-full-map-and-find-out-who-won-in/</a></div>
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Obama Choked me: <a href="http://mikeghouseforamerica.blogspot.com/2008/11/president-obama-choked-me-with-tears.html" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://mikeghouseforamerica.blogspot.com/2008/11/president-obama-choked-me-with-tears.html</a></div>
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A great statement by Sadiq Khan, “I am the west….” I hope we expand on this, and I certainly will<br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Channel4News/videos/10153731400966939/?fref=nf" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.facebook.com/Channel4News/videos/10153731400966939/?fref=nf</a></div>
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<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker,</em><a href="http://interfaithmarriages.blogspot.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Interfaith Wedding officiant</em></a><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, and a speaker on </em><a href="http://foundationforpluralism.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Pluralism</em></a><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, </em><a href="http://www.interfaithspeaker.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Interfaith</em></a><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, </em><a href="http://www.muslimspeaker.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Islam</em></a><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, </em><a href="http://www.centerforamericanpolitcs.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">politics</em></a><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, </em><a href="http://terrorismcounter.blogspot.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">terrorism</em></a><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">,</em><a href="http://www.standingupforothers.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">human rights</em></a><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, </em><a href="http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">India</em></a><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, </em><a href="http://www.israelpalestinedialogue.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Israel-Palestine</em></a><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><u style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">,</u></em><a href="http://mikeghouse.net/Motivational.speeches.Speaker.MikeGhouse.asp" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">motivation</em></a><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, and foreign policy. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Visit him (63 links) at </em><a href="http://www.theghousediary.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">www.TheGhousediary.com</em></a></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-2445396095883052492016-05-09T12:14:00.000-07:002016-05-14T19:59:18.865-07:00What is Islam? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;">My faith is strong today, because I am open to criticism of Islam, Quran and the Prophet. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Islam is simply another word for Justness, fairness and kindness, and the word
Muslim is someone who subscribes to that idea. Of course, not every one in
every faith follows its teachings, most people get that right and a few don’t. </span></span><br />
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following condensed note is from a speech about Islam, and the language I have used
is reflective of a few verses from the Quran. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm516aUwcd012orlsTPMbDL0FpVhTVExoc1GuFAcqVGiCEkx2I-9JaWJzNxrrjMQdwt36SiwZdAXPhWpKS0nJUBBjnkBfZnYmXpVKW64wHQUQ2PtV73Ng89cTCcB4bYn5kRf5fdnFWdeOK/s1600/MuslimSpeaker.MikeGhouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm516aUwcd012orlsTPMbDL0FpVhTVExoc1GuFAcqVGiCEkx2I-9JaWJzNxrrjMQdwt36SiwZdAXPhWpKS0nJUBBjnkBfZnYmXpVKW64wHQUQ2PtV73Ng89cTCcB4bYn5kRf5fdnFWdeOK/s400/MuslimSpeaker.MikeGhouse.jpg" width="357" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">The more criticism I hear about Islam, the more I dig and learn, and reaffirm the
values of Justness, fairness and equity embedded in Islam. Indeed, all
religions are designed to build cohesive societies based on mutual trust,
respect for the otherness of others and caring and kindness. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;"></span></span>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">I wish and pray that each one of you (Muslim) welcomes the criticism of Prophet, Islam,
Quran and Muslims (</span></span><span style="color: blue; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2012/11/criticism-of-islam-prophet-muhammad.html" style="text-decoration: none;">Reference</a> 1</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 150%;">), there is nothing like having a strong
faith after you have turned every stone up. Your faith is incomplete if you
do not allow criticism or critical questions. Indeed, that is the case with every beautiful faith
from Aztec to Zoroastrians and every one in between. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;">By the way, you’ll never feel the urge to tell that your faith is better, if
you understand the workings of your faith – that is to bring tranquility to
yourselves and what surrounds you. The fourth synonym of religion is humility.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;">I have
learned and will continue to learn from being critical.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;">First, let me acknowledge
that I chose to purge all the Islamic teachings I had learned through my teen
years, I was a severe critique of all that was taught in the name of Islam
through my adult life. What was taught did not fit in with my view of the
world where all of us have to live together.</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">You won’t believe what turned me around, first it was a verse from Bhagvad Gita
urging one to find the truth on his own, and then a Bible’s verse, “truth
brings freedom.” Add to that, my Mother’s persistent saying that you alone are
responsible for your actions on the Day of Judgment, and you stand alone
defending your record, and there will be no one for any one, and that helped me
focus on the purpose of life.</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="line-height: 150%;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Karen Armstrong’s book on Prophet Muhammad made me see him as a human like me,
with whom I can connect.</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> I have actually read the Quran through many translations and discovering
that there are two false translations to cause Muslims to have ill-will towards
non-Muslims and vice versa </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;"> (</span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/how-i-connect-with-prophet-muhammad_b_2547782.html" style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;">reference</a><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 24px;"> 2)</span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 150%;">. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;">My yardstick measures if a religion contributes towards creating cohesive societies? Mind you, it is
the religion I am talking about not its practitioners who may not practice
precisely what their religion teaches. I would question the individuals and not
their faith. </span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">I have come to believe that
Islam measures up on the stick like all the beautiful faiths. </span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Please note that you have to be secure in your belief to give equal value to
other faiths, I am seeing more and more people feeling secure to say that all
faiths are wise, sane, just, fair and equitable.</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">By the way, if your faith is half-ass, you see
other faiths in the same light. I urge you to question your faith if you do not
think other faiths are beautiful. </span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;">Finally Islam is for me, it
is guidance to create safe and secure societies for every human being and
seeking harmony between life and environment. My chosen faith works for
me as your faith suits you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Quran is Islam's manual to create cohesive Societies. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Islam is not about ruling any
one, controlling anyone, compelling anyone, or telling others what to do. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;">Islam is not about having an Islamic government, and subjugating people of other
faiths. Islam is not about imposing its rules on others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Islam is not about wearing beards, caps or certain clothes.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Islam is about living an exemplary life of a citizen who is just, caring,
trustworthy and around whom others feel safe.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;">Islam is about living your life in peace and letting others live theirs in
peace.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Islam is about minding your own faith and letting others mind theirs.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Islam is about contributing to justice, peace and equality in the society.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Islam is about treating others as you wanted to be treated, and Islam is about
respecting the otherness of others. (</span><span style="color: blue; line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2008/07/sura-kafirun-un-believers.html" style="text-decoration: none;">Reference</a> 3</span><span style="line-height: 150%;">)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Islam is about contributing
to the well being of humanity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 150%;">Islam says the best ones among us are those who care about following beings,
life and environment. Indeed, God assures humanity (not necessarily Muslims) in
clear terms that if you are Jewish, Christian, Pagan or other, you need not worry,
as long as you cared for fellow beings. You don’t have to be a Muslim to earn
God’s grace, but you have to be a contributor to the well being of fellow
beings and the universe around you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">God loves those who forgive often and God loves the least among you who is
arrogant, and I urge you to think about the wisdom, the depth and breadth
of this sentence.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Islam goes to the extent of saying not to treat all prophets as equals
including Prophet Muhammad that is the kind humility it imbues. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">My biggest joy is removing layers of dust from Islam, and re-discovering its
inherent pluralistic nature, I see Quran as a manual to build cohesive societies.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;">I feel guilty, if my language
is not inclusive of other faith traditions. A decade ago, a business
radio station asked me to join a Rabbi and a Pastor to talk about Alms giving
in the Abrahimic faiths. I asked them if they have other faiths joining, they
said no, and then I said, I will do it, if you let me talk about Alms giving in
at least three other faiths; namely Hinduism, Baha’i and Sikhism, and they
did. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 150%;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Even if I am talking about Islam, there will be references to other faiths,
indeed Pluralism runs through my veins.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 24px;">Please note, my faith is strong today, because I am open to criticism of Islam, Quran and the Prophet. I had a public challenge to Pastor Robert Jeffress, "if you find three faults in Quran, I will do what you asked me to do" he backed off and we held a full blown Quran conference. a few Muslims said, I should not have challenged him, my response was, did you study Quran, have you developed a faith in it? Video's, Newspaper Report and conference proceedings are at www.QuraanConference.com - it is worth your time, if you have an interest. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 24.75px;">References:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 24.75px;">1. Criticis of Islam, Prophet and God - </span></span><a href="http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2012/11/criticism-of-islam-prophet-muhammad.html" style="line-height: 24.75px;">http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2012/11/criticism-of-islam-prophet-muhammad.html</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2. How I connect with the Prophet - <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/how-i-connect-with-prophet-muhammad_b_2547782.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/how-i-connect-with-prophet-muhammad_b_2547782.html</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 24.75px;">3. Conducting Civil Dialogue - <a href="http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2008/07/sura-kafirun-un-believers.html">http://quraan-today.blogspot.com/2008/07/sura-kafirun-un-believers.html</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 24.75px;">4. Quran Conference - <a href="http://www.quraanconference.com/">www.QuraanConference.com</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 24.75px;">Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer,
news maker, and a speaker on </span><a href="http://foundationforpluralism.com/" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; line-height: 24.75px;">Pluralism</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 24.75px;">, </span><a href="http://www.mikeghouse.net/InterfaithSpeaker_MikeGhouse.asp" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; line-height: 24.75px;">Interfaith</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 24.75px;">, </span><a href="http://www.worldmuslimcongress.com/" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; line-height: 24.75px;">Islam</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 24.75px;">, </span><a href="http://http//centerforamericanpolitics.blogspot.com/" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; line-height: 24.75px;">politics</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 24.75px;">,</span><a href="http://terrorismcounter.blogspot.com/" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; line-height: 24.75px;"> terrorism</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 24.75px;">, </span><a href="http://www.standingupforothers.com/" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; line-height: 24.75px;">human rights</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 24.75px;">, </span><a href="http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; line-height: 24.75px;">India</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 24.75px;">, </span><a href="http://www.israelpalestinedialogue.com/" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; line-height: 24.75px;">Israel-Palestine</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 24.75px;"> and foreign
policy. He is committed to building </span><a href="http://americatogetherfoundation.com/" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; line-height: 24.75px;">cohesive societies</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 24.75px;"> and offers
pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Visit him in 63 links at
www.MikeGhouse.net for his writings at TheGhousediary.com and several blogs
listed there in.</span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-23913247667287810742016-04-10T07:15:00.003-07:002016-04-23T08:29:03.441-07:00Pat Robertson's nasty comment and Muslim Speaker's response on 700 club Today<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">www.MuslimSpeaker.com</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mr. Robertson, more than the Muslims, Jesus would be disappointed in you severely. The role of religious leaders is to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill, and he called out “Blessed are the Peacemakers.” Leaders invoke civility in the society, so members of the society can live in peace and without apprehension and I urge you to be at least a peace maker, if not the blessed one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I urge Muslims to follow the Prophet’s formula of mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwill and not be offended with Mr. Robertson’s comments. Prophet was a mercy to mankind, and it is time for us to collectively follow him and be kind and gentler towards any one who is nasty towards us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mr. Roberston, what did you do this morning?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You pit Christian Americans against Muslim Americans? Do you cherish Americans living in tensions? Do you get paid for that, do the dumb and dumber ones donate more money to you? Shame on them to encourage you to be a rascal. If you need money badly to do good things, we can pitch in for you, but don't invoke the baseness in fellow humans. Please don't be an embarrassment to Christianity, the man who sacrificed his life should not be misrepresented. I pray for you to become a blessed peace maker and join me in created a safe and secure America for every one of us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mr. Robertson, Religion is not the problem!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">None of us had a religion before, and each one of us was given guidance to live in peace and harmony with oneself and with others. A majority of the people got that message of religions right, and a few creeps did not, and it is our role to help every one restore peace. Is it not?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />But when bad things happen, who do you blame, religion or the creeps?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Let me show you what happens.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />When we blame the creeps, what happens? We will hunt them down wherever we can find them, and punish them according to the laws of the land and restore trust in the society, so no one can live in apprehension or tensions. What a relief it is to stop the bad guy!<br /><br />If you blame the religion on the other hand, what happens? Nothing happens! It is the dumbest thing to blame the religion, is it not?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Religion is not a being, not a thing, not a body, for Christ's sake, it is an intangible item. You cannot shoot, kick, beat, thrash, hang, kill or bury it. It does not do any good and no problem will be solved except aimless barking.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Problem remains, people will continue to remain apprehensive and fearful of each other. Let’s find solutions to these problems instead of barking at religion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />I have said this on Stuart Varney show, Hannity Show, and given many speeches on the topic and have written it umpteen times. It is down right stupid to blame religion. God willing, I will get on Fox and Friends or any show and start talking about it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God willing a full article will be written on the topic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />"Today on “The 700 Club,” Pat Robertson said that countries like Belgium and France must respond with “violence” to the “infection” of Muslim immigrants, telling his co-host Terry Meeuwsen that these countries must fight Islam in the same way that a body fights a deadly disease." </span><span style="line-height: 19.32px;">Otherwise, “Europe is doomed. Doomed!” he said, before adding: “And we have a president here in America who refuses to name it, refuses to identify it and refuses to give us what’s needed to kill the infection.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;">See more at: </span><a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/pat-robertson-islam-dangerous-infection-must-be-eliminated" style="line-height: 19.32px;">http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/pat-robertson-islam-dangerous-infection-must-be-eliminated</a></span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-91137046596543855652016-04-08T11:18:00.000-07:002016-04-08T15:22:50.737-07:00Muslim Prayers, one, two, three and four rakats<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">It’s not easy to be the first one. In
2005, Memnosyne Foundation held a conference on religion, and at the conclusion
of the ceremony, each faith tradition was asked to pray, so we can learn how each
one of us prays. The time given to each one of us was 2 minutes, and there were
nearly 30 of us to wrap it up in one hour. </span><br />
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I had a hard time figuring out how to perform Muslim prayers in two (2) minutes, the minimum known prayer is two units (Rakats)
and it takes 3-4 minutes*. So, I decided to go with one unit (Rakat) of Prayer
and it was opposed, and some of them did not even want me to pray as it had
never been done before. I had the higher
responsibility to share how we pray; it was a message that needed to be communicating
to the world at large. <br /><br />I sought forgiveness from God and prayed and it was both in English and Arabic. Believe me that
was one of the most devotional prayers of my life. I put my heart, mind and
soul into it. I was on the stage with cameras clicking and I had to be my best and thank God, I was deeply devotional and absorbed in it. God did not tell me if he was happy, but I am sure he was, it was to promote understanding and that is his call (Quran 49:13). The best ones among you are those who learn about each other, and when we do that, conflicts fade and solutions emerge for peaceful existence of humanity. </span><br />
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Surprise, surprise!<br /><br />In 2009 the situation came up again. I was at the
Parliament of World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia and a Saudi woman Islamic teacher was giving the talk on how Muslims pray, and the room was
packed with clergy from Iran and Saudi Arabia in their flowing robes. She asked
if a Muslim can step up to demonstrate the Muslim prayer and it will be one
unit… I cannot tell you, I literally jumped up from my chair and dashed to the
stage floor, tripping once over the cable on the floor, but got up and was
ready to ‘perform’. After the prayer, I
told them that this event released me from the bottled up tension, and of course every
one cheered. Later on in Dallas the FBI was training ethnic sensitivity about Muslims and
Sikhs and a Muslim trainer did that one unit prayer again. </span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 107%;">What a relief!</span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 107%;">Mike Ghouse is a Muslim Speaker with whom you can engage on talking about any issue concerning Islam - Quran is the source he relies on and occasionally refers to the secondary sources with caution, as they were human compilations and subject to errors. </span><span style="line-height: 107%;">He encourages one to lay it out, lay everything that is bothering one, he believes in clarifying rather than walking out with doubts. He has gained more knowledge about Islam by allowing and encouraging people to critique and </span><span style="line-height: 19.9733px;">criticize</span><span style="line-height: 19.9733px;">, and his faith in the principles and essence of Islam is rock solid.</span></span><br />
