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Festivals & Commemorations
Jan 2009
Dec 2008
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Holocaust &
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1/24/09 Website1
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The Mike Ghouse
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A
PLURALISTIC PERSPECTIVE ON ISSUES OF THE DAY
Gaza
Petitions to stop Killing
This is the
least you can do to save the lives.
It would be shameful if we defend any one one of these
criminal leaders who are acting in behalf of the
people of Israel and Gaza; Jews or Muslims.
Happy
2009 - A new way of looking at the new year
Life
is a choice every day and every moment.
It is not what happens out there or what happens to you,
it is how you react to the situations, you can choose to
be angry or sad and ruin your hour, day or the week, and
it is your choice.
They
are neither Gazans nor Israelis, they are evil men
To save a life is like saving the whole humanity says
the Torah and the Qur'aan; Don't call them Jews or
Muslims, they are simply killers individual or
en-masse; The war is not between Israelis and Gazans,
it is between evil men and evil men.
Gaza
Solutions
The world sympathized with Israel for the rockets they
endured in their backyards, but when they get on the
revenge bandwagon and indiscriminately kill, they lose
sympathy. The oppressed ones all around the world
including the majority of Israelis and Jews feel the
pain of this massacre, it flies in the face of our
continued efforts to stop massacres, it is time for all
of us to speak up. This is not the act of peace making;
this is the act of destroying a people.
Christmas & Kwanza | Muharram & Zartosht Deso
Wouldn't it be nice to learn a little bit about each
other, how they commemorate or
celebrate? Friendship
is an amazing thing, it takes time to know, but when you
do, a lot of myths about others disappear - and you find
an amazing peace within you for knowing some one from
some group, whom you thought...oh well, you got it.
I have
compiled, borrowed and added a few notes to learn and
share about the following festivals and commemorations.
It is not perfect, please help me do better next year.
Hanukkah |
Pancha Ganapati | Khushali | Winter Solstice
We wish
the very best for these celebrations and we invite
articles on the essence and rituals of each one of the
festivals. Christmas and Kwanza next
Kafir and Kufr ( Who is an
infidel)
The
given meaning of the word is Kafir is divisive and
should have no place in civil societies. Kaffir is not
"one who denies" , rather it is one who does not believe
in what you believe. Putting both on par, a symbol of
humility and a guarantee to decimate arrogance.
The Essence
of Eid-al-Adha,
a Muslim Festival
Eid-al-Adha is also known as
Hajj or Bakrid (variations listed) if you wish to greet
Muslims on this day you may say Happy Eid or Eid
Mubarak. Eid is festivity.
Scream Bloody Murder, reflections on Genocides
It is natural to feel angry knowing that
the world stood by silently when the Jews were put on
the train to the gas chambers; when the live skeletal
bodies were thrown into the ditches; when the Bosnian
Muslims children were given chocolates and told not to
worry and go right behind and open gunfire and massacre
them; when the Canadian general sends faxes upon faxes
to the United Nations to send help, while the UN and USA
chose not to get involved and 800,000 Rwandans were
massacred in day light.......If you don't feel anger or
sadness because they were not of your faith, race or
ethnicity, shame on you.
Celebrating
life of America's Imam - Warith Deen
Mohammad
Imam Warith Al-Deen Mohammed is one of the most
distinguished Muslim leaders in the United States, who
passed away on September 8, this year. It is indeed a
great loss of leadership. Warith Deen Mohammad is
recognized worldwide as a leading Islamic thinker,
philosopher and a religious leader.
Mumbai
Terrorism
Commemoration Prayers
by
India Assn.
The India Association of North Texas, based in
Richardson,
Texas
held a candle light vigil at its premises in
Richardson,
Texas. Established
in 1962, IANT, as it is known represents over 100
India
based associations in
North Texas.
10 Candles were lit by representatives of a faith or an
India
based organization to commemorate the tragedy of
Terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. As of now over 150
people are dead in the terrorist attacks at ten
different locations in Mumbai, India.
The Essence
of thanksgiving
It is one of my favorite holidays; it is a day to
express gratitude to all those who have helped shape our
lives. It is also a day to
express friendship and kindness to those who are
struggling with the difficulties of life, Thanksgiving
is a day of sharing.
