Texas Faith: Are there cracks in America’s Christian foundation?

RACKS IN CHRISTIAN FOUNDATION | THE GHOUSE DIARY

http://foundationforpluralism.blogspot.com/2015/05/texas-faith-are-there-cracks-in.html 

If those (few) church leaders quit bashing other religions, they will not lose their membership to Islam, Hinduism, Judaism or the “Nones.” The story is same from the other pulpits, if they stop claiming superiority of their religion, they will not lose their membership either. Let there be no prejudice and hate coming out of church pulpits, then things will turn around and we may see people flocking to the places of worship back again.

Mike Ghouse 
The GhouseDiary.com
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Published - Dallas Morning News: May 26, 2015 3:06 pm
Joel Thornton

The latest Pew study on religion wasn’t great news for America’s Christian churches. In the last seven years, the percentage of adults identifying themselves as Christians has dropped from 78.4 percent to 70.6 percent. That might not sound huge, but if it continues falling at that pace, Christians will make up a minority of Americans in a few decades.

On the other hand, faiths such as Judaism, Islam and Hinduism are showing solid growth in our country. But the group making the biggest splash is “Nones” – atheists, agnostics and others who profess no religious affiliation. Many of them are millennials, and their numbers are growing.

Is Christianity becoming less important to Americans?

Are churches not meeting people’s needs? Do people think faith in a higher being is irrelevant in today’s wired society? Is there a feeling that you have to check your brain at the door when you listen to a sermon at church or go to a Bible study?
What do Christian churches have to do lure people back into the pews? And what are Islam, Judaism and Hinduism doing to raise their numbers?

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism and speaker on interfaith matters, Dallas
Fear motivates action, and the majority in every nation, whether it is religious, political, racial or ethnic is constantly worried about their future. The question that haunts them is what will happen to them if minorities will become the majority. Will their lifestyle change, would they be forced to do things against their will?

The answer can be “nothing will go wrong” to “everything can go wrong” and a whole lot of different answers, depending on how we set up the systems.

A good example of assuring ourselves a guaranteed continuation of our values is sticking to our constitution, let our immortal declaration be our guide, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

We cannot go wrong if this is what we inculcate in every one that goes to our schools, we will have safe and sound future knowing, no matter who it is – Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Gays and Lesbians, Pagans or African-Americans, they will stick to the values we all adhere to. South Africa is a shining example of such a change, when the white minority turned over the governance to black majority, nothing went wrong. Thanks to the leadership of Nelson Mandela.

What binds us is our understanding of the freedom of speech; the recent controversies brought out many interviews from the street – almost all Americans stood up for freedom of speech. Likewise, if we can continue to inculcate the values of freedom, we can be rest assured that no matter who becomes the majority, our values, shared values, emanating from the wisdom of our founding fathers will endure.

In behalf of Muslims, I want to assure you this. Let there be no doubt about it, Muslims are for free speech. When we stand up for free speech, we align with most Americans; this is one thread that binds us with fellow Americans more than any other thread.

I urge fellow Muslims to be open to all the criticism with confidence, don’t shut it, and let freedom of speech remain the corner stone of Islam. Islam stands on its own; it does not need our defense, and it is silly to protect God or the Prophet, they are not weaklings or our property to protect, they belong to the whole universe, don’t they?

Christianity remains an important value associated with American values; however, the nonbiblical hate sermons in a few churches, particularly the evangelical ones will drive people away. If you recall the controversy unleashed by Pastor Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, when he called the Quran an evil book, a whole lot of the members clapped and rejoiced. That kind of hate will drive many sensitive men and women out of that church. You will find many who have walked away from Hagee’s church, while Joel Osteen gains new members for his inclusive and sensitive biblical sermons.

Not all churches are losing the membership, but those who are, they can go back to the basics and embrace true teachings of Jesus; of love and embracing the whole humanity. Their hate for gays and lesbians, Muslims, African-Americans and subtle hate for Jews and Hindus need to go. Let Jesus be the example, and they cannot lose but gain a whole of membership.

If those few church leaders quit bashing Islam, they will not lose their membership to Islam, Hinduism or Judaism or the “Nones.” The story is same from the other pulpits, if they stop claiming superiority of their religion, they will not lose their membership either. Let there be no prejudice and hate coming out of church pulpits, then things will turn around and we may see people flocking to the places of worship again.

To read the opinion of other ten panelists, please visit Dallas Morning News at  http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2015/05/texas-faith-are-there-cracks-in-americas-christian-foundation.html/#more-55642

Thank you

mike
Mike Ghouse, Speaker
Motivational | Pluralism | Human Rights | Religion.
(214) 325-1916 text/talk
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Mike Ghouse is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator on Pluralism, Islam, India, Israel-Palestine, Politics and other issues of the day. He is a human rights activist, and his book standing up for others will be out soon | He is producing a full feature film " Sacred" to be released on 9/11 and a documentary "Americans together" for a July 4 release.  He is a frequent guest commentator on Fox News and syndicated Talk Radio shows and a writer at major news papers including Dallas Morning News and Huffington Post. All about him is listed in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at www.TheGhousediary.com - Mike is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.