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-14662862838712500552016-04-03T18:00:00.002-07:002016-04-03T19:02:34.267-07:00Sunni Muslim, is that what I am ?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Farrukh wrote, “This is a warning to all Muslims in this forum that Mike Ghouse’s religion is not Islam, he is Ismaili, and he is misguided person. If anyone needs more info about his religion, please let me know.” </span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Really?</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">There are a few out there who do not even have the inclination to verify any information but pass it on as their authoritative information. I wish he had written, “Mike Ghouse is a Muslim, and I am not sure which denomination he belongs to as I have not verified it, but it appears that he fits in with everyone from Shia, Sunni, Bohra, Ahmadiyya, Ismaili, Alawite or what not.” And, “If anyone wants/need more information about his religion, visit the following sites.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Am-I-a-Sunni-Muslim" class="alignleft wp-image-5322 size-full" height="384" sizes="(max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px" src="http://www.theghousediary.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Am-I-a-Sunni-Muslim.jpg" srcset="http://www.theghousediary.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Am-I-a-Sunni-Muslim-300x200.jpg 300w, http://www.theghousediary.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Am-I-a-Sunni-Muslim.jpg 576w" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0.857143rem 1.71429rem 0.857143rem 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="576" /> <a href="http://www.muslimspeaker.com/" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.MuslimSpeaker.com</a>, <a href="http://www.worldmuslimcongress.com/" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.WorldMuslimCongress.com</a> ,<a href="http://www.quraantoday.com/" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.QuraanToday.com</a>,<a href="http://www.quraanconference.com/" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.QuraanConference.com</a> ,<a href="http://www.ramadanexclusive.com/" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.RamadanExclusive.com</a> , <a href="http://www.sharialaws.com/" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.ShariaLaws.com</a>, and a whole lot more sites including <a href="http://www.theghousediary.com/" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.TheGhousediary.com</a> and the following video at Youtube; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZQ-FT8GfiQ" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZQ-FT8GfiQ</a></span><br /><br /><span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">First of all, Prophet Muhammad knew only one group of people; Muslims! Prefixes like Sunni, Shia, Ahmadiyya, Bohra, Ismaili, WD Muhammad, Alawite, Deobandi, Barelvi, Ahl-e-Hadith, Ahl-e-bait etc., were not in his vocabulary nor can anyone ascribe these words to him – he did not use them. </span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Secondly, </span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">All the <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Madhabs or </em>denominations are natural outcomes of the society. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) understood human nature and rightfully predicted the singular faith he taught will split, re-split and will continue to split and he chose the metaphorical number 72 do denote an infinite number.</span></div>
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He planted that seed, so we can learn to live with each other with our differences, we have to race in doing good things but not claim to be self righteousness and denigrate others, as that amounts to arrogance and God does not like those who are arrogant. Only God knows who would be rank #1, #2, and #3, and who would score A, B, C or D grades. Even if you are a sinner, God may forgive you if you do one simple act of kindness towards other living beings like giving water to a thirsty cat, but most certainly fellow humans. Only God knows the full impact of our actions to his creation to bestow his grace.</div>
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My understanding is, you have to be a good human being who cares for his fellow beings and environment (that God has created). Wont’ you be happy and sing songs of your guests in your home if they meticulously take care of your property? Or your employees who make sure your business is intact and taken care of? Do you worry if the employee is Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Christian or whoever, as long as he or she cares for your business? God does not worry how you worship him or what your religion is, he appreciates it if you contribute towards preserving his creation, and it comes through justness, fairness and kindness.</div>
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God does not discriminate one from the other, his criteria or question to us is, “Are you good to your fellow beings (humans and animals) and environment?”</div>
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[2:136] Say, “We believe in GOD, and in what was sent down to us, and in what was sent down to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, and the Patriarchs; and in what was given to Moses and Jesus, and all the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction among any of them. To Him alone we are submitters.”</div>
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[4:152] As for those who believe in GOD and His messengers, and make no distinction among them, He will grant them their recompense. GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.</div>
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God loves us all, after all we are his creation, and because he cares about us, he offers guidance, and he sends a peace maker (call a messenger, prophet or any other word) to each community and each group to show them how to live in peace and harmony. Bhagvad Gita phrases it in another fashion, every time there is chaos in the society, someone from among you will emerge to restore righteousness. It could be a Shaman in the remote jungles of Amazon or a Prophet like Abraham, make no distinction, they serve God by preserving harmony, peace and justice in the community they live in.</div>
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Islam has always emphasized on serving fellow beings, God assures every one, yes every one, not to worry about the future, as long as you take care of his creation comprising life and and matter, he will take care of you.</div>
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[2:62] Surely, those who believe, those who are Jewish, the Christians, and the converts; anyone who (1) believes in GOD, and (2) believes in the Last Day, and (3) leads a righteous life, will receive their recompense from their Lord. They have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve.</div>
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[22:17] Those who believe, those who are Jewish, the converts, the Christians, the Zoroastrians, and the idol worshipers, GOD is the One who will judge among them on the Day of Resurrection. GOD witnesses all things.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">[43:17] He also said, he made us into many tribes, races, nations and by extension religions and communities and the best ones among us are those who learn about each other, and when we do that, conflicts fade and solutions emerge.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The division</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Quran remains the word of God; however, what God meant has been understood differently by different people. No one, including the great Imams of the time can ever claim that his understanding is the right one. Remember, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) did not assign any one to be the sole interpreter of Quran, he said, I am leaving this book to you, for you to understand. Please note, the Shia tradition differs on this issue, and we have to respect their understanding. If God is kind, just, merciful and fair, and Prophet is a mercy to mankind, then everything we will see in Quran would be nothing but common sense for common goodness, it is non-stop universalism. You are welcome to differ, Islam is too big of a religion (aalameen) to exclude any one of us. </span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In the beginning, there was one singular interpretation for Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam and other faiths for many years.</span></div>
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In the 16th century, Christianity split into Protestant and its many variations, each faith has followed the same natural path of amoeba, divide itself and keep multiplying.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In case of Islam, Prophet Muhammad knew only one thing; what he preached; One Islam. He did not even know that there was a Sunni Islam. I would say the same about all other prophets.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Then we reluctantly accepted the split of Shia and Sunni traditions, then came the 6 six schools of thoughts, we accepted that diversity as well, and now Islam has many traditions within, and we have accepted them with humility. Pluralism is an attitude of respecting the otherness of others. </span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Allahu Akbar! (Check out Huffington Post – <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/allahu-akbar-abused_b_860221.html" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/allahu-akbar-abused_b_860221.html</a> ) it means humility, we are small, hence all of us small ones are on par. A few among us are arrogant about our traditions and denigrate others. What a shame, they assign themselves to play the role of a deputy of God or decider for him and pass judgments about others. That is shirk (diluting the dominion of God) and it creates problem hence declared as the ugliest of all sins. That is we cannot judge other’s faith.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I have chosen to remain denomination less, but if you want to know what I pray like and sound like, it is reflective of Sunni tradition, only because I was raised with those values and it don’t mean superior or inferior, it is just my tuning. If my parents had programmed me to be a Shia or an Ahmadiyya, I would have followed that path. We need to learn to respect each path, each one means dearly to the believer, as they say, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, faith is in the heart of the believer. My mother is dear to me as your mother is dear to you and Quran says, to you is your faith and to me is my faith (109.6 – that is not a radio station, but the Verse from the Quran) .</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Heavens, I am comfortable with every which tradition a Muslim prays and I have been to every Mosque of almost all denominations including the three most revered ones in Mecca, Madinah and Jerusalem. (Check out <a href="http://www.ramadanexclusive.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.RamadanExclusive.com</a>) Ironically, it would have been a<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">bidda</em>, an invention if someone had called himself or herself a Shia or a Sunni during the life of the Prophet. So, why should I call myself a Sunni? I fully respect other people’s choices to belong to sub-groups and all are welcome. I am a Muslim, period! I have no walls between me and another Muslim, and no wall between me and another human. </span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Indeed, the <a href="http://www.worldmuslimcongress.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">World Muslim congress</a> was formed with that express purpose to create space for every Muslim, and the <a href="http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.FoundationforPluralism.com</a> was created for all humanity. In the search box, you can plug in the name of any denomination, and you will find the articles, you can plug in the name of any commemoration or festival, you will find the information. It took me a lot of time and effort to make that happen, and that is my commitment to create a world where all humanity can get along by knowing each other. </span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The role of Muslims is to contribute towards the well being of humanity, and to be the conflict mitigaters and goodwill nurturers. Our goal is to build a secure world for every human, our Jewish friends can understand that, as they believe in Tikkun Olam. Please read the <a href="http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2012/01/mission-of-world-muslim-congress.html" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">mission statement</a>–<a href="http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2012/01/mission-of-world-muslim-congress.html" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2012/01/mission-of-world-muslim-congress.html</a></span><br /><span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This group is about Muslims and their civic responsibilities in creating a dignified religious, social and civic space for themselves in the community of faiths. We do not distinguish between a Sunni, Shia, Ahmadiyya, WD Muhammad, Ismaili, Bohra or the subsets of each group, all believe in God, the Prophet and the accountability of their actions and whoever calls himself or herself a Muslim is a Muslim to us. Currently we are blessed to have our Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Baha’i, Sikh and Buddhist friends among us to learn and share their perspective. This is our world and our God collectively.</span></div>
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<br /><span style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The <a href="mailto:WorldMuslimCongress@yahoogroups.com" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">WorldMuslimCongress@yahoogroups.com</a> with 1700 members from around the world, and it is denomination-less, it is for all Muslims with full and equal respect to all denominations.</span><span style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Our focus is not the tiny differences, but the larger commonality.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">World Muslim Congress is a think tank, all are welcome to participate in the discussions, and our scope is limited and defined in our mission statement. Currently, we have 1700 Members worldwide with no membership fee.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">To join the group that has been around since 2004, and prior to that it was called the Muslim Agenda from 2002 onwards, send an email to: <a href="mailto:WorldMuslimCongress-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com" style="border: 0px; color: #00bcd5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">WorldMuslimCongress-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com</a></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker,<a href="http://interfaithmarriages.blogspot.com/" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Interfaith Wedding officiant</a>, and a speaker on <a href="http://foundationforpluralism.com/" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Pluralism</a>, <a href="http://www.interfaithspeaker.com/" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Interfaith</a>, <a href="http://www.muslimspeaker.com/" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Islam</a>,<a href="http://www.centerforamericanpolitcs.com/" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">politics</a>, <a href="http://terrorismcounter.blogspot.com/" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">terrorism</a>,<a href="http://www.standingupforothers.com/" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">human rights</a>, <a href="http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">India</a>, <a href="http://www.israelpalestinedialogue.com/" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Israel-Palestine</a><u style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">,</u> <a href="http://mikeghouse.net/Motivational.speeches.Speaker.MikeGhouse.asp" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">motivation</a>, and foreign policy. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Visit him (63 links) at<a href="http://www.mikeghouse.net/" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.MikeGhouse.net</a> and<a href="http://www.theghousediary.com/" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">www.TheGhousediary.com</a> for his exclusive writings.</span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-78674290032808794192016-03-28T13:52:00.002-07:002016-03-28T13:52:12.526-07:00American Muslims condemn attack targeting Christians by the Taliban on the auspicious day of Easter in Lahore, Pakistan. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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American Muslim Institution<br />
Contact: Mike Ghouse (214) 325-1916<br />
</span><a href="mailto:Mike@AmericanMuslimInstitution.org"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Mike@AmericanMuslimInstitution.org</span></a><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> <br />
</span><a href="http://www.americanmusliminstitution.org/"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">www.AmericanMuslimInstitution.org</span></a><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> <br />
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American Muslims condemn attack targeting Christians by the Taliban on the
auspicious day of Easter in Lahore, Pakistan.
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Washington, DC, March 28, 2016
– Reuters News reports that at least 65 people were killed and 300 were wounded
in a suicide bombing attack that targeted Christians on the auspicious day of
Easter in the City of Lahore, Pakistan. Taliban
groups that once had ties with Daesh claimed responsibility. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">While we applaud the efforts of
the Government of Pakistan to hunt down terrorists, we appeal to <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>the Pakistanis religious leaders to reach out and counsel misguided
individuals and groups. We have an
obligation to restore peace on earth in the name of the prophet, who is a mercy
to fellow humans. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">We condemn all acts of terrorism
unconditionally, and our hearts go out to the families of the victims and their
loved ones. We pray with our hearts,
souls and minds, asking God to guide us all to restore peace and a sense of
security, especially to minorities among us. <br />
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We people of different faiths, races, and ethnicities must come together and
remain united against terrorists who seek to tear us apart. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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American Muslim Institution is the proactive voice for Muslims in America and
we are committed to contributing towards building pluralistic societies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-75209041585887694972016-03-10T05:10:00.001-08:002016-03-10T05:10:45.838-08:00Press Release: Mr. Trump Islam does not hate us<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #281b21; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Contact: Mike Ghouse<br />(214) 325-1916 </span><span style="color: #281b21; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 17.12px;">Washington, DC </span><span style="color: #281b21; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><br />www.AmericaTogetherFoundation.com<br />SpeakerMikeGhouse@gmail.com</span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><br /><b><br /></b></span><br /><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 16.478px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Mr. Trump, blaming Islam amounts to barking at the wrong tree.</span><br /></b><span style="color: #281b21; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Washington, D.C. March 10, 2016 – Mr. Trump in an interview to CNN Anchor, Anderson Cooper said, </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">“There’s an unbelievable hatred of us, we have got to get to the bottom of it, and there is unbelievable hatred of us.”Anderson interjects, “In Islam itself?” Trump responds, “You have to figure that out, ok, you will get another Pulitzer.” (</span><a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/272480-trump-islam-hates-us" style="color: #165288; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Video</span></a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">)<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiel5KdknZ6PoogQ1AQaq8t-8r-Uv3nzuDWzD08gt7k52RRf-AUusDdLbZI7UavOXQVzggYaFd5HUNyNwDXG_wT5IDdOKP3Kdd-8ef39cFLMXeAb_QnlXA61YjW_J2waE2rrExlhCw1t3o/s1600/Trump-IslamHatesUs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #165288; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiel5KdknZ6PoogQ1AQaq8t-8r-Uv3nzuDWzD08gt7k52RRf-AUusDdLbZI7UavOXQVzggYaFd5HUNyNwDXG_wT5IDdOKP3Kdd-8ef39cFLMXeAb_QnlXA61YjW_J2waE2rrExlhCw1t3o/s400/Trump-IslamHatesUs.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(233, 233, 233); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><br />He continues, “We have to be very vigilant, very careful and we cannot allow people coming into this country with this hatred of us”.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px; line-height: 23.1px;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">I want to assure Mr. Trump that Islam does not hate America, nor does Islam kill people, just as Guns don’t kill, but individuals do. <br /><br />Mr. Trump is seeking guidance when he says, “we have to get to the bottom of it” and I am pleased to offer my services to coach him in Islam and Muslim psyche.<br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Jesus did not give permission to Christians to go on the crusades, inquisitions, genocides of Native Americans, Holocaust, Bosnia and massacres etc? It is not Christians, but the men who did not get Christianity committed those crimes.<br /><br />Muhammad (pbuh) did not give permission to Muslims to gas the Kurds, commit 9/11, genocide of people in Darfur? He did not give permission to the ISIS animals to forcibly subject Christian, Yazidi and Shia women to sex abuse? It is not Muslims, but the men who did not get Islam committed those crimes.<br /><br />If we are inclined to believe in that non-sense, we have a serious responsibility to find the truth, and truth shall set us free.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Bad things happen because those creeps did not get their religion right.<br />Who do you blame, religion or the creeps?</span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><br />If you blame the creeps what happens?<b> </b></span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"> You’ll hunt them down wherever you can find them, and punish according to restore trust in the society, </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">s</span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">o no one can live in apprehension or tensions. </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">If you blame the religion what happens?</span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"> Mr. Trump, nothing happens! It is the dumbest thing to blame the religion! Religion is not a being, it is an intangible item, and you cannot shoot, kick, beat, thrash, hang, kill or bury a religion. Let’s not bark at religion, it does not good and no problem will be solved except aimless barking.<br /><br />Problem remains, people will continue to remain apprehensive and fearful of each other. Let’s find solutions to these problems.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.4pt; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.4pt; line-height: 24px;">We are indeed committed to build a cohesive America, where no American has to live in Apprehension or fear of each other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #281b21; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 36px;"><br /></span></b><span style="color: #281b21; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Mike Ghouse<br />(214) 325-1916 talk/text<br /><a href="http://www.muslimspeaker.com/" style="color: #165288; text-decoration: none;">www.MuslimSpeaker.com </a><br /><br />Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker, and a speaker on <a href="http://foundationforpluralism.com/" style="color: #165288; text-decoration: none;">Pluralism</a>, <a href="http://www.mikeghouse.net/InterfaithSpeaker_MikeGhouse.asp" style="color: #165288; text-decoration: none;">Interfaith</a>, <a href="http://www.worldmuslimcongress.com/" style="color: #165288; text-decoration: none;">Islam</a>, <a href="http://http//centerforamericanpolitics.blogspot.com/" style="color: #165288; text-decoration: none;">politics</a>,<a href="http://terrorismcounter.blogspot.com/" style="color: #165288; text-decoration: none;"> terrorism</a>, <a href="http://www.standingupforothers.com/" style="color: #165288; text-decoration: none;">human rights</a>, <a href="http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/" style="color: #165288; text-decoration: none;">India</a>,<a href="http://www.israelpalestinedialogue.com/" style="color: #165288; text-decoration: none;">Israel-Palestine</a> and foreign policy. He is committed to building <a href="http://americatogetherfoundation.com/" style="color: #165288; text-decoration: none;">cohesive societies</a> and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Visit him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net for his writings at TheGhousediary.com and several blogs listed there in.