Standing up for Hindus

The purpose of writing this piece is to inspire each one of you to do things for others –  If you are not willing to stand up for others, why should anyone stand up for you?

In the following compilation, I will highlight some of the work I have done with and for Hindus and Hinduism. This excludes the work for my motherland India. However, there is a lot of work prior t0 2003 that I need to collect and put it together.  


I am blessed to connect with Atheists to Zoroastrians and every one in between including Native Americans. 

As an Indian it was embarrassing for me that most of the Indians have no clue about each other – a few Hindus know about Muslims, some of them don’t even know about Jainism or Buddhism let alone Sikhism.  Same goes with Muslim and others. We live and work together, and yet we don’t know about the other.

What do we know?  The cooked versions and bad things about others, shame on us.

So, I ventured out into public in 1993 to teach and to facilitate knowledge about each other.  The Asian News Magazine offered glimpses of each religion and every week, we wrote about the essence of every festival. Then we continued the same on Asian News Radio from 1996-2001.

Since this chapter about Hindus, I will focus on Hinduism, as brief as I can.

Shri DD Maini wrote articles on Hinduism and his visits to every place of worship in India, and our Dallas Hindu Scholar Dr. Hasmukh Shah wrote about Hinduism besides others and our first Radio show on Religion started with Dr. Hasmukh Shaw’s interview about Hinduism.  Then I did 100 hours of talk show Radio on Hinduism over a period of two years (and of course others) with Swami Nityananda Prabhu of Hare Krishna Temple, we learned the whole Bhagvad Gita and amazing principles of life.

We did two workshops on Hinduism as a part of learning about each other.

When I was called in by different Radio stations on Christmas day or other days to talk about Religion, I always talked about Hinduism (and others). I visited the Maya Temples in Mexico, there I prayed the Hindu (and other) prayers in the underground wells, and on the temple grounds.  All of this is available on my different sites and blogs.

Check out Dallas Morning News’s Texas Faith column – of the 80+ articles I have written, 70 of them carry a note about Hinduism. You can visit www.TheGhousediary.com and plug Texas Faith in the search box, and you can see most of the articles. For 2010 and before it is on blogs of Islam and Pluralism. 

For the first time in Dallas, I was able to bring all the Hindu Temple management teams together at the Program Shanti Shanti at Richardson Civic Center.  Mihir Meghani, President of HAF was introduced to Dallas for the first time.

The second time (and a few times after that) was the first Unity Day event in 2005 pictures at  www.UnitydayUSA.com  

As an individual it is my duty to share whatever little good I can and counter the bad with good.

We have various religious leaders visiting from overseas, particularly Hindu and Muslims, most of them preach goodness of their religion and a handful of them preach hate from the temples and the Mosques.  They come here to tell Hindus or Muslim to hate each other, their talk is loaded with hate in the place of worship and I always wonder how my Hindu and Muslim friends can listen to that. At least in Dallas,  the Muslim Imams give sermons about co-existence , however once in a blue moon some one comes along and speaks ill of others, both in Hindu and Muslim communities.   

If you are not comfortable in telling them that they are wrong, let me know, I will do that.  I will not even spare the big mega church Pastor Jeffress who called Hinduism a cult.  

I value free speech and the only way to combat evil is with goodness and love.

As I make the time, I will update this, there is a lot of work done prior to 2003, from when I kept records of my work inDallasIndians@yahoogroups.com and the blogshttp://MikeGhouseforIndia.blogspot.com and two sites world Muslim Congress and Foundation for pluralism.  There is a whole big story prior to 2003 that I need to put together…

Again, the purpose of compiling this piece is to inspire each one of you to do things for others. If you are not willing to stand up for others, why should anyone stand up for you?

 .........................................

Senator Williams' Remarks Offended Hindus
Governor of Kentucky attended a factory opening ceremony that created 275 jobs for Americans. Senator Williams  criticized the Governor for sitting cross-legged with a "dot on his forehead," and described the ceremony as "polytheistic." It is not only a Hindu issue, it is indeed an American issue and so I spoke up and wrote a piece and hope to meet him and share the wisdom of Hinduism.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/senator-williams-offend-hindus_b_1075392.html

Bigtory against Hinduism in RussiaBigotry exists not because of bigots, but because we have not spoken out against it. The Arcbishop of Siberia attacks the Bhagavad Gita, the holy book of Hinduism. I just could not sit and let the ignorance become the currency. So I wrote and asked Muslim, Christians, Jews, Sikhs and others to call the Russian Embassy in Washington DC and thanks to all those who made the call. This is how we build cohesive societies. 
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/12/bigotry-against-hinduism-in-russia.html
 

Surya Namaskar and Muslim responseThe Surya Namaskar is a Hindu religious tradition, a beautiful act of bowing to the Sun and welcoming the first rays of dawn as an expression of gratitude to the energy it breathes in to life and everything about life. I was urging the Muslims to participate in the event in their own way.
http://www.indianmuslimobserver.com/2012/01/latest-editorial-surya-namaskar-and.html

Doniger’s book on Hindu history - Factual errorsThe book: Hindus, an alternate history is out now. Wendy Donigers writes on Indian History laden with errors. It is our responsibility to hightlight the errors, and as civil socieites we cannot perpetuate the errors and pass on to the next generation as facts. Let the reader "beware clause" be added to the book that the facts are not verified.
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2010/04/donigers-book-on-hindu-history-factual.html
 

Swami VivekanandaWhen Swamiji talks about, “The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist,” He was talking about religion is a pathway to spirituality.
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/03/swami-vivekananda-gave-new-meaning-to.html
 

Happy Ganesh ChaturthiAmong Hindus there is beautiful tradition of invoking that aspect of God which removes barriers and paves the way for a smoother life. The icon that represents this aspect of God is known as Ganesh, Ganesha, or Vinayak depending on the region, most Hindus around the world invoke Ganesh before they start any thing in life from starting their day, to opening a new business or wearing new clothes or starting a social ceremony. 
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/08/happy-ganesh-chaturthi.html