Texas Faith: Profiting from war

So, we the good people, the people of faith should take the responsibility to speak out against war and seek to resolve the issues through a dialogue. Think about it, when God created animals, he equipped them with horns, fangs and paws to resolve their disputes, where as he did not give any of that to us – but gave us a tongue instead; to dialogue and resolve the disputes. - Mike Ghouse
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Texas Faith: Profiting from warRudolph Bush Follow @dallaspolitics Email rbush@dallasnews.comPublished: May 15, 2015 2:36 pm

In a recent news report Pope Francis was quoted as saying “Many powerful people don’t want peace because they live off war.” “Some powerful people make their living with the production of arms. It’s the industry of death.”

An unexploded bomb, an unused bullet, is an economic dead end to military manufacturers. America has been at war 93% of the time: 222 out of 239 years since 1776. Military cast-offs has led to the the hyper-arming of municipal police departments. Over half of the national budget goes to the military while our infrastructure crumbles and people suffer.

His comments echo those of former President Dwight Eisnehower, who warned us of the danger of a military industrial complex.

Is Pope Francis right? Is it time to reduce our war habit by reigning in arms merchants? And what role should our faith leaders play in urging leaders of free and unfree nations to resist the urge to war.

(Thanks to contributor Amy Martin for submitting this week’s question.)

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism and speaker on interfaith matters, Dallas

Faith leaders shoulder one of the most important responsibilities to preserve peace and harmony of the world we live in, as they have passionately, voluntarily or professionally chosen to propagate God’s will to sustain peace on earth. This includes among other things, the obligation to urge the political leaders from holding on to the temptations of going to war.

And what is God’s will? In the simplest words, he created a fully integrated, interconnected world wide web in harmony and balance, and wants us humans, who are endowed with the ability to manage our surroundings to preserve and maintain that balance (Quran, 55:1-13) for our own good. It’s a physical world for survival and spiritual world for peace of mind and healthy living.

Whether it is God, evolution or big bang, whatever created the universe we live in, is in perfect balance, if not we would not exist. The planets perform their duty precisely; seasons change on time, life is programmed precisely through a sperm and an egg and everything else runs on schedule with of course built-in anomalies. On a micro level, if our own bodies are not in balance, we lose our health.

The Native American Chief, Seattle had said, “… we are merely a strand in this web, and if we mess with it, we mess the whole system and eventually ourselves in the end.”

We the people of faith are all mini- avatars of Krishna, who had said, whenever the world goes awry, when people don’t trust each other, lie, betray, mess with the families of others, and go off the tract of righteousness (dharma) and cause chaos and insecurity for all, and then the self balancing act automatically goes into gear. Krishna then adds someone or I will emerge from among you to restore the dharma. Wasn’t that precisely what Moses, Jesus, Muhammad (pbuh), Buddha, Rama, Zoroaster, Nanak, Confucius and all the great Shamans in native traditions did?

Every religion is a natural system of the society designed to preserve the creation both physically and spiritually. When the people of faith volunteer to communicate the word of God to sustain that harmony, we have to see that there is an action that goes with it.

Pope Francis is my hero, my mentor and a mercy to the mankind. I am glad he spoke, we have to consistently speak. Edmund Burke’s quote comes to my mind, “evil exists because good people do nothing about it.” Indeed war mongering exists because we have let it happen.

So, we the good people, the people of faith should take the responsibility to speak out against war and seek to resolve the issues through a dialogue. Think about it, when God created animals, he equipped them with horns, fangs and paws to resolve their disputes, where as he did not give any of that to us – but gave us a tongue instead; to dialogue and resolve the disputes.

To stop uncontrollable aggression by the others, war may be needed; otherwise, it shows we have not evolved from an animal to human. Those who seek war are incapable of dialoguing, they cannot think beyond bombing, killing, subduing and pushing others. We the faith leaders need to communicate that and take an assertive stand against wars and war mongers. 

Thanks to Obama, perhaps the first non-war monger president in a 50 year period, who has used intelligence to dialogue and resolve the issues rather than bomb, bomb and mess up others and mess ourselves. On my part, I have decided to camp out in front of the white house should a future president acts like an animal.

To read other Panelist's take, go to Dallas Morning news at - http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2015/05/texas-faith.html/#more-55465

Thank you
mike
Mike Ghouse, President
America Together Foundation
(214) 325-1916 text/talk
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Mike Ghouse is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator on Pluralism,Islam, India, Israel-Palestine, Politics and other issues of the day. He is a human rights activist, and his book standing up for others will be out soon | He is producing a full feature film " Sacred" to be released on 9/11 and a documentary "Americans together" for a July 4 release.  He is a frequent guest commentator on Fox News and syndicated Talk Radio shows and a writer at major news papers including Dallas Morning News and Huffington Post. All about him is listed in 63 links atwww.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at www.TheGhousediary.com - Mike is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. 