<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt;"># # # </span></span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-89344306379741648242016-03-05T10:44:00.000-08:002016-03-05T10:46:17.622-08:00Abrogation of Quran verses, the Nasikh Mansukh conspiracy theories<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.02px;">ABROGATION (NASIKH MANSUKH) THEORY | www.WorldMuslimCongress.com</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.02px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.02px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.02px;">Mike Ghouse</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">First of all, let me state my position on the topic, Abrogation theory was floated by those who did not get the Quran right. Their deficient knowledge about Quran has generated their own concoctions. What is needed is for Muslims to come together and jointly declare that they reject the Nasikh Mansukh theory, if not the confusion continues, it has to be stopped now.<br /><br />Let me go to the opposite end of “Abrogation theory” and hope the discussion will yield sustainable principles.<br /><br />Let me add my understanding of Islam, if it is not common sense, it is not Islam. Islam is about building cohesive societies where all humanity can live in harmony without fear with a strong foundation of truth, justice, mercy and equitability. This translates into the highest meaning; peace (Islam), and peace comes from all of us subscribing (the word used is Submission to Allah) to a system that works for all.<br /><br />Last Saturday, I attended one of the most painful conferences in San Antonio organized by a Pastor in conjunction with ACT for America. I have learned to deal with the most extreme people among Muslims, Christians, Jews and others with utmost patience, which ran thin this time. One of the items they were laughing at us, and rightfully so was about the Abrogation theory. Misinformation about Allah, Islam, Quran and the Prophet was painful to sit through and listen, particularly coming from my brothers who were former Muslims. May God bless them, and give them the knowledge to see that God is God of all humanity despite how we perceive him, her or it is one and the same. (</span><span style="line-height: 24px;"><a href="http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2016/03/can-muslims-and-christians-co-exist.html" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2016/03/can-muslims-and-christians-co-exist.html</a></span><span style="line-height: 24px;"> ).<br /><br />In the </span><span style="line-height: 24px;"><a href="http://www.quraanconference.com/" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Quran conference">Quran conference</a></span><span style="line-height: 24px;"> we held in 2010, a statement was made something to this effect;<br /><br /> A few Muslims have been misled into believing in the Abrogation theory, which is the most ridiculous thing propagated over centuries. This is how it works; Allah delivers the message to Prophet Muhammad through Gabriel in the form of verses that eventually become the Quran. The next day or the next week Allah comes back and says, look I goofed up, I did not mean to say what I said before, it was a mistake, here is the new and better verse. Oh, by the way when you compile the book, don’t delete the mistakes I’ve made, so people know that I can change my mind too.” - This is serious <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Quran is about common sense, easy to understand guidance book to build cohesive societies and it is not for Muslims exclusively, it is for all people. By being possessive about Quran we are denying the book to others. (</span><span style="line-height: 24px;"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/quran-is-not-for-muslims_b_6174940.html" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/quran-is-not-for-muslims_b_6174940.html</a></span><span style="line-height: 24px;"> )<br /><br />For God’s sake, don’t subscribe to the Nasikh Mansukh theory for the following reasons:<br /><br />1. Allah does not make mistakes<br />2. What he says is what he means<br />3. Don’t blame Hazrat Uthman for compiling the Quran without removing God’s words<br />5. Forgive the Ulema’s of past of even for suggesting to negate God’s words<br />6. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) would not have said “ I am leaving this book to you”<br />7. Any human with common sense should read and understand without the men in business confusing them.<br />8. It is time we come together and make declarations to make Quran easy for future generations<br /><br />The origins for the mistakes is explained very well by Muhammad Asad, one of the best translators of Quran. It is referenced to Verse 2:106, “</span><span style="line-height: 24px;">Any message which, We annul or consign to oblivion We replace with a better or a similar one.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><sup><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;"><b><span style="color: red;">[87]</span></b></a></sup><span class="apple-converted-space"> Dost thou not know that God has the power to will anything?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Asad, "The principle laid down in this passage - relating to the supersession of the Biblical dispensation by that of the Qur'an - has given rise to an erroneous interpretation by many Muslim theologians. The word ayah ("message") occurring in this, context is also used to denote a "verse;" of the Qur'an (because every one of these verses contains a message). Taking this restricted meaning of the term ayah, some scholars conclude from the above passage that certain verses of the Qur'an have been "abrogated" by God's command before the revelation of the Qur'an was completed.<br /><br />Apart from the fancifulness of this assertion-which calls to mind the image of a human author correcting, on second thought, the proofs of his manuscript deleting one passage and replacing it with another-there does not exist a single reliable Tradition to the effect that the Prophet ever, declared a verse of the Qur'an to have been "abrogated". At the root of the so-called "doctrine of abrogation" may lie the inability of some of the early commentators to reconcile one Qur’anic passage with another: a difficulty which was overcome by declaring that one of the verses in question had been "abrogated".<br /><br />This arbitrary procedure explains also why there is no unanimity whatsoever among the upholders of the "doctrine of abrogation" as to which, and how many, Qur'an-verses have been affected by it; and, furthermore, as to whether this alleged abrogation implies a total elimination of the verse in question from the context of the Qur'an, or only a cancellation of the specific ordinance or statement contained in it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In short, the "doctrine of abrogation" has no basis whatever in historical fact, and must be rejected. On the other hand, the apparent difficulty in interpreting the above Qur'anic passage disappears -immediately if the temp ayah is understood, correctly, as "message", and if we read this verse in conjunction with the preceding one, which states that the Jews and the Christians refuse to accept any revelation which might supersede that of the Bible: for, if read in this way, the abrogation relates to the earlier divine messages and not to any part of the Qur'an itself.(Quran Ref: 2:106 )"<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Criticism can fade away or rain on us depending on how we respond to it. Lack of conviction in one's faith breeds intolerance towards criticism, whereas firmness in faith can lead us to learn from criticism, explore the infinite wisdom and realize the strength of our faith (Imaan); a worthy feeling to have, instead of living in doubt and shooing criticism away (<a href="http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2012/11/criticism-of-islam-prophet-muhammad.html" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">Full article - Criticism of Islam, Quran and the Prophet</a>).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Mike Ghouse chose to be a Muslim, after being fiercely critical of </span><span style="line-height: 21.45px;">how God, Prophet, Quran and Islam were presented to Muslims. The more critical he got the stronger his faith was. He urges Muslims to welcome criticism of Islam and build a strong faith. He has a strong record of learning and presenting Islam as it was meant to be. More at www.MuslimSpeaker.com </span><span style="line-height: 24px;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"># # #<br /><br />A paper by Iftekhar Hai is at the site www.WorldMuslimCongress.com</span></span><br />
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-72215349082135428202016-03-02T02:09:00.001-08:002016-03-02T02:09:14.932-08:00Can Muslims and Christians co-exist – Symposium report 1 of 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Can Muslims and Christians co-exist – Symposium report 1 of 2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">San Antonio, TX, Saturday, February 27, 2916 -- Pastor Charles Flowers of Faith outreach center called on Christians and Muslims to share their perspectives on the subject matter in a symposium organized on Friday and Saturday.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi326jvSE6RHsFy9L0TveeNTlAWm2KMBWSbTgv-JMvYZQMtYXUVD0i9bfd8WZJro7z2WNKEs5QpwvK1SnXfEYp8ZvEula80KOv-r1yulM_yesFT3aOv5t8oW_GgJC6xZ9zuH2z-CpalVmW-/s1600/1-MuslimsChristiansCoexist-SanAntonio-Mikeghouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #0c0c0c; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi326jvSE6RHsFy9L0TveeNTlAWm2KMBWSbTgv-JMvYZQMtYXUVD0i9bfd8WZJro7z2WNKEs5QpwvK1SnXfEYp8ZvEula80KOv-r1yulM_yesFT3aOv5t8oW_GgJC6xZ9zuH2z-CpalVmW-/s400/1-MuslimsChristiansCoexist-SanAntonio-Mikeghouse.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">No matter how difficult these conversations are, they are necessary to understand and learn about each other. God almighty in Quran says, the best ones among you are those who take the time to learn about each other, when we learn about each other conflicts fade and solutions emerge. God has created everything in order and in balance, and human greed and insecurities knock this balance off, and God advises us to restore it for our own good. The act of restoration is indeed a religious inspiration. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Every religion is beautiful and each one is designed to bring peace, tranquility and salvation to oneself, one learns to live in peace with himself or herself and with others. There is a shortage of Pastors, Rabbis, Imams, Pundits and religious men and women who have the integrity to say that others religions must be equally beautiful. My daughter said when she was around 10, “Dad, if the pastor tells the truth that all religions are beautiful, why would any one flock to his church?" The minute one feels or claims that his faith is the truth (and others are not), and is superior, it is religion no more, politics and greed have taken over the soul. To sell religion and have larger congregations, one has to lie about other faiths, what a shame!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><br />Thanks to Pastor Flowers and Mrs. Janice Flowers for organizing this event, we were able to clarify a few misunderstandings, but a whole lot more needs to be done. God willing we will continue to strive to create heaven on the earth, where no one has to live in fear of the other. Pastor Flowers is a genuine guy, as he moderated the event with utmost sincerity and honesty, I applaud him for that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Misinformation about Allah, Islam, Quran and the Prophet was painful to sit through and listen, particularly coming from my brothers who were former Muslims. May God bless them, and give them the knowledge to see that God is God of all humanity despite how we perceive him, her or it is one and the same. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">On the other hand, we (Muslims) have failed to question the authenticity of the Hadiths, Ibn Hisham's Seerah, the Sharia and the </span><span style="line-height: 24px;">exegesis</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"> by Tamiya, Katheer, Maududi, Banna and others. Some of us have put these books on par with Quran, which we should have never done. In the next few yeas, we will be ready to sign a joint declaration that Quran is the only book for Islam - and the only quotes from Quran about Islam will be considered authentic.<br /><br />We have to fix some of the Hadiths and Sharia books to be authentic and reflect Prophet Muhammad's character who was a mercy to mankind. I don't blame some of our friends from other faiths for being scared of what they read, and most of the time, they quote from these doubtful books, sincerely </span><span style="line-height: 24px;">believing</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"> that it is Islam. As a Muslim, Quran is the only book for me, the material in other book will be authentic, only if it contributes to building peaceful cohesive societies. (</span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/two-islams-the-mangledup-_b_5748280.html" style="color: #0c0c0c; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none;">Two Islams</a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">) </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">The format of the symposium did not allow me to present another point of view except shaking my head in disagreement when I heard things were way off. I was tempted to walk out a few times, instead I started scribbling Jesus' mantra to turn the other cheek, meaning don't do or say anything to aggravate the situation and started praying like them, asking the lord to forgive them, for they know not. </span></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">We cannot blame others for misunderstanding us without clarifying such misunderstandings, and making an effort to know others' perspective. We have a lot of work to do. As Muslims, we have the </span><span style="line-height: 24px;">responsibility</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"> to create a better world for all humanity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">The speakers included three former Muslims; Daniel Akbari, Kamal Saleem and Taufiq, and two practicing Muslims Raheel Reza and Mike Ghouse. Lt. Col. Roy White, and Joe Carey, both Christian Activists laid out the programs to counter Jihadis. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">The social issues were addressed by four different speakers. Bishop Harry Jackson offered three lenses to look at the presidential candidates and I applaud him for his inclusivity, he responded positively if the candidate were a Muslim or a Hindu, if he or she would be qualified to serve. What a joy it was to hear him out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Mrs. Alice Patterson presented how the primaries and precincts work. Her story of overcoming bias is worth listening to, and I have fought with myself not to have any bias towards another human and related with her story. Indeed she played a major role in organizing prayers when a Blackman </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Alfred Wright</span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"> was dragged to death in Jasper, Texas in 2013.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"> Dr. Fernando Cabrera’s talk on education resonated with me, indeed, his parents told him exactly what my parents did – get education!<br /><br />Gilbert Hernandez’s presentation was a big hit for me, and I hope to dedicate time for his project. So many young men and women are lost to the vultures form Gangs and Drug cartels. Muslim Youth are also facing similar problems, as a community we are deeply concerned and want to do everything to safeguard our kids from being recruited by the extremists. Gilbert’s passion to save our youth is admirable and I hope to connect him with Muslim organizations, they have a good system down to address this sorry state of affairs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Blessed are the peacemakers, said Jesus on Mount Beatitude, which Prophet Muhammad practiced, and became a mercy to the universe. Following in their footsteps, unwaveringly, I hung on to their wisdom and remained a conflict mitigater and a goodwill nurturer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Raheel Raza and I gave our presentations on Friday night, which were received very well. I have full written up on my presentation, and will be available under the title of “My speech at San Antonio interfaith symposium about Muslims and Christians” at </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><a href="http://www.theghousediary.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">www.TheGhousediary.com</a></span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><br /><br />My commentary on the presentations of Kamal Saleem, Daniel Akbari, Lt. Col. Roy White, and Joe Carey will be finalized after the video or audio presentation becomes available to make sure I can quote them verbatim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Pastor Charles Flowers concluded each segment with a summary and a graceful prayer. Fortunately, he chose to advance my calling that finding the truth is one's own responsibility. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">My last offering towards the very end of the program was that I will review each item and share my comments and suggestions about the program and publish it. Those who want to see another perspective are welcome to it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">My responsibility is to address the phobias and allay the fears; no American has to live in apprehensions or fear of fellow Americans. My role is to build bridges and free my friends from ill-will and malice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Yes, Muslims and Christians have coexisted and will continue to do so, despite the shortcomings on both sides that mess up the relationships. I'll summarize the historical, theological and social perspectives at a newspaper and then at the websites American Muslim Institution and ATF. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">This is one of the rarest conferences I have attended where the host has set the highest standards of hospitality. How many people can I thank? Rosalie Astran, Zulmarie Santiago, Abraham Martinez and of course,<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Twenty years from now our pastors, imams, rabbis, pundits, shamans and all the religious clergy will be telling the truth – that faith is in the heart of the believer just as beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.<br /><br />My faith is Islam and it is not superior to any religion, nor is any religion superior to Islam, claiming superiority is arrogance, and God in Islam does not favor arrogance, as it is the root cause of all evil and conflicts. Most Muslims get that right and a few don’t, just as with all other religions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">May God bring humility to us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Thank you,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Mike Ghouse, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">(214) 325-1916<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Washington, DC <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, newsmaker and a professional speaker on </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><a href="http://foundationforpluralism.blogspot.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://foundationforpluralism.blogspot.com/">Pluralism</a></span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">, </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><a href="http://http/www.mikeghouse.net/InterfaithSpeaker_MikeGhouse.asp" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://http//www.mikeghouse.net/InterfaithSpeaker_MikeGhouse.asp">Interfaith</a></span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">, </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><a href="http://www.worldmuslimcongress.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://www.worldmuslimcongress.com/">Islam</a></span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">, </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><a href="http://http/centerforamericanpolitics.blogspot.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://http//centerforamericanpolitics.blogspot.com/">politics</a></span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">, </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><a href="http://www.standingupforothers.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://www.standingupforothers.com/">human rights</a></span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">, and foreign policy. Mike is committed to building </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><a href="http://americatogetherfoundation.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://americatogetherfoundation.com/">cohesive societies</a></span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"> and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More about him in 63 links at </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><a href="http://www.mikeghouse.net/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://www.mikeghouse.net/">www.MikeGhouse.net</a></span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"> and his writings are at </span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"><a href="http://theghousediary.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;" title="http://theghousediary.com/">TheGhousediary.com</a></span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-54142813167191392772016-02-24T05:48:00.003-08:002016-02-25T03:16:29.878-08:00Can Muslims and Christians Co-Exist?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 20.02px;"><span style="color: #141823; line-height: 19.32px;">CAN MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS CO-EXIST? | Interfaithspeaker.com<br /><br />Yes, an overwhelming majority of Muslims and Christians have co-existed for nearly 1400 years, and will continue to do so. However a few among each one of them (less than 1/10th of 1%) are intolerant, not because of religion, but because they did not get their religion right.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; line-height: 19.32px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There will always be rogues no matter what religion they wear, we have a choice to be dumb and blame the religion or be smart and blame the bad guys and punish them and restore trust in the society. Barking at religion is useless - you cannot kill, beat, kick, slaughter, shoot, behead, hang of bury the religion, why bark at it? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfJ-YmBOrLhlwrkPc8fuqczQAkvBk5aEL9SGwDYTbNo-fSUEibj7m8DKFlQiqxSZ1z1UjkJY38N34RGkddpUiMCS9E556-ptYS0IMChFk6psghSWvLQujMTANm090kkXHnRU0Yi1_T991C/s1600/MikeGhouse.KarenHollie.Baptized.RiverJordan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #0c0c0c; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfJ-YmBOrLhlwrkPc8fuqczQAkvBk5aEL9SGwDYTbNo-fSUEibj7m8DKFlQiqxSZ1z1UjkJY38N34RGkddpUiMCS9E556-ptYS0IMChFk6psghSWvLQujMTANm090kkXHnRU0Yi1_T991C/s320/MikeGhouse.KarenHollie.Baptized.RiverJordan.jpg" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-radius: 5px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 20px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a><br />Mike Ghouse and Karen Hollie baptized at Baptismal site<br />What does this mean? <span style="text-align: left;"> </span></span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFgHi2pbHC9ppspBphZP9sIhqc9kK5KFQk9t7UGSKRbawdz-Cz_8H1t-ndLwDICXgk1x5U9A7cc5wjEAmjinAIhELvYhntDqWByQwF_moNGPahPVhJ7zvCRCjvod279J8r_0njtR_xPGph/s1600/Season.of.Peace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #0c0c0c; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFgHi2pbHC9ppspBphZP9sIhqc9kK5KFQk9t7UGSKRbawdz-Cz_8H1t-ndLwDICXgk1x5U9A7cc5wjEAmjinAIhELvYhntDqWByQwF_moNGPahPVhJ7zvCRCjvod279J8r_0njtR_xPGph/s320/Season.of.Peace.jpg" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-radius: 5px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 20px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Historical Event - Christmas and Milad celebrated for the first time in world history<br />by American Muslim Institution. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrXuHyvOxaAX1NoBjcnhyphenhyphensMCUDq242N3eUabkkPmTAYNH4kRt2pV51-hJgdqZWGsB1vIY9hTzxOVtDYivCWZc6hQgmiKsSPDUiWh_6Djdd0hteKPpH3zQpigJ-gDkg8x_ung8b56u1mk6k/s1600/MikeGhouse.at.Jesus.Grave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #0c0c0c; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrXuHyvOxaAX1NoBjcnhyphenhyphensMCUDq242N3eUabkkPmTAYNH4kRt2pV51-hJgdqZWGsB1vIY9hTzxOVtDYivCWZc6hQgmiKsSPDUiWh_6Djdd0hteKPpH3zQpigJ-gDkg8x_ung8b56u1mk6k/s320/MikeGhouse.at.Jesus.Grave.jpg" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-radius: 5px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 20px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Mike Ghouse praying at Jesus' Grave</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJ7EBtlSIOLruVHqdskk8quia9zY8xX8qKzscIT3u0P15sPT6CPmfIwN1QQrb9Uox_ChnXMbLnTCEY5FB10yiaBpNfJVis6jxzk-YL3C2mKS0typjCPxKy6iaaqbJz2rpdoR6islSrhjr/s320/Muslim+Christian+co-exist3.jpg" style="background: transparent; border-radius: 5px; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 0px 0px 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 0px;" width="320" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="color: #141823; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">This flag was used by Egyptian Muslims and Christians in the early 20th century to signify their unity against the occupying British forces. It continues to symbolize Muslim-Christian unity.</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaaOzXBmkG7K-e9aQwOf4az5-01qzDgI2rE5OSRn74bhPPeWPHfMaHsEEaSEQjwaDs5tuhfr-RE9dEeaW_tKbFNL5qgbl_GMmb4vdo7R9M8ftrJMiT5Fbw63-0WNT1T9oCz6TZcmMaJ5DS/s320/Muslim+Christian+co-exist.jpg" style="background: transparent; border-radius: 5px; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 0px 0px 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 0px;" width="320" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="color: #141823; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Good religious people want the world to be a peace, want to get along with all - that is what kingdom of peace on earth means. Half-ass religious leaders are dividers, like the devil in the center of the two towers.</span></span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX2j31XSGS05IlYsSpL3IYKfGoVdWVXTb9pO43d7UzM6slRauI_vObtB2KkQOAyhVGLAx3CrMnTSdwLTJS6HUOG21s8QQrbwlAXq-jbsekSBJBDgpAU2LJ-yiLJPwAmZ3LoGOEPn7BnF2Y/s1600/Muslim+Christian+co-exist4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #0c0c0c; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX2j31XSGS05IlYsSpL3IYKfGoVdWVXTb9pO43d7UzM6slRauI_vObtB2KkQOAyhVGLAx3CrMnTSdwLTJS6HUOG21s8QQrbwlAXq-jbsekSBJBDgpAU2LJ-yiLJPwAmZ3LoGOEPn7BnF2Y/s1600/Muslim+Christian+co-exist4.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-radius: 5px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.02px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.02px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.02px;">90% of people of any group are moderates, and do get along with others. 4.5% each is liberal and conservative, then there is 10th of 1% who are intolerant. No religion or group of people are free from that tiny group of people.</span></span></span><br />
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<span family="SANSSERIF" lang="0" ptsize="10"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mike Ghouse<br />Text or Talk at (214) 325-1916<br /><br />Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker, and a speaker on <a href="http://foundationforpluralism.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">Pluralism</a>, <a href="http://www.mikeghouse.net/InterfaithSpeaker_MikeGhouse.asp" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">Interfaith</a>, <a href="http://www.worldmuslimcongress.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">Islam</a>, <a href="http://http//centerforamericanpolitics.blogspot.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">politics</a>,<a href="http://terrorismcounter.blogspot.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;"> terrorism</a>, <a href="http://www.standingupforothers.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">human rights</a>, <a href="http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">India</a>, <a href="http://www.israelpalestinedialogue.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">Israel-Palestine</a> and foreign policy. He is committed to building <a href="http://americatogetherfoundation.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">cohesive societies</a> and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Visit him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net for his writings at TheGhousediary.com and several blogs listed there in. </span></span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-43551432073758993982016-02-17T10:05:00.000-08:002016-02-17T10:05:57.261-08:00Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) must end now<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Female Genital Mutilation | <a href="http://www.muslimspeaker.com/">www.MuslimSpeaker.com</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Warning : If you do not have the stomach to see the graphic images in some of the article links, please do not see it, but imagine how these children and women must have endured it. If you go have the courage to read it, please speak out against it.<br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVAiX4hgM1LJA8jIzmvZW0FwlCFmGaMf3_uehSO4lkAUTsFLtTYhI39F8s_KUU6fyvgSOJdy3O6wiGnjcRYQdbPj_PYNkgnlt5jHRSf2YWZoKCOARI-ZkkrzwPFNqwChEUTwZjsQK5FyOD/s1600/FGM-+End+it.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVAiX4hgM1LJA8jIzmvZW0FwlCFmGaMf3_uehSO4lkAUTsFLtTYhI39F8s_KUU6fyvgSOJdy3O6wiGnjcRYQdbPj_PYNkgnlt5jHRSf2YWZoKCOARI-ZkkrzwPFNqwChEUTwZjsQK5FyOD/s320/FGM-+End+it.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a brutal practice of cutting the genital part of women by insecure men of the past, but continued today by equally insecure men. I have put together several articles here below. It is cruel, inhuman and violates the inalienable rights of women to life, liberty and happiness, and secondly, the religious leader Syedna Burhanuddin of the Bohra Muslim Community has refused to stop the practice. I have written a letter to him but he has since passed away and his successor is no different. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Muslim and Christians should join hands to stop this, as it is practiced by a fraction of them in the name of their religion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many have taken up to stop this inhuman practice and we should all join this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Warning: The pictures too graphic, especially the one with raw blade. Most of the pictures are from Africa to illustrate the point and perhaps due to the limited availability of such practices.</span></div>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Female Genital Mutilation among Bohra Muslims - A report - not for children, too graphic pictures to bear.<br /><a href="http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2011/11/female-genital-mutilation-among-bohra.html" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2011/11/female-genital-mutilation-among-bohra.html</a></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Setting the record Straight, Female Genital Mutilation<br /><a href="http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2012/04/mutilating-facts-setting-record.html" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2012/04/mutilating-facts-setting-record.html</a></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scientific knowledge at practice was banned in the USA in 1996<br /><a href="http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2013/06/female-genital-mutilation-cutting-fgm.html" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2013/06/female-genital-mutilation-cutting-fgm.html</a></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Female genital cutting<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk1XpaXP3RU" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk1XpaXP3RU</a></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bohra Women slam cruel tradition of female genital mutilation India Today – NDTV<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgwCt9N6OOA" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgwCt9N6OOA</a></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR7DkaXCBtM</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Female Genital Cutting: An Unknown Global Concern – by Mariya Taher<br /><a href="http://www.fairobserver.com/culture/female-genital-cutting-an-unknown-global-concern-42053/" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">http://www.fairobserver.com/culture/female-genital-cutting-an-unknown-global-concern-42053/</a></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">FGC and the Law: Why Criminalization Isn’t Enough<br /><a href="http://blogs.cfr.org/women-around-the-world/2016/02/09/female-genital-cutting-and-the-law-why-criminalization-isnt-enough/" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">http://blogs.cfr.org/women-around-the-world/2016/02/09/female-genital-cutting-and-the-law-why-criminalization-isnt-enough/</a></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/08/victim-fgm-speaking-out-cut-genitals-culture-of-silence?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-1" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/08/victim-fgm-speaking-out-cut-genitals-culture-of-silence?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-1</a></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">End Female Genital Mutilation in India<br /><a href="https://www.change.org/p/end-female-genital-mutilation-in-india" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">https://www.change.org/p/end-female-genital-mutilation-in-india</a></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.safehandsforgirls.org/" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">http://www.safehandsforgirls.org/</a></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Join the Global Conversation to #endFGM Imam Magid and Coptic Pastor<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmfflgHKCfU" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmfflgHKCfU</a></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last Generation of Bohra women to go thru FGM<br /><a href="http://sahiyo.com/2016/02/17/mariya-ali-london-bohra-resident-last-generation-to-lose-a-pinch-of-our-skin/" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">http://sahiyo.com/2016/02/17/mariya-ali-london-bohra-resident-last-generation-to-lose-a-pinch-of-our-skin/</a></span></li>
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<span family="SANSSERIF" lang="0" ptsize="10" style="font-family: Arial;">Mike
Ghouse<br />Text or Talk at (214) 325-1916<br /><br />Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community
consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker, and a speaker on <a href="http://foundationforpluralism.com/">Pluralism</a>, <a href="http://www.mikeghouse.net/InterfaithSpeaker_MikeGhouse.asp">Interfaith</a>, <a href="http://www.worldmuslimcongress.com/">Islam</a>, <a href="http://http//centerforamericanpolitics.blogspot.com/">politics</a>,<a href="http://terrorismcounter.blogspot.com/"> terrorism</a>, <a href="http://www.standingupforothers.com/">human rights</a>, <a href="http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/">India</a>, <a href="http://www.israelpalestinedialogue.com/">Israel-Palestine</a> and foreign
policy. He is committed to building <a href="http://americatogetherfoundation.com/">cohesive societies</a> and offers
pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Visit him in 63 links at
www.MikeGhouse.net for his writings at TheGhousediary.com </span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-46457732872679685302016-02-12T13:15:00.001-08:002016-02-12T13:16:36.293-08:00Pluralism prayers at Carrollton City Hall by Mike Ghouse<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-48907388709002198222016-02-12T06:41:00.001-08:002016-02-12T06:41:14.123-08:00What will Mike Ghouse do for Muslims in America?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="line-height: 14.5pt;">February 12, 2016 – Washington, D.C., The Capitol Forum TV show in Washington has released a video of my interview.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; color: black; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 5px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHxv4hXDNVfh7rQOnPFHDvyPWBBdtQ9yyLlB4vsBT7PdZBT93Uub78CllYI0mODf8zw67CxRfbpLMzPfps2BtNgAUWaN9-OcGcSBmjmsIsyuSgZ_aPrrB2ysh05gwHP-t7qK6l7S_xEvq/s1600/MikeGhouse-TV-Current-Affairs-Washington.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 19.3333px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHxv4hXDNVfh7rQOnPFHDvyPWBBdtQ9yyLlB4vsBT7PdZBT93Uub78CllYI0mODf8zw67CxRfbpLMzPfps2BtNgAUWaN9-OcGcSBmjmsIsyuSgZ_aPrrB2ysh05gwHP-t7qK6l7S_xEvq/s400/MikeGhouse-TV-Current-Affairs-Washington.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><b>YouTube VIDEO: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Swl2_zYCoi8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Swl2_zYCoi8</a></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="line-height: 14.5pt;">Frank Islam asks questions about my passion, work and what will I be doing in Washington D.C. What is interfaith movement, Who are my mentors and what is Pluralism and what is that I want to achieve for the Muslim community?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><div style="line-height: 14.5pt;">
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<span style="color: #141823;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Frank is a philanthropists in Washington DC and has generously contributed $2 Million to his Alma Mater AMU setting an example of contributing back to the place that made him who he is today.<br /><br />Your feedback is requested.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px;">Mike Ghouse</span><br style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px;">Text or Talk at (214) 325-1916</span><br style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px;" /><br style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px;" /><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px;">Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker, and a speaker on </span><a href="http://foundationforpluralism.com/" style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;">Pluralism</a><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px;">, </span><a href="http://www.mikeghouse.net/InterfaithSpeaker_MikeGhouse.asp" style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;">Interfaith</a><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px;">, </span><a href="http://www.worldmuslimcongress.com/" style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;">Islam</a><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px;">, </span><a href="http://http//centerforamericanpolitics.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;">politics</a><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px;">,</span><a href="http://terrorismcounter.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;">terrorism</a><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px;">, </span><a href="http://www.standingupforothers.com/" style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;">human rights</a><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px;">, </span><a href="http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;">India</a><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px;">, </span><a href="http://www.israelpalestinedialogue.com/" style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;">Israel-Palestine</a><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px;"> and foreign policy. He is committed to building </span><a href="http://americatogetherfoundation.com/" style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px; text-decoration: none;">cohesive societies</a><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 22.4px;"> and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Visit him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net for his writings at TheGhousediary.com and several blogs listed there in. </span></span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-57034609919293231052016-02-03T03:13:00.000-08:002016-02-03T03:13:01.278-08:00Muslim Radicals in America Mike Ghouse on Bryan Blue's Radio Show<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.02px;">It was a good one hour Radio talk show : Mike Ghouse with Danny Blue, Danny Coulson and Kinky Friedman. Danny Coulson is a former FBI agent and he agreed with my take.<br /> </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.02px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.02px;">December 18, 2015, Fort Worth, Texas -- </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.02px;"><br />Listen tot he Audio at this link - <a href="http://bryanblue.com/2015/12/18/muslim-radicals-in-america/">http://bryanblue.com/2015/12/18/muslim-radicals-in-america/</a></span></span><br />
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<span family="SANSSERIF" lang="0" ptsize="10" style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mike
Ghouse<br />Text or Talk at (214) 325-1916<br /><br />Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community
consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker, and a speaker on <a href="http://foundationforpluralism.com/">Pluralism</a>, <a href="http://www.mikeghouse.net/InterfaithSpeaker_MikeGhouse.asp">Interfaith</a>, <a href="http://www.worldmuslimcongress.com/">Islam</a>, <a href="http://http//centerforamericanpolitics.blogspot.com/">politics</a>,<a href="http://terrorismcounter.blogspot.com/"> terrorism</a>, <a href="http://www.standingupforothers.com/">human rights</a>, <a href="http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/">India</a>, <a href="http://www.israelpalestinedialogue.com/">Israel-Palestine</a> and foreign
policy. He is committed to building <a href="http://americatogetherfoundation.com/">cohesive societies</a> and offers
pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Visit him in 63 links at
www.MikeGhouse.net for his writings at TheGhousediary.com and several blogs
listed there in. </span></div>
</div>
Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-28669831418294669762016-02-02T19:41:00.003-08:002016-02-02T19:41:26.896-08:00Obama's opportunity in Charm City<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.02px;">Doug Burton has quoted me in this piece at the Philo's project. I don't have to agree with all what Mr. Burton has written, but agree with some of the material.<br /><br />Mike Ghouse</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.02px;">Courtesy of </span><a href="https://philosproject.org/obamas-opportunity-in-charm-city/" style="background-color: white; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 20.02px; text-decoration: none;">Philo's project. </a><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.02px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.02px;"><br />Obama's opportunity in Charm City<br />Doug Burton</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The president’s upcoming visit to the Islamic Society of Baltimore will give him the opportunity to tell us all to take a breath before sounding the alarm about new waves of non-vetted Muslim masses crashing our gates. Expect a legacy statement to showcase American religious freedom, tolerance, pluralism and inclusiveness to audiences overseas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hopefully this visit will be more than a photo-op guaranteed to underscore the politically correct myth that Islamism isn’t Islam and that the religion of Islam has no causal link to terrorism. Americans know this plank is a nonsequiter: the Obama Administration says that no terrorists are Muslims, whereas virtually all Jihadi terrorists say they are Muslims.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Perhaps conservatives can give Muslim believers a break here. True, many American imams will not acknowledge that the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda or any form of violent Jihadism is Islam. But anguish could be hear in one imam’s voice as he spoke up during an interview to say, “Let me stop you right there. ISIS has nothing to do with Islam, which is a religion of peace – only peace. That’s like saying the crusaders who raped, murdered or tortured Muslims for centuries were really Christians.” While his constraint on language is his hapless dilemma, it reminds us that in the hearts of the vast majority of devout practitioners, Islam is a divine encounter, leading to a higher plane of compassion, self-transformation, lawfulness and justice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">More importantly, on Feb. 3, President Barack Obama has an opportunity to educate Americans about the great potential of American Muslims in the war of ideas within the Islamic world. As many an analyst has pointed out, Islam as a civilization has had neither a renaissance nor enlightenment, and is due. Fundamentalist Islam rooted in the Arabian Peninsula is actually at war with modernity. We aren’t dealing with “a clash of civilizations” as much as a crisis within one civilization – Islam.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">American Muslims could make a big difference because they <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">are </em>different. The fact is, Islam has contextualized in North America’s democratic environment. Just as Christianity adapted to new cultures and ethical traditions as it moved from ancient Israel to Greece, to Rome to the heart of German Europe, and finally to North America, so has Islam.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Muslims who murdered their colleagues in San Bernardino were <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">in </em>America, but not<em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">of </em>it. American Muslims are inured to modernity: well educated and rooted in America. By one count, 5 percent of America’s doctors are Muslims, and many have served in the armed forces. Muslims are voters and public servants. At least two American Muslims serve in Congress. A week after the Paris attacks, the American Muslim Institution held an anti-ISIS protest on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. After the San Bernardino massacre, several Islamic societies held a candlelight vigil and memorial service at the Islamic Center of Silver Springs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">American Muslims who are passionate about Islam flourishing under the protection of a secular government have champions such as Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser M.D., the founder and president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy and the author of “A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot’s Fight to Save His Faith.” Jasser currently serves as a commissioner on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As Dr. Michael Ghouse, executive director of American Muslim Institution, said, “America is unquestionably the land of the free and the brave. The American Muslims love it, and once here, have unmoored Islam from its cultural chains. Yet American Muslims have retained the true spirit of Islam; a beautiful system devised to restore sanity and common sense in a given society through simple basics like being truthful, trustworthy, standing up for justice, humility and kindness as their life style.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dr. Walid Phares, an advisor to members of Congress and the author of “The War of Ideas,” said, “The problem in President Obama’s approach to diffuse the so-called Islamophobia is that his administration marginalizes the groups within the Muslim community that promote liberal views and anti-jihadi activities, while the more Islamist factions close to the Muslim Brotherhood have been elevated by the White House to the status of sole representatives of the community.