Interfaith Speaker Mike Ghouse: Can Muslims and Christians co-exist

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Can Muslims and Christians co-exist – Symposium report 1 of 2

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

On the other hand, we (Muslims) have failed to question the authenticity of the Hadiths, Ibn Hisham's Seerah, the Sharia and the exegesis 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.

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 believing 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. (Two Islams)

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.

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 responsibility to create a better world for all humanity.

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.

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.

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 Alfred Wright was dragged to death in Jasper, Texas in 2013.

Dr. Fernando Cabrera’s talk on education resonated with me, indeed, his parents told him exactly what my parents did – get education!

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.

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.

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 www.TheGhousediary.com

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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,

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.

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.

May God bring humility to us.

Thank you,

Mike Ghouse,

(214) 325-1916

Washington, DC

Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, newsmaker and a professional speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, politics, human rights, and foreign policy. Mike is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. More about him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at TheGhousediary.com

No comments:

Interfaith Radio, wisdom of religion, all the beautiful religions

Pastor Robert Jeffress was challenged to find the truth

Pastor Robert Jeffress of Dallas (unfortunately representing the First Baptist Church of Dallas) called Quraan an evil book written by a false prophet, his congregants rewarded him with a standing ovation. However it cannot be the church doctrine, it was his individual take. Mike visited the pastor to offer the right translation of the Quraan so he can find the truth and share with his congregation. It was followed by interviews on Local Fox News and NBC channels, followed by Dallas Morning News exchanges leading to Quraan Conference to demystify the myths. Mike’s challenge to the Pastor was to “find me three verses in Quraan that are evil, and if you do, I will join your ministry.” The pastor has blown the opportunity to harvest the poor souls; he chickened out from holding the conversation on his turf in his church. Details, videos and write up at www.QuraanConference.com

Interfaith experiments, public understanding of other religions

Religious leaders representing different religions were asked to share about their religion in three sentences, then towards the end of the program audience was randomly given to read (other than their own religion) a 100 word summary of each one of the religions. It was an eye opener for the people to see the difference in what the media and the politicians say, and the holy books of the respective religions say. You have to read it yourselves the whole paragraph or chapter and not a sentence to get a fuller picture.

Interfaith Solidarity; standing up for the Gazans and the Israelis.

Arab Imams on Interfaith

I thank God for presenting limitless opportunities to talk about the Pluralistic values embedded in Islam and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) being an interfaith dialoguer. I have been a small part of the interfaith dialogue movement in Saudi Arabia, which began in 2003 in Dallas. In 2010 about twelve Arab Imams visited Dallas and I hosted the luncheon to talk about Interfaith in Islam. I can sum this up in one sentence, “those imams were ahead of us in pluralism in Islam, for every sentence I uttered, they produced Prophets Sayings and verses from Quraan.” God willing one major good is going to come out of it; stopping the printing and distribution of mistranslated Quraan by Muslims; Al-Hilali translation.

INDEX BELOW

1. Home

2. Check these facts

3. Mike’s Profiles

4. List of Articles

5. Experiments in Interfaith

Articles on the left Column

Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker, Interfaith Wedding officiant, and a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, politics, terrorism, human rights, India, Israel-Palestine, motivation, and foreign policy. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Visit him (63 links) at www.MikeGhouse.net and www.TheGhousediary.com for his exclusive writings.

Articles on the left side

CHECK THESE FACTS

Over 3000 articles have been published; of which nearly a 1000 are on interfaith and pluralism matters, 250 alone at Dallas Morning news and about 150 at Huffington post and the rest at several Newspapers and magazines. Another 1000 on many aspects of Islam, and the rest of the 1000+ on foreign policy, politics, tributes, sports, movies and cultural items.

700 Hours of Radio Show on “Wisdom of religion, all the beautiful religions” was aired in 2003-2004-2005.

26 Workshops, wisdom of Religions from Atheist to Zoroastrian and every one in between 2 sets of 13 workshops was organized in Dallas in 2004-2005.

I am blessed to be a part of every faith tradition; you can Google search the following phrases for amazing results.

1. Atheist Mike Ghouse

2. Baha’i Mike Ghouse

3. Buddhist Mike Ghouse

4. Christian Mike Ghouse

5. Hindu Mike Ghouse

6. Jain Mike Ghouse

7. Jewish Mike Ghouse

8. Native American Mike Ghouse

9. Pagan Mike Ghouse

10. Sikh Mike Ghouse

11. Wicca Mike Ghouse

12. Zoroastrian Mike Ghouse

You can also Google Search

1. Name of Festival (Most Festivals) Mike Ghouse

God has blessed me with the ability to stand up for every one, and I have to complete compiling the list, meanwhile, you can check these out.