It is just not you, ask Bill Gates, whom God has blessed
proportionately for his intelligence, he would answer,
not enough! Ask the Homeless the same question; the
answer is still the same, not enough. Who has enough
then?
Obama Hawks
Shaping American Foreign Policy
Given the Lack of opposition in the three branches
of our Government, I will do my best to keep
pointing to the
OBAMA
BLUNDERS and I hope the media takes the
responsibility
for our disaster by not speaking out during Bush times,
and will fulfill its responsibilities to speak up now.
We have our freedom back now.
Muslims
Beware; Wikipedia Blunder
on Kaaba
I
cannot believe Wikipedia is taken as a gospel by so
many, every word in it is taken as the ultimate truth.
You will discover it's danger in the following report. A
statement is made "While
destroying each idol, Muhammad recited
[Qur'an 17:81]
which says "Truth has arrived and falsehood has perished
for falsehood is by its nature bound to perish."[28][29]
"
Obama, you
should not have teased that dog
Obama, you goofed on your 60 minutes interview. You can
do better than that. There is a Chinese proverb, you
kill the enemy, you make more enemy, you friend the
enemy, no more enemy.
Jewish-Muslim Dialogue; a necessity - "Monster among us
"
Muslims should participate in Jewish events and
vice-versa. Staying away from each other will not
contribute towards peace-making that both communities so
deserve. We have to come together without conditions and
learn each others concerns and clarify mis-information
and together find solutions. If we don’t, the who will?
-the
primary obstacle to peace is simply inadequate
communications stemming from the unwillingness to see
another point of view.
Suspected
Fascists in Obama Administration
They cannot have bias or hatred for other humans as it
may cause them to remain "silent" or "tacitly" approve
or disapprove a situation that is "unjust" and
unsustainable in the long haul. Of course, Obama will
throw every one out who is blatantly biased towards
other people; however he has to watch for the subtle
ones. Let this be a government of people, you and I have
the responsibility to ensure that it is.
President Obama choked me with tears
I
choked and I felt the tears in my eyes, the tears of
Joy, I was happy to think of the prospect of America
becoming a great nation once again, in those few bare
seconds I was imagining prosperity knocking on every
American door fulfilling the dream of millions of
Americans with a Job, health and education for their
children.
Rebuilding
America; end of an era of extremism
As a Patriotic American and as a Pluralist, I would urge
all of us to stand with the new President Obama, but
never forget our first loyalty; our democracy. We
need to strengthen the opposition, finally we have a
government of the people and we need to make sure checks
and balances are preserved, for that we need opposition,
a strong one at that.
Sri Sri Ravi
Shankar
in Dallas
Sri Sri was enthused about the need for the work in the
evolving Multifaith pluralistic societies. Memnosyne
Foundation will play a crucial role in becoming a
catalyst in giving currency to great programs of Art of
Living Foundation in opening people's hearts and minds
towards fellow beings.
Universal
Peace Federation
Mike Ghouse defines Pluralism and the leaders of UPF lay
out their views on interfaith and peace work.
Jewish-Muslim Dialogue, a necessity
The Jewish Community Center in Dallas recently screened
a documentary “The Monster among us”, produced
and directed by Dallas filmmakers Allen and Cynthia
Mondell. Watching this film (as well as other films in
the past) and listening to the responses of the audience
has confirmed my belief that one of the
primary obstacles to peace is simply inadequate
communications stemming from the unwillingness to see
another point of view. There are certainly rotten apples
in the barrel, but focusing on them to the exclusion of
the positive only exacerbates the problem. Muslims and
Jews need to dialogue without keeping a score or blaming
the other.
Hope
for America
When we hear wrong things, we may remain silent, because
it may suit our agenda; wrong or right. What if every
one remains silent because it suits them? I am sure you
are aware of the Martin Niemöller’s poem he wrote during
the World War II
Saving the Republican Party
As Americans,
we have an obligation to maintain the checks and
balance in our governing system. If not, we will be
re-paving the way for the mistakes we have made in the
past; Putting all governance in one basket; the
Republican or the Democratic Party.
