Sean Hannity Show, Mike Ghouse's talking points on Rebels in Libya

The commanders are having difficulty identifying the Gaddaffi loyalists, as all are in civil clothing.

The intelligence sources are finding an easy way out to “guess” Al Qaeda and Hezbollah among rebels. We need to demand the NATO commander to produce verifiable information to be certain that Al Qaeda and Hezbollah are with the rebels.

President Reagan’s wisdom echoes in my ears, “Trust but verify,” we need to quit guessing and blunder as we did with WMD and Iraq. 

If we cannot aim Gaddafi, we should not fire.

Caution is preferable to blind shooting; we are not there to shoot, but there to protect the civilians from the massacre. 

Throwing Gaddafi is the responsibility of the Libyans and not ours, we are there to prevent a massacre and NOT fight for them.

The usage of the phrase Allahu Akbar, which is God is great is common among Muslims, the Al-Qaida Gang uses it and it is used when the Green bay Packers won the super bowl.  When your friends little girl kicks the goal in soccer, Allahu Akbar is said out loud.

Muslims routinely use the words like Allahu Akbar to appreciate things and not necessarily as a battle cry. They seek refuge in a higher power. In the Libyan context, it simply means God is great, Gaddaffi is not.

We have an opportunity to regain our dignity we lost in Iraq and Afghanistan by targeting the civilians; we have to be an example to the world in civility.  

Mike Ghouse offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day – http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Muslims condemn today’s attack on the Bus in Jerusalem.

PRESS RELEASE
March 23, 2011, Dallas, Texas

Muslims condemn today’s attack on the Bus in Jerusalem.

The world Muslim Congress strongly condemns the attack on the bus in Jerusalem as well as the resumption of the rocket attacks on the civilian population. We pray for God’s blessing for the victims and their families.

“It is the responsibility of the Palestinians to speak out and stand up against the few who are tarnishing the peace process” Mike Ghouse, President of the World Muslim Congress and the Foundation for Pluralism adds; “please find the individuals who are responsible for this horrendous crime and bring justice to the victims and their families. They are your real enemies and are bent on destroying the future of your children by their irresponsible malicious acts”.

Killing one human being is like killing the whole humanity, says the Torah and Quraan and its corollary, and saving one life is like saving the whole humanity. And both Muslims and Jews have to listen to God, there is wisdom in it.

I ask the Israelis to arrest the temptation to take revenge, only the one with power can stop the cycle, and let terrorism not force you out the path of peace.”

Mike Ghouse

World Muslim congress

Foundation for Pluralism

2665 Villa Creek Dr, Suite 206, Dallas, TX 75234

Email: MikeGhouse@gmail.com

(214) 325-1916

Senator Durbin to hold hearings on civil rights of Muslims.

PRESS RELEASE

Americans and Muslims together welcome Senator Durbin’s initiative to hold hearings on civil rights of Muslims.

Dallas, March 23, 2011

Mike Ghouse, President of America Together Foundation, welcomes the initiative of Sen. Dick Durbin’s announcement to hold hearings in to the civil rights of American Muslims.

No American has to live in anxieties, discomfort or fear of the other.  It is in the interests of every Patriotic American to work for a cohesive society where we focus on being a catalyst to each others’ well being, safety and prosperity.

The organization will focus on bringing Americans together with a series of educational programs to address the critical issues facing our nation in an open forum to find pluralistic solutions to restore the cohesiveness of our society and work towards building a safe and secure America.

America Together foundation is an extension of the Foundation for Pluralism championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other, and World Muslim Congress committed to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam.

We hope the hearings will focus on the Civil rights of Muslim Americans and bring justice and hope to fellow Americans.

Mike Ghouse, President

America Together Foundation, committed to building cohesive societies
http://www.americatogetherfoundation.com/

2665 Villa Creek Dr, suite 206

Dallas, TX 75234

(214) 325-1916

Texas Faith: Should women be required to have a sonogram before undergoing an abortion? Dallas Morning News

Life is about choices; you bear the emotional, physical and spiritual burden for the wrong choices you make or enjoy the life with least conflicts.  

Conscience is a dynamic term constantly expanding its range of acceptability from what the societies set up as a benchmark to the free choices one wants to exercise.

Women have come a long way in regaining their freedom to choose from the patriarchal societies where men had set their boundaries on the issue of abortion.  

