Interfaith Speaker Mike Ghouse
FAITH IS IN THE HEART OF THE BELIEVER
AS BEAUTY IS IN THE EYES OF THE BEHOLDER
An interfaith Speaker, thinker, organizer and an activist committed to building cohesive societies with a firm belief that the purpose of religion is to bring harmony to an individual within and create a balance with what surrounds; life and matter. If we can learn to respect and accept everywhich way people have come to worship the creator, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.
Religion is about humility and not arrogance; some day, I would like to see the interfaith dialogue reach its peak when every one of us can proclaim with ease, "that my religion is beautiful to me as yours is to you; my religion brings solace to me as yours does to you and now I hereby announce that my religion is not superior to any and nor is your religion superior to any. Mine is another pathway to find peace and I thank God for giving me the Guidance to pleasantly share that with you.
To claim that my religion is superior is sheer arrogance. Spirituality and arrogance are inversely proportional to each other. Greater the arrogance lower the religiosity and vice-versa. Humility builds bridges whereas arrogance germinates conflicts.
To be religious is to be a peace maker, one who 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.
Over1000 articles have been published on a range of topics on interfaith, pluralism and Islam. Many a videos have been produced on the topic and we are yet to upload them, here is one of the shortest one delivered at the City of Carrollton. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Git_8Grd3A
Interfaith - It is a relationship between people who believe in God in one form or the other
Pluralism - is about co-existence with or without a belief in the creator.
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Pluralist Mike Ghouse sees opportunity for faith discussion after Holocaust Museum shooting.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-ghouse_14met.ART.East.Edition1.50e0b73.html
By DIANNE SOLÍS / The Dallas Morning News dsolis@dallasnews.com
Carrollton resident Mike Ghouse was horrified when he heard last week that a security guard had been shot to death at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
Mike Ghouse discusses interfaith tolerance and under- standing online and on air. "I thought, 'Why do people have hate?' " said Ghouse, who 15 years ago founded the Foundation for Pluralism. "That was my first response."
The 57-year-old homebuilder and property manager sees the tragedy as a way for people to discuss their separate faiths, to forge understanding and to defuse religious tensions. His foundation's mission is to embrace the ecumenical ways of the world.
"There is not a faith we haven't covered," he says.
Ghouse is a Muslim who originally emigrated from the Bangalore area of India about 30 years ago. "I will never claim my faith is superior to others," he said. "Every faith is beautiful to me. The inability to accept the differences of others causes conflict."
Ghouse is a frequent-flier in cyberspace, and many of his commentaries on ecumenical respect can be found at www.mikeghouse.net , on Facebook and on Twitter. The multilingual Ghouse also started talk shows on the radio geared toward the Diaspora from India and Pakistan. And when weekend worship comes, Ghouse visits services at Muslim mosques, Hindu temples, Jewish synagogues and Catholic churches.
# # #
Religious Tolerance in Action.
http://www.dallasnews.com/religion/stories/122703dnrelconnect.ed78.html
4:07
PM CST on Friday, December 26, 2003
By MARY A. JACOBS / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
During the holiday season, most people only wish for peace on earth and goodwill toward men. But Mike Ghouse has already rolled up his sleeves and gotten to work on it.
Mr. Ghouse hosts "The Multi-Faith Radio Program" weekdays at 6 a.m. on KBIS-AM (1150) and KYNG-AM (950). Each day, he interviews a guest from a local religious community, with the goal of helping his listeners learn to "cherish and respect every which way people have to come to praise and worship the divinity
."
He's also a frequent visitor at gatherings hosted by the various faith communities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and founder of the Foundation for Pluralism. He writes prolifically on his Web site www.MikeGhouse.net
about religious tolerance and understanding different religions
.
"I don't see any conflict worshipping God in different ways," he said. "I'm comfortable in a church or a temple or a mosque."
Dr. Judie Arkow, executive director of the Interfaith Center of DFW and a frequent guest on the show, said, "Mike believes as I do, that it's entirely possible to bring peace to the world, by chunking away at it one piece at a time
."
A series of childhood experiences spurred that conviction. Mr. Ghouse's father was mayor of Yelahanka, near Bangalore, India. He frequently brought his son to gatherings for various faith groups - Muslim, Hindu, Christian and others. Mr. Ghouse also witnessed incidents where his father defused potentially violent conflicts between different religious groups. Mr. Ghouse was raised in a Muslim family, but calls himself a Multifaith person. His wife is a Muslim, his daughter is a Baptist, and his son is wavering between becoming a Bahá'í or a Hindu.