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Like any other community, the Muslim American community is not monolithic,” Phares argued. “American Muslims include the more fundamentalist and the more secular. To fight the ideology of the Jihadi terrorists, you need NGOs who would respond to the latter’s ideology not cover up for it.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He went on to point out that, as seen in both Egypt and Tunisia, for example, the silent majority is strongly opposed to the Islamists. “But the advisors of the Obama Administration may have convinced the president of the opposite. Hence the repetitive failures of Washington in the campaign against the extremists. For the Islamists won’t challenge the jihadists – only secular Muslims will. Obama should have asked Zuhdi Jasser and his reformers to walk with him to that mosque. That would have created balance and neutralized Islamophobia among Americans.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Muslim American patriots will be sitting in the pews Wednesday, yet it’s not clear yet if a president looking for opportunity will see America’s best assets looking back at him.</span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-83882493688318910842016-02-02T19:10:00.002-08:002016-02-02T19:10:32.003-08:00Why does terrorism dominate the headlines? Saudi Gazette<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; line-height: 20.02px;">Thanks to Tariq Al-Maeena for mentioning me in his write up. I really appreciate that.<br /><br />Mike Ghouse<br />www.TheGhouseDiary.com</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 20.02px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; line-height: 20.02px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 20.02px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; line-height: 20.02px;"># # #</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; line-height: 20.02px;"><br />Courtesy - <a href="http://saudigazette.com.sa/opinion/%E2%80%AAwhy-does-terrorism-dominate-%E2%80%AC-%E2%80%AAthe-headlines%E2%80%AC/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">Saudi Gazette</a><br /><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.02em; line-height: 40px;">Why does terrorism dominate the headlines?</span></span></span><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">Tariq A. Al-Maeena</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">Yet another despicable act occurred a few days ago when the Rida Mosque in Mahasen neighborhood of Al-Ahsa in the Eastern Province was bombed by those following a takfiri ideology. Four people who had been there offering prayers lost their lives to yet another act of terrorism, while another 18 were badly injured. The mosque is frequented by those following the Shia branch of Islam.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">The media in the following days was full of condemnation of the latest series of attacks based on sectarian lines, and news of other terrorists who had been captured or are on the run. But it is not just our own homegrown terrorists who dominate the news. There are marauding bands such as Daesh (the self-proclaimed IS), Al-Qaeda and other fringe groups who have been thrust onto the front pages or the airwaves with their brutality, all the while chanting religious verses. All that this has succeeded in doing has been to promote a very violent image of Islam to those who are not Muslims.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">So is this what Islam and Muslims are all about? The mayhem, murders, and bombings of the innocent? Is there no other face of Islam? You would have to dig deep between the pages to read of the other face of Muslims, a people who have dedicated their life to the proper teachings of this great religion and who by virtue of their piety are not seeking headlines.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">There are Muslim individuals such as Dr. Mike Ghouse from the US who is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker, and a speaker on a wide range of issues concerning Islam and the Western world. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day and building bridges between the faiths.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">There is also Akbar Ahmed, the world renowned Muslim anthropologist whose various projects have contributed to and shaped contemporary thinking on the relations between the Muslim and the Western worlds. Professor Akbar Ahmed is the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies in the School of International Service at American University in Washington, DC. He has served as a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and was the First Distinguished Chair of Middle East and Islamic Studies at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">The list of such distinguished individuals and their positive contributions to society is long but inevitably obscured by the dastardly deeds of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the Daesh leader, and his kind. And yet there are other relatively unknown Muslims who are shunted to the sidelines and deserve to have their story told. They do not carry impressive credentials, but through their selfless acts they can indeed be a proud beacon to Muslims everywhere.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">One such individual is Ali Banat, a Sydney born and bred Muslim who very recently discovered that he had cancer and only seven months to live. A successful entrepreneur, Ali had everything he wanted, a fleet of high performance cars including a Ferrari Spider, luxury watches, mansions and just about everything else. Facing his inevitable fate, Ali began disposing of all his assets and made a determination to make a difference in the lives of many who needed a helping hand.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">For one of his projects, Ali travelled to Togo, Africa where he felt he could help without too much red tape. He founded the MATW Africa Project which aims to build a village which will be home to over 200 widows, a school, and a residential dorm to house 600 orphans. A mini hospital/medical center and businesses to support the local community are also going to be established. Half of the money required has been collected through goodwill donors. Ali explains: “After someone tells you, or you find out that you are sick or haven’t got much time in this life, wealth is the last thing you want to chase and this is how we should be living our life every day. These people are going for the wrong goals; you will realize that when you get sick when someone tells you, you haven’t got long to live. You will realize all this stuff doesn’t benefit you in any way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">“It all started when I went to the cemetery to attend a funeral and I was thinking to myself after you go there’s nothing, there’s no one there for you, no mother, no father, no brother, and no sister except for your good deeds. At this point in my life, Alhamdulillah I have been gifted by Allah with cancer throughout my body and I have changed my whole life to helping people. It is a gift because Allah has given me a chance and some time to change.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;">Ali’s days on the earth have decreased as the cancer has begun tearing through his body. Yet it is his dream to make things happen, and the project in Togo is one of them. He is a Muslim and he is not a terrorist. Perhaps that doesn’t command him headline space but his deeds toward humanity should.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: underline;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;"> — The author can be reached at <a href="mailto:talmaeena@aol.com" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4db2ec; text-decoration: none !important;">talmaeena@aol.com</a>. Follow him on Twitter<a href="http://www.twitter.com/@talmaeena" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4db2ec; text-decoration: none !important;">@talmaeena</a></span></strong></em></span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-27340648032709327292016-01-26T05:35:00.000-08:002016-02-01T16:26:56.711-08:00What is Islam? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;">Islam is a beautiful system (like all other
faiths)</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;">devised to restore sanity and common sense in a society through
simple basics like being truthful, trustworthy, imbibing a sense security in
fellow beings, stand up for justice, practice non-judgementalism, believe in
dialogue to resolve the conflicts,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"> jettison arrogance
and adopt humility and kindness as their life style.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;">These are the principles of building
cohesive societies where no human has to live in apprehension or fear of the
other, indeed that is the foundation of Islam and a few Muslim have
forgotten it. We have to restore it now for building a cohesive world, where no
one has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. You live your life,
and let other live theirs.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><br />
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Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) laid that foundation, and those seven principles made
him an Amin, an individual who lives his life per those principles.
Unfortunately, a few have made Islam to be a political system, which
it is not. Indeed, sadly all religions have become political systems of you or
me, rather than spiritual system of we are in this together.<br />
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Preparing a talk on the subject.<br />
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Mike Ghouse<br />
www.MuslimSpeaker.com<br />
www.InterfaithSpeaker.com </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-45820988952893879182016-01-25T18:13:00.000-08:002016-01-25T18:13:32.089-08:009/11: My personal Journey from 2001 through 2013 and my commitment to America.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is one of the 5 most read stories, at the site TheGhouseDiary.com, it has crossed over 2 Million views. Mike Ghouse</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Since September 11, 2001, many stories have been told and experiences shared, but here is one story among many, that I hope my fellow Americans ought to hear, particularly those who are afraid of everything and everyone, and believe in conspiracies.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUyvZy7lD8Coqqkmsa-w7uxVW5_RU8WQrmkQ90C3DMT7LR-p1BajQzxnzGhb2lRx_FUkUulsdJJ9DHvY6hPSpscHpMiPuGwUBqD9wNBDr8SrHpMhPq1R8emQyC-OSMd1_aLMVCN8b5s1tg/s1600/My.personal.911.Journal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; color: #0c0c0c; line-height: 20.02px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUyvZy7lD8Coqqkmsa-w7uxVW5_RU8WQrmkQ90C3DMT7LR-p1BajQzxnzGhb2lRx_FUkUulsdJJ9DHvY6hPSpscHpMiPuGwUBqD9wNBDr8SrHpMhPq1R8emQyC-OSMd1_aLMVCN8b5s1tg/s1600/My.personal.911.Journal.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the second half of the piece, I have included links to the Terry Jones' Quran Burning event from 2013, which was diffused through peaceful means. It is a story about skillfully managing conflicting issues of safety of Americans overseas, upholding freedom of speech, perceptions about Muslims, preserving sacredness of religions and building cohesive Societies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It is an epitome of nonviolent conflict mitigation and goodwill nurturence based on the teachings of Jesus and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Hopefully the world will see a new paradigm in making; what Muslims ought to be, and how they will respond to future incidents of Quran Burning, criticism of Islam, and cartoons of the Prophet. It will be good for Muslims and good for the world. Indeed, blessed are the peacemakers. A film is being made about this and is called "Sacred".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I hope this piece prompts you to think of the difficult encounters you may have had dealing with people of different faiths. This is a long story and I hope it offers insights into what it takes to build a cohesive America, an genuinely free America where no one has to live in apprehension and fear of the other.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Please remember God is a good and a just guy. He has not signed a deal with Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus or others behind each others back, and he treats all of his creation with the sameness as a teacher treats her students or a chef wants his patrons to enjoy his cuisine. There is serenity in being fair and just, it is the ultimate goal for harmony and balance in the society. Can we be fair to each other? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is also the story of the birth of Unity Day USA, a day to bring Americans Together.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The idea for Unity Day USA was first conceived on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 and took its current form on Sunday, September 11, 2005. It is an initiative to come together to stand up for the safety, security and cohesiveness of America.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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 well being of our nation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our civic leaders including Mayors, Council members, State representatives, Senators, Congresspersons and other officials will honor us with their presence. Each Mayor at the event will give a one minute speech to share his/her thoughts about co-existence and promoting social cohesion in their respective cities. Additionally, our men and women in uniform including police and fire chiefs will be honored for their outstanding service to our nation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Leaders from various faith communities will share a few words of wisdom from their respective scriptures, beliefs or oral traditions. Unity Day USA is about re-affirming our faith in the goodness in humanity, and the longing for harmony and co-existence. The traditions include but are not limited to Native American, Atheist, Baha’i, Buddhist, Christian, Earth-traditions, Hindu, Muslim, Jain, Jewish, Sikh, Wicca and Zoroastrians; thus it is an all inclusive event.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It is an awesome experience to feel a sense of unity with fellow Americans that will bring a feeling of coming home to where we drop all of our identities to be united together as an American family.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As Americans we uphold, protect, defend and celebrate the values enshrined in our constitution. Our faiths reinforce the idea of one nation with liberty and justice for all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As a Muslim, I am deeply committed to America, the land of the brave and the free with liberty and justice for all.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />Pictures, comments, sound bites are all at www.Unitydayusa.com </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On the day of 09/11/2001</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dallas, Texas. About 10:00 in the Morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, I was called in by AM Radio 1150 to address the situation; and 950 AM also joined in to simulcast the program. The great tragedy had left every one speechless and had frozen everyone from doing anything. I was shaking but was committed to make sense out of the chaos and bring coherence to the day, and pave the way for relevant action.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was on the air for 7 hours straight, standing on my feet and getting just about every community, religious, civic and business leader and the general public on the air to talk about the situation. Many of them read prepared statements, and one by one they condemned the attack. I did not even get to eat or take a break. The calls were pouring in and I was completely absorbed in the situation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Among many who jumped on the idea to hold interfaith prayers were Mr. Joel Brooks of American Jewish Congress, Ms. Vinoda Kumar of the DFW Hindu Temple, Mr. Mohammad Suleman of the Islamic Center of Dallas, Mr. Poras Balsara of the Zoroastrian community and Kevin Rafraf from the Baha’i Temple, the list was endless. All the announcements and pronouncements were going on the radio live from every community leader. Mr. Taiyab Kundawala of India Association agreed to hold, and announce the prayer vigil at the association and the fund raising was set up the very next evening. Mr. Mansoor Shah of Pakistan Society was there to do anything that needed to be done. Mr. Ashok Kumar Mago of the Indian Chamber of Commerce also joined in on the Radio. I apologize to many friends, whose name have gone blank on me. I would appreciate if you could share them. This will go as a chapter in my upcoming book on Pluralism.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While this was going on, my late wife Najma had called in to announce about the blood drive and sure enough, hundreds of people were lining up at Wadley Blood center. She drove to the facility and the folks told her that the lines were too long and asked us to hold off the announcements till the next day. I wish I could get hold of the CNN tapes from the next day where they interviewed me for over 10 minutes at the Radio Station we were hanging out. Our friends and my late wife said that every word I said on the TV was just the right word, what a relief! I was tense, but determined to clear the muddy waters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">9/11 is one of the most significant days of my life, and I have made a life time commitment to dedicate this day, every year to serve my nation by bringing Americans together for the safety and security, and peace and prosperity of America.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A major change occurred in my life around that time. I was an Atheist for a long time, not a belligerent one but the pluralist kind, and for the first time in about 30 years I chose to be called a Muslim in Public Sphere. Thanks to my father for inculcating the values of Pluralism in my initial set up. More at Indian American Pluralist</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the random readings of holy books that I continue to do, I came across a verse in Bhagvad Gita, “finding the truth is one’s own responsibility”. The timing was perfect as Islam was being attacked, indeed, that was the reason I had walked away from Islam in the late sixties. This Bhagvad Gita verse inspired me to go find the truth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Karen Armstrong’s book on Muhammad had made a huge impact on me. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was a divine, distant and a mystical figure to me until I read her book, it made me look to him as another human whose life and decisions I could relate with. He was bent on building cohesive societies and just about every one of his actions was grounded in a singular theme; mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwil so all can live in relative harmony. More at How do I relate with Prophet Muhammad and Prophet the Pluralist. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I made it my business to hone on the verses in Qur'an that had driven me away from Islam. I had made several attempts and each time I did not like the translations I read. The verse, “finding the truth is one’s own responsibility” did not allow me to gulp down what was apparent about Qur'an. Over the years of searching, I discovered that Quran was deliberately mistranslated by politicians who wore the label of Christianity as well as Islam.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Steve Blow in Dallas Morning News put my thoughts in the words that I cherish, "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." Relax, the first translation is not in circulation but is used by the right wing Christian and Jews to support their tirade, the second dangerous translation is by Hilali khan which right wing Muslims like. Unfortunately it exists and Muslims are now aware of the problem.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">However there are over two dozen translations which are alright ( I cannot claim the credit, but I was a catalyst in bringing to attention and now since 2012 editions a few major mis-translations have been corrected. ( Apology to Jews and Christians ) . The best one among the available translations is by Muhammad Asad. However, we need a new translation which the average person can relate with and reflects the universality of God. All the mis-translations are at www.Quraanconference.com</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That was my background in relating the story of 9/11. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As the community was fully involved on the air with me, the Interfaith-faith prayers, blood donations and fundraising for the men and women in uniform were all in place by evening. The fog was clearing up, Osama bin Laden was the bad guy and Muslim-Americans had nothing to do with his actions, nor did they authorize him to terrorize any one. Indeed, he placed a wedge between Americans that still needs to be undone. I had literally declared a war against this man.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Atheists, Baha'i, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Jains, Jews, Native Americans, Pagans, Sikhs, Wicca and Zoroastrians along with area city mayors, FBI, police and fire chiefs and community leaders graced the first interfaith event in Frisco. Out of which a new tradition evolved called Unity Day. It continues year after year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A few of us formed a team from different religions and went from place of worship to place of worship and shared the prayers or gave a small talk about the respective religion. That’s where we build the relationship of trust between us for me to read the Jewish Prayers when Joel Brooks was not available, recite the Zoroastrian Prayer for Poras Balsara, Jain prayers for Pradeep Shah or Hindu Prayers for the Hindu community and of course, I represented Ben Moghaddas of Baha’i faith and was always a substitute for the Muslim community. There never was a shortage of Christians, Muslims and Sikhs in interfaith activity at that time. However, it has dwindled down now. Muslims are not participating as much, and at many places I am the only Muslim participating in smaller interfaith events. They go to the big ones though.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One of the biggest walls between Hindus and Muslims was dissolved that week. President of The Dallas Islamic Center, Muhammad Suleman asked me to pull the religious groups for the interfaith prayers and I was pleased to include Hindu prayers. Vijayshree Venkatraman came and chanted the Om Shanti Mantra amidst all other prayers. Perhaps it was the first time Hindu prayers were recited in a Mosque complex. I am sure it is done in India, but it was a new experience for Muslims in Dallas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If there was one gratifying moment in my interfaith life, that would be one. The other ones are chanting the Jainism’s Navakar Mantra at the Maya Temple in Mexico, Hindu prayers in the Snotes at the Mayan Temples, getting Baptized in the name of God at the place in Jordan River where Jesus was Baptized and dancing with the Pagans in Melbourne and spending time with the Native Australians.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In 1993, I published the first issue of Asian News Magazine which was co-edited by Abraham Thomas. A new standard was set in bringing the communities of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka together. The highlight of the paper was extensive calendar and write ups on the essence of every possible festival that took place in Dallas. Then in July of 1996, AM Radio 1150 approached me to begin the Radio Service for the communities, indeed it was the first Talk Show Radio for the community which paved the way to full time Radio services. These two items highlight the pluralism work that was going on. Every Saturday on the air, we had a segment called Festivals of the world where we shared the essence of every religious festival; we had religious leaders from Aztec to Zoroastrians and every one in between sharing the essence of their festivals on the air.