There is a revolutionary as well as an evolutionary process of benchmarking the conscience. Some 1400 years ago female infanticide was a common place in the Middle East and Prophet Muhammad turned that around in his life time, calling the female child as God's blessing, the Catholic Church had pioneered that position as well.  

We value life regardless of where we stand on abortion and sonogram is one more effort to ask the carrier of fetus to reconsider her choice to be absolutely certain that she is not aborting a life consciously; the pains of carrying through may outweigh the pain of aborting.

We need to guard ourselves in making decisions based on the needs of today over the burdens of temptations of imposing majority views on those who differ. We need to do a fresh study on abortion remorse and not rush through this, let's evolve and let's not lose our basic human value; choice.

Full version of this article along with 11 others opinions is at Dallas Morning News at: http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/texas-faith-do-you-approve-of.html

Mike Ghouse

Brussels wins to host 2014 Parliament of worlds religions

PRESS RELEASE

March 21, 2011, Dallas, Texas

We congratulate the Brussels team headed by Miguel Mesquita da Cunha, Chairman of the 2014 Bid Steering Committee for the tireless work they have put in behalf of Belgians and the Europeans to secure the 2014 bid to host the Parliament of the Worlds Religions.

In behalf of the Foundation for Pluralism and the World Muslim congress, two of the many supporters of the bid for hosting the 2014 event in Dallas, Mike Ghouse, president of the organizations announced,

“We the people of Dallas gracefully acknowledge and honor the decision of the board of trustees of the Parliament of World’s religion for their choice of Brussels to host the 2014 event. Indeed, Brussels will significantly contribute towards the goals of the Parliament; to facilitate an open dialogue among religions, nurture values of co-existence, and encourage cohesion and seek pluralism for people of the world. “

Now, it is our turn to join the Brussels team in making this event successful for the people of world aspiring to create the kingdom of heaven on this beautiful planet, where we can hope and pray that the next seven generations and beyond can live without the apprehension of the other and freely practice their faith and culture.  

You can count on our support any way we can.|
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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer and is committed to building a cohesive America through the Foundation for Pluralism championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other, and World Muslim Congress committed to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam.

Mike is available to speak on Pluralism, Islam and building cohesive societies at your work, place of worship, school, seminars or conferences.  He is a media commentator offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Mike's work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.MikeGhouse.net/ (214) 325-1916
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Your Comments:

 REFERENCES:

Articles and pictures by the Foundation for Pluralism, World Muslim Congress and Memnosyne Foundation.  I am pleased to share a few of the many references.  

1.      The Theme of Parliament 2014
http://wisdomofreligion.blogspot.com/2010/07/parliament-of-worlds-religions-summit.html

2.      Defending the need for Parliament in Dallas Morning News – Mike aggressively defends criticism. http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/07/texas-faith-dallas-and-the-201.html

3.      Religious Discourse and the Parliament http://wisdomofreligion.blogspot.com/2010/05/religious-discourse-and-parliament-of.html

4.      2014 Dallas bid to seek the Parliament in Dallas
http://wisdomofreligion.blogspot.com/2010/04/dallas-2014-parliament-of-worlds.html

5.      Mike Ghouse to speak at the Parliament of World’s Religions http://wisdomofreligion.blogspot.com/2009/11/mike-ghouse-to-speak-at-parliament-of.html

6.      Angie Buchanan and Mike Ghouse on NPR http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2009/12/national-public-radio.html

7.      Dalai Lama and worlds religions 
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2010/12/dalai-lama-and-worlds-religions.html

8.      Notes about the Parliament -
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2009/12/note-about-parliament-event.html

9.      Summary of the Parliament visit - http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2009/12/parliament-of-world-religions-15.html

10. Pictures: Parliament’s Chicago visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157624107988176/  Slide show: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157624107988176/show/

11. June 5, 2010 Meeting http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157624217148394/

12. Parliament event in Melbourne http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157622903144129/show/

13. Dinner event at Fun Asia – sponsored by Fun Asiahttp://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=464318&id=851280248

14. Meeting at Madeleine Restaurant in May 2010http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=429662&id=851280248

15. Official announcement by the Parliamenthttp://www.parliamentofreligions.org/news/index.php/2011/03/brussels-to-host-the-parliament-of-the-worlds-religions-in-2014/

We have had a few more dinner meetings held in Dallas and few more pictures, which I may publish later on due to specific requests from our friends not to publish their pictures for the public.