All of which is fine with Mr. Ghouse.
"
I look at it this way," he said. "You like apple pie, I like peach cobbler. You can enjoy your favorite dessert and I can enjoy mine. It's the same thing with how you choose to worship God.
"If I hate Hindus, then I'm the one who is suffering, not them
By appreciating the goodness in all religions, Mr. Ghouse believes, differences lose their power to divide.
A mortgage loan officer by trade, Mr. Ghouse once worked 16-20 hours a day at his job until about eight years ago, when his 8-year-old son asked him, "Why do you work for so many hours? I don't need your money. I want your time
."
Mr. Ghouse cut back on his work schedule. Now, he's still just as busy - he sleeps only five hours a night - but most of his time is devoted to projects he's passionate about, including his interfaith work, his family, and the North Texas Cricket Association, which he spearheaded to promote the sport locally
.
"This is a man with a good brain and a soft heart," Dr. Arkow said. "I think that's what drives him
."
Mary A. Jacobs, a Dallas free-lance writer, can be reached by e-mail at maryjacobs@aol.com .
DETAILS: Mike Ghouse's Multifaith Radio will run a two-hour special at 6 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday featuring representatives from each of the nine major world religions
.
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Mike is an organizer of events, conferences, workshops and lectures to impart the values of pluralism at work, places of worship and the society at large, He is a conflict mitigater and a goodwill nurturer and believes that by learning to respect the otherness of others and accepting the God given uniqueness of each one of the seven billion of us, conflicts fade and solutions emerge.
He has dedicated his time to work with the leadership in offering insights and solutions to effectively managing the multi-religious, multi-ethnic, and multicultural societies.
Mike Presides the Foundation for Pluralism championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other
WISDOM OF RELIGION - RADIO PROGRAM (2004-06)
Learn the wisdom of all the beautiful religions of the World. It is broadcasted on weekdays at 6:00 AM on AM Radio 1150 KBIS in Dallas/Fort Worth and world wide you can log onto http://www.radiosuno.com/.
The Program will celebrate its' first anniversary at the end of July 2004. This program was however commenced in August of 1995 in 15 minutes segments on the Saturdays. Now we will be completing one full year with one hour program each. In this period of time we have done 52 Hours of Each - Christianity, Hinduism and Islam = 156 Hours & 12 Hours each of Baha'i, Buddhist, Jain, Jewish, Sikh, Zoroaster and interfaith = 7 x 12 = 84 Hours + 9 Hours of general conversation. I.e., a total of 259 Hours of wisdom of Religion. I missed 1 hour in the entire year.
Monday/ Christianity
Tuesday /Jainism |Judaism | Baha'i | Buddhism
Wednesday /Sikhism | Zoroastrianism | Interfaith
Thursday /Hinduism
Friday/ Islam
The following schedule gives the specific dates.
http://www.mikeghouse.net/Calendar-WisdomofReligion.htm
Workshops on Religion
We have conducted a workshop on every religion including Atheism under the banner of Pluralism. Hope to update the file with that information.
Mike Ghouse is a speaker, writer, thinker, futurist and an activist of Interfaith Pluralism, Islam, India and Civil Societies passionately offering pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.
He is a frequent guest at Fox News on the Hannity show, nationally syndicated Radio shows along with Dallas TV, Print and Radio networks and occasional interviews on NPR. He has spoken at international forums including the Parliament of Worlds Religions in Melbourne, Middle East Peace initiative in Jerusalem, International Leadership conference in Hawaii, Washington and elsewhere.
Concerned by the divisiveness, he saw the need to bring Americans together and founded America Together Foundation committed to building a cohesive America, indeed it is in response to ACT America which is bent on pitching one American against the other. We will be holding series of educational programs, conferences and workshops to address the issues that divide us such as Civil Right, GLBT, Quraan, Abortion, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Racial Profiling and Stereotyping.
The Annual Unity Day USA is in its 7th year now, it is a purposeful event to bring Americans together, on this Unity Day, we the people of the United States of America of every faith, race, ethnicity, culture and background will gather to express our commitment to co-existence, unity, prosperity and wellbeing of our nation.