Texas Faith: Who inspires you?

Published at Dallas Morning News and Foundation for Pluralism. 

Pope Francis is my inspiration and my religious leader. Even though he is a Christian and I am a Muslim and observe different rituals, the essence of both the religions is same; to help develop an individual’s behavior to attain peace for oneself, and to live cohesively with what surrounds him; life and environment. - Mike Ghouse

Texas Faith column at Dallas Morning News, published by Rudolph Bush on February 10, 2015 6:09 pm

There are none of us who can walk alone very long. We need the hand and help of others to pick us up at times. And we need their thoughts to buttress us or to test our own. We need their company and their companionship to comfort us.

Last week, I had to scratch my head and admit to my friends who contribute to this blog that the well was dry. I had no questions that I thought were worth asking them. So I asked them to submit questions. And good friends that they are on our journey, several quickly chimed in.

I chose the first one over the transom, from Fr Joshua Whitfield at St. Rita Parish. It was an excellent question that I think gets to the heart of what we are trying to do here -to commune with one another over our beliefs and our common humanity.

Thanks Fr. Joshua. Here is your question.

“Who is someone from another faith tradition either another denomination or another faith altogether that has inspired you, shaped you, or formed you in your own faith? And why is it a good thing to read and study others outside your own faith tradition?”

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism and speaker on interfaith matters, Dallas

Pope Francis is my inspiration and my religious leader. Even though he is a Christian and I am a Muslim and observe different rituals, the essence of both the religions is same; to help develop an individual’s behavior to attain peace for oneself, and to live cohesively with what surrounds him; life and environment.

Studying other religions is critical, as it removes the arrogance and claims of superiority of one’s faith over the others. Arrogance is the mother of all conflicts and destroys the relationships between individuals, communities and nations. Humility on the other hand builds bridges and is a core value in every religion. Most people get that right and few don’t.

On March 13, 2013 within minutes of his appointment, I wrote, “I hope he heralds a new beginning for building a better world. In behalf of the people of faith or no faith, and my faith Islam, I welcome the Pope and make myself available to jump at his call for creating peace and harmony in the world, where no human has to live in fear of the others, let the world be the new kingdom of heaven where we all feel safe and secure with each other. Amen”

There are a few deeply rooted conflicts among the Muslim-Christian, and Jewish-Christian communities that are the root cause of much of the conflict in the world, they have been simmering within the hearts and minds of the Christians, Muslims and Jews, and flare up now and then in difficult expressions.

The world needs a powerful personality to urge Muslims, Jews and Christians to learn to respect the otherness of the other without the temptation to correct the other. It needs a strong personality that can absolve Jews from the myths ascribed to them. It needs a pope who is a blessed peacemaker and extends his embrace to the Pagans, Hindus and all others who do not worship or worship God in their own way. He has got to initiate a dialogue on same sex marriage, women priesthood, birth control, intrafaith, and interfaith relations. We are all children of God and honoring each other is honoring the creator.

Indeed Pope Frances is working on all that, and has earned my adoration and admiration. He is an ideal human being that Prophet Muhammad taught one to be. He is my Pope, the ideal Muslim Pope. I have written over 15 articles about him including an interview by a Catholic News Paper. It is all at http://mikeghouse.net/PopeFrancis.asp

Pope Francis is a mercy to mankind, and it simply means his thoughts; talks and acts bring hope, security and relief to women, minorities, children, oppressed, powerless, the poor and the weak.

Pope Francis is my hero and my inspiration. He represents the values of pluralism espoused by Jesus Christ. That is respecting the otherness of others and accepting the God-given uniqueness of each one of his creation. No one falls out of his ambit of love, none at all. It is my dream to go see the Pope and be his ambassador and a blessed peace maker.

We pray that Pope Francis ushers us into a new era of dialogue and respect for each other, Amen.

Studying other religions is critical to world peace and harmony; it removes the baseness in us, and elevates us from animalistic beings (dominance and annihilation of the other) to humanistic beings (dialogue and co-existence).

God in Qur’an says he has intentionally created us into many tribes, communities and nations, and by extrapolation religions, culture, races and languages from a single couple. Had he wanted, he would have created every one of us to be exactly the same, but he chose to give us unique thumb prints, DNA, taste buds and other uniqueness. Then he adds, the best ones among you are those who will take the time to know each other, he knows that knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance and appreciation of different points of view for a well functioning cohesive world.

Nine other Panelists have responded with their own favorites, to read them all please visit Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News - http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2015/02/texas-faith-who-inspires-you.html/#more-51113

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I have been writing for over 5 years now, and have written over 200 pieces. 