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http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/
http://www.worldmuslimcongress.com/
http://www.americatogetherfoundation.com/

Mike Ghouse
2665 Villa Creek Dr, suite 206
Dallas, TX 75234 USA
(214) 325-1916

One liners on Gaddaffi

If we cannot aim the target we should not fire.

110 missiles is nothing but sadistic behavior, men itching to show off their machoness.

Shameless war mongers use the term collateral damage

Obama needs to listen to himself, had we listened to him in 2003, we would not have seen the miseries afflicting an average American today, the rich ones will always be fine but not the majority of Americans.

Is our media going to ask tough questions?  

Shirking our responsibility of not speaking out against the previous commander chief was a bad thing, we demand our government to be accurate and be accountable

A warning and three missiles at his location would have been enough, if the CIA cannot give that location then none of the information they provide is reliable.

After the initial attack, we should have given another notice to stop massacring his people.

110 missiles is nothing but sadistic behavior, men itching to show off and the loosely using the term collateral damage.

CIA and Mossad are useless agencies, when have they been right?

POTUS need to be told to stop before he entangles us into a protracted war.

Aljazeera can deliver what CIA cannot.

For the 1000th of the cost, Gaddaffi can be got, or an accurate missile can get him.

You, me and ever American has the responsibility for the wellbeing of America and what is good for America has got to be good for the world and vice versa to have sustainable peace

Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.  Full notes at: http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/03/trigger-happy-attacks-on-libya.html

Trigger happy attacks on Libya

If you cannot hit Gaddaffi, then hold the fire.

If they cannot fire the missiles at Gaddaffi, then they should not fire at all. The target should be Gaddaffi and nothing but him. Reagan missile nearly missed him; Obama missile shouldn't.

The administration needs to demand accurate information from the intelligence agencies; their record has not been great with false information on Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt and Libya. Even on the day Mubarak resigned, they did not get it right. And we should not make destructive decisions based on their information. 
We need to guard ourselves from letting a few sadistic men from the coalition to make Libya a play ground for their devious joys.   There should not be any room for collateral damage, our goal must be specific; to get Gaddafi and resist the temptation to pull the trigger on everything that moves.    

Any protracted involvement will bring untold misery to us, we cannot handle budget deficits any more; we cannot hurt our own families at home. However, if we are smart, we can buy some game machines at hundredths of the cost of this onslaught and give it to these sadistic men to play and get their hate out, rather than destroy the people of Libya.

The pleasure of today's destruction is not worth the misery of tomorrow. We need to consider the opinions of the moderates along with the right and the left to have sustainable policies. Obama knows better, had we listened to him and not gone for the war, we would not have been in the shape.

Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. 
http://ghousetweets.blogspot.com/

Happy Holi

Happy Holi, my personal story

Several years ago, my son, daughter and I were drenched in Holi colors at the Hindu Temple festivities and were driving home. At the stop light, the people in cars on either side stared at us and looked scared and took off screeching on the green light... then it dawned on us that we looked bloody, green, yellow and mellow.......

Wow, Happy Holi!

This festival breaks the barriers between people, between adults and children, family members and friends, and opens up to each other. My kids thoroughly enjoyed throwing the colors in liquid and dust forms on me, they loved it. I would also call it friendship festival as it removes inhibitions. The picture below reflects that sentiments - all colors coming together to create oneness, thus the phrase Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam; the whole world is one family. Similar expressions are a staple in every faith.

Holi is a festival of radiance in the universe. During this festival, different waves of radiance traverse the universe, thereby creating various colors that nourish and complement the function of respective elements in the atmosphere.

For the last 15 years, I have been writing about every festival on the earth, have done a weekly Radio program called "Festivals of the world" and shared about each festival. Make it simple enough that most people can get the essence of it. It is a part of the Pluralism education, so we all can appreciate each others’ uniqueness. Each one of is a model of our own.

370 Words at - http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/03/happy-holi-my-personal-story.html

Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His work is reflected in 4 websites and 27 Blogs at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

World Muslim Congress is eight years old today

March 15^th marks the birth of the World Muslim Congress eight years ago. At this moment the site is getting a face lift and Insha Allah will be ready by Friday.  It has several sub-sites on Quraan conferences, Quraan, Sharia, Blasphemy, Press releases, Ground Zero Mosque, King’s hearings and host of issues that are covered over the years. All of them are listed at the left panel at: http://www.worldmuslimcongress.com/

 

The organization is committed to nurturing the pluralistic values embedded in Islam. To be a Muslim is to be a peace maker, one who constantly seeks to mitigate conflicts and nurtures goodwill for peaceful co-existence of humanity. God wants us to live in peace and harmony with his creation; Life and Matter.