Thanksgiving Celebration is in its 15th year showcasing cultural diversity.
The 5th Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides is to learn and to acknowledge and reflect upon the terrible things we have inflicted upon each other and commit to avert such tragedies. Through this event non-Jewish people have consciously learned about Holocaust for the first time, it was also for the first time that people of 14 faiths came together to join in to commemorate the Holocaust that commemorated within the Jewish Community for years. They are not alone anymore in their anguish, we are all in it together with them, and it is a Muslim initiative to effect a positive change.
The programs, seminars and workshops conducted by the Foundation for Pluralism have become a part of the America Together Foundation. While the Foundation for Pluralism continues championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other, the commitment to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam through the World Muslim Congress continues.
Two books will be released this year; The American Muslim Agenda and My Journey to Pluralism.
Mike has written over 1000 Articles on Pluralism, Islam, India, Peace & Justice and civil societies published in a wide spectrum of Newspapers and Magazines around the world.
Locally, he is a panelist at Dallas Morning News's and writes weekly on a range of issues facing the nation. Washington Post, Huffington Post and other news papers and sites regularly publish his work.
Mike is available to speak on Pluralism, Islam, Civil Societies, and Peace & Justice at your place of worship, school, work place, seminars, workshops or conferences. His work is reflected at three websites & twenty two Blogs listed at http://www.MikeGhouse.net/
In defense of Islam, pursuing a civil dialogue
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/columnists/steve-blow/20100919-In-defense-of-Islam-pursuing-9397.ece
By Steve Blow sblow@dallasnews.com
Published 19 September 2010 02:28 AM
Over and over you hear it said: If Muslims oppose terrorism, why don't they stand up and say it?
If that has been you, Mike Ghouse ought to be your hero.
It is hard to imagine that anyone has worked harder than the Carrollton resident to demonstrate the peaceful and moderate side of Islam.
And that effort includes personally visiting Dallas' First Baptist Church last Sunday just to put a friendly face on the "evil, evil religion" that the Rev.
Robert Jeffress denounced a few weeks before.
"It was wonderful," Ghouse said of the visit. "We were so warmly received."
He hopes a quick chat with Jeffress will be the start of deeper discussion about Islam and the importance of respect between religions.
"I want to have a dialogue with him, not to say he is wrong but to share another point of view," Ghouse said.
The 57-year-old Muslim was born in India and has lived in the United States for 30 years. He owns a small property management firm. But most of his day is devoted to building bridges between people of different faiths.
"It is my passion," he said in his distinctive raspy voice.
He has been a guest a dozen times on Sean Hannity's TV and radio talk shows. "I don't like the way Sean cuts me off, but I have to honor him for giving the American public a semblance of another point of view."
Ghouse said he can understand fear and criticism of Islam because he went through a time of similar feelings. As a teen, he was troubled by passages of the Quran. He called himself an atheist for a while.
But he said deeper study led him to realize the Quran had been purposely mistranslated down through history.
In the Middle Ages, European leaders commissioned a hostile Quran translation to foster warfare against Muslim invaders.
Later, Muslim leaders produced another translation to inflame Muslims against Christians and Jews.
"It was all for politics," he said.
Ghouse said he hopes to present Jeffress with a modern, faithful translation and challenge him to find evil verses.
"If he can, I will convert. I will join his church," Ghouse said. "If he can't, I will call on him to retract his statements and become a peacemaker."
Ghouse acknowledges that deep problems persist within Islam. "Three steps forward, two steps back," he said with a sigh.
And he agrees that mainstream Muslims have not done enough to counter violent images of their faith.
"That is very true," he said. "But part of it is that many Muslims have given up hope that we will ever be heard."
He said repeated denunciations of terrorism seem to fall on deaf ears.
And some efforts have backfired - like the proposed Islamic information center in New York. He said it should be hailed for furthering the moderate Muslim cause.
Instead, it has deepened hostility toward Muslims.
I have been astounded by the amount of anti-Islam propaganda that circulates via e-mail. Tons of it has come my way in the last few weeks.
One theme is that people like Mike Ghouse can't be trusted, that Islam encourages deception.
But Ghouse says actions speak louder than words. And he points to elections in Muslim nations.
More than half of Muslims live in countries with some degree of democracy. And time and time again, Islamist parties are overwhelmingly rejected in favor of secular, mainstream parties.