Should Christians practice YogaIn my weekly Dallas Morning News, I wrote about anti-yoga talks. Mohler seems to be threatened by the popularity of yoga, a beautiful practice to bring composure to oneself. He is obsessed with the idea that yoga is a bait to lure his congregation away into "a spiritual practice that threatens to transform their own spiritual lives into a `post-Christian, spiritually polyglot' reality", and then he asks, "Should any Christian willingly risk that?" How mistaken can one be?  

http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2010/11/texas-faith-should-christians-and-other.html
 

Essence of DiwaliDiwali is the Indian festival of lights and light symbolizes hope and positive energy, it indicates the victory of good over evil; a new beginning; seeing the light at the end of tunnel and light is also a symbol of knowledge as it is an internationally used.

http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/10/happy-diwali-essence-of-diwali.html

Dallas Religious Leaders, Swami Nityananda PrabhuThe open mindedness of Swami Nityananda Prabhu of Hare Krishna Hindu Temple; a panelist on this forum is admirable. Where ever I run, people love to talk about his teachings from Bhagvad Gita on my Radio Show, called Wisdom of Religion.  He has indeed opened up minds of non-Hindus to see the wisdom of Hinduism.

http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/01/texas-faith-beyond-king-which-religious.html
 

Essences of Janmashtami Celebration of Sri Krishna's birthday, the man who gave us so much wisdom in Bhagvad Gita. The book is an encapsulation of his advise to Arjuna when he goes through different phases of thoughts and actions. ...It is one of the best self analysis books to read.

http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2009/08/happy-janamashtami.html

Roberts Jeffress and his bigotryI am surprised that the Israel Lobby has spared this man. He has not spared Mormons, Muslims, Catholics, Jews, Buddhists and Hindus in his rants.
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/10/pastor-robert-jeffress-and-his-bigotry.html

Hinduism 101 Workshop – Dallas Morning News

The Foundation for Pluralism, a Dallas-based interfaith organization, will host the workshop at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 14315 Midway Road in Addison. Organizer Mike Ghouse, who founded the group and is the event's moderator, said this workshop will cover the origins of Hinduism, the concept of rebirth, India's caste system and more.

http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2007/02/hinduism-101.html

Happy Ramnvami – Birth Celebrations of Lord RamaIt is a Hindu festival, celebrating the birth of Lord Rama to King Dasharatha and Queen Kausalya of Ayodhya. Ram is the 7th incarnation of the Dashavatara of Vishnu.SreeRama Navami festival falls on the ninth day of the month of Chaitra in the Hindu calendar. and marks the end of the nine-day Chaitra-Navratri celebrations. I will be happy to do a presentation on the event. I enjoy listening to the stories about Rama, an exemplary person to model life after.

http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/03/happy-ramnvami-lord-ramas-birthday.html

Diwali Vandana

Diwali is the Indian festival of lights, and the light symbolizes hope and positive energy; It is a poem I wroten
http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2009/10/diwali-vandana-diwali-prayers.html

Hanuman Jayanthi

Hanuman plays a critical role in the Indian epic Ramayana. It is the story of King Rama who was banished to the forest for fourteen years. While in exile, he remains defacto king, as his younger brother Bharata who was the king, submits to the will of Rama, his elder step brother.
Contd: http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/04/happy-hanuman-jayanthi-hindu-festival.html
 

Standing up for a Hindu Family in NorwayNorway is one of the nations looked up for best the civil conduct; however, they have failed to even study the culture of their inhabitants. Here Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharaya fed their child with hands as is the custom in their home land, India, and had the kids sleep on their bed. The Norway government found that to be offensive and abusive and took the child away from the family. 
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/01/stand-up-for-hindu-family-in-norway.html

Happy Holi, India’s festival of colors and joyHoli is an Indian festival of radiance. It is a celebration of spring with colors that nourish one’s joyous moods and complements the function of respective elements in the atmosphere.
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/03/happy-holi-india-festival-of-colors-and.html

Let’s leave Ram Sethu Alone

On the faith side, Ram Sethu is a bridge built by Hanuman and his friends; this was the bridge that Rama crossed over to go to Sri Lanka. It is not only an Indian heritage; it is a world heritage site. We may need to explore this and learn about the science and art of bridge making during the times of Rama. How did they fill the dirt in the ocean, what materials did they use? Will it bring an understanding of Ramayana?http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2007/09/lets-leave-ram-sethu-alone.html

Rama – A Muslim Perspective

As beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, faith is in the heart of the believer.
There is a consistent theme in Qur'aan of looking the world from a pluralistic point of view. Qur'aan, Al-Hujurat, Sura 49:13 " O mankind, we have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. The noblest of you, in sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Allah know and is aware of everything."http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2007/09/rama-muslim-perspective.html

Harassment of Hindus in Kazkhastan

The Muslim community condemns this insane act of the Government of Kazakhstan, I will seek support from Muslim groups to take the necessary action. Please recommend the course of action we can take. Who should we write to? Who should we call? Is this a religious harassment? Please send us the details.
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2007/02/hindus-harassed-in-kazhakstan-dear-mr.html

Hinduism and American PluralismWhat role does Hinduism play in the emerging pluralistic society? The author Jakob De Roover explores it well in the following article (after my comments)

http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2007/01/hinduism-and-american-pluralism.html

Hindu Muslim DialogueAn innovative approach to Hindu-Muslim dialogue. This reminds me of my College Professor Ramachandran and my weaver friend Fakhru Bhai; a Hindu and a Muslim respectively and I used to discuss and understand the wisdom of each aspect of religion.http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2008/05/hindu-muslim-dialogue.html