 

Brigitte Gabriel  and I butt heads on Sean Hannity TV and the nationally syndicated Radios shows, and she inspired me to form “America Together Foundation” to build a cohesive America. Check out her site http://www.actforamerica.org/  and particularly go to the donate segment and see what it says, and also see how deeply it has penetrated into America. It is time we form an organization to positively counter Jihad Watch, Front Page and a host of other hate sites. We at America Together and Muslims Together foundations are committed to build a cohesive America where no American has to live in apprehension of the other.

 

Please visit the site on Friday Morning and take a look at our Mission, Vision and specific goals and if you feel you can be a part of it,  and contribute towards its growth feel free to send an email to MikeGhouse@gmail.com

You are welcome to write your comments at the end of the press release
http://muslimpressrelease.blogspot.com/2011/03/world-muslim-congress-is-eight-years.html 

 

Mike Ghouse

Americans condemn the attacks on Rabbi Lerner.

We must condemn the attack on Rabbi Lerner, a man who is committed to building bridges and doing what his religion Judaism teaches him; to stand up for truth and justice.

Evil exists not because of evil people, but because good people do nothing about it. It is however changing now; the good people are indeed speaking up and hope the bullies learn that they cannot bully any more.

A part of the human equation is to have a range of people in its collection; the right wingers, the lefties and the silent majority of moderates.  The right wingers operate out of the imaginary fears that the world is out to get them and they pre-empt to silence the opposition. Some of them have figured out making money out of this racket.

The Goldstone report was conducted by a Jewish judge about the excesses of Israel in Gaza. The right wing Jewish group is in denial, and to using violence to silence the truth.

We still have a few gutsy Journalists will write and talk about it, but a majority of them and particularly Fox gang will perhaps present it as though the rape victim asked for it. This may be the sign of decline of Right wing Media, their shying away from the truth will take the media business out of their hands and put in the hands of the public.

Rabbi Lerner continues to work on nurturing goodwill and we stand by him and hope every American does.

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Mike Ghouse is president of Americans Together and Muslims Together Foundations and is committed to building cohesive societies offering pluralistic solution on issues of the day. He will speak at your work place, place of worship or seminars and conferences on the subjects of pluralism, cohesive societies, Islam, interfaith, India and Peace; he is a speaker thinker and a writer on the topics. His work is indexed in 4 websites and 27 Blogs at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Legitimizing Islamic Radicalization

As a civil society, we must resist the temptations to blame one's family, nation or religion for his or her individual acts, and we must not give them the cover to hide under a religious label for their evil acts either.

Indeed, when they quote scripture for their acts, instead of eagerly accepting their excuse we must open the book and find the truth. There are two successful experiments on the subject.   

A judge in Yemen challenged Al-Qaida inmates to find verses in Quraan that propelled them to kill the infidels, he gave them three months to find and offered to join their movement if they found the verses, and otherwise, he asked them to reject that ideology. Not only they rejected, but were outraged for being duped and have become hunters for the Al-Qaida men.

Pastor Jeffress of Dallas called Quraan an evil book written by a false prophet, instead of getting angry I visited him and then on the public platform of TV and Dallas Morning News,  I asked him to find three verses in Quraan that were evil and if he did, I will give up my faith and join him,  he chickened out. Then a Quraan conference was produced with non-Muslim clergy on the panel to evaporate the lies the right wingers have fabricated about Quraan.  Full story, interviews and videos at: www.Quraanconference.com

Finding the truth is a responsibility, we would be better off by freeing from suspicion and anxieties, and finding peace within.

Mike Ghouse is the founder of America Together foundation, committed to building cohesive societies offering pluralistic solution on the issues of the day.  His work is indexed in 4 websites and 21 Blogs at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

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Re: http://peterkinghearings.blogspot.com/2011/03/muslims-welcome-hearings-by-congressman.html

King will hammer the first nail on right wing coffin

Peter King has made statements that are repulsive, and have no foundation or sources to it. He pulls things out of thin air or acts out of the seat of his pants.

We are concerned about the hearings and hope and pray that Mr. King would be honest, sincere and fair, although his record is marred with bigotry. We hope he will not destroy the fabric of our society and pit one American against the other.

If he takes the wrong step, the American people will not put up with it, as they have done that time and again. I trust the moderate Americans who have supported and turned around Vietnam War, Iraq war, abortion civil rights and other issues.