"The religious parties don't get more than 3 percent of the vote," Ghouse said.
Polls show deep mistrust of Muslims. "But the most important question in those surveys is: 'Do you know anything about Islam?' " Ghouse said.
"Most people say no."
What keeps him going is faith in Americans, he said.
"The majority of Americans, if they know the truth, they will change their minds."
INSPIRATION
The lives of Prophet Mohammad, Mahatma Gandhi, Jesus Christ, Mother Theresa, Gautama Buddha, Krishna, Guru Nanak, Martin Luther King Jr., father Abdul Rahman, mother Khairun Nisa and maternal grand father Shaikh Hussain have profoundly inspired Mike.
"My kids Jeff and Jazzie have excited me with their fresh perspectives on life and God. All my inspirers have frequently helped me see the world from another point of view, i.e., respecting all creation and "live and let live" point of view. My intuitive pluralism and ZERO prejudice has it's origins in Islam, Hinduism, Jainism and Christianity, many consider me to be a Baha'i. I was pleased to hear some one called me a Jew as well and I have been said by people of different faiths that I belong to them. Thanks to my father for unlocking me from a singular cell and opening multiple windows of knowledge for me."
Mike has always cherished Abe Lincoln's statement "with malice towards none", "practicing this gives me peace." "A good Muslim is a good Hindu, is a good Christian, is a good Jew and is a good human being, the truth of goodness is the same. Reading Lincoln is my next project, as Obama is a follower of him."
"The people who continue to impart wisdom to me are; Dale Carnegie, Mahatma Gandhi, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Karen Armstrong, Jiddu Krishnamurthy, H.H. Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King Jr., H.H. Aga Khan, Reverend Moon, Allama Iqbal, Guru Nanak, Rabbi Gordis and a few others. Let me clarify this, the simple reason for these particular names is my exposure to their work. I am open to learning from every possible source."
Personally I have learned profound things from my bosses and friends over the last forty years and I would always acknowledge them. Ed Nesbit, Kathy Joplin, Mike Davis and my teacher Abdul Hakim.
The ultimate in learning is when you become Brahma, to borrow from the Hindu philosophy, whence you do not have a barrier between you and what surrounds you. That is precisely what Qur'aan means when it asks you to submit to the will of God, Krishna means, surrender to him or Jesus, when he says follow me, you cannot go wrong with their advice and the wisdom of all other beautiful religions.
"Each one of the holy books nourish me in my quest for the truth. It is quite inspiring to open each book and draw an enormous amount of wisdom from it."
Discussions with his teachers during college days has formed the foundation for his outlook; the calm Shia-Sunni discussions between his father and Hussain Ali, or his grand father; and the passionate Hindu faith of A. Ramachandra, his English teacher; the irresistible logic of Mohamed Fakhru, his weaver friend. And interacting with wise people in Dallas has enriched him tremendously. The open mindedness of Swami Nityananda Prabhu of Hare Krishna Temple; the comprehensiveness of Imam Yusuf Zia Kavacki of Dallas Central Mosque reinforces his belief in how God is assessed and in the last few years, his friendship with Imam Zia Shaikh is nothing but a joy. Each one of them is all about affection for life, Non-discriminatory caring, non-favoring one over the other for the heck of it other than good deeds, which Prophet Muhammad [pbuh] described as the good you can do to other beings, the goodness you bring to God's creation. # # #
DETAILS
Mike is an organizer of events, conferences, workshops and lectures to impart the values of pluralism at work, places of worship and the society at large, He is a conflict mitigater and a goodwill nurturer and believes that by learning to respect the otherness of others and accepting the God given uniqueness of each one of the seven billion of us, conflicts fade and solutions emerge.
He has dedicated his time to work with the leadership in offering insights and solutions to effectively managing the multi-religious, multi-ethnic, and multicultural societies.
Pluralistic solutions have the power to sustain and take us into the next century with relative security, peace and prosperity. We cannot have peace and security when we do injustice to others.
ORGANIZER
Mike Presides the Foundation for Pluralism championing the idea of co-existence through respecting and accepting the otherness of other; he is committed to nurturing the pluralistic ideals embedded in Islam through the World Muslim Congress; a board member of the Dallas Peace Center and an Ambassador for peace with the Universal Peace Federation. Mike was also one of the founding board members of the Memnosyne Foundation, as well as former commissioner at the City of Carrollton.
