A note to Indian Muslims

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A note to Indian Muslims

My lifetime commitment is to open people’s hearts and minds towards each other. In the process, I have taken up the position of seeing things from bird’s eye view.  Once, I opened the Carrollton City Council meeting with pluralism prayers (10 times in all) where I made a statement, that we are here together as Americans, collectively we believe in one God, no God, and many Gods.  Instead of understanding it, a few Muslims chose to do the gheebat (back biting),  particularly the Guardians of Mosques.

My argument was simple – we were crying out loud when the presidents addressed Jews and Christians only and excluded Muslims.  But when they added Muslims we were gloating! The Hindus were gloating when they were included…. Inclusion is powerful and builds bridges.  If I were to run for the Mayor, Governor or President – shouldn’t I be inclusive? 

My faith Islam is dear to me, and it does not teach me to exclude others from the orbit of Rab’s Aalameen.  If you want to Keep Allah and Muhammad to yourselves, be my guest, on my part, I don’t own them nor do I control them, they are free to be had by anyone who believes in their Universality of the message.  Ownership of Allah and the Prophet is a problem with Muslims, please reflect on it.  I don’t want a reaction; I want a thoughtful response so we can learn more. We are who we are because of the freedom this great nation facilitates.

Thanks

Mike Ghouse

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Asaduddin Owaisi – The villain of Indian Democracy and Indian Muslims

Tipu Sultan could have chased the British out of India but for Purnaiah, who compromised Tipu’s position. Now,  Asaduddin Owaisi of AIMM is doing precisely that; weakening the rightful Muslim representation in governance.  Of the 29 Muslim contestants in Uttar Pradesh, 19 could have easily won had Owasi not poked the elections with his divisive candidates. Look at the chart how thin the losses are. He is pure rhetoric and that will not change the lives of Indian Muslims but generate ill-will  http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2018/03/owaisi-villain-of-indian-democracy-and.html

Ambassador Brownback for Religious Freedom

The Ambassador has a clear mission – Religious freedom!  Today he mentioned about tying religious freedom with economic prosperity.  I have written a piece about it and he wants me to discuss at the next meeting.

http://centerforpluralism.com/international-religious-freedom-with-ambassador-brownback-march-8-2018/

God is not necessary in our daily lives

One of the students did not believe in the existence of a God and the other did not know what God was and wanted to know if religion was a necessity to live a life. My response is hereunder in the 90 minutes workshop on Pluralism. http://centerforpluralism.com/god-is-not-necessary-to-live-your-life/

Religious Liberty Committee at Newseum

The more you hear the problems be it in Russia, Venezuela, Iran or India – they are the same in a different guise – the dominant group wants subjugation of the smaller groups. Most countries fall into this category and all religious leaders do the same, although their religion does not teach them to be, they live with a false sense of security of making other’s lives insecure. http://centerforpluralism.com/religious-liberty-committee-at-newseum-march-5-2018/

Understanding India’s Caste System

Caste System in India may have originated with the idea of division of labor, that each person will do what he is capable of. However, it was really a piss poor attitude of men in power to keep the others oppressed to serve them in a variety of ways. The Caste system is also known as an instrument of oppression. Eleven books are recommended to understand it. 

http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2018/03/owaisi-villain-of-indian-democracy-and.html

Please visit http://www.PluralismNews.com for the latest articles on Pluralism in religion, politics, society, and culture – this is going to grow to be a viable newspaper.  You are who you are, and I am who I am, there is no need to give up who you are, but there is a need to accept the differences and cherish the commonalities to live in harmony.  If you have the interest to develop Pluralism news to be like Huffington Post, let me know if you can invest in it, there is a big market for it.  Pluralism in politics, religion, society, and culture is our future.

What do we do at the Center for Pluralism?
http://centerforpluralism.com/what-do-we-do-at-center-for-pluralism/ ;

If you want America to function cohesively, where you feel secure about yourselves, your faith, your face, race, ethnicity, culture and even your politics, we have a space for you.  If you wish to be part of the Center for Pluralism as a volunteer, donor, scholar, or a writer, please write to Mike@Centerforpluralism.com –

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Interfaith Marriages

Marriage is indeed an expression of a commitment to s relationship between two individuals.  The men and women who take the bold step to become one regardless of their origins, faiths, races, and ethnicities must be applauded. They are setting an example of how to live in harmony despite their differences.  Interfaith marriages are becoming the new norm of the society. In a few years, one out of two marriages would be of interfaith. Yes, this is across the board, whether you are a Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Baha’i, Atheist or the other. According to the Pew survey, 40% of people of faiths will be marrying a person of another faith, it is higher among Jews, it is 50%. Details at – www.InterfaithMarriages.org

Mike Ghouse
Center for Pluralism