Joel
Osteen's life changing message
May you be
inspired to be the best you can be. Each one of you is
our own model, God created each one of you to be a
unique being among the 6.5 Billion of us and you should
be yourselves and not worry about being some one-else.
Shari'ah in America
Whereas the
Public Sharia deals with the community affairs; such as
marriage, divorce, inheritance, conversion, apostates
and other rules that deal when more than one individual
is involved in the issue. The intent is always Justice
and fairness to members of the society. The American
civic laws are founded on Justice and most Muslims feel
that the American laws are just and will work for
them and are a great substitute.
Columbus day, greed, religion and spices
It was this day, some 516 years ago, Columbus
(formally) found this land and the people; the Red
Indians. I am pondering bits and pieces of history
in a random order on this occasion. I have a few
questions for us to ponder over.
Jesus would not have authorized any
of that violence, yet, the world allowed those
missionaries to butcher the natives in the name of Jesus
-
the Jews and Muslims were thrown
into cauldrons if they refused to convert to
Christianity -A
strong America is not the goofy idea of threatening
every one in the world and spreading ourselves thin and
weak.
Republicans, please put America First
It
is time for you, the good principled Republican
senators, congressmen and women and all those committed
to the principles of the party to wake up and rescue the
party from being hijacked again by those extremists who
want power devoid of republicanism.
Should Obama attack McCain?
"Senator McCain, you
keep parroting "you don't understand" as if that is the
only phrase you know, thank you, just tell me if you
understand, or even hear what I have said many times and
just three minutes ago that " the U.S. must insists
that Pakistan 'go after these militants.' and 'If we have
Osama Bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistani government
is unable or unwilling to take them out, then I think we
have to act, and we will take them out'. Senator McCain,
Isn’t' that what I said? why do you turn around and say
that ‘I will attack Pakistan. Do you really hear things
out ? Is that how you make you judgments?’
Tell me
the Talmud
God willing, I have committed to translate Qur'aan from a
perspective of its intent "a guidance book for all people
and all ages", to be inclusive in every sense. I would add
"one of the several guidance books for all times to come".
I sincerely hope all the Holy Scriptures will one day be
translated in a common way that every person, no matter
what faith he or she practices, must feel in tune with and
relate with every one of the books. Those books were
written for the whole universe and we have to see them in
that light.
Who Put hate in my Paper?
The majority of
Americans and Israelis are being duped by the Neocons.
This group is bent on creating chaos and have
consistently messed up peace in the Middle East and
elsewhere. Imagine the world without them? Peace is not
their interests, peace does not give them a nice chunk
of money, chaos does. We need to ask this group to take
a vacation and see how much better the world would be
without them.
The Spirit of
Rosh Hashanah
Rabbi Haas of Temple Shalom joined me in sharing the
essence of Judaism every month on my Radio Talk show
here in Dallas. The daily one hour show was called
"Wisdom of Religion, all the beautiful Religions". Wish you all the best on the eve
of Rosh Hashanah. As a Muslim, I will be happy to blow
the Shofar in a Synagogue this week, just call me. If it
is not in the tradition, just add me up as an extra. My
Imam had done something similar once. Happy Rosh
Hashanah to you.
The Spirit of
Diwali
Like the other festivals of India, Navaratri is rich in
meaning. At one level, Navaratri signifies the progress
of a spiritual aspirant. During this spiritual journey,
the aspirant has to pass three stages personified by
Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. Then, he or she enters
into the realm of the infinite, wherein one realizes
one's Self. Next year, when I have a life partner, we
will celebrate Diwali in my house. Happy Diwali
Women
Led Muslim Prayers
Oppression of people and suppression of Ideas knocks off
the balance in any given society and both go against the
fiber of Islam; freedom and justice. Now comes, Dr.
Amina Wadud, a Muslim woman has led the Friday
congregational prayers for mixed genders, it is indeed a
radical idea for those of us who are entrenched in
thousands of years of traditions. Muslim Men are no
different in their insecurities than Jews, Christians,
Americans, Arabs, Zulus, Mongolians or the Mayans. If
your strip the dirt from the religion, it boils down to
"a men thing" rather than a Religious issue.