Supreme Court Brief Filed on Behalf of Hindu Americans 

In behalf of the Foundation for Pluralism and World Muslim Congress, I support the case filed by the Hindu American Foundation and hope the Supreme Court decides in favor of opening the hearts and minds of all people to include every faith and tradition in public square.

http://wisdomofreligion.blogspot.com/2008/06/discrimination-public-prayers.html

Ayodyha – proud of my India
The court has finally made the decision and so far peace has prevailed.  I was not able to sleep last night late until 3:00 AM and thank God, goodness has yet prevailed. If people don't agree, let it go to Supreme court, we have to prove to the world that we are a nation that respects rule of Law. Let other nations in the world look up to our model and never, every dream of becoming like the very ones we denigrate.
http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2010/09/ayodhya-proud-of-my-india.html

Ayodhya on 18^th Anniversary and democracy
The Babri Masjid controversy has been around since Mid Nineteenth century and after disputes, the right wing political parties demolished the 15th Centutry structure in Ayodhya on December 6th, 1992.http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2010/12/ayodhya-on-6th-anniversary-and.html

Am I a Hindu?
This is one of the most read articles among my Muslim and Christian friends. I came across this excellent piece "Am I a Hindu" explaining religion in its simplest terms. I recommend every one to take a few minutes to read through this. It is the simplicity of talking with a young girl that makes this article beautiful. I have added a few comments and additional information below the article.

 http://wisdomofreligion.blogspot.com/2008/01/am-i-hindu.html

Bangladeshi Hindus Harassed
The World Muslim Congress expresses outrage at the Municipal Council of Chakuli, in Mirpur, Bangladesh for evicting families from their ancestral Homes.http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2007/06/bangladeshi-hindus-harassed.html

Muslims condemn temple desecration

Dallas, Texas. Sunday, August 5, 2007- "It is a shame that people stoop so low to desecrate a place of worship. We condemn this crime" reflects Mike Ghouse, head of the Foundation for Pluralism and the World Muslim Congress.
http://wisdomofreligion.blogspot.com/2007/08/condemn-temple-desecration.html

Muslims condemn demolition of Hindu Temple
Dallas, Texas - The World Muslim Congress condemns the demolition of Hindu Temple in Lahore and urges the Government of Pakistan to restore the temple. Muslims follow Islam, a monotheistic religion but not a monolithic religion. Muslims who have deeply imbibed the teaching of Islam condemn the act of demolition of the temple in Pakistan.
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2007/01/krishna-temple-lahore.html

Muslims condemn intolerance in Malaysia

The act of carrying a head of a bull is un-acceptable and we urge the Malaysian Government to punish these loonies as criminals bent on disturbing peace of the state. They should not be cited as Muslims and their religion does not permit them to do that, they are criminals and must be cited as such.
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/08/festivities-soured-by-race.html

Protecting Pakistani Hindus
Let every Pakistani speak up and be a defender of other Pakistani, be it a Hindu, Ahmadiyya, Christian, Jew, Zoroastrian, Shia, Bohra, Ismaili or a Sunni. We need more voices to make this work. May God give us the passion to speak out and do the right thing. Amen!
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/04/protecting-pakistans-hindus.html

Condemning Ghazni

This issue has been a sore subject with the Indians. Ghazni did destroy the Somnath temple, and it has been believed as destruction of Hindu Places of Worship.

http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2007/03/india-ghazni-temple-destruction.html

Malaysia – Bangaramma Verdict
The verdict amounts to forcing Ms. Bangarma to believe what she does not believe, that is not Islamic in any sense. The original intention of such ruling was to prevent treason against the state for switching loyalties to harm the state, sort of double agent. Bangarma is no harm to the state, her belief in Hinduism must be honored.http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2010/08/malaysia-banggarma-verdict-religiously.html

Muslims Speak out against Harassment of Minorities
The Talibans have begun harassing Ismaili Muslims in Pakistan. They would not spare any one and will not be satisfied until the last person left obeys them. If this trend is not checked and criticized, they may think that they have the approval from the Muslims. They don't.http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/06/muslims-speak-out-against-harassment-of.html

Add:

Catholic Church firing the priest for allowing a Hindu wedding in the church and my protest and the threat calls from California diocese.


My father's advice on communal riots

Interfaith dialogue with my English Teacher RamaChandra and Fakhru Bhai

Add the six page story on me from Dallas Observer.


Mike Ghouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India,Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity showon Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he writes weekly at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post,and several other periodicals. www.TheGhousediary.com is Mike's daily blog.

SPEAKER FOR NATIONAL PRAYER DAY

SPEAKER FOR NATIONAL PRAYER DAY

Mike Ghouse is a leading thinker, writer and a speaker on Pluralism / Interfaith. His talk and opening prayers reflect the values and words from every religious tradition. He writes a column on pluralism every week at Dallas Morning News in Texas Faith section. He is available to speak most through the day as of now.

Interfaith Speaker:
http://www.mikeghouse.net/InterfaithSpeaker_MikeGhouse.asp

You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mc9D9guPMY

Website: www.ProfessionalSpeakerMikeGhouse.com
- - - - -
Mike Ghouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he writes weekly at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, The Smirking Chimp and several other periodicals. www.TheGhousediary.com is Mike's daily blog.

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TEXAS FAITH: Is God good?

God is neither good nor bad. He is like the nuclear power, in itself, in the right hands he is a blessing, and in the wrong hands he is a barbarian. We can make the Bible, Quran, Torah, Bhagvad Gita, Guru Granth Saheb and other religious text to be hell or heaven; it is not about God, but about the disgusting selfishness in us. We need to take responsibility for the balance and not blame God or Religion for it.

Now, onto this week's question, which panelist Cindy Rigby suggested after she read this column by Gary Gutting, a Notre Dame Philosophy professor. The essay hits on several major questions, but the one for this week deals with this issue: If you believe in God, do you believe God is good? If so, why?