INITIATOR The following events were initiated, organized and established with the theme of bringing diverse people together to learn and to know about each other.
Annual reflections on Holocaust and Genocides since 2007;
The mission is to create awareness of the inhumanity in us and find solutions for peaceful co-existence. Mike believes that, "we cannot be safe, unless others around us are not" ( ADD LINKS - TJP - DMN 2009 - DMN 2006 - Survivors-Jewish Post - Fox TV )
The annual Unity Day USA took root in 2005, on this Unity Day USA, 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, safety, prosperity and well being of our nation with liberty and justice for all.
The Annual Thanksgiving Celebrations began in 1993 to bring immigrant, indigenous and born Americans together. The purpose of celebrating this event is to give thanks to the creator for the blessings of precious life while enjoying the cultural heritage of each ethnic group.
EDUCATOR
"Wisdom of Religion" - all the beautiful religions of the world was an hourly Radio talk show broadcasted daily. Over 700 hours of educational programming was relayed learning about religious, humanistic and the pluralistic traditions.
"Festivals of the World" was a weekly Radio program on Saturdays, where the essence of every festival was shared, so we all can have an idea of how other people celebrate or commemorate their holidays. (more on right panel)
Workshops titled “Understanding Religion – every beautiful religion” were conducted for two years.
Mike's purposeful presence in the media is to foster critical thinking. He is blessed to have been given the time on national and local TV, Radio and Print medium to share pluralistic solutions on the issues of the day.
MEDIA RELATIONS
Mike has appeared on Public Television, Fox News, CNN, ABC, NBC and other channels and has been on NPR, KERA, KRLD, WBAP, Progressive Radio and several other Radio talk shows. The theme is for people to see and value a moderate point of view.
Serving blindly was a clarion call by his Grand father and regularly reinforced by spiritual leaders from across the spectrum of religions and traditions. Mike feels blessed that God has created a speck of a space for him to fulfill that mission.
Mike has stood up and spoke for Immigration reforms at Farmers Branch and Downtown Dallas. He has participated in the Gaza Rally and moderated the Interfaith Prayers for Goodwill in Gaza and has deplored the rockets into Israel. Joined in the organizations for Darfur and speaks up against the and persecution of minorities, He will stand up with Jews, Gays & Lesbian and the Mexican immigrants in a rally against them in Dallas.
He was involved in the cause of persecuted in Japan, spoke out against the destruction of a Church in Jakarta; a ban on Hindu festival in Italy; desecration of a Hindu temple in Malaysia, Moscow, Trinidad, Lahore and other places. Spoke out against the suffrage of the Kashmiri Pundits, the massacre of Muslims in Gujarat, the burning of Hindus in Godhra, burning of Godhra and rape of Nuns in India. The forced conversions of Hindu in Pakistan and the harassment of Dalits and Christians in India. Please note these are the representative items and by all means not all. Mike also joins with Native Americans in their quest for a Heritage day to celebrate their contribution to America.
Mike has condemned the vandalism at Holocaust Museum, spoke out against anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and consistently fights the anti-Ahmadiyya prejudices, He made a painful acknowledgement of the atrocities we commit in different names.
He feels blessed to have the ability to touch every one of the human beings and partnering with each of the religious traditions, He has done a Radio Program on each on every one, each one at least 25 times and few over 100 times and has presented workshops on each one of them. In six Unity day events, three Holocaust and Genocide event and over ten thanksgiving celebrations and host of other events, he has painstakingly brought every one together.
Links will be added - Atheists - Inclusive
- Bahais - Iran,
- Buddhist - Burma,
- Christians - Indonesia, India,
- Hindu - Moscow, Trinidad, Kuala Lumpur,
- Jain - Dept,
- Jew - Iran, Dallas, DC, Texas
- Muslim - France, England, India, America
- Pagans - Saudi Arabia
- Sikhs - Afghanistan, Pakistan, France,
- Wicca - Arlington, Unity Day
- Zoroastrian - Farvahar, Iran,
FESTIVALS OF THE WORLD
As a part of education Mike continues to write about the essence of festivals from several religions and traditions, so we can connect with the other people.
ON CREATION AND RELIGION
1. that something caused our existence; those who are religiously oriented, generally call that causer the God, and others simply call it the logic of creation.