In 2010, the right-wingers rode in on the “hate agenda” and shamelessly a majority of the Good-for-nothing-Republican Party is letting them carry it, and evil continues to perpetuate.     

I am a Republican am committed to attend the key meetings for the next season and I will be questioning and demanding proof for their non-sense. I hope other Republicans will have the spine to speak up against what is wrong with the Republican leadership; they are letting the hate mongers become their mascot.

I welcome the hearings, Muslims have nothing to fear and nothing to worry, let the man fall flat on his face. Just as we produced the Quraan conference to evaporate the lies the right wingers had projected, this will perhaps become the first nail on their coffin.  

Mike Ghouse is a speaker committed to building a cohesive America. His work is reflected at three websites and twenty seven blogs indexed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Full scale blog on hearings: http://peterkinghearings.blogspot.com/

Muslims condemn the Murders of Fogel Family in Israel

In behalf of Muslims and the World Muslim Congress, I condemn the malicious rejoice by some Palestinians over the cold blooded murder of the Fogel family in Israel.

A few exchanges on the net prompted me to add the following;

Bad people are among all of us without exception, acknowledging bad Muslims, bad Indians,  bad Israelis, bad Palestinians, bad Jews or bad Americans is the right thing to do, denying takes away the credibility of information.

The shameless score keeping must be understood to break they cycle of violence.  The shameless rejoice by a few Palestinians is not acceptable, and I sincerely hope, Netanyahu will not bomb the entire Gaza strip to avenge this and then they will fire the rockets... it is to the advantage of the powerful to break the cycle of revenge.   

A friend wrote, "Jewish Israelis do not do that too Muslims" and I wish that were the case. I asked him to look up Jerusalem post, Haaretz and the writings of Jewish humanitarians to find a different story.

I humbly request the right wing Jewish Americans and the right wing Muslim Americans not to start a campaign of hate and counter hate, but instead break this cycle.  Both sides can dig up trash and throw at each other, for what? So they can do more of it?

I ask the shameless Media vultures not to feed on these hateful incidents and talk for a whole week until they find another corpse; their food.  

Mike Ghouse is the founder of America Together foundation and Islam Together Foundation and is committed to building cohesive societies offering pluralistic solution on the issues of the day.  His work is indexed in 4 websites and 21 Blogs at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Recap week ending March 13, 2011

 It was a difficult week, Earth Quake and Tsunami in Japan was devastating, so many families were displaced, members lost and they still cannot find about 100,000 people.  May God protect the survivors and bring their families back together.

Gaddaffi continues to rein in against his people in Libya, I hope we the Americans stay out of it, we do not have a good overall record in interventions, we have messed it up, better stay home and take care of our own, they have been around longer than us and they know how to make it work.

Peter King continues with his hearings and hope he shows integrity and honesty... as a Muslim I welcome the hearings as it has the potential to lay to rest, the hype the right wing republicans create. It is all political and hope the truth emerges sooner

It was a shame that some Gazans were celebrating the massacre of a Jewish family, as an individual and on behalf of Muslims around the world, I condemn that behavior, there is no justification for such behavior.

On a personal level, we all have endured difficulties and tragedies and we need to honor that.
Despite all that, a new week has begun, as it has been happening since we knew what Monday was. Let's focus on this week, smile a little and have an as complete a life as we can. We need to live with full range of emotions. Have a great week!

Mike Ghouse
http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Respone in Dallas Morning News

We all should be concerned about the hearings and hope and pray that Mr. King would be honest, sincere and fair, although his record is marred with bigotry. We hope he will not destroy the fabric of our society and pit one American against the other.

 

Acknowledging that “some of our own” are a security threat to our nation is the right thing to do. We should have done it ourselves, since we did not, we have to accept the bad choice of Mr. King.

I welcome the hearings, Muslims have nothing to fear and nothing to worry, let the man fall flat on his face “if” he resorts to untruths. What if he turns out to be honest and finds guys like Shehzad? Then we owe him gratitude, not just Muslims but the whole nation.

Just as we produced the Quraan conference in Dallas to evaporate the lies the right wingers had propagated, this will perhaps become the first nail in their coffin and hope they will stop pitting one American against the other to have political gains.

If nothing else comes from the hearings, one thing is for sure. Muslims are not a monolithic lot and they are no different than any of the 301 million of us. Each one of has a different thumb print, eye print, DNA, different sizes, shapes and colors, political affiliations, so be it with faiths or no faiths.  That is God’s universe.