Fifteen Texas Faith Panelists weigh in on this, here is Mike’s take:

If you don't believe God is good, please explain.

MIKE GHOUSE, President Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas

God is neither good nor bad, and it is not micro-managing every moment of the universe either.

It is not a being, not a thing, and not an entity but simply the energy that caused a "balanced universe" and functions on the principle of balance, where every component of it is programmed to seek its own balance; both physical and metaphysical.

For lack of linguistic expression, we normally address God as "him" instead of "her." God only knows what it is. Indeed, we have created God in our own image. Each one of the 7 billion of us has a belief and a perception, each perception is unique like our thumb print.

The Jewish culture expresses it beautifully in a dialogue between God and Abraham to illustrate the point. Apparently God tells Abraham to be grateful. He says, "I created you, and you exist because of me." To which Abraham retorts, "Wait a minute, you exist because of me. Had it not for me, who would have known you? "

The dished-out versions of God did not appeal to me for nearly half of my life, but in my reflective moments, I believed that there is something that is causing life and death, and systematically changing forms of matter, not necessarily second by second, but according to a well-defined system.

There is a song in Urdu/ Hindi language by the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. It was a signature song for my talk radio show between 2003 and 2005. And it was called "Wisdom of Religion, all the beautiful Religions."

Our fellow panelist Nityananda Das co- hosted over 100 hours of talk on Hinduism with me, while I did 500 hours of wisdom of all religions. The show opened with the song, "Koi to hai jo nizam-e-hasti chala raha hai, wahi khuda hai."

There is some energy, some power out there that has programmed to run the world systems with precision; someone who is causing day and night, someone who is changing the seasons, someone who is causing the planets to remain in orbits and someone who gives life and ends it as well... that someone must be God.

When universe came into being, through evolution, creation or big bang, it produced two major items: Matter and Life.

Matter is programmed to "remain" balanced with a few anomalies built into it. But overall the universe is on autopilot. It is programmed to run with precision and it will. Jupiter, Earth and the moon will orbit precisely, planets and other universes are expanding and shrinking but have their own space, and their own systems functioning with the laws of physics in place.

However, life in general, but human life in particular was not set on autopilot. A new component was added between balance and life; free will and a brain capable of finding the balance.

So this creator or causer of life is about balance. When we are at balance we have found home (God), defined in terms of living without anxiety, fear or discomfort. I believe this was the bottom line message of Abraham, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Jesus, Muhammad, Nanak, Bahaullah, Confucius and all the great teachers.

They manifested love of the creator God (balance) and sought creating cohesive societies where no one has to live with fear of the other. Their intensified effort was directed to get us out of utterly disgustingly selfish interests to the interests of the humanity to achieve salvation, mukti, moksha, nijaat and freedom. Also known as being in heaven.

God is like the nuclear power, in itself, it is neither good nor bad, but in the right hands he is a blessing, and in the wrong hands he is a barbarian (Quran 84:7-15). We can make the Bible, Quran, Torah, Bhagvad Gita, Guru Granth Saheb and other religious text to be hell or heaven; it is not about God, but about the disgusting selfishness in us. We need to take responsibility for the balance and not blame God or Religion for it.

For the rest of the fourteen opinions, please visit Dallas Morning News: http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2012/04/texas-faith-is-god-good.html

MikeGhouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he writes weekly at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, The Smirking Chimp and several other periodicals. His daily blog is www.TheGhousediary.com

Does it matter whether God exists?

Discussions of religion are typically about God. Atheists reject religion because they don’t believe in God; Jews, Christians and Muslims take belief in God as fundamental to their religious commitment. The philosopher John Gray, however, has recently been arguing that belief in God should have little or nothing to do with religion. 

He points out that in many cases — for instance, “polytheism, Hinduism and Buddhism, Daoism and Shinto, many strands of Judaism and some Christian and Muslim traditions” — belief is of little or no importance. Rather, “practice — ritual, meditation, a way of life — is what counts.” He goes on to say that “it’s only religious fundamentalists and ignorant rationalists who think the myths we live by are literal truths” and that “what we believe doesn’t in the end matter very much. What matters is how we live.”

Even if God is powerful enough to save the souls of the devout, and loving enough to want to, he still might not.

The obvious response to Gray is that it all depends on what you hope to find in a religion. If your hope is simply for guidance and assistance in leading a fulfilling life here on earth, a “way of living” without firm beliefs in any supernatural being may well be all you need. But many religions, including mainline versions of Christianity and Islam, promise much more. They promise ultimate salvation. If we are faithful to their teachings, they say, we will be safe from final annihilation when we die and will be happy eternally in our life after death.

If our hope is for salvation in this sense — and for many that is the main point of religion—then this hope depends on certain religious beliefs’ being true. In particular, for the main theistic religions, it depends on there being a God who is good enough to desire our salvation and powerful enough to achieve it.

But here we come to a point that is generally overlooked in debates about theism, which center on whether there is reason to believe in God, understood as all-good and all-powerful. Suppose that the existence of such a God could be decisively established. 

Suppose, for example, we were to be entirely convinced that a version of the ontological argument, which claims to show that the very idea of an all-perfect being requires that such a being exist, is sound. We would then be entirely certain that there is a being of supreme power and goodness. But what would this imply about our chances for eternal salvation?

On reflection, very little. Granted, we would know that our salvation was possible: an all-powerful being could bring it about. But would we have any reason to think that God would in fact do this? Well, how could an all-good being not desire our salvation? The problem is that an all-good being needs to take account of the entire universe, not just us.

Here, discussions of the problem of evil become crucial. An all-good being, even with maximal power, may have to allow considerable local evils for the sake of the overall good of the universe; some evils may be necessary for the sake of avoiding even worse evils. We have no way of knowing whether we humans might be the victims of this necessity.

