America: May 2015

Friday, May 29, 2015

Bikers draw Muhammad Cartoons in Arizona

PRESS RELEASE

Contact:
Mike Ghouse, President
America Together Foundation
Dallas, TX | Washington DC
MikeGhouse@aol.com
(214) 325-1916
www.AmericansTogether.org

Let the Bikers draw Muhammad Cartoons in Arizona

Mike Ghouse of America Together Foundation, has released the following statements.

Let this be clear to my fellow Americans, we all have a collective responsibility to communicate and understand different values and learn to respect the otherness of others. ( An appeal to add to Friday Sermons is also made at the bottom).

Let the Bikers draw cartoons of the Prophet, look to this as an opportunity to follow the practice of the prophet, he was a mercy to mankind and it is time for Muslims to demonstrate that. What did he do when he was harassed on his way to Taif? He prayed in the tradition of Jesus, "forgive them God, for they know not". God's will was to show a way to build better societies by mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwill and not aggravating it. Thus he turned the other check as Jesus had and prayed for the well being of all.

This Friday, I urge Muslims around American Mosques to open up their hearts an minds of understanding, instead of sulking, retrieving to a corner, getting angry or harboring ill-will, I ask them to pray for the well being of Biker Americans in their Friday Sermons across the land and hopefully across the globe. Let them make an effort to build a cohesive America where no American has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. Let’s do our part right and seek God’s help in repairing our relationships.

I request the Islamic Community Center in Phoenix to welcome the guests with abundant supply of bottled water, leave it on the tables outside. If I can make it, I would like to be there and meet with our biker brothers and sisters. I am one of them in free spirit, and one of you in practicing Prophet’s kindness. More details at: www.AmericansTogether.org

The free speech is an enduring value and the hallmark of civilizations, and we simply cannot compromise on it, however much a few may abuse it. Indeed, Free speech is one strong element that will bind Americans together.

Criticism can fade away or rain on us depending on how we respond to it. Lack of conviction in one's faith breeds intolerance towards criticism, whereas firmness in faith can lead us to learn from criticism, explore the infinite wisdom and realize the strength of our faith (Imaan); a worthy feeling to have, instead of living in doubt and shooing criticism away.

We need to handle criticism of Quran, Islam and the Prophet with grace, and respond to it gracefully. At least it increases the chances of mitigating the conflict and restoring harmony. The other way around is fighting back, which guarantees further aggravation of the conflict and isolation. Let freedom of speech remain the corner stone of Islam.

I urge fellow Muslims to be open to all the criticism with confidence, let the doors of communications be open. 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?

APPEAL FOR FRIDAY SERMONS:

I hope and pray that we will let the world know that Prophet Muhammad was a mercy to mankind, through our acts. God willing, over a period of time, we will replace the wrong perceptions accumulated about us in the last 30 years, and go back to good times of respecting each other. Ask your Imam to pray for the well being, safety and security of every American whether we agree with him or not. Prophet Muhammad was all about mitigating conflicts and nurturing good will, and let's consciously do that, so once again the world can believe that Prophet Muhammad was a mercy to mankind.

As Muslims we seriously appreciate the gains we have had, that far outweigh the tensions given by a few who know not.
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References:

Dealing with Quran burning conflicts, a movie is on the horizon about free speech: http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2014/04/reestablishing-right-muslim-attitudes.html

Dealing with someone who cursed Quran – www.QuraanConference.com
Dealing with Pamela Geller http://americatogetherfoundation.blogspot.com/2015/05/pamela-geller-and-garland-shooting.html

Working with Sean Hannity of Fox News http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2014/06/youre-dangerous-sparks-fly-between.html

Criticism of Islam, Prophet and Quran http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2012/11/criticism-of-islam-prophet-muhammad.htmlThank you

mike
Mike Ghouse, Speaker
Motivation | Pluralism | Human Rights | Religion.
(214) 325-1916 text/talk
.................................................................................................................. .
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 with Sean Hannity 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.

Committment

Personally, I am committed to promoting goodwill amongst people, I believe knowledge leads to understanding, and understanding to acceptance and appreciation of a different point of view.

If we can learn to accept and respect the God given uniqueness of each one of the 7 billion of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

Ray Bradbury "Until one is committed, there is hesitancy... Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.… Whatever you can do or dream that you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now."

and this "If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down."

Dr. Abdul Hamid Abusulayman "There is a clear distinction between doubts and problems. Doubts provoke obstruction, frustration and discouragement, where as problems inspire motivation, action and diligence

Mike Ghouse " Whatever you do in life, do it wholeheartedly, there is joy in it for every one around including ourselves"

Taking a principled stand

Please be aware that I will do my best to take a principled stand on Justice. Which simply means no matter who, what or where there is injustice, I will speak out.

Most of our policies are based on short sightedness, What is our gain? Who can we please and how can we remain in our power positions? Be it our President, Congressman, Senator or a public officer, I will speak out.

When it comes to other nations, if they are non-inclusive and mistreat any segment of their population, I will speak out.

I will defend the goodness of every religion, religion is the reason we have relative peace in the world, without which it will be chaotic. For the crimes of mankind, let's find the culprit and laser bark at him, and not his family, his race, his ethnicity or his religion.

I am a moderate Republican, and my first loyalty is to democracy before the blinding loyalty to my party.

Obama is the right man in our history for our nation at this time and I have supported him all the way, the more I know about him, the more I feel he is the right man for the job.

My thought process is similar to Obama's. In fact he has used the same words in his speeches that I wrote on my blog a week ahead of him.

ISRAEL & PALESTINE

Thank God, I have no barriers between me and another human being.

Time permitting I want to see all points of view with an open mind, ultimately it is me or you, who is going to feel right or wrong about things and the pangs I will endure for realizing that I believed in the wrong thing.

No Imam, Rabbi, Pundit or Pastor is responsible for my actions and finding the truth is my own responsibility. Watching a Hamas movie does not make me a Hamas supporter or a Zionist movie would make me a Zionist supporter. We need to raise about such petty pegs.

My loyalty is to justice; and not to Israel or Palestine, which means support is based on issues and items and not wholesale blind support or un-support.

We do not have peace in Middleeast because of our loyalties to entities and not Justice. Every one wants peace, but they are not going about the right way.

Speaker and Writer

Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker, Writer and a Moderator.

He is a frequent guest on talk radio and local television network discussing Pluralism, interfaith, Islam, India, Multiculturism, Terrorism, Peace, Politics and Civic issues. He co-chairs the center for interfaith inquiry of the Memnosyne Foundation and presides the Foundation for Pluralism. He is the president of World Muslim Congress a think tank with a simple theme: Good for Muslims and good for the world and vice-Versa.

His comments, news analysis and columns can be