I welcome hearings on Islam

Letter format published in Dallas Morning News

http://letterstotheeditorblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/i-welcome-heari.html

 

I welcome the initiative by U.S. Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, to hold hearings on Islamic radicalism.

It is our duty to keep law and order and faithfully guard the safety of every citizen. Hate is one of the many sources of disrupting peace in a society, and it is our responsibility to seek the source of such hate and work to mitigate and find lasting solutions.

Indeed, the last few attempts to mess with our nation's security have come from men flaunting the Muslim label, and, as Muslim Americans, it becomes our individual and collective responsibility to participate in ensuring the safety of every American.

We have to identify the criminals who are individually accountable for their actions and need to punish them expediently according to the law.

As a civil society, we must also resist the temptation to blame their family, nation and religion and not legitimize their attempts to hide under a religious label for their evil acts.

Phrases such as "Islamic radicalism" are oxymoron and must be avoided to uphold our civility. 

Mike Ghouse

President, World Muslim Congress

Muslims welcome hearings by Congressman Peter R. King

Mike Ghouse, president of the World Muslim Congress welcomes the initiative by Congressman Peter King, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security to hold the hearings on Islamic radicalism.

It is our duty to keep law and order and faithfully guard the safety of every citizen. Hate is one of the many sources of disrupting the peace in a society and it is our responsibility to seek the source of such hate and work to mitigate it.

Indeed, the last few attempts to mess with our nation’s security has come from men flaunting the Muslim label, and as Muslim Americans, it becomes our individual and collective responsibility to participate in ensuring the safety of every American, and we welcome the hearings. We hope it will lead us to find the sources and causes of such erratic behavior, and perhaps point out areas of concerns to be addressed and find lasting solutions.

We have to identify the criminals who are individually accountable for their actions, and need to punish them expediently according to the law.  As a civil society, we must also resist the temptation to blame their family, nation and religion, and not fall for and legitimize their attempts to hide under a religious label for their evil acts. The use of phrases such as Islamic Radicalism is oxymoronic and must be avoided to uphold our civility.

Mike Ghouse is the founder of America Together foundation, committed to building cohesive societies offering pluralistic solution on the issues of the day.  His work is indexed in 4 websites and 21 Blogs at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Modeling democracy from the Indian Idol

We have a responsibility to share and explore avenues in shaping the future of each nation and the family of nations.

Democracy is about choices and the freedom to choose what one eats, wears, believes and seeks in the pursuit of happiness without being harassed or humiliated.  It is about the unhindered choice available to every citizen equally.

Out of nowhere the picture of 2007 Indian Idol popped on my facebook screen. There it was a non-mainstream Indian making to the top. This was unimaginable fifty years ago.  I salute the Indian Idol for shaping the future of India. It gives hopes to every citizen and that is one beautiful aspect of democracy I want to present here.

They have broken all the deep barriers of caste, class and religion and have offered equal opportunity to all.

In the two seasons of Indian Idol I have watched, I have witnessed with delight the “slum dogs” moving up, the homeless, the unknown, the “uncivilized” making it into the show, the illiterate with no exposure to music as well as the trained ones; they were all on the level playing field.

Similar programs in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere can shape the future leaders of their nations by offering opportunities to every one of their citizens, and let every one learn to compete in serving their nations.

Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day – http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Messing with American Democracy

One of the dangers of democracy writes Professor Lev Grinberg is that, “it provides a formal opportunity for the majority to force their will on the minority. “

Indeed the Osama Bin Laden formula has been activated in America, though he never represented main stream Muslims yet his actions ascribed his wrong doing on to them.  Here comes, David Yerushalmi, an Arizona-based white supremacist who does not represent the main stream Americans, yet his actions are going to be slapped on the White Majority.  Are we ready to accept this?

The evil man has called for a war on Islam and is behind the racist legislation in Tennessee, once the seat of racism in America. He has opened new expressions for bigots as they have been shut out from their deeply seated Anti-Semitic attitudes.

These attitudes pitch one American against the other and that is not good for America, it will take the country from the path of cohesion to division.

Mike Ghouse is committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day - www.MikeGhouse.net

References:

Democracy is no panacea 
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/02/2011225181951493541.html

Meet the White Supremacist Leading the GOP's Anti-Sharia Crusade
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/david-yerushalmi-sharia-ban-tennessee