Of course, an all-good God would do everything possible to minimize the evil we suffer, but for all we know that minimum might have to include our annihilation or eternal suffering. We might hope that any evil we endure will at least be offset by an equal or greater amount of good for us, but there can be no guarantee. As defenders of theism often point out, the freedom of moral agents may be an immense good, worth God’s tolerating horrendous wrongdoing. Perhaps God in his omniscience knows that the good of allowing some higher type of beings to destroy our eternal happiness outweighs the good of that happiness. Perhaps, for example, their destroying our happiness is an unavoidable step in the moral drama leading to their salvation and eternal happiness.

My point here reflects the two-edged character of religious responses to the problem of evil. The only plausible answer to the question, “How could an all-good and all-powerful God allow immense evils?” is that such a God may well have knowledge beyond our understanding. As David Hume suggested in his “Dialogues on Natural Religion,” the problem of evil is solved only by an appeal to our own ignorance. (There are powerful formulations of this approach by philosophers called “skeptical theists.”)

Such an appeal may save us from the apparent contradiction of evil in a world created by an all-good God.

But it also severely limits our judgments about what an all-good God would do. It may seem to us that if we live as we should, God will ensure our salvation. But it also seems, from our limited viewpoint, that God would not permit things like the Holocaust or the death of innocent children from painful diseases. Once we appeal to the gap between our limited knowledge and God’s omniscience, we cannot move from what we think God will do to what he will in fact do. So the fact that we think an all-good God would ensure our salvation does not support the conclusion that, all things considered, he will in fact do so.

It follows, then, that even a decisive proof that there is an all-good, all-powerful God cannot assure us that we are ultimately safe. Even if we insist on a religion that goes beyond John Gray’s beliefless way of living, belief that there is a God leaves us far short of what we hope for from religion.

Related

More From The Stone

Read previous contributions to this series.

Many believers will agree. Their confidence in salvation, they say, comes not from philosophical arguments but from their personal contact with God, either through individual experience or a religious tradition. But what can such contact provide concretely? At best, certainty that there is a very powerful being who promises to save us. But there may well be — and many religions insist that there are — very powerful beings (demons or devils) intent on leading us away from salvation. How could we possibly know that the power we are in contact with is not deceiving us?

The inevitable response is that an all-good God would not permit such a thing. But that takes us back to the previous difficulty: there is no reason to think that we are good judges of what God is likely to permit. God may have to allow us to be deceived to prevent even greater evils.

We can, of course, simply will to believe that we are not being deceived. But that amounts to blind faith, not assured hope. If that doesn’t satisfy us, we need to find a better response to the problem of evil than an appeal to our ignorance. Failing that, we may need to reconsider John Gray’s idea of religion with little or no belief.

Courtesy New York Times

Gary Gutting is a professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, and an editor of Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. He is the author of, most recently, “Thinking the Impossible: French Philosophy since 1960,” and writes regularly for The Stone

Humility in Hinduism

This is a great piece on Hinduism. As a person who has spent most of his life studying the essence of religions, I have found humility is the bedrock of all religions, and arrogance is the root cause of all problems in the world. Every religion without fail prescribes prayers as its anti-dote to arrogance, and to bring everyone on par with the other - we bow, we kneel and we prostrate as a symbol of acknowledging a greater power.

The sentences, concepts and the words in the following article have been a part of my understanding and my writings over the years. Indeed, it is Bhagvad Gita that inspired me to find the truth on my own, and eventually took me to study Quran and find resonance with it. Indeed, Islam is square on it, you are individually responsible for your karma and you alone are accountable for your thoughts, talks and acts.

Both books (and all the religious books) are about creating a cohesive society where all humanity can co-exist with least conflict by accepting the otherness of other and learning to value the uniqueness of each one. Poet Sahir Ludhanavi wrote this beautiful couplet in Urdu/Hindi language;

Qur’aan no ho jis may o dharam tera nahin hai
Geeta no ho jis may o haram tera nahin hai

Your religion is incomplete without Qur’aan in it
and your worship is incomplete without Gita in it.

Meaning the essence of Goodness is embedded in every religion. What you hear about others is not true, much of it is built on arrogance that mine is better, mine is superior, and even mine is humbler... non sense it is, all religions are beautiful. If it is not, then we have not taken the time to learn the truth but went by what suits our ego - that others are inferior. That is not Hinduism, not Islam, not Christianity and not any religion.

Indeed, humility is the hallmark of every religion.

You might want to experiment this, as I have in the past – replace the words like Bhagvad Gita with Qur’aan or Bible, dharma with righteousness, Deen or right path and few more like that… The Muslim, Christian or other will feel it is about his religion. That is the power of goodness, it permeates in every religion.

Mike Ghouse writes weekly articles on Pluralism at Dallas Morning News and in his daily blog at www.Theghousediary.com

Now enjoy reading this piece with full humility.

HUMILITY IN HINDUISM

Posted: 03/24/2012 9:42 pm

By contributing writer Gautama Mehta, originally published at KidSpirit Online

Growing up in a Hindu family in New York, I've always been taught that I should try my best, but understand that after I've done what I personally can, I should leave the rest to God.

Well, not specifically God, but whatever factors there are beyond my control. There is, in my religion, the concept of dharma, or duty: each person has his or her own righteous path to follow, and at different times in your life, your dharma could be being a good student, or parent, or hard worker, and so on.

Hindus are taught to have humility. Ancient Hindu artists were never supposed to sign their names on their work, and temple artists, when creating statues of gods, are always supposed to leave a deliberate imperfection to show that they cannot really represent God.

