Interfaith experiment; standing in others shoes

Given the growing apprehensiveness through politicizing religion, it makes a lot of sense for one to step in other’s shoes and experience the wisdom of every beautiful religion first hand, rather than live in phobias generated by hearsay.

Finding the truth is our own responsibility, as truth relieves one’s anxieties. The Quraan Conference took the wind out of the sails of the misrepresented verses like “Kill the infidels”, “beat your wife” or  “Don’t make friends with Jews or Christians”, mind you the verses were read in public by the clergy of different religions and not Muslims.  

The following experiment was conducted at the Unity Day USA event.

Thirty Nine (39) Individuals were called in from the audience to form thirteen (13) groups of four (4) each. The groups were given a statement, verse or the wisdom (atheism) of each faith they represented randomly. No person was assigned his or her own religion but religions were assigned by a drawing. Every group was asked to read and share their understanding of that religion, the idea was to stand in others shoes, and it was one of the most successful experiments in religion.

Each one of the participant loved being a Jew, Zoroastrian, a Hindu, a Christian, Muslim or the other. When we read the book for real and not go by hearsay, our hearts and minds will open up to the wisdom of every religion, thus learning about each other first hand mitigates the conflicts and paves the way for solutions.

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, futurist and a writer on the topics of Pluralism, Coexistence, interfaith, Islam and cohesive societies. He is committed to building cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day, no matter what the issue is, he is a frequent guest at Hannity Show and other national syndicated shows. His work is indexed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/  

Speaking tour on building a cohesive America

April 17, 2011, Dallas, Texas

Mike Ghouse, President of Americans Together building a cohesive America announced his plans to go on a speaking tour across America in an effort to build cohesive societies. “It is a three in one opportunity to hear out on Pluralism, Islam and Interfaith”.  He will address what it takes to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill.

    

Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions to media and the public on issues of the day and is available to speak at your place of worship, work, school, seminars and conferences. He is a speaker thinker and a writer on the topics of pluralism, cohesive societies, Islam, interfaith, India and peace.

  

He is a frequent guest on Fox News on the Hannity show, nationally syndicated Radio shows along with Dallas TV, Print and Radio networks and occasional interviews on NPR. He has spoken at international forums including the Parliament of Worlds Religions in Melbourne, Middle East Peace initiative in Jerusalem, International Leadership conference in Hawaii, Washington and elsewhere. Over a 1000 articles have been published and two books are on the horizon to be released this summer.

The Foundation for Pluralism champions the idea of co-existence by respecting and accepting the otherness of other and World Muslim Congress is committed to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam.  His work is reflected in 4 websites and 27 Blogs indexed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Pluralism Speaker

http://pluralismspeaker.blogspot.com/ 

  

Muslim Speaker

http://muslimspeakermikeghouse.blogspot.com

  

Interfaith Speaker: 

http://interfaithspeaker.blogspot.com/

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Mike Ghouse
Phone (214) 325-1916

MikeGhouse@Gmail.com

Naming a Political Satire

The amount of stupidity displayed by the politicians is amazing; either they are  idiots, nincompoops, dumbos, morons or downright stupid. They are every where; usually the right wingers make an ass of themselves and the media rightfully highlights the extremes, so we can manage the old fashion way; management by exception.

I am creating a fun website to list statements and comments made by Politicians from across the world, but preferably here in America.  What is ironic is their refusal to see or at least hear another point of view

Dictionary: An idiot  is an Adult stupid person with a mental age below three years, while a moron  is also an Adult stupid person with a mental age of between seven to twelve years. Stupid refers to lack of ability while ignorant refers to lack of knowledge

What name would you Vote in for a website?

Stupid Politicians
Moron Politicians
Idiot Politicians
Dumb Politicians
Nincompoop Politicians
  
So I ask you to suggest the name for the website to assemble all political stupidities in one single place that you can be a contributor.

Name the Site you would prefer to describe them

Share a link with the title to line up posting on the website

If you know sites that already do this, share it too.