Thank you

Mike Ghouse
(214) 325-1916 text/talk
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Mike Ghouse is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator on Pluralism at work place, politics, religion, society, gender, race, culture, ethnicity, food and foreign policy. He is a staunch defender of human rights and his book standing up for others will be out soon, and a movie "Americans together" is in the making.  He is a frequent guest commentator on Fox News and syndicated Talk Radio shows and a writer at major news papers including Dallas Morning News and Huffington Post. All about him is listed in 63 links atwww.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at www.TheGhousediary.com and 10 other blogs. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.  

Texas Faith: A cup of coffee and other holy rituals

A good cup of Coffee or Tea in itself is not divine, but it has the ingredients to offer that blissful moment that connects us with ourselves. There is nothing like it.

Texas Faith: A cup of coffee and other holy rituals

Rudolph Bush Follow @dallaspolitics Email rbush@dallasnews.com

Published: December 4, 2014 12:15 pm

Every faith has its rituals. Hopefully these help put us in the mind of being with God and make us more present in our prayer. Our lives have their little rituals too.

In a recent article,Rabbi Patrick “Aleph” Beaulier wrote about the ritual of a morning cup of coffee.
The coffee is a pleasure certainly, but it is also a moment set aside, at best, for a little peace, perhaps silence and reflection. These moments apart are important to our lives as people of faith, as people who are trying to draw ourselves nearer to God. We have our rituals in our religious ceremonies too, often freighted or filled with symbolism and intended, in their own way, to draw us away from the run of our thoughts and into the peace we hope faith will bring.

How can our little daily rituals bring us closer to God? How can we make sure that, in everyday moments, we are building our path to the divine?

(This question was inspired by panelist Cynthia Rigby.)

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism and speaker on interfaith matters, Dallas

A good cup of Coffee or Tea in itself is not divine, but it has the ingredients to offer that blissful moment that connects us with ourselves. There is nothing like it.

I just finished drinking a cup of tea and what a joy it was! Every now and then I give myself a 100 for making that perfect cup of tea. Tea is about color, taste, looks, texture, cup and the whole shebang! It gives me the same joy that my grandson expresses when he walked a few steps for the first time.

Indeed a good cup of Tea is divine if we make a ritual out of it, and that is how the ritual prayers have evolved; to dedicate the time and bring peace to oneself.

A few minutes of meditation or a prayer unclutters the mind, and a few minutes of silence restores the mind whether on believes in God or not. It frees us from momentary chaos and prepares us to be collected and help us refocus on what is important to us. It is good to be free.

To get the maximum benefit out of Tea on a daily basis, we have to dedicate a few minutes to sipping it instead of rushing it. I have watched a few friends who say, “I have to drink this cup to get my day going” and dash to the car and resort to expletives if someone cuts them off or slams the break ahead of them. Where is the joy in it? How much time does it take to sit down and smell the coffee? It takes no more than 5 minutes but the return on it is immense.

I compare this to rebooting my computer. When everything slows down due to multiple programs running on it, we get frustrated to wait to see the words appear on the screen after typing… even if it were a split second it is not worth the frustration, reboot it, and see how it functions!

Those of us, who can free ourselves from tension, pain, anxiety, apprehension, hostility, malice, pressure, stress, strain and conflicts, are showered with blessings of peace and joy. The Spiritual freedom is indeed the greatest achievement in one’s life and it sticks to you if you practice dedicating time to everything you do including drinking a cup of Coffee or Tea, it is worth it and you deserve it, just do it!

To read the other Panelist's take, go to Dallas Morning News at http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/12/texas-faith-a-cup-of-coffee-and-other-holy-rituals.html/

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Mike Ghouse is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator on Pluralism at work place, politics, religion, society, gender, race, culture, ethnicity, food and foreign policy. He is commentator on Fox News and syndicated Talk Radio shows and a writer at major news papers including Dallas Morning News and Huffington Post.  All about him is listed in several links at www.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are atwww.TheGhousediary.com and 10 other blogs. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. 

Texas Faith : : City ban on feeding the poor is an infringement on religious liberty

Dallas Morning News, Interfaith Speaker, Muslim Speaker Mike Ghouse, Pluralism Speaker, religious violence, Rudy Bush, Wayne Slater,  Homeless ban, Feeding the homeless, TEXAS FAITH

The mayor of Fort Lauderdale is assuming that the homeless are not a part of the community, and have no say in the community affairs as they do not contribute towards the revenue of the city. He is also influenced by a few uncompassionate members of the business community as the presence of homeless people around their shops is ‘apparently’ hurting their business.

Texas Faith : : When is a city ban on feeding the poor an infringement on religious liberty?
By Wayne Slater published by Dallas Morning News at 1:57 pm on November 18, 2014  

When is a city ban on feeding the homeless in a public place an infringement on religious freedom?