It's a religion that decries affectation. It doesn't presume to be the one and only "true" faith: there is no conversion ceremony. All the Hinduism I have grown up with, has taught me to be free of misconceptions about my personal importance, my own status when viewed against all the other billions in the world. I don't know how "Hindu" this is, but my mother has always told me that the religion teaches only to do one's best, and not worry about the outcome. I don't know what it means for an idea like this to be "Hindu," as opposed to just a cultural notion that, in my limited experience, follows the faith wherever it goes. Hinduism is like that: Gandhi's ideals are considered just as Hindu as age-old scriptural doctrines.

In my family (and many others) when a baby turns one, we shave off its hair as a sacrifice to God for the beautiful baby, and also to protect against vanity or conceit. That's the beauty of traditions like these: we can interpret and re-interpret, internalize and re-internalize, to fit with our culture and ethics. The root, of course, is Hinduism, but Hinduism is evolving, is changing. It's an intensely personal religion. There is no Hindu Church or centralized authority. Hinduism can mean incredibly right-wing fundamentalists who use it as an excuse for violence, or it can mean my mother, a self-proclaimed atheist who is one of the most devout Hindus I know.

But there's a contradiction. Culturally, Hindus (or Indians in general) have a lot of pressure to do well, to succeed. Especially immigrant families like mine here in America, which are the ones I know best. In general, immigrant cultures tend to value achievement, because of how hard it is for them to make it in a foreign country where they are poor and discriminated against. Indians in America have done well, though. I see us in Ivy League schools and computer software, in spelling bees and politics. And we're still stereotyped as the culture that pressures its children into doing better than all the American kids, coaching the kids after school in trigonometry and computer science, and if a kid isn't valedictorian in every subject then he's beaten.

Obviously, this is an exaggeration, but the philosophy is still there -- the intense competition, the praise given for having one's name everywhere. In India, kids have an incredibly strict education system, learning everything at a much more advanced rate than I am here in New York, and students are strictly ranked in every aspect. There's a rigorous Hindu caste system only now falling apart, and still very much present in India's villages. My mother, a Brahmin (on the top of the ladder) talks about how growing up in India, she was told that she was superior to everyone else, and though she hates it, she still feels that inside her today. Harsh competition is encouraged from an early age in most Indians. So why the discrepancy between the religion and the culture?

Perhaps the discrimination Indians felt everywhere they went instilled in them the sense of having to be the best, and nurtured in them the insecurity that causes the egotism that is so warned against by Hinduism. My father's family, for example, has spent the last four generations moving across the globe in search of business, everywhere from a rural village in India to Kenya to Calcutta. When my dad was 14, he moved from Bombay to Queens, N.Y., and he describes the move as one of the most influential moments in his life. When he got here, he experienced flagrant racism at his local Catholic high school, in which he was the only minority student, and this has shaped the way he thinks and acts today. But in spite of all the hardships they've faced Indian immigrants like my father have kept religion with them, trusting it to guide them, preserving its traditions as best they can. For him, the Bhagavad Gita, probably the religion's most important text, is the one book he would want on a desert island. But he didn't discover it through his parents. He found it in an undergraduate course on Hinduism at NYU.

In this way, his Hinduism is like mine: Growing up, he knew the Hinduism that his grandparents told stories about, the Hinduism of gods and demons and many-headed animals. But the other side of Hinduism, its philosophy, is something too personal to tell kids on your lap stories about. I know Hindu mythology partly from my Ammamma (mother's mother) telling me stories as a kid, and partly from Amar Chitra Katha, a popular Indian comic book series illustrating myths and scripture. But to try and understand the reasons for the inconsistencies I've seen in my community, I decided I actually had to read the stuff.

I read through the Bhagavad Gita, expecting to find an archaic, illegible piece of scripture that would make no sense to me. But instead I found lines that illustrated perfectly ideals that still make perfect sense, many centuries later.

Let me give a bit of background on the Gita, as the book is commonly known. It's a chapter in the epic poem Mahabharata, which is about an ancient war between two sets of brothers. The Gita, Wikipedia tells me, was written between the 5th and 2nd centuries B.C. It's 700 verses long.

The story of the Gita is a conversation between Arjuna, a good-guy on one side of the war riding a chariot into battle, and Krishna, his charioteer who's also a god. Arjuna feels guilty about having to kill his cousins who are fighting on the other side, and he expresses these doubts to Krishna, sitting down in the chariot, letting his bow and arrow slip out of his hand. The result is an intense, beautiful dialogue about life, death and reincarnation. But the part that interested me most was when Krishna talked about ego, and "selfless service."

His initial answer to Arjuna's questions is that it is his dharma to kill his cousins. It wouldn't be immoral to kill them, because it is a part of the cycle of life and death that exists for everyone. "For a warrior, nothing is higher than a war against evil," Krishna counsels. And anyway, even when a body dies, he says, its soul, or Self, lives on, living forever in future and past, in an eternal cycle of karma and reincarnation until it is finally released from karma by defeating ego and materialism and sin. "You were never born; you will never die," he explains.

The ultimate object of this cycle is to become immortal and "be united with the Lord." The way to do this is to "renounce all selfish desires and break away from the ego-cage of 'I,' 'me,' and 'mine.'" In another place, he says, "Deluded by identification with the ego, a person thinks, 'I am the doer.'"

Another theme Krishna stresses is work. "You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work... The ignorant work for their own profit, Arjuna; the wise work for the world." This, more than anything else, clashes for me with the stress my culture places on rewards and achievement.

When I read all this, I was fascinated by it. It resonated so truly with all the lessons I had been taught were Hinduism. All the principles I was taught came right out of its philosophy. The humility asked for by Krishna is simultaneously present and absent in his followers.

I don't think that the sense of pride only comes from immigrant cultures like mine. I think it's present in India too. There is constant religious violence between Hindus and Muslims, another example of the frenzied, insecure need to uphold whatever you have. India, as many Indians will readily brag, was once a huge world power, one of the most advanced cultures on the planet, the discoverer of zero, the creator of our numeral system, the inventor of chess. I have heard these facts so many times I know them and a million others by heart, all talking about "how __ India is," how India is "the most __ nation in the world."