REFERENCES

1.      Legislator Leo Berman from Texas http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2011/04/this_again_texas_legislator_cl.html

2.       A dumb politician Criticizing pluralism payer in Carrollton - http://carrolltondiary.blogspot.com/2011/04/prayers-at-carrollton-city-council.html you can also watch on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Git_8Grd3A&feature=player_embedded

Mike Ghouse

http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Prayers at Carrollton City Council

Invocation prayers at Carrollton City Council

7:00 PM, Tuesday, April 05, 2011

A Carrollton tradition

By Mike Ghouse, Pluralist

# # #

Dear Friends,

The following is an inclusive prayer called the prayer of Pluralism, indeed, Carrollton is only City in the United States where inclusiveness is appreciated and this is the 9^th time in the last four years. We are committed to building a cohesive Carrollton.

Let’s reflect, wish and pray:

Creator of the universe

Please accept our gratitude in every name we call upon you; Manito,  Yahweh, Elahi, Ishwar, Allah, Mahavira, Buddha, Wahe Guru, Ahura Mazda, mother earth and Jesus Christ.  

In your name we want to create a cohesive Carrollton, with care kindness and dignity to every one of the 122,000 residents of this beautiful City.  

Dear God,

Guide our Mayor and the council to serve us with integrity and honesty;
Guide us to serve our communities with the spirit of volunteerism;
Guide us to do the right thing every moment of our life;
Guide us to open our hearts and minds toward our fellow beings;
Guide us to shed the arrogance in us, and enrich us with humility

Guide us to become conflict mitigaters and goodwill nurturers.

Dear God, Protect our men and women in uniforms committed to our safety and well being.

Help us learn to respect the uniqueness you have blessed to each one of the 122,000 of us in Carrollton,

And help us learn to respect everywhich way one worships you.
In your name, we bow to you.

Amen.

Pictures:

Video:

 # # #

 Mike Ghouse, President of America Together foundation is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day, and is available to speak at your place of worship, work or in seminars and conferences. He is a speaker thinker and a writer on the topics of pluralism, cohesive societies, Islam, interfaith, India and Peace.

The Foundation for Pluralism champions the idea of co-existence by respecting and accepting the otherness of other; and World Muslim Congress is committed to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam. His work is reflected in 4 website's and 27 Blogs at http://www.mikeghouse.net/

First Amendment, the secular and religious organizations

Religious Organizations must be held to the same standards as the secular organizations in terms of employment and accountability to the public. They must be subjected to audit of the policies as well, then the questions of exceptions will dwindle and a sense of clarity will emerge. We have to rise above our own petty agendas for the overall good of America and formulate policies that treat every one justly.

The employment situation with religious organizations does bring up issues in selection of the candidates; almost all the religious and secular organizations circumvent it by narrowing the criteria. In the coming years that may be tested out if the unemployment rates become unmanageable. What happens to equal opportunity employment laws, where does it stop?

John Esposito is one of the most respected scholars on Islam in America, he is a devout Catholic, and he must have an equal opportunity to run Islamic organizations, should he not? Should I not be hired to work in a Jewish organization?

The world has indeed become a global community. Everyone is a neighbor to everyone else; we aspire to nurture the concept of good neighborliness in the world. The advisory board for World Muslim Congress will be represented by individuals from every faith. It is time for us to be equal citizens of one world; our home. This is a major paradigm shift in how the religious organizations would be conducting their business in the coming years.

Fuller story at: http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/04/first-amendment-secular-and-religious.html

.# # #

Mike Ghouse, President of America Together foundation is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day, and is available to speak at your place of worship, work or in seminars and conferences. He is a speaker thinker and a writer on the topics of pluralism, cohesive societies, Islam, interfaith, India and Peace.

The Foundation for Pluralism champions the idea of co-existence by respecting and accepting the otherness of other, and World Muslim Congress is committed to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam. His work is reflected in 4 website's and 27 Blogs at http://www.mikeghouse.net/