The Spirit, rituals and politics of Ramadan
The Spiritual masters have
captured the human gravity for rituals and have molded
it with the art and science of self-discipline in their
respective religion. The noble purpose of each one of
them was to bring a balance in our lives and a balance
with things that surround us; life and environment.
Every faith is composed of a set of unique rituals to
bring discipline and peace to human life. Fasting is
one of the five key rituals that Muslims around the
world observe.
Women who Soar
Honoring Mary
Ann Thompson-Frenk, Humanitarian, Artists and a
Philanthropist. The award luncheon is about celebrating
, and recognizing amazing women who've reached
extraordinary professional and personal success. It is
about the journey of the women. It is about empowering
and inspiring one to reach new heights and soar!
Brilliantly you is about each one teaching one.
Peace
is the result of Justice
When criminals walk around freely without consequences
to their crimes, it frightens the victims, neither of
them is at peace; one is raged and the other outraged.
When a child is abused, there has got to be punishment
for the abuser; when a woman is violated, the violator
has to pay for it; and when the weak is taken advantage
of, the user has to be accounted for it; and when the
disadvantaged is had justice must be restored.
Where Jews
and Arabs get along
The story is about a
beautiful model township of co-existence in Israel. The town I
grew up in India was like that, where my Dad consciously
molded the outcome of the communal conflicts to peaceful
resolutions. He was the Mayor of the town of Yelahanka and he
put his heart and soul into the growth of community free from
tensions. He has been gone for over thirty years, but his
legacy lives on.
A
Festival of Cricket in Carrollton
August 29th, 30th and 31st. Day and Night matches.
Independence day
Celebrations
One of the most sentimental moments for me was to see
people in their realm of joy and open mindedness on those two
days; August 14th and 15th. They showed their bigness
and pureness of their hearts - Indians have sung Pakistani
patriotic songs on August 14th and Pakistani's have sung
Indian Patriotic Songs on August 15th.
Finally, we
believe that with his colorful multi-culture
background and great experience, he
could be the best
man for the job as a Religion Adviser to Obama.
Asra Nomani jolts a few, cause
the majority of Muslims to think and certainly agitate the
extremists. I do know one thing though; the masters know
how to play the game, they know how the extremists react
and tease them to play; and the extremists simply fall
prey for it without realizing that they were had.
Shaping
Tomorrow - Center for Interfaith Inquiry
What kind
of world will we leave our children? Informed by the past,
how will we consciously create our future? With a
preponderance of behavior that only considers today’s
pleasures and the rollout of the latest toys, how do we
shift our focus to creating a healthy future history in a
multi-religious multi-cultural world?
the onus is on the Muslims, as the Prophet asks them
to walk the middle path and not extremes. If one were to
do his Jihad, an inner struggle and the strength to remain
peaceful despite the temptations to be angry, to retaliate
(turn the other cheek), hate, malice, revenge and other
vices. Alas they listen to their own Prophet and play the
other game; to be the peace makers.
India's
Independence Celebrations.
Anand Bazaar on
Saturday, August 16th 5:30 PM to Midnight. Visit
www.Iant.org
for
details. It is one of the biggest celebrations in the
United States.
As a Muslim, I question the amendment in the
constitution of Maldives. If we don't question it,
we would be giving a pass to exclusive ideologies
around the world. . The
noblest among you is the one who cares for the
neighbors, Qur'aan says. Shame on the fanatic
few in the Government of Maldives to get a
law like this passed, it is against the spirit of
Qur'aan and against the spirit of Prophet
Muhammad's Madinah pact that protected the rights
of every individual to practice his or her faith. In fact,
even conversion of the spouse was not a requirement in a
marriage. This amendment is contrary to the spirit of
Islam.
My hats off to the producer
for making this documentary; on his part, except the FGM
boo boo, he was fair in consistently reminding that it is
not in Qur’aan, he said that about the Hijab requirement,
about the FGM and several other incidents. The criticism
is fair and so is the truth.
Pakistan's Independence Celebrations.
Jashn-e-Azadi-e-Pakistan 2008 on Saturday, August 23rd.
Visit
www.psntonline.com
for
details. It is one of the nicely organized event in the
United States.