But India was colonized by the British, and wherever its people went, they were put down. They were weaker, poorer and darker than everyone else, and that had to leave a mark on them. I don't know if I'm enough of a historian to attribute it to whatever they must have faced, but it's easy to imagine how all those factors could contribute to a collective need for self-esteem, that could have resulted in what I experience today.

When he wrote this, Gautama Mehta was 15 years old and on the KidSpirit Editorial Board. His article is reprinted with the permission of KidSpirit Magazine and can be found here. Gautama Mehta lives in Brooklyn, NY, and is into writing, music, art, math and social justice.

Follow KidSpirit on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kidspiritonline

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MikeGhouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he writes weekly at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, The Smirking Chimp and several other periodicals. His daily blog is www.TheGhousediary.com

TEXAS FAITH: Should the ban on political activity by churches be repealed?

Should the federal ban on political activity by churches and religious institutions be repealed – or remain in place? Our Texas Faith panel weighs in – and they don’t agree on the answer. This is a weekly column at Dallas Morning News, addressing the issues facing the nation. http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/03/texas-faith-should-ban-on-political_20.html

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas, Texas

As Americans of Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, independent and other persuasions, we are collectively and partially funding religious institutions through tax subsidy, and the least we can expect from them is to remain neutral to each one of us on political matters.

Every American has 1/312 Millionth of a share in such subsidy, why would I, a Republican want my money to go to a church that supports democrats or vice-versa?

As a nation we have to debate the need for giving tax breaks to religious organizations, and why do they need the tax break? We may disagree with Governor Perry on a lot of issues, except the idea that every foreign nation must justify their need for even a dollar to go to them. How does giving a tax break for religious organizations benefit every American indiscriminately?

Dallas Morning News had a similar question a few months ago. Can the Pastor of a Church publicly endorse a candidate without influencing or dividing his or her congregation? That is the fine line that blurs the separation of Church and state.

The fact of the matter is, every one of us is politically inclined towards one candidate or the other; for a majority of us it is an emotional decision. Nearly 2/3rds of Americans have decided through party affiliation who they will vote for – it is a clear choice to them; Democrats or Republicans. It is really the 1/3^rd of undecided voters that the parties are vying for.

So the top ten evangelicals ganged up on Romney, simply because of his faith - cloaked in the disguise of not conservative enough. Wouldn’t their congregations follow their lead? The most conservative states are following that lead and giving boost to Santorum. He in turn has followed the bait by going to the extreme and becoming Mullah Santorum.

If we allow any majority to dictate the nation, we will lose the very essence of America; a God’s country where everyone of His creation lives in harmony.

We are not a mobcracy-democracy, where the majority bullies the minorities, like the Republican house bullied the Democratic minority in holding out the payroll tax break for majority of Americans. We need to follow the rule of law and temper the majority with righteousness and honor everyone’s space and right to the pursuit of their happiness.

Greatness of our nations lies in our system, the checks and balances. The representative form of governance has not let us fall into a pit like most other nations. We must keep the separation of church and state and strip the tax breaks from those institutions that break the rules.

Had it not been for bad politics, there would have been one Christianity; one Islam, one Judaism, one Hinduism and one Native Tradition. Now let’s not allow the same bad politics to divide our nation based on religion.

For all the responses from the panelists, please visit Dallas Morning News at http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2012/03/texas-faith-should-the-ban-on.html
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MikeGhouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he writes weekly at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, The Smirking Chimp and several other periodicals. His daily blog is www.TheGhousediary.com 

HAPPY NOWRUZ

I have not attended the Nowruz festivity in a while, but it is fresh on my mind. My Zoroastrian friends had a gathering and it was a pleasure to be a part of the festivity… fruits and veggies, sort of Jewish Purim festival.

Way back in 1996,  I had a weekly radio show on Saturdays called "Festivals of the world", where in we shared the essence of every festival occurred during that week. When we announced about it for the first time on the radio, assuming it was a Zoroastrian Festival; our Baha'i, Ismaili and Iranian friends called in and said, it was theirs too. Well Happy Nowruz to all!

Zoroastrian faith has been in my domain since I was about ten, my mothers close friend was a Parsee lady (Zoroastrian) Mrs. Bahramjee, we affectionately called Parsee Amma ( In Bangalore, we have a habit of tagging Amma to every senior lady) she came to visit my mother on Tuesdays and they talked for several hours…God only knows what. My first encounter with Baha'i was with Ben and Simi Moghaddas in 1993, they were on my Radio Show to talk about Bahai faith and my first Iranian contact was when I was in college- they came to Bangalore Medical College and Bangalore Agriculture College from Iran.

I could not find my piece on the festivity…but I found my CD I bought from the stall at Nowruz… it's in Persian, I can read it, and understand a few words… but the songs and music is fabulous. Somewhere I have a CD in Avesta language as well... the gentleman is in Californian and he and I have the same  voice. Even I was taken back listening to him, it is a rare voice.

Here is the story:

Nowruz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the year in Iranian calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox, which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. As well as being a Zoroastrian holiday and having significance amongst the Zoroastrian ancestors of modern Iranians, the same time is celebrated in parts of the South Asian sub-continent as the new year. The moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day is calculated exactly every year and Iranian families gather together to observe the rituals.

Originally being a Zoroastrian festival, and the holiest of them all, Nowruz is believed to have been invented by Zoroaster himself, although there is no clear date of origin Since the Achaemenid era the official year has begun with the New Day when the Sun leaves the zodiac of Pisces and enters the zodiacal sign of Aries, signifying the Spring Equinox.