In Florida, a 90-year-old WWII veteran was arrested for feeding the homeless at a public park. He’s been doing it for over 20 years through a program called Love Thy Neighbor. But a new ordinance in Fort Lauderdale has put a mountain of obstacles in the way, making it virtually impossible for the group to operate as it has.

Feeding the homeless in Fort Lauderdale(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

On one side are local businesses that fear feeding the homeless in a conspicuous place was bad for business and tourism. On the other side are advocates of Love Thy Neighbor who say the group is within its constitutional rights. The city tried to balance the interests of both sides with rules aimed at moving such homeless programs into houses of worship or private property. But the organization wants to continue feeding the homeless as it has, in a seaside public park.

The clash between religious rights and the public interest is a common story line. We’ve weighed in on the dustup in Houston in which the city tried to subpoena the sermons of evangelical ministers opposed to a gay-rights ordinance. And every week, it seems, there’s a new report in which the advocates of religious liberty decry a rule or action at a public school.

Religious liberty isn’t absolute. There’s no right to hold a serpent-handling service at Disneyland. Or to shout “fire” in a crowded church because your religion told you to. Or to build a megachurch in a city neighborhood with a parking lot for only 10 cars.

In the case of feeding the homeless in Fort Lauderdale, the name of the organization is from a biblical injunction. Its mission is an act of faith. And if some businesses are inconvenienced or tourists would prefer not having to see the homeless by the beach, whose rights should prevail?

That’s this week’s question: Is a city ban on feeding the homeless in a public place an infringement on religious freedom? Our Texas Faith panel weighs in:

MIKE GHOUSE: President, Foundation for Pluralism and speaker on interfaith matters, Dallas

The city ban on feeding the homeless in public places is motivated by business politics rather than needs of the community.

The mayor of Fort Lauderdale is assuming that the homeless are not a part of the community, and have no say in the community affairs as they do not contribute towards the revenue of the city. He is also influenced by a few uncompassionate members of the business community as the presence of homeless people around their shops is ‘apparently’ hurting their business.

Since when have we started valuing individuals based on their contribution to the revenues of a city? That attitude renders nearly 15% of poor Americans valueless. Since when have we quit valuing our elderly with Alzheimer’s or kids with severe handicaps, or the homeless veterans?

Whether homelessness is a choice or not, they are a part of our communities and we have a responsibility for their safety and well being. Public safety is a prime responsibility of the elected we choose for governance.

The ordinance banning men and women from serving the homeless, out of their religious conviction amounts to infringement on their religious freedom and the ban needs to be challenged. The city cannot establish or ban a religion from doing public good. I believe the Becket funding takes up these cases. I sure will do my share of passing the information to them.

There is a way out. The city ought to withdraw the ordinance and consider forging or facilitating partnerships between the business community and those who want to serve the homeless, and serve them healthy food as a requirement for public safety.

Shame on us, we give away $48 billion dollars a year in military assistance to other nations for killing each other, and we cannot spend 1/100th of that on our homeless?

Those of us who are callous, ought to re-look in to the idea of human development, by investing in pulling people from ditches on to a level playing field, we would be enlarging our consumer base, boosting business all around. Pope Francis is indeed setting examples after examples – the latest news is he is building showers for the homeless in the square.

Caliph Omar was known for justice, and he forgave a thief against the norms of the society at that time. Instead, he took the responsibility and declared that the society ought to be ashamed, that a man was humiliated to stealing food for his sick child. We have to take care of our fellow beings no matter who they are. As a society we have to figure out a better system to take care of the hungry.

To read the opinions of other panelists, please visit Dallas Morning News at http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/11/texas-faith-when-is-a-city-ban-on-feeding-the-poor-an-infringement-on-religious-liberty.html/#more-47834

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Mike Ghouse is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator on Pluralism at work place, politics, religion, society, gender, race, culture, ethnicity, food and foreign policy. He is commentator on Fox News and syndicated Talk Radio shows and a writer at major news papers including Dallas Morning News and Huffington Post.  All about him is listed in several links at www.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at www.TheGhousediary.com and 10 other blogs. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.

Texas Faith: How should we incorporate faith into a secular political world?

True Secularism or true religious government is not about forcing others into obedience, but facilitating freedom to live his or her life as one chooses. However, the radicals in all systems bring a bad name to their respective group. Radical Secularism infringes on freedom of the religious people, just as radical religion does to non-religious people. 

The history of Soviet Union and China has left a bad taste for generations to come; they forced Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhist, and others to abandon practicing their faiths. It is like forcing someone not to love his mother. The resentment it created has permeated throughout the world and has earned a negative connotation of being a Godless government.  