<br /></span><div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Unity Day USA - established</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The idea for Unity Day USA was first conceived on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 and took its current form on Sunday, September 11, 2005. It is a Muslim initiative to come together to stand up for the safety, security and cohesiveness of America, my initial team included Lee Holcomb of UT Dallas and other volunteers and women members from the Plano Mosque who handled wonderful refreshments.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">During planning session of the event, I was opposed by a few to hold prayers from all religious groups in an alphabetical sequence. They preferred that Muslim Prayers be done at first and others to follow, someone did not want Islam to be in the Middle of Hinduism and Jainism. Even the idea of the Abrahamic faiths first and others following it was floated. I was not in favor of it as I have always believed in equality of all humans and by corollary all religions, we dug in our heels.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Before it got messy, I called Imam Dr. Yusuf Zia Kavakci and asked his guidance on it and I was praying for wisdom from him and was willing to walk away from the event if there was a preferential treatment to any group. He thought it over and said, Islamically I was on the right tract to treat everyone on equal footing, however he said, if you want to be political, you choose. I asked him if I could put those words in an email and send to the group, and that was the end of the conflict, what a relief! This Imam is a blessing to our town, indeed I have written a few more of the interfaith moments between us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The prayers were indeed led by 13 groups of religious leaders. Regina Rafraf led the Baha’i prayers, Ben Boothe led the Buddhist prayers; Christian prayers were led by the late Baptist Minister Roy Harrell with a team of clergy from Presbyterian, Methodist, Unitarian, Catholic and other denominations; Swami Nityananda Prabhu led the Hindu group representing 7 different Hindu Temple; Islamic prayers were led by Imam Dr. Yusuf Zia Kavakci with Shia, Bohra, Ismaili, Sufi, Warith Deen Muhammad, Sunni and other Muslim traditions, Pradeep Shah led the Jain prayers, Rabbi Haas led the Jewish prayers, the Sikh prayers were led by Bhai Harinder Singh and Ramneek Singh, Wicca prayers were led by Brian Langford and the Zoroastrian Prayers were lead by Poras Balsara. In the later years Native Americans, Pagans, Earth based Traditions, Atheists and others have joined in, no one is excluded, however a few continue to malign us and refuse to join standing shoulder to shoulder with people of different faiths.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">FBI Chief Danny Deffenbaugh, Mayors or Mayors pro-tem and Police chiefs of Plano, Frisco, Richardson, Dallas, Garland, Carrollton, Addison and representatives of congress woman Eddie Bernice Johnson and State Representative Florence Shapiro were all on the stage. Among the civic leaders were Dean Hobson of the UT Dallas among others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My conversation with Maria Arita of Fox news was interesting. She wanted to know if it was difficult to pull these various groups together. She could not resist the inherent bias and blurted out, "was it the Moslems that were difficult?" I said no and the answer will be in my upcoming book. It’s an amazing story of interfaith.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the 3rd annual Unity Day event we discovered something beautiful about how we hold things inside. I have sincere relationships with my friends in different religious communities and they share whatever bothers them, usually is it about Muslims. Every one wants to genuinely find the truth and thanks to my friends from the Zoroastrian and Sikh Communities who held back the issue for two years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dr. Harbans Lal and Firdosh Mehta asked me to find out why Muslims walked out on them, when it was their turn to pray in the first Unity day? Remember the Alphabetical sequence? I thank Bhagvad Gita for instilling in me with “finding the truth is one’s own responsibility”… we dug up and found out that it was the prayer time for Muslims when the Sikhs and Zoroastrian got on the stage. I shared that story and told our friends attending the event that you have got to admire our Muslim brothers and sisters, when the time for prayer comes up, they drop everything as nothing else is a priority to them and Mayor Pat Evans appreciated the hint. If that time were during the speech of the Mayor, they would simply fulfill their duty to God and pray. Isn’t it amazing what was construed as dislike to hear the Sikh and Zoroastrian payers, was not? It was such a relief to our friends Dr. Lal and Mehta.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Gregory Gomez, the Apache American surprised everyone and continues to remain the talk of the town. When Gomez went on to the stage with our Hopi Chief Ambrose to cleanse the environment (Done with feathers, a native tradition and I have been cleansed a few times). The first words the Native American spoke thrilled the audience, it was ironic, unexpected and truthful, he said, “Welcome to my country”. The biggest appreciation came from Richardson Mayor, Gary Slagel without missing the beat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A few more of the moments are at http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/09/do-jews-christians-and-muslims-better.html or in Dallas Morning News at: http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/09/texas-faith-do-jews-christians.html</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">God willing my upcoming book will share some of the most difficult and humorous interfaith moments.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Biggest Achievement of Unity Day</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The pinnacle achievement of Unity Day was on 9/11/2013 - Here is the full story about it and a film is in the making with the title "Sacred". A New Paradigm for Muslim World. Indeed, every year, our friends who attend the event have said, they feel good about being prejudice free and free from stereotyping others, that is the power of the Unity Day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bad Statistics</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">2.2 Million Americans imprisoned</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">14,827 persons were murdered in the United States in 2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">84,376 forcible rapes reported to law enforcement in 2012 http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2012/crime-in-the-u.s.-2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sean Hannity is not a murderer, just because he lives in New York, and New York City alone murders 300 people a year, what a shame!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bill Blasio is not a rapist because he is the Mayor of New York, and New York City alone raped 1000 women last year, what a shame!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Throughout America, we have the same federal laws for the criminals as well as the good people among us. Criminals violate the laws, and the good people don’t. The problem is not the law books or enforcement, but the few who do not follow the good laws. It is the same story with a few Muslims, it is not the Quran or Islam, it is them, those few. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We don't stereotype people based on actions of a few. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As Americans we need not swayed by the current events in the world with the ISIS, Al Qaeda and their likes, they are shamefully within the comparable statistical range of the world. Same percentage of Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus or others behave the same; mind their own business and a similar percentage are extremists. Read more at Two Islams. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Racism, Homophobia, Xenophobia and Misogyny destroy the fabric of the nation and keep each other’s throats. We need to clean up ourselves and build a safe America for everyone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Islam teaches one to be non-judgmental, and consistently encourages individuals to do good. It emphasizes about individual responsibility towards the peace and security of society at large. Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) described a good deed as an act which benefits others whom you don't even know, such as planting a tree that serves generations of wayfarers with fruit and the shade. The world is a better place today because of a good legacy bequeathed to humanity by people of all faiths that came before us. We owe it to coming generations to leave the world a little better than we found to usher an era of justice and peace. Indeed, this is the same message, every messenger of God in every faith or a peace maker or a wise men and women have reiterated.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On my part, I am committed to build a cohesive America, and last year the Unity Day was held in Florida, and here is one of the most powerful stories, which is being made into a film.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How to be build a cohesive America, watch this 10 Minutes video at www.AmericaTogetherFoundation.com<br /><br /><b>Documentary Trailer</b>: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMXsTo4VYh8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMXsTo4VYh8</a><br /></span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our dream</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Each one of us has a dream… a dream to have livable wages, a loving family, children, a home, reliable car, decent health care, and comfortable retirement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A majority of Americans want a just society with safety and security. We want to live our lives as good neighbors and let others live theirs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our right</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our founding fathers laid the foundation of the creed for such a society, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our spirit</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Martin Luther King Jr. expressed the same in his famous speech, “ I have a dream that our little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our world</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Native American Chief Seattle said it perfectly; “All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does it to himself."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our questions</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Based on the previous statements and a commitment to one nation and one America, what are we doing individually to preserve that web?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What are our initiatives?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What are the divisive issues?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Are we going to allay these phobias?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What is your vision for America?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our responsibility</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">President Kennedy pointed us in the right direction, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”. When we give to the country, we collectively receive as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our empathy</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Are we connected enough with each other? Can others empathize with us or even understand the truth about us? We are no different than them in our endeavors and aspirations of life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our action</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let’s explore daily opportunities to make America a better place for each one of us. Let’s treat others as we would wish to be treated and have compassion for others who might look different.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If we can learn to respect the otherness of other, and accept the God given uniqueness of each American, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We are committed to providing education, workshops, and training for future leaders. We have programs in place to move forward. All we need is your support.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our contribution</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It takes time, effort and money to bring positive changes; will you consider contributing $25, $50, $100, $500, $1000 or up?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You can do a one time donation or recurring monthly donation through our PayPal account on our website. http://americatogetherfoundation.com/donate/ </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Or you can mail a check to:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">America Together Foundation</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">2665 Villa Creek Dr, Suite 206</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dallas, TX 75234</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(972) 243-7040</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">www.AmericaTogetherFoundation.com</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mike Ghouse is a <a href="http://www.professionalspeakermikeghouse.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">speaker</a>, thinker and a <a href="http://theghousediary.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">writer</a> on <a href="http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">pluralism</a><span style="color: #003366;">,<a href="http://republicanmoderates.blogspot.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;"> politics</a>, peace, <a href="http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">Islam</a>, <a href="http://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">Israel</a>,<a href="http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">India</a>, <a href="http://pluralismcenter.blogspot.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">interfaith</a>, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a <a href="http://www.americatogetherfoundation.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">Cohesive America</a> and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at <a href="http://www.theghousediary.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">www.TheGhousediary.com</a>. He believes in <a href="http://standingupforothers.blogspot.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">Standing up for others</a> and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on <a href="http://www.hannity.com/guest/ghouse-mike/10804" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">Sean Hannity show</a> on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at <a href="http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">Dallas Morning News</a>; fortnightly at<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">Huffington post;</a> and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site<a href="http://www.mikeghouse.net/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">www.MikeGhouse.net</a> indexes all his work through many link</span></span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-71933805047293003392016-01-25T17:52:00.000-08:002016-01-25T17:53:20.256-08:00Moderate Muslims speak out<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1.1em;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Moderate Muslims speak out</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Since 9/11, talk show hosts, journalists, lawmakers, interfaith authorities and thought leaders have asked: “Who are the authentic moderates of Islam?” Where are moderate Muslims to join the debate on social, civic, religious and political issues, including racism and violent extremism? And, “Who speaks for American Muslims?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Steve Blow of Dallas Morning News<strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </strong>wrote, "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."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Muslims are sick of the terrorists, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and their ilk committing evil acts and conveniently passing the buck to their religion, and Muslims are neither happy with those few gullible Americans who are too eager to buy the poor excuses of these gangs. Instead of punishing these criminals, they are hell bent on finding faults with the religion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In behalf of <a class="external" href="http://americanmusliminstitution.org/" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #29568f; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">American Muslim Institution</a> a rally was organized on the steps of Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, on Friday, November 20, 2015. The symbolic location was chosen to mirror the effort of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who brought a positive change to the American civil Society with his famous, “I have a dream” speech. Dr. Ghouse believes that this effort has seeded the momentum for yet another positive change; acceptance of Muslims as equals with the process of integration.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A reporter asked what would be achieved by condemning or demonstrating here at Lincoln Memorial. Dr. Ghouse responded, “Evil exists because good people do nothing about it, we the good people are doing something about it; we are condemning the evil acts of ISIS, and sending them a clear message that the world condemns their act and that they have no place among the civil societies unless they surrender and give up terrorism, violence and extremism.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">At the National Press Club, Dr. Ben Carson was asked if he verifies the information he relays about Muslims and Islam. The lack of response led Dr. Ghouse to offer advice and guidance to him, and if he considers the advice, he will save himself a lot of regrets and time on doubling down on the false information, and if he were smart, he can earn at least 3 Million Muslim votes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dr. Mike Ghouse is a proud, unapologetic Moderate Muslim and a passionate advocate of Pluralism in religion, society, politics, race, dining, clothing, dancing, sports and every aspect of life. He is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator who is considered an authority on Pluralism and Interfaith relations in America, and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><u style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Phyllis Curott</u></strong><strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">,</strong> the Vice Chair of Parliament of World’s Religions writes," Mike Ghouse has the courage of his convictions - he carries a spark of inspiration that can only be called Divine…..”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Religion News Service</strong>,<br />" (RNS) A Florida pastor plans to burn a pile of Qurans on the 9/11 anniversary, and interfaith activist Mike Ghouse says, “It is not what (the pastor) will do, it is what we do as Americans and American Muslims that matters.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dr. Ghouse has appeared in more than 150 TV Talk shows, including 102 with Sean Hannity alone. He has served as<br />subject expert hundreds of times on nationally syndicated radio shows. Many listeners have heard his informed opinions at the time of the Quran Burning issue in Mulberry, Florida, Quran Bashing in Dallas Texas, during the Ground Zero Mosque, Boston Bombing, Garland, Phoenix, Washington and other major conflicts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">He has published more than 3000 articles on a variety of topics, of these; more than 1000 are on Pluralism, including 225 pieces in the “Texas Faith” column of the Dallas Morning News and 130 articles at <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Huffington Post</em>. A thousand articles on politics, Israel Palestine Dialogue, India, and Terrorism, foreign policy, movies, sports, culture and motivation. The rest of the thousand are about the Pluralistic values of Islam and Muslims.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">American Muslims are committed to a prosperous and secure American for every one of the 318 Million Americans.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Full story and the links at: <a class="external" href="http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-voice-of-moderate-islam-in-america.html" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #29568f; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-voice-of-moderate-islam-in-america.html</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Contact:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Mike Ghouse (214) 325-1916</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">SpeakerMikeGhouse@gmail.com</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #29568f; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="external" href="http://www.theghousediary.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #29568f; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">www.TheGhouseDiary.com</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />Published at<br />1. <a href="http://empowerednews.net/moderate-muslims-speak-out/1860967/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">http://empowerednews.net/moderate-muslims-speak-out/1860967/</a></span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-41323844873463688102016-01-20T07:35:00.000-08:002016-01-20T07:37:05.685-08:00Defending Islam - Dallas Morning news<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">Dallas Morning News - <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/news/columnists/steve-blow/20100919-In-defense-of-Islam-pursuing-9397.ece" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">http://www.dallasnews.com/news/columnists/steve-blow/20100919-In-defense-of-Islam-pursuing-9397.ece </a></span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">By Steve Blow sblow@dallasnews.com Published 19 September 2010 02:28 AM</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">Over and over you hear it said: If Muslims oppose terrorism, why don't they stand up and say it?</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">If that has been you, Mike Ghouse ought to be your hero.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">It is hard to imagine that anyone has worked harder than the Carrollton resident to demonstrate the peaceful and moderate side of Islam.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">"It was wonderful," Ghouse said of the visit. "We were so warmly received."</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">He hopes a quick chat with Jeffress will be the start of deeper discussion about Islam and the importance of respect between religions.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">"I want to have a dialogue with him, not to say he is wrong but to share another point of view," Ghouse said.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">"It is my passion," he said in his distinctive raspy voice.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">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."</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">But he said deeper study led him to realize the Quran had been purposely mistranslated down through history.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">In the Middle Ages, European leaders commissioned a hostile Quran translation to foster warfare against Muslim invaders.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">Later, Muslim leaders produced another translation to inflame Muslims against Christians and Jews.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">"It was all for politics," he said.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">Ghouse said he hopes to present Jeffress with a modern, faithful translation and challenge him to find evil verses.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">"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."</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">Ghouse acknowledges that deep problems persist within Islam. "Three steps forward, two steps back," he said with a sigh.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">And he agrees that mainstream Muslims have not done enough to counter violent images of their faith.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">"That is very true," he said. "But part of it is that many Muslims have given up hope that we will ever be heard."</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">He said repeated denunciations of terrorism seem to fall on deaf ears.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">Instead, it has deepened hostility toward Muslims.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">One theme is that people like Mike Ghouse can't be trusted, that Islam encourages deception.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">But Ghouse says actions speak louder than words. And he points to elections in Muslim nations.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">"The religious parties don't get more than 3 percent of the vote," Ghouse said.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">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."</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">What keeps him going is faith in Americans, he said.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">"The majority of Americans, if they know the truth, they will change their minds."</span></span></div>
Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-50553725619971533502015-12-08T15:05:00.000-08:002016-01-15T13:01:08.949-08:00Muslim Speaker Mike Ghouse<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">The Voice of Moderate Islam in America - Mike Ghouse</span></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 18pt;">:<br />email: <a href="http://SpeakerMikeGhouse@gmail.com/">SpeakerMikeGhouse@gmail.com </a><br />Text/talk: (214) 325-1916 Washington | Dallas</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px; line-height: 16.1pt;">Since 9/11, Americans across the political spectrum have been asking, “Who are the authentic moderates of Islam, and where are they?” And, “Who speaks for American Muslims?” Talk show hosts, journalists, lawmakers, interfaith authorities and thought leaders have asked: Where are moderate Muslims to join the debate on social, civic, religious and political issues, including racism and violent extremism?</span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />Their spokesman is Dr. Mike Mohamed Ghouse, who recently has moved to Washington, D.C.<br /><br />Dr. Ghouse is a proud, unapologetic Moderate Muslim and a passionate advocate of Pluralism in religion, society, politics, race, dining, clothing, dancing, sports and every aspect of life. He is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator who is considered an authority on Pluralism and Interfaith relations in America, and he offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.<br /><br />Who is a Moderate Muslim? Some one who lives his life and let others live theirs, and some one who minds his own business. He or she will not look down upon other people's faiths, traditions and practices, but considers them to be as unique as his or her own, but never inferior. In every group; religious, social, national, political or racial, there is always the right and extreme right who is intolerant and wants to impose his or her ideals on others. The left and extreme left on the other hand has no boundaries. Moderates are usually 90% of any group, but they do not engage in anything and mind their own business and take up when things when they really get out of hand. The new breed of Moderates like Dr. Ghouse are full of passion to save the nation and the communities for the common good of all Americans. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">What is Pluralism? It is simply, he says, “respecting the otherness of others, and accepting the God-given uniqueness of each one of the 7 billion of us. When we do that, conflicts fade and solutions emerge.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">He is respected by his peers as a patriotic American and firmly stands for the American values such as the freedoms established by the First Amendment. In fact, Dr. Ghouse considers the U.S. Constitution a sacred document that respects and honors every human being. He exalts America’s immortal Declaration of Independence. While living in Dallas for more than three decades, he became a fixture at Veteran’s-Day ceremonies and </span><a href="x-apple-data-detectors://3/" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" title="x-apple-data-detectors://3/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">July 4</span></a><a href="x-apple-data-detectors://3/" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" title="x-apple-data-detectors://3/"><sup><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">th </span></sup></a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">parades. He has spoken at innumerable luncheons for homeless veterans and visits with veterans at VA hospitals. Dr. Ghouse drives around the Veterans’ cemeteries on Memorial Day and offers prayers for all those who have defended our freedom. He will fight and defend the freedom of America any time and all the times.<br /><br />Dr. Ghouse also served as a Commissioner at City of Carrollton, Texas for two terms.<br /><br />He has contributed significantly to the richness of America, and his gift to America would be the gift of Pluralism, an old attitude emerging as a new discipline that he intends to teach and promote through workshops. Dr. Ghouse hopes to train America’s candidates for higher office regarding what the founding fathers meant when they declared that “all humans are equal.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Dr. Ghouse believes in building a cohesive America, where no American has to live in apprehension or fear of the other and which will be achieved through personal interaction. To that end, he has organized 17 <a href="http://thanksgivingcelebrations.blogspot.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">Thanksgiving celebrations</a>; 12 <a href="http://www.unitydayusa.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">Unity Days USA</a>; and 10 ceremonies to honor victims of <a href="http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">Holocaust and Genocides</a>.<br /><br /><b>Dedicated Both to Islam and to ‘the Other</b>’<br /><br />Dr. Ghouse defines “moderate Muslim” as someone who respects the otherness of others and accepts the God-given uniqueness of each person in God’s creation. He has published more than 1000 articles on diverse aspects of <a href="http://www.worldmuslimcongress.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">Islam</a> and maintains a blog on <a href="http://www.quraantoday.com/" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">Quran</a>, <i><a href="http://sharialaws.blogspot.com/2013/02/genesis-of-sharia-law.html" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">Sharia</a></i>, <a href="http://blasphemylaws.blogspot.com/2012/04/blasphemy-laws-go-against-islam.html" style="color: #0c0c0c; text-decoration: none;">Blasphemy</a>, Apostasy, Hijab, Reforms, <i>Ramadan</i>, Women’s issues and community relations. He is driven by the pluralistic wisdom in Quran, and his mission is authenticated by many a verse from Quran, including 49:13, which generally means because each one of us is created to be an unique individual, we are bound to have conflicts between family members, nations, religions and communities, and it is because we don’t know each other and when we start to genuinely learn about the other, myths disappear into thin air and peace dawns on us.” There is a full video of his talk on </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7Tyt7raIXM" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" title="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7Tyt7raIXM"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Pluralism in Islam</span></a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">. <br /><br />Continued at: <a href="http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-voice-of-moderate-islam-in-america.html">http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-voice-of-moderate-islam-in-america.html</a></span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-8725895367177352612015-11-20T03:12:00.003-08:002015-11-20T03:27:52.203-08:00Muslims rally against ISIS on the steps of Lincoln Memorial <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.02px;"><span style="line-height: 21.56px;"><span style="line-height: 22.8267px;"><b>PRESS RELEASE</b></span></span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;"><span style="line-height: 22.8267px;"><br />Mike Ghouse (214) 325-1916<br />Mike@AmericanMuslimInstitution.org<br />website: <a href="http://www.americanmusliminstitution.org/" style="color: #183e7c; text-decoration: none;">www.AmericanMuslimInstitution.org</a></span></span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 21.56px;"><span style="line-height: 22.8267px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span style="line-height: 21.56px;"></span><span style="color: #c00000; line-height: 21.56px;"><span style="line-height: 22.8267px;"><b>American Muslims against ISIS gather up on the steps of Lincoln Memorial</b></span></span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;"><span style="line-height: 16.478px;">Washington, DC, November 19, 2015 – Muslims around the world and particularly Americans Muslims have been sick of the terrorists, particularly the ISIS and the Al-Qaeda guys ever since they started terrorizing the lives of innocent people. We mourn the loss of lives in France, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria and elsewhere in the world and firmly stand against the terrorists.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiKTC25NVjpBLcZ1gx7BIbLFk9CiMakFJT56QsyyQLSRHh8EZbIvGf3E2r1OXuxMH2YQWFecXDP7OVbseR3xAsKJGXI2K5lvOhcHeVo62-cYr2YBYnHKrUXqYkcPp-5IFuhK_Gg9StfQdP/s1600/Lincoln+Memorial.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #00589d; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiKTC25NVjpBLcZ1gx7BIbLFk9CiMakFJT56QsyyQLSRHh8EZbIvGf3E2r1OXuxMH2YQWFecXDP7OVbseR3xAsKJGXI2K5lvOhcHeVo62-cYr2YBYnHKrUXqYkcPp-5IFuhK_Gg9StfQdP/s400/Lincoln+Memorial.jpeg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(236, 236, 236); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.02px;"><span style="line-height: 21.56px;"><span style="line-height: 16.478px;"><br />Given the short notice prior to the Thanksgiving weekend, the Muslims of Washington, DC have organized a gathering of Americans of different faiths to come together on the steps of Lincoln Memorial and make the statements of condemnations.</span><span style="line-height: 16.478px;">We hope this event effectively conveys a message to the terrorists that the world is against them, and that we are all in this together; opposing terrorism and condemning ISIS. </span></span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;"><span style="line-height: 16.478px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 16.478px;">You are all invited to join us on the steps of Lincoln Memorial:</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Date: 11/20/15</span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Day: Friday |</span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Time: 3:00 -4:30 PM </span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Place: On the steps of Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC</span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">Website: </span><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><a href="http://www.americanmusliminstitution.org/" style="color: #183e7c; line-height: 19.6px; text-decoration: none;">www.AmericanMuslimInstitution.org</a></span></span></li>
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<span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiKTC25NVjpBLcZ1gx7BIbLFk9CiMakFJT56QsyyQLSRHh8EZbIvGf3E2r1OXuxMH2YQWFecXDP7OVbseR3xAsKJGXI2K5lvOhcHeVo62-cYr2YBYnHKrUXqYkcPp-5IFuhK_Gg9StfQdP/s1600/Lincoln+Memorial.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #183e7c; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.02px;"><span style="line-height: 21.56px;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: 16.478px;">The purpose of this gathering is to send a clear message to the ISIS and their ilk, that American Muslims are angry about their actions. They are to be charged for the violations of human rights, forcing women into slavery, conversions at gun point, harassment of Christians, Yazidis, Shias, Jews, Sunnis and other minorities, and most certainly creating chaos and abusing the name of Islam.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">We cannot tolerate any of these acts and we urge our president to speak out in behalf of fellow humans, and give them three days notice to back off, surrender, and repent for their actions or face the consequences.</span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">We invite Americans of all faiths and no faiths to join us in standing up against ISIS. Yes, we the Muslims are as angry as average American. Indeed, we are all in this together.</span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">We pledge that we are one nation under the flag, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.</span></span></span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">Please join us on the steps of Lincoln Memorial.<br /><br /># # #</span></span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 21.56px;"></span><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><b><span style="color: blue;">SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS</span></b></span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><br />We will be listing as many participating organizations as we can. Please send an email with the name of your organization, website and your phone number, and we will add to the list below.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.02px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 21.56px;">01. ADAMS Center, All Dulles Area Muslim Society</span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;">02. American Muslim Institution, Washington, DC</span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;">03. Washington Area Jews for Jewish Muslim Understanding</span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;">04. Geotrees, An Intercultural Crossroads for the History of the Future</span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;">05. Islamic Community Center of Potomac</span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;">06. Foundation for Pluralism</span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;">07. The world Organization for Resources development and Education.</span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;">08. Muslims for Peace, Justice and Progress </span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;">09. United Maryland Muslim Council</span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;">10. Howard County Muslim Council</span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;">11. UMA Interfaith Alliance</span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;">12. Muslim Community Center of Maryland</span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;">13. Montgomery County Muslim Foundation</span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;">14. Islamic Center of Greater Toledo </span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;">15. Islamic Center of Long Island</span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;">16. IMANA International Collaboration</span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;">17. UMMAA Broadcasting</span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><span style="line-height: 21.56px;">18. Hillside Islamic Center New Hyde Park NY</span><br style="line-height: 21.56px;" /><br /><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">We appreciate the PSA announcements from Stuart Varney and Jennie Lubart of Fox News and we invite them to cover this event. </span></span></span></div>
Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4366096218085014686.post-85763821096977666162015-11-02T09:51:00.000-08:002015-11-02T09:51:00.628-08:00Muslim Luminaries of Indian Origin<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Published at <a href="http://www.worldmuslimpedia.com/mike-mohamed-ghouse-a-pluralist-and-an-outstandi">http://www.worldmuslimpedia.com/mike-mohamed-ghouse-a-pluralist-and-an-outstandi</a></span><br />
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ohesive mankind, cohesive Ummah and cohesive America are what Mike Ghouse stands for. Irrespective of what people think about him, he is marching ahead on his peace mission with messages of love and respect for all individuals, all races and all communities irrespective of their identities – personal, religious, social, cultural or national. His fame has taken him to all the corners of the earth. He is a regular fighter against Islamophobia in America, and is specially active in building relationships in various religious groups, especially Muslims and Christians of America. His work assumed huge significance in the wake of 9/11, which witnessed massive pluralisation in American society. He has been on thr forefront of leading the confrontation against hate-mongers and mischief makers. He is often criticized by Islamic scholars for taking a rather liberal view of Islamic teachings and for trying to conform Islam to the demands of Western societies, but unfazed by the opposition, he has kept his mission going with increasing support from all groups. Those who know him well understand his strategy, which is primarily aimed at generating good will and initiating dialogue for the purpose of mutual understanding and tolerance. He has been a vocal critical of America’s war in Iraq and also played a prominent role in the campaign against those who were against the building of a mosque in the Manhattan.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mike Ghouse is mostly known as a believer and a proponent of Pluralism, i.e., respecting the otherness of others and accepting the God given uniqueness of each one of us. He offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day on TV, Radio, Print and Internet.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.worldmuslimpedia.com/mike-mohamed-ghouse-a-pluralist-and-an-outstandi#1. Introduction" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">1 Introduction</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.worldmuslimpedia.com/mike-mohamed-ghouse-a-pluralist-and-an-outstandi#2. About Mike" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">2 About Mike</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <a href="http://www.worldmuslimpedia.com/mike-mohamed-ghouse-a-pluralist-and-an-outstandi#2.1 Education" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;">2.1 Education</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <a href="http://www.worldmuslimpedia.com/mike-mohamed-ghouse-a-pluralist-and-an-outstandi#2.2 Business" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;">2.2 Business</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <a href="http://www.worldmuslimpedia.com/mike-mohamed-ghouse-a-pluralist-and-an-outstandi#2.3 Expertise" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;">2.3 Expertise</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <a href="http://www.worldmuslimpedia.com/mike-mohamed-ghouse-a-pluralist-and-an-outstandi#2.4 Manages the following" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;">2.4 Manages the following</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <a href="http://www.worldmuslimpedia.com/mike-mohamed-ghouse-a-pluralist-and-an-outstandi#2.4.1 AMERICA TOGETHER FOUNDATION" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;">2.4.1 AMERICA TOGETHER FOUNDATION</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <a href="http://www.worldmuslimpedia.com/mike-mohamed-ghouse-a-pluralist-and-an-outstandi#2.4.2 FOUNDATION FOR PLURALISM" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;">2.4.2 FOUNDATION FOR PLURALISM</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <a href="http://www.worldmuslimpedia.com/mike-mohamed-ghouse-a-pluralist-and-an-outstandi#2.4.3 WORLD MUSLIM CONGRESS" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;">2.4.3 WORLD MUSLIM CONGRESS</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <a href="http://www.worldmuslimpedia.com/mike-mohamed-ghouse-a-pluralist-and-an-outstandi#2.4.4 STANDING UP FOR OTHERS (BLOG)" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;">2.4.4 STANDING UP FOR OTHERS (BLOG)</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.worldmuslimpedia.com/mike-mohamed-ghouse-a-pluralist-and-an-outstandi#3. Experience in Interfaith" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">3 Experience in Interfaith</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.worldmuslimpedia.com/mike-mohamed-ghouse-a-pluralist-and-an-outstandi#4. Major interventions in Pluralism" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">4 Major interventions in Pluralism</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" id="1. Introduction" name="1. Introduction" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.2s linear;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">1. Introduction</span></strong></span></a></h1>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">An American of Indian origin, Mike is a man of action. The action emanates from his dream</strong>, “a dream that one day in our life time; we all will wake up to a cohesive world, where no human lives in tension, apprehension or fear of the other. Indeed, that was the dream of all the spiritual masters of the world, and that is what the creator wants; all pieces of his creation to function coherently.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" />Explaining his position as an activist, he says:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> “Nothing in the universe will happen by itself, all of us have to do our share of the work to restore the harmony within our self, with our bodies and with people around us. Don’t you think God knows this? Yet through every religion, we are told to ask for it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our founding fathers believed, “That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life,_Liberty_and_the_pursuit_of_Happiness" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;" target="_blank">Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness</a>.” And that dream was refreshed by Martin Luther King, Jr.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mike is always on the move. He is always available to speak to all groups, conduct workshops on building cohesive work places and living a meaningful life, and move towards living in harmony. A powerful speaker, his fame has shot with his appearances in Fox News, Syndicated Radio shows, Dallas Morning News, Huffington Post, and a variety of News Papers in America and abroad for giving him. This has given him a strong National and local presence. Mike has appeared in over 100 shows on Fox News and over 50 times on nationally syndicated radio shows.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" />He has written nearly 3000 articles, and bulk of them are published in Dallas Morning News, Huffington Post, New Age Islam, Op-ed News , Arab Daily News, Arab News, Saudi Gazette, and several other News papers and periodicals around the world. Of the 2800, 1000+ were on Islam, 1000+ on Pluralism and the rest were on politics, India, Pakistan, Israel-Palestine, Motivational and other topics.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" />Currently Mike is working on making a film based on a compelling true story of building a cohesive America, and writing a book on human rights - "Standing up for others"- standing up from Atheists to Zoroastrians and every one in between. <br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" />God has blessed him with an aptitude for mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwill in everything he does, that is think, talk and act, and he has been a life time volunteer, and it is a joy to maintain a healthy balance between earning a living and serving the public. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">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, and in Washington, Many Universities including SMU, Rice and others, World's Philanthropy organization's annual conference in Washington and elsewhere.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He is a member of the Texas Faith panel at Dallas Morning News and writes on issues facing the nation every week and offers pluralistic solutions. He writes regularly at Huffington post, Op-ed News, Arab Daily News and several other papers worldwide. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" />Mike was a commissioner at City of Carrollton, and president of many a organizations including North Texas Cricket Association, Indian Creek Home owners Association, and Dallas Fashions for Charity etc. A founding member of the board at Memnosyne Foundation, and board of director at Dallas Peace Center, Dallas Home Builders Association and several other organizations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God has made him an instrument in establishing several annual public events to bring Americans of different religions, ethnicities and races together on common grounds of building a safe, secure and a cohesive America, among them are Unity Day USA, Holocaust and Genocides, Thanksgiving Celebrations. We have and plan to hold workshops and conferences on issues like religion, racism, Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, LGBT, gender pluralism and other issues. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Concerned by the political, civil, religious, racial, sexual orientation and economic divisiveness, Mike has initiated and formed the <a href="http://www.americatogetherfoundation.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;" target="_blank">America Together Foundation</a> (ATF), a non-profit entity committed to building a cohesive America, where no American has to live with anxiety, apprehension, or fear of the other. The focus of the foundation is that ‘one must be free to live his or her life to the fullest’.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He firmly believes in our immortal declaration of independence. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He believes in Conflict mitigation and goodwill nurturance that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) chose in dealing with issues of the day, and he has successfully employed that ideal in dealing with Pastor Robert Jeffress of Dallas who denigrated Quran, which led to a Quran conference in creating goodwill among non-Muslim clergy. The conference details are at <a href="http://www.quraanconference.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;" target="_blank">www.QuraanConference.com</a> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" />When Pastor Terry Jones announced burning 3000 copies of Quran, Mike was out there in Florida and gathered up the civil, political and religious leaders to peacefully offer prayer as an alternative instead of burning Qurans to avenge the 9/11 Victims. A message was sent to the world that freedom of speech is an important American value and respecting what is sacred to others is an important value as well. A movie is being considered that will change the perceptions about Muslims and change within Muslims in dealing with the conflicts. Full story is at:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2014/04/reestablishing-right-muslim-attitudes.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;" target="_blank">http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2014/04/reestablishing-right-muslim-attitudes.html</a> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" />Mike was further involved with the conflicts at the Ground Zero Mosque, Peter King Hearings and other conflicts, and had offered pluralistic solutions. There is a blog for each one of these conflicts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As much work as he has done with interfaith communities, he has a strong presence in the intra-faith dialogue as well. Having moderated two major intra-faith conferences at Rice University and in Dallas, and two Sharia conferences were held to allay the Sharia Phobia. He has prayed in all mosques, and wrote a blog on Ramadan sharing the practices in each tradition. There is a blog for it – <a href="http://www.ramadanexclusive.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;" target="_blank">www.RamadanExclusive.com</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mike started the Radio for Desi community in Dallas in 1996 with three hours on Saturdays, and passed it on to others, and now we have three 24/7 Radio Stations in Dallas. It was always loaded with interfaith programs. Mike ran a program called wisdom of religion, all religions for two years – where 520 Hours of Radio talk was done</span></div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">100 hours + for Islam, Hinduism and Christianity each, and 50 hours each for Baha’i, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, Atheism, interfaith and other traditions. The idea was to education and to learn about others, as God has willed in Quran 49:13 and other verses. Similarly 26 workshops were also conducted.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mike is a human rights activist, and his book standing up for others will be out soon. He is also producing a feature film “<a href="http://www.worldmuslimcongress.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;" target="_blank">Sacred</a>" to be released and a documentary "<a href="http://www.americatogetherfoundation.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;" target="_blank">Americans together</a>" to be released in the next few years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All about him is listed in 63 links at <a href="http://www.mikeghouse.net/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;" target="_blank">www.MikeGhouse.net</a> and his writings are at <a href="http://www.theghousediary.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;" target="_blank">www.TheGhousediary.com</a> - Mike is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. </span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" id="2. About Mike" name="2. About Mike" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.2s linear;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">2. About Mike</span></strong></a></span></h1>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" id="2.1 Education" name="2.1 Education" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.2s linear;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">2.1 Education</span></strong></span></a></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">MBA University of Dallas, Texas – Marketing and Operations Management. (1984)</span></div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Master’s Degree in Tax and management accounting from Bangalore University (1974)</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bachelor’s Degree in Banking from Bangalore University (1971)</span></li>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" id="2.2 Business" name="2.2 Business" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.2s linear;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">2.2 Business</span></strong></a></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mike has a comprehensive experience in business management, turning ailing operations around, home building, remodeling, real estate mortgages and investments.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He was the deputy finance controller for Fluor Corporation in Saudi Arabia (1977-1981). Fluor was the largest Petro Chemical Engineering firms in the world then.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He was vice president of Lewis Fire Equipment, one of the largest fire protection companies in Texas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He was successful in turning around the company to profitability (1981-1983).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since 1984, Mike has been in home building and management consulting business. He was recognized for his outstanding contributions from some of the best in home building business.</span></div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gemcraft Homes (1984)</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ryland Homes (#1 Manager-1985),</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grand Homes (#3 -1988),</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Drees Custom Homes (#1-1999),</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bluff view Builders (2006) and</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First City Homes (Since 2006) | Self employed</span></li>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" id="2.3 Expertise" name="2.3 Expertise" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.2s linear;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">2.3 Expertise</span></strong></span></a></h2>
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<ol style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Public Speaker</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pluralism Speaker</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speaker on Islam</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Conflict Mitigation</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Community outreach</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Interfaith Relations</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Religion Workshops</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blogger</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">TV/Radio Production</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">News Paper Publishing</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Author/Writer</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Events Management</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sports Management</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Operations Mgmt</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Financial expertise</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Business Systems</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Budget Mgmt</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leadership Dev.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Organizer </span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" id="2.4 Manages the following" name="2.4 Manages the following" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.2s linear;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">2.4 Manages the following</span></strong></a></span></h2>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" id="2.4.1 AMERICA TOGETHER FOUNDATION" name="2.4.1 AMERICA TOGETHER FOUNDATION" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.2s linear;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">2.4.1 AMERICA TOGETHER FOUNDATION</span></span></a></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Americans together are committed to building a cohesive America, where no American has to live with anxieties, discomfort of fear of the other. We have the systems and programs in place to work towards building cohesive societies.<a href="http://www.americatogetherfoundation.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;" target="_blank">www.AmericaTogetherFoundation.com</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Key programs to bring Americans together and build bridges</span></div>
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<ol style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unity Day USA – 11 Years of Annual Event & Awards– <a href="http://www.unitydayusa.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;" target="_blank">www.UnitydayUSA.com</a></span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides – 8th year – <a href="http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;" target="_blank">www.HolocaustandGenocides.com</a></span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanksgiving Celebrations – discontinued after 14 years due to timing.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Conferences on Racism, Anti-Semitism, misogyny, Islamophobia,</span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" id="2.4.2 FOUNDATION FOR PLURALISM" name="2.4.2 FOUNDATION FOR PLURALISM" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.2s linear;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">2.4.2 FOUNDATION FOR PLURALISM</span></a></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our mission is to encourage individuals to develop an open mind and an open heart towards fellow beings. If we can learn to respect the otherness of others and accept the uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge. It’s 20 years of work on religious, social, cultural and political pluralism involving 26 workshops in understanding religion, every beautiful religion; 520 hours of radio talk shows learning about the wisdom of every faith; writing and sharing the essence of the festivals of the world and nearly 750 Articles on Pluralism, and over 150 of them published at Dallas Morning News and nearly 100 at Huffington post and several TV and Radio appearances.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;" target="_blank">www.FoundationforPluralism.com</a> | <a href="http://www.pluralismcenter.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;" target="_blank">www.PluralismCenter.com</a> | <a href="http://www.wisdomofreligion.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;" target="_blank">www.wisdomofReligion.com</a></span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" id="2.4.3 WORLD MUSLIM CONGRESS" name="2.4.3 WORLD MUSLIM CONGRESS" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.2s linear;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">2.4.3 WORLD MUSLIM CONGRESS</span></a></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are committed to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam. To be a Muslim is to be a peace maker, one who consistently seeks to mitigate conflicts and nurtures goodwill for peaceful coexistence of humanity. God wants us to live in harmony with his creation; Life and Matter</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WorldMuslimcongress.com | Quraantoday.com | ShariaLaws.com | Quraanconference.com</span></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" id="2.4.4 STANDING UP FOR OTHERS (BLOG)" name="2.4.4 STANDING UP FOR OTHERS (BLOG)" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.2s linear;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">2.4.4 STANDING UP FOR OTHERS (BLOG)</span></a></span></strong></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Standing up for others, Mike lives what he preaches. In the blog standing up for others, he has set an example of standing up for almost every representation of Americans. Standing up for others is the right thing to do, every human goes through a period of invincibility to vulnerability, if we don't stand up for those who are susceptible, then who will stand up for us when we are unguarded?</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.standingupforothers.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">www.Standingupforothers.com</span></a></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" id="3. Experience in Interfaith" name="3. Experience in Interfaith" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.2s linear;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">3. Experience in Interfaith</span></span></a></strong></h1>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Texas Faith Panel, Dallas Morning News. Mr. Ghouse is a member of the Panel and writes about interfaith issues facing the nation every week. He has written close to 150 pieces over the last four years and almost every column he writes, weaves through the essence of many religions.</span></div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Huffington Post; Mike has written nearly 100 articles in the last two years. Occasionally his articles have been published at Washington Post and several national and international periodicals including Arab News, Tehran Times, Jakarta post, Times of India, Daily Times and several others.</span></li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">TV/Radio - Mike is a frequent guest on Fox News, “The Hannity Show”, and on nationally syndicated radio shows including Dallas TV, print and radio networks. He also had his own Half hour show in 1996 on TV52.</span></li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Google: Mike has consistently remained on the first page when you search for Pluralism Speaker, Interfaith speaker and Muslim Speaker, whether it is the search or the images.</span></li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blogs: Mike has written an average of 175 articles a year over a dozen years. Most of the columns were on interfaith/pluralism, in a given set of 10 articles, almost every religion would have been mentioned including Atheism, paganism and Native traditions.</span></li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Interfaith workshops: 26 live workshops were conducted between 2005 and 2007; Understanding Atheism to Zoroastrianism and every religion in between</span></li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Radio shows: Mike hosted 520 Hours of radio talk shows on “Understanding the essence of religions, each beautiful religion” with a representative of the respective faith 5 days a week on AM Radio 1150 in Dallas between 2003 and 2005.</span></li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Festivals of the World – The essence of major festivals of all religions were written up since 1993 in Asian American Journal, followed by Asian News Radio and the blogs, websites and the newspapers.</span></li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pluralism flows in Mike’s veins. Even the tribute he wrote about his late wife, father, and mother were soaked with the essence of many religions.</span></li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The book “Americans together, building a cohesive America” will be out this years, and the next book, Muslims in America is poised to make it this year as well.</span></li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A documentary “Americans Together” is in the making; and it will present the full spectrum of American diversity, laden with programs and ideas on building a cohesive America, where no American has to live in discomfort, apprehension or fear of the other. It is expected to be out in 2016 prior to the General Elections.</span></li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blogger: Mike passionately writes on topics including but not limited to; Pluralism, Holocaust and Genocides, International conflicts, Israel-Palestine, India, Sharia Laws, Quraan, Blasphemy, Apostasy, Hijab, Ground Zero Mosque, Peter King Hearings, Quraan, Terrorism , Ramadan, Islam, Media, local affairs etc.</span></li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">International speaker: Mike has spoken at international forums including the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia; the Middle East Peace Initiative in Jerusalem; and the International Leadership Conference in Hawaii, Chicago and Washington.</span></li>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" id="4. Major interventions in Pluralism" name="4. Major interventions in Pluralism" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.2s linear;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">4. Major interventions in Pluralism</span></span></a></strong></h1>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mike has initiated, organized and established the following events. In each one of the events, we the people ofthe United States of America of every faith, race, ethnicity, culture and background come together to express our commitment to co-existence, unity, safety and well being of our nation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Annual Unity Day USA is a main stream event commemorating 9/11 for ten years. The UNITY DAY USA has become a symbol of unity among Americans. It is an initiative to come together to stand up for the safety, security and cohesiveness of America. Every year we recognize five individuals who have made a difference in their communities, the trophy calls them pluralists in their field.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Website: <a href="http://www.unitydayusa.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;" target="_blank">www.UnityDayUSA.com</a></span></div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9/11 – Mike was on Radio from 10:00 AM till 4:30 on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 trying to make sense out of the chaos, he reached out to Mayors and community leaders to forge a common voice. Mike was a catalyst in commencing interfaith prayers, fund raising and blood donations that day. He pledged to serve the nation every year on that day, and Unity Day USA is the product of that commitment. <a href="http://911unitydayusa.blogspot.com/2011/09/911-story-interfaithmoments" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;" target="_blank">http://911unitydayusa.blogspot.com/2011/09/911-story-interfaithmoments</a>.html</span></li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Annual Holocaust and Genocides event has continued for the last seven years. Education is the purpose, we have learn to acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things we have inflicted upon each other and have committed ourselves to resist the temptations to be prejudiced and stereotype others. We cannot demand peace unless we are peaceful ourselves. Our safety hinges on the safety of others around us, and it behooves us to work for the safety and security of others on this little planet. We have to be continuously aware of the Holocaust and Genocides and prepare to say never again. Website:<a href="http://www.holocaustandgenocides.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;" target="_blank">www.HolocaustandGenocides.com</a></span></li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Annual Thanksgiving Celebrations & Awards night was carried out for over ten years and due to overlapping of Unity Day, it is done on a small scale now. The purpose of celebrating this event is to thank God for helping us learn to accept, respect and appreciate each other’s cultural uniqueness. Website: <a href="http://www.thanksgivingcelebrations.org/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;" target="_blank">www.Thanksgivingcelebrations.org</a></span></li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Qur’an Conference was held on December 5, 2010 in Dallas to demystify the myths about “troubled passages” from Qur’an with 10 Non-Muslim clergy panelists and 5 Muslim Imams. It was one of the most powerful educational programs to read Quraan first hand and share that understanding with the audience. Website: <a href="http://www.quraanconference.com/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s linear;" target="_blank">www.Quraanconference.com</a></span></li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quran Burning event on 9/11/2013. When Pastor Jones announced burning 2998 copies of Qur'an on Wednesday, September 11, 2013, one for each American life lost on September 11, 2001, we decided to bring a closure to the sacrifice of our men and women in the most honored way and not by burning the Qurans. We wanted to assert to Muslims around the world, that our God given right to freedom of speech is a value we treasure and hold it dear to us, ultimately it is the freedom that uplifts the whole humanity. On the other hand, offered an alternate Muslim behavior model to become the standard, indeed we can call it a genuine Islamic response based on Quran and examples of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Website: <a href="http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-new-paradigm-in-muslimworld" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-new-paradigm-in-muslimworld</a>.<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">html</span></span></div>
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Mike Ghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01647894600183489442noreply@blogger.com0