1. Standing up for Atheists -http://standingupforothers.blogspot.com/2012/04/speaking-up-for-atheists.html

2. Standing up for Christians -http://standingupforothers.blogspot.com/2012/01/standing-with-christians.html

3. Standing up for Hindus -http://standingupforothers.blogspot.com/2012/04/standing-with-hindus.html

4. Standing up for Jews -http://standingupforothers.blogspot.com/2012/02/standing-up-with-jews.html

5. Standing up for Sikhs -http://standingupforothers.blogspot.com/2012/08/standing-up-for-sikhs.html

6. Standing up GLBT -http://standingupforothers.blogspot.com/2012/05/standing-up-for-gays-and-lesbians.html

7. Standing up for Immigrants -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrjU0KULv-Y

8. Standing up for others - to be completed.

In Genuine interfaith dialogue, we respect the otherness of others and never claim our faith to be superior to the other, as that amounts to arrogance, and religion is about humility that builds bridges and communities and not arrogance which kills relationships and breeds conflicts.

All religions are about peace.

I am blessed to be open with all faith traditions, and I treat them as systems that are meant to help an individual achieve his or her own peace.

Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker, and a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith,Islam,politics, terrorism,human rights, India, Israel-Palestine and foreign policy. He is committed to building cohesive societiesand 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.

Interfaith Speaker Mike Ghouse

FAITH IS IN THE HEART OF THE BELIEVER AS BEAUTY IS IN THE EYES OF THE BEHOLDER
http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/

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.

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

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.

Religion is about humility and not arrogance; some day, I would like to see the interfaith dialogue reach its peak when every one of can declare that my religion is beautiful to me as yours is to you; my religion brings solace to me as yours to you and now I hereby proclaim that my religion is not superior or inferior to any, it is another pathway to find peace and I thank God for giving me the Guidance to proclaim that as far back as 2001. To claim mine is superior is arrogance, and spirituality and arrogance are inversely proportional to each other. Greater the arrogance lower the religiosity and vice-versa.

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. Over 1000 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

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

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

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

Mike Ghouse

(214) 325-1916
Ghousespeaks@gmail.com

Experiments in Religion, Standing in others shoes

39 Individuals were called in from audience to form 13 groups of 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 drawing. Every group was 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 fades the conflicts fade and paves the way for solution. (Speech)

Interfaith historic experiment; the Quraan Conference

This was a historic conference; it has never been done in the history of the world, where “troublesome” verses from Quraan were explained by non-Muslim clergy. Myths are manufactured about Quraan without any substantiation; it is an old business of maligning others to have a gain. The purpose of this conference was to remove such myths in an open public forum and restore the cohesiveness of our society to build a safe and secure America. With the audience participation, we narrowed down “60 troublesome verses” down to “10”. Ten clergy from faiths other than Islam read, and explained the verses while the Imams were there as observer, this has Details are in the link Qur’aan Conference

Interfaith initiative - Pluralism Prayers at Carrollton City Hall

Carrollton is one city where the tradition of Pluralism has gained roots, Mike Ghouse opens the council meeting with a wish/ prayers, it is an all inclusive prayer where no citizen of Carrollton feels left out including those who do not subscribe to the idea of God that most of us do. The Mayors Becky Miller and Ron Branson and the Council members have been graceful hosts to the prayers. If we want every one of the residents to live without apprehension of the other, we have to build cohesive societies.

Interfaith Solidarity; standing up with Jews, GLBT and Immigrants

When Pastor Fred Phelps demonstrated his hate messages against Jews, Catholics (Mexicans) and GLBT in Dallas. Mike stood up with the Jews, Immigrants and the GLBT groups and joined them in most places of demonstrations; Holocaust Museum, Synagogues, Texas Jewish Post and Akiba Academy. Mike led the pluralism prayers every place and at the Museum he gathered the Holocaust survivors together and prayed for the safety and well being of everyone, the haters and the hated. Why should we stand up for others? Check out http://www.mikeghouse.net/Standing.up.for.others.asp.

Interfaith shows, a skit about Stereotyping

The GLBT Coalition of Dallas led by Turtle Creek Chorale put together a program at Myerson Symphony Hall to share the effects of stereotyping on societies. A skit on stereotyping it was played out for two nights. In the pic are Reem and I representing Muslims, Ms. Madono Dallas City Council woman representing Hispanics and a gentleman representing the African American experience. I am blessed to participate and appreciate the embrace from every community of Dallas. We have to create a society where we learn to know about each other, with that conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

Interfaith Experience with the Maya Tradition

It was an incredible experience being with the Maya people and praying with them on top of the world, I believe the Maya people were not allowed to pray in their own temples and the Priest told us that it was the first time we were able to get there and pray. Each one of us shared our own blessings and I shared the Muslim blessings in Arabic and could not resist chanting Hindu Prayers in Sanskrit as I felt the spirit of it in the snooty (Underground well) where there was a sanctuary in a dug out wall, almost like a Hindu Temple without a deity. It was a trip arranged by Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk. Link to pictures and articles will be added.

Interfaith prayers with the Hopi, Toltec and Shinto Traditions

It is the devotion that really matters, each one of the priests form Shinto, Hopi and Toltec prayed at the ground breaking ceremony of the Maya Center in Mexico. They were connecting with the universal energy in their own ways and it was such a beautiful experience to witness how we seek to be in tune with the nature and its creator. I was moved to say the Jain prayers where every teacher and element of nature is honored and of course I share the Islamic prayers for the well being of the humanity. A majority of humanity connects with the essence of every tradition that goes beyond rituals and I hope all humanity see that one day and it is my commitment to communicate that message of goodwill to every one I know through my speeches and writings.