On the other hand, the radicals calling themselves ISIS wants to force people to become Muslims. I have recommended the administration to give them warning to back off, surrender or go ahead and destroy them to prevent further deaths of Christians, Yazidis and other Muslims.   In India the newly emerged government has remained silent while radical Hindus are hell bent on reconverting Christians back to Hinduism, this needs to stop. We in the United States needs to drop the hatred for the same sex marriages, and restrictions placed on women about their bodies, we should and not infringe on the liberties of others. The Rabbis and the Ministers in Israel need to be slapped for telling their congregants to kill the Palestinian Mothers, and the Buddhist Monks need to be poisoned for goading and killing non-Buddhists in Burma.  Even though these are done by the radicals and not the mainstream majority, the religions get a bad name because of these radicals. 

Ideally every human should be free to breathe, drink, eat, wear or believe whatever the hell one wants to. I hope we all work for such societies, the least we can do is see the value in such societies where every one minds his or her own business.

Mike Ghouse

Texas Faith: How should we incorporate faith into a secular political world?
By Rudolph Bush rbush@dallasnews.com 
11:53 am on November 5, 2014 | Permalink

The writer Karen Armstrong recently noted that it was through bitter experience the west learned to separate the state from religion and wonders why Muslims have “found it impossible to arrive at this logical solution to their current problems.”

“Why do they cling with perverse obstinacy to the obviously bad idea of theocracy? Why, in short, have they been unable to enter the modern world?”

We’ve all asked these questions so often. If only these extremists would lay down their arms and embrace plural, diverse societies, they would see the benefit.

But as Armstrong so clearly writes, the path to our sort of secular and plural society, where we try to divide politics and religion, has been anything but bloodless.

“If some Muslims today fight shy of secularism, it is not because they have been brainwashed by their faith but because they have often experienced efforts at secularisation in a particularly virulent form. Many regard the west’s devotion to the separation of religion and politics as incompatible with admired western ideals such as democracy and freedom.”

Acknowledging this past is important, even if it is unlikely to impress fanatics and extremists.

Perhaps more helpful questions for us are these: how do we, as people practicing and preserving our faiths, segregate the political from the spiritual in our own lives? What lessons can we offer those who want their faith to infuse all elements of their lives and are skeptical of a society and political system that calls for secularism? Are we fooling ourselves that we can have both? Are we cheating one aspect of our lives, spiritual or civic, to serve the other?

Our panelists respond on the jump.

MIKE GHOUSE: President, Foundation for Pluralism and speaker on interfaith matters, Dallas
Karen Armstrong, in her thought provoking essay, ‘Myth of religious violence’ takes us through a journey of governance and alignment of people from religious to multi-religious to secular in several avatars, it is also a history of the rights of minorities in relation to the majorities. I was hoping she would pave the way for yet another form of governance; Pluralism, which can address some of the questions we are facing today, instead she abruptly ends, perhaps for the reader to take the next step.

Mr. Rudy Bush has picked where she left, and I am pleased to do my share of work towards answering the questions.

I have been working on the idea of pluralism in governance, religion, society, food, gender, politics, culture, race and other aspects of life. I have put in solid 20 years of research work into this, thank God, Pluralism runs in my veins now.

Pluralism is definable as “respecting the otherness of others”. Indeed, if we can learn to respect the otherness of others and accept the God given uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge for a smoothly functional cohesive society.

What lessons can we offer those who want their faith to infuse all elements of their lives and are skeptical of a society and political system that calls for secularism?

Radical Secularism infringes on freedom of the religious people, just as radical religion does to non-religious people. The history of Soviet Union and China has left a bad taste for generations to come; they forced Christians, Jews, Buddhist, Muslims and others to abandon practicing their faiths. It is like forcing someone not to love his mother. The resentment it created has permeated throughout the world and has earned a negative connotation of being a Godless government.

There are historic models of pluralistic governance that can be studied. The one practiced by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), was the first its kind in human history. Four religions were practiced simultaneously in the same town without violating each other’s rights. He was the head of the State and initiated the Madinah treaty to protect religious freedom of Jews, Christians, Muslims, Pagans and possibly Zoroastrians. Each tradition was to have its own rules to abide by within the larger context of the state, everyone was free to practice his or her religion, and he called the others “People of the book” to create an inclusive mindset among the people. It’s a shame that some of Muslim nations have abandoned it.

The Second example is that of India, a Hindu majority nation. Even though it is labeled a Secular Democracy, it has always been a pluralistic democracy. There is a common criminal code for all citizens, but in matters of faith and civic affairs, each one follows his own religious traditions. It has worked beautifully for nearly 60 years, and I am skeptical of its continuance with Hindu radicalism on rise. A lot of healing is needed to fully restore the Pluralistic ethos.

The third example is that of Indonesia, a Muslim majority nation with a duly elected Christian President, and they now have a raging debate about electing a Christian governor for Jakarta province. I am sure they will honor their pluralistic constitution called Pancasila based on Madinah treaty.

