Workshops
Everything Mike writes, talk or acts is embedded with a simple formula; i.e., Conflict mitigation and goodwill nurturence.
Mike’s current workshops are listed in two places:
1. http://centerforpluralism.com/workshops/
2. http://americanmusliminstitution.org/events/
So, most of the workshops he conduct are about Civil Dialogue, conflict mitigation, understanding the essence of religions, all the beautiful religions.
A majority of the conflicts we have in our day to day lives are not real conflicts that deal with our space, sustenance and nurturence, but intangible conflicts based on misinformation about each other.
Over the years we have conducted several workshops called “Understanding religion, all the beautiful religions.” 26 workshops have been conducted thus far and more are planned.
All our workshops are designed to demystify the myths about each one of us and prevent stereotyping others. We hope to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill in every aspect of interactions with youth, women, adults and Seniors of different faiths, races, cultures and orientations.
The idea is when someone attends the workshops, he or she would be able to speak intelligently and without bias towards any of the religions, cultures, ethnicities.. etc. Please refer to our programs section.
The workshops would be about
- Understanding religions, all the beautiful religions
- Pluralism in politics, religion, society and culture
- Anti-Semitism
- Islamophobia
- Misogyny
- Xenophobia
- Homophobia
- Racism
- Quran
- Sharia
Some of the past workshops are as follows:
- Jan :: Undertanding Atheism Monthly workshop at 7:00 PM
- Feb:: Understanding Christianity Monthly workshop at 7:00 PM
- March:: Understanding Hinduism Monthly workshop at 7:00 PM
- April:: Understanding Buddhism Monthly workshop at 7:00 PM
- May:: Understanding Judaism Monthly workshop at 7:00 PM
- Jun:: Understanding Wicca Monthly workshop at 7:00 PM
- Jul:: Understanding Bahai Monthly workshop at 7:00 PM
- Aug:: Understanding Jainism Monthly workshop at 7:00 PM
- Oct:: Understanding Sikhism Monthly workshop at 7:00 PM
- Dec:: Understanding Islam Monthly workshop at 7:00 PM
From the past events:
PRESS RELEASE | POWER POINT PRESENTATION | SUMMARY
Understanding Sikhism Sun, Aug 26 – 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM ::Sikhism Sun, Aug 26 – 5:00 PM – 5:30 PM ::Pluralism Where: Crowne Plaza Hotel on Midway/ Addison. Please RSVP to: Confirmattendance@gmail.com
PRESS RELEASE The Foundation for Pluralism is committed to promoting understanding between peoples of different religious affiliations. “We believe knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance and appreciation of another point of view”. The Foundation for Pluralism has taken the initiative to present all religions in its programs. The goal is to bring people of different faiths together and provide a platform for them to share about their beliefs, their systems and rituals, while expanding the knowledge zone of each group. We hope each one of us would walk out with an open mind and an open heart towards our fellow beings. It is difficult to shed the prejudices, but once we do, there is genuine freedom (Mukti, Moksha, Salvation, and Nirvana.) in it. Sikhism: Everything you wanted to know about Sikhism, you can learn about it in this workshop. Dr. Harbans Lal will be presenting the program. Sikhism was founded on the principle of service to humankind is service to the Creator God. They believe in one God who is creator and the protector and pray for the well being of every human. Dr. Harbans Lal is Emeritus Professor and Chair of Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience at UNT Health Science Center and Emeritus Professor of Guru Nanak Studies at the Guru Nanak Dev University in India. He is President of Academy of Guru Granth Studies and member of Interfaith Council of the Thanks-Giving Square.
Dr. Lal is known for his research in the areas of behavioral medicine, spirituality and health. He serves on many national and international advisory boards, and has published over 500 papers and book chapters.
Dr. Lal remains active in many civic activities related to religion, culture and community services. In 1988, he was elected as the national president of Association of Scientists of Indian Origin in America. In 1995, he was awarded a Doctor of Literature (Religious Faculty), Honoris Causa, from the Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India. Pluralism Workshop: – What is Pluralism? What is a pluralistic attitude? Learn its application at work place, home, social situations and other circumstance. It is about co-existence ** (Questions to ponder – listed below) Details:
PRESS RELEASE :: Understanding Judaism Dallas, Texas: – Sunday, July 1, 2007. The Foundation for Pluralism is committed to promoting understanding between peoples of different religious affiliations. “We believe knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance and appreciation of another point of view”. The Foundation for Pluralism has taken the initiative to present all religions in its programs. The goal is to bring people of different faiths together and provide a platform for them to share about their beliefs, their systems and rituals, while expanding the knowledge zoneof each group. We hope each one of us would walk out with an open mind and an open heart towards our fellow beings. It is difficult to shed the prejudices, but once we do, there is genuine freedom (Mukti, Moksha, Salvation, and Nirvana.) in it. Judaism: Everything you wanted to know about the Judaism, you can learn about it in this workshop. As with all faiths, non-Clarity, myths and mis-information are part of Judaism as well. Please come prepared with questions, we would like you to walk out of the workshop with a greater understanding of Judaism. Dr. Howard Cohen is a student of his own tradition and history, a student of the early Church, how it emerged from and related to its Jewish background, and the history that surrounded the writing of the Gospels. Dr. Cohen has been studying history and religion at SMU’s department of religion and Perkins for over 30 years, and has been teaching Judaism to Christians and Christianity to Jews since 1975. Pluralism Workshop: – What is Pluralism? What is a pluralistic attitude? Learn its application at work place, home, social situations and other circumstance. It is about co-existence ** (Questions to ponder – listed below) Details:
UNDERSTANDING HINDUISM Dr. Hasmukh Shah and Swami Nityananda Prabhu conducted the presentation on Sunday, February 25, 2007. We will add the pictures and video to the Website shortly. We invited friends to write about Hinduism in 600 words, and we are pleased to present the following write ups from: POINTS TO PONDER
In affairs of the world, religion appears to be a source of the problem; it certainly is not. You can always trace the wars, genocides, oppression and other atrocities to evil insecure stupid men. Please remember, the purpose of religion was to fix the evils of humankind and it continues to do so while some men still don’t get it. Thanks God, the world is a better place today because of the Religion and spirituality, without which there would be chaos. Every Religion is on the same side, that of goodness for humankind. Finding the truth is one’s own responsibility. Truth brings salvation. If beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, then faith is in the heart of the believer. Let every one find peace his/her own way – Mike Ghouse |