2. that regardless of evolution, creation or the big bang theory, we exist and that is a fact;
3. that universe is broadly composed of life and matter;
4. that matter was created with a built-in balance-seeking mechanism, while humans (life) were created (caused) with the capacity to think and bestowed with a free will to find their own balance and harmony;
5. that there is accountability for everything we do, every transaction of life has a giver and a receiver ultimately ending in a balance. If the balance is not witnessed in one's life time, religiously oriented people believe the creator God will make it happen in the imaginary here after or will happen with the idea of reincarnation. Remember humans seek balance.
6. that the creator loves his (her or its) creation just like the mother loves her children and has guided the creation through peace makers, prophets and the messengers to guide tem to co-exist in harmony.
7. that the causer, creator, sustainer is not definable, not imaginable and not reducible to definitive entity as it is different for each one of us. Diversity in nature and human life was intentional, among humanoids we have accepted 7 billion unique thumb prints, unique DNA and it is time we honor the uniqueness of beliefs as well.
Mike states that the purpose of religion is to bring spiritual balance to one and balance with what surrounds him or her. A good Hindu is a good Muslim and a good Muslim is a good Jew, a good Atheist is a good Christian... the bottom line of religion is to facilitate co-existence and harmony.
That the purpose of all faiths is to spiritually connect the humans with the divine, simply meaning understanding existence, the beginning and the end and be in tune with the universal energy. This brings peace of mind [release from misery] to the individuals and order in the society.
He strongly support the goodness of each Religion. The political motivations have deliberately ascribed the wrongs of the world to religions, it is his commitment to identify the individuals responsible for it and uphold honor of each faith.
"To be religious is to be a peace maker, one who mitigates conflicts and nurtures goodwill."
HIS FAITH
"I believe, each one of us is created by the same creative process, with a singular source [GOD] for such creation. I believe that respecting each one of its creations is the best form of praising, worshipping and honoring that creator. I believe knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance and appreciation of people with a different point of view. If we can learn to accept and respect the God given uniqueness to each one of the 6 billion of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge."
"I have freed my God from religious confinement and believe that the divine's presence belongs to every one, and he/she/it is everywhere. I see God's greatness in every which way and in every place of worship. I don't like to lock up God in any singular spot or limit him into a form. No one owns Jesus, Krishna or Mohamed: "Ram is not the property of Hindu's, he belongs to all, Christians don't own Jesus, and Mohammed and his message belongs to all". I feel that none of us should bottle up the great teachers into small cells, their teachings are universal and they belong to all. "Don't let prejudice stop you from learning all the good you can learn from all religious teachers”. I believe Learning about other faiths simply enhances one’s search for the truth."
"I am a Muslim and blessed to be one and I pray every one feels the same about his or her individual faith. My faith connects me with my Creator and answers the purpose of life, death, accountability and results. The Islam I know is what the majority of Muslims practice around the world, it is universal, all embracing and pluralistic. I relate with every faith and see the same essence and beauty in them as I see in Islam. I am comfortable with every beautiful way people have come to worship the divine. We do not have to undermine other faiths to make our faith better, faith is beyond comparisons. Faith brings humility to oneself and not arrogance."
"I believe that the connection with the Creator is inversely proportional to the ego. Greater the ego, (arrogance); lesser the connection. On the other hand, greater the humility, greater the spirituality. I am grateful to that the creator has helped me learn to respect and honor all faiths, and my faith teaches me never to denigrate other beliefs. Islam is my path and am honored to travel on it."
As beauty is in they eyes of the beholder, Mike says "religion is in the heart of the believer." Each faith is beautiful to the believer and we should honor that.
To be a Muslim is to be a peacemaker, one who seeks to mitigate conflicts and nurtures goodwill for peaceful co-existence. God wants us to live in peace and harmony with his creation; that is indeed the purpose of religion, any religion.
"I honor cherish and respect every which way people have come to praise and worship the almighty, including but not limited to the Baha'i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islamic, Jain, Judaism, Sikh, Wicca, Zoroastrian and several indigenous systems of belief. I am committed to defend the divinity of every faith with no exception and it is in no conflict with my faith, which is Islam."
Mike's chosen path is Islam and here he summarizes about Islam in a few pages:
OFFICE ADDRESS
2665 Villa Creek Dr, Suite 206
Dallas, TX 75234-
USA
(214) 325-1916