The United States has been a pioneer in every aspect of human life. Our constitution guarantees liberty to every individual; however we are evolving in our declaration that all men are created equal. We have to take pride in our form of governance, which is becoming pluralistic every day.

Pluralism is nothing but an attitude of live and let live, and it is applicable in every aspect of life including culture, society, religion, politics, sexual orientation, gender, food, ethnicity, race and other uniqueness’s.

You practice your faith and I will not meddle with yours, as in the case of contraceptives for Catholics or Mormons, or do not force the church to give access to the transgender identity to their rest rooms, instead build separate for them and preserve each human with his or her dignity.
Pluralism in governance looks at the criminal as an Individual and not a Christian, Jew, Muslim or Hindu. We are not fooling ourselves, we can have both and we would not be cheating one aspect of life over the other.

You are who you are, and I am who I am. As long as we don’t mess with each other’s space, sustenance and nurturance, and mind our own business, we all will do well. If we can learn to respect the otherness of other and accept the God-given uniqueness of each one of the 318 Million of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

HOWARD S. COHEN, Lecturer in Jewish/Christian Relations and member of Congregation Shearith Israel and Congregation Beth Torah, Dallas
I know it is “politically incorrect” in this neighborhood to support the secularist thinkers who claim that religion itself has been the greatest force for destruction and mayhem in western history; nevertheless, their argument cannot be ignored. The religious insistence that the believer has the absolute truth about the will of God and how devotion to that truth needs to be demonstrated by word and deed continues to be the source of tyrannical, imperialist, and dictatorial repression responsible for so much suffering in history. Intolerance seems to be the natural corollary of any religion that claims to have the universal answers about God and claims “absolute truth,” as if any human being could actually know the Unknowable or have a handle on absolute truth.

Armstrong is right in reminding us that secularism – which decries beheadings, honor killings, and death for converts -has only been with us for the last 300 years in the post-enlightenment west and with a spotty record, at that. On the other hand, that observation does not ease our reaction to the actions of the small number of Muslim terrorist extremists (thousands of Muslims out of 1.5 billion) that fill our news reports. No one wants to wait 300 years for them to catch up.

Like Odysseus choosing between Scylla and Charybdis, it is conventional wisdom today to assume that we must decide between religion and secularism, bifurcating our lives according to our chosen priorities. But there’s a third option.

George Washington declared in his 1796 Farewell Address that “of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports.” Yet he also believed that “the liberty enjoyed by the people of these States, worshiping Almighty God agreeably to their consciences, is not only among the choicest of their blessings, but also of their rights.”

Thomas Jefferson believed that “no nation has yet existed or been governed without religion,” yet he articulated and defended “a wall of separation between Church and State.” If our Founders could envision a free church in a free state, why do other civilizations struggle to embrace a similar ethos?

Here’s one reason. With all due respect to Karen Armstrong, one of our greatest scholars of world religions, we must not overlook genuine worldview differences among the various faiths. The Qur’an prescribes an entire system of governance, complete with dietary restrictions and economic regulations. The Hebrew Bible does the same. Many who follow their teachings most fervently therefore believe that they can allow for no “secular” state outside their “spiritual” authority.

WILLIAM McKENZIE: a co-founder of the Texas Faith blog, is editorial director at the George W. Bush Institute.
I would argue this issue the other way around: Religion and politics do mix. In fact, they inevitably mix. Religion and politics are both about values, so it is only natural they will be in the same arena. In modern times, the clearest example – and most important one – is the way in which black churches and their leaders gave birth to the civil rights movement.

If they had kept their religion separate from their politics, the country never would have had this major breakthrough. Put another way, if African-American churchgoers had only adhered to personal piety, and not tried to seek justice in the larger social realm, America would have not moved forward.

There have been many other examples of people of faith acting in the political arena because of their religion. The Moral Majority gave voice to many Americans who were concerned about a cultural drift within the nation. At heart, this was a response framed by religious views.

Of course, what we want is a healthy dose of respect and tolerance to go with the mixture of religion and politics. That is what keeps people from different persuasions from tearing each other apart.

We also have been blessed in this country by the figurative line between church and state. That distinction has helped both religion and politics in America. There is more freedom in each domain because we have no official merging of church and state.

Yet I don’t see how religion and politics – or spiritual lives and the social realm – can ever be kept separate. Not when they each involve how we translate values like justice and mercy into the course of our lives together.

To Read the views of other panelists, please go to Dallas Morning News at:
http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/11/texas-faith-how-should-we-incorporate-faith-into-a-secular-political-world.html/#more-46998

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Mike Ghouse is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator on Pluralism at work place, politics, religion, society, gender, race, culture, ethnicity, food and foreign policy. He is commentator on Fox News and syndicated Talk Radio shows and a writer at major news papers including Dallas Morning News and Huffington Post.  All about him is listed in several links at www.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at www.TheGhousediary.com and 10 other blogs. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.