The Jewish festival of Purim is probably adopted from the Persian New Year. It is also a holy day for Sufis, Ismailis, Alawites, Alevis, and adherents of the Bahá'í Faith.

The term Nowruz in writing, first appeared in Persian records in the 2nd century AD, but it was also an important day during the time of the Achaemenids c. 548-330 BC), where kings from different nations under the Persian empire used to bring gifts to the Emperor, also called King of Kings (Shahanshah), of Persia on Nowruz. The significance of Nowruz in the Achaemenid empire was such that the great Persian king Cambyses II's appointment as the king of Babylon was legitimized only after his participation in the New Year festival (Nowruz).

Happy Nowruz


http://wisdomofreligion.blogspot.com/2012/03/happy-nowruz.html 

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MikeGhouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he writes weekly at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, The Smirking Chimp and several other periodicals. His daily blog is www.TheGhousediary.com

HAPPY HOLI, India's festival of colors and joy

http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/03/happy-holi-india-festival-of-colors-and.html

Radiant Colors of Holi

Holi is an Indian festival of radiance. It is a celebration of spring with colors that nourish one’s joyous moods and complements the function of respective elements in the atmosphere.

Legend has it, that Lord Krishna is believed to have complained to his mother about his dark complexion while Radha's had a lighter skin. Krishna's mother decided to apply color to Radha's face (Reverse Make up?) The celebrations officially usher in spring, the celebrated season of love.

The essence of Holi is liberation and breaking the barriers between adults and children, family members and friends, and the festivity opens up to each other.

Several years ago, my son, daughter and I were drenched in Holi colors at the Hindu Temple festivities and were driving home. At a stop light, people in others cars on either side stared at us and looked scared and drove off screeching on the green light... the three of us laughed and looked at each other…  it dawned on us that we looked bloody, green, yellow and mellow.......colors in our hair, face and clothes…

My kids thoroughly enjoyed throwing the colors in liquid and dust forms on me, they loved it. I would also call it friendship festival as it removes inhibitions.

Prasad's daughter, Prasad Thotakura | Jasmina, Mike and Jeff Ghouse

Wow, Happy Holi!

Although Holi is part of the Hindu tradition, most Indians participate in it, here is a song that reflects the unity of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians and of course, Jains, Zoroastrians, Baha’i, Jews, Buddhist and native traditions… also celebrate it.  Here is a Bollywood song to reflect that.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NocV6jsegVY

The picture below reflects that sentiments - all colors coming together to create oneness, thus the phrase Vasudaiva Kutumbukum; the whole world is one family. Similar expressions are a staple in every faith.

Holi is celebrated at the end of the winter season on the last full moon day of the lunar month Phalguna which usually falls in the later part of February or March.

Since 1993, I have been writing about every festival on the earth, have done a weekly Radio program called "Festivals of the world" and shared about each festival.  Make it simple enough that most people can get the essence of it. For Hindus there is lot more depth and meaning to it, but for the non-Hindus, this gives them an idea about the festival. It is a part of the Pluralism education, so we all can know each other and appreciate our own uniqueness. Each one of is a model of our own.

Happy Holi and please enjoy the songs;

From the movie Lagaan, Radha Kaisay na Jalay -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmC86-uX7JE

Top ten Holi songs - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEkZddiPP7g&feature=related

Mike Ghouse is committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, and cohesive societies.www.ProfessionalSpeakerMikeGhouse.com and current articles atwww.TheGhousediary.com 

Happy Purim, one of the happiest Jewish Holidays

I am pleased to wish a very Happy Purim to our Jewish friends across the globe.  Purim is one of the happiest of holidays of the Jewish people, it the story of freedom from anxiety of being annihilated.  This has reference to a point in history where an evil man plots to annihilate the Jews, but the Persian king is persuaded by Esther otherwise.  It was a major victory and thus the celebration.  Happy Purim.

I have written a heartfelt article on Israel and Palestine, published in 3 installments at Huffington post.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/israel-and-palestine-moving-forward_b_1258261.html . You might understand the history of Jewish people to understand Purim.

The book of Esther

The story of Purim is told in the Biblical book of Esther. The heroes of the story are Esther, a beautiful young Jewish woman living in Persia, and her cousin Mordecai, who raised her as if she were his daughter. Esther was taken to the house of Ahasuerus, King of Persia, to become part of his harem. King Ahasuerus loved Esther more than his other women and made Esther queen, but the king did not know that Esther was a Jew, because Mordecai told her not to reveal her identity.

The villain of the story is Haman, an arrogant, egotistical advisor to the king. Haman hated Mordecai because Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman, so Haman plotted to destroy the Jewish people. In a speech that is all too familiar to Jews, Haman told the king, "There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your realm. Their laws are different from those of every other people's, and they do not observe the king's laws; therefore it is not befitting the king to tolerate them." Esther 3:8. The king gave the fate of the Jewish people to Haman, to do as he pleased to them. Haman planned to exterminate all of the Jews.

Mordecai persuaded Esther to speak to the king on behalf of the Jewish people. This was a dangerous thing for Esther to do, because anyone who came into the king's presence without being summoned could be put to death, and she had not been summoned. Esther fasted for three days to prepare herself, then went into the king. He welcomed her. Later, she told him of Haman's plot against her people. The Jewish people were saved, and Haman and his ten sons were hanged on the gallows that had been prepared for Mordecai.

The book of Esther is unusual in that it is the only book of the Bible that does not contain the name of G-d. In fact, it includes virtually no reference to G-d. Mordecai makes a vague reference to the fact that the Jews will be saved by someone else, if not by Esther, but that is the closest the book comes to mentioning G-d. Thus, one important message that can be gained from the story is that G-d often works in ways that are not apparent, in ways that appear to be chance, coincidence or ordinary good luck.

From Judaism 101

Mike Ghouse
www.ProfessionalSpeakerMikeGhouse.com