Texas faith: Pope Francis Redefining Sin

Two thousand years ago, a man from Nazareth was bent on mitigating conflicts and building a cohesive society. He taught us to separate the sin from the sinner, and made it work by embracing the sinners of the time; lepers, and the prostitutes. Indeed, Pope Francis is repeating that man’s challenge of casting the first stone by witnessing the weddings of traditionally defined sinners.

This bi-weekly column is published in Dallas Morning News by Wayne Slater on September 24, 2014 -  http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2014/09/texas-faith-pope-francis-redefining-sin.html

TEXAS FAITH: Do we all have to agree what sin is in order to confront it?

By Wayne Slater
wslater@dallasnews.com
9:06 am on September 24, 2014 | PermalinkPope Francis recently presided over a wedding ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica for 20 couples. In the Catholic tradition, marriage, like communion, is a sacrament. And a wedding is a statement of the beliefs of the church. Officially, the Vatican has a position on divorce, remarriage and cohabitation. Remarriage can happen only if a previous marriage is annulled. Couples are not supposed to live together outside of marriage. There’s a word for that: sin.

And yet, when the pope married those 20 couples in one of the holiest places of the church, he did so with the full knowledge that one bride was already a mother,  some of the couples had already been living together. For others, it was a second marriage.

Presumably, Pope Francis was not retreating from the church’s teachings. He was not abandoning the principles of his faith. But he seemed to be balancing the highest hopes of his faith tradition with the pastoral duties of his church in the real world. And in doing so, he was making a statement about how we deal with sin in everyday life.

Earlier this month, my colleague Rudy Bush asked the Texas Faith panel to consider the idea of sin. What draws the soul or mind toward sin? What is the defense against it? The answers were fascinating.


That’s this week’s question. What does your faith tradition say about sin? Are the points of agreement -- its origin, its remedy, the possibility of forgiveness -- that connect us?

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism and speaker on interfaith matters, Dallas

Two thousand years ago, a man from Nazareth was bent on mitigating conflicts and building a cohesive society. He taught us to separate the sin from the sinner, and made it work by embracing the sinners of the time; lepers, and the prostitutes. Indeed, Pope Francis is repeating that man’s challenge of casting the first stone by witnessing the weddings of traditionally defined sinners.

Perhaps that was a rebellious act by Jesus to the conservative men of the time, and so is the act of Pope Francis.

Two occurrences are happening at once ; i) the narrowing definition of sin or exoneration of many from the category of sin, and ii) inclusion of sinners into the fold of the mainstream society.

First let me disclose my bias. Pope Francis is my religious hero and inspiration, and represents the values of pluralism espoused by Jesus Christ, Prophet Muhammad and all other Godly men. That is respecting the otherness of others and accepting the God-given uniqueness of each one of his creation. No one falls out of his ambit of love, none at all.  I consider Pope Francis as a mercy to mankind, and eventually his acts and talks will bring hope and relief to women, children, oppressed, rejected, maligned, poor, and the weak. 

Pope Francis has understood what God is all about; just, fair, equitable and merciful. Although God sounds like a guy who is eager to punish the sinner, in reality, he is not, he is the most merciful.

In my faith Islam, the capstone words in 113 out of the 114 chapters of Qur'an are mercifulness, beneficence and kindness of God, despite all other attributes we ascribe to him ( her or it), the chapters begin with those foundational words.  

Sin is broadly defined as violation of the rights of fellow beings in the Quran, the corollary of which is caring for the neighbors.  Indeed there is a story where a prostitute (sinner) feeds water to a thirsty cat and God forgives her sins. In another instance a bad guy (sinner) shares his food with his neighbor and is compared to a 24/7 worshiper, the prophet was asked who will earn Lord’s grace – the obvious answer was the one who cares for the well being of fellow humans. God emphasizes over a dozen times, that it does not matter whether you are a Jew, Christian, Muslim or other, but if you care for your neighbor, he says, you’ll have his rewards.   

What Pope Francis has done by his singular act of witnessing marriages of traditional sinners is to narrow the definition of sin and take out the not-so-sinful behavior into the range of acceptance and inclusion.  He has subtly reminded people not to be hung up with the social definition of sin, but go by the overall greater value of social harmony and cohesion that God ultimately wants.  

The Political Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and others can certainly take cues from the Pope. He is reviving the essence of what religion is all about; to create cohesive societies where no one has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. Blessed are the peacemakers. 

To read the take of 10 other panelists, go to Dallas Morning News http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/09/texas-faith-do-we-all-have-to-agree-what-sin-is-in-order-to-confront-it.html/#more-44326

Thank you
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Mike Ghouse is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator on Pluralism at work place, politics, religion, society, gender, race, culture, ethnicity, food and foreign policy. All about him is listed in several links at www.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are atwww.TheGhousediary.com and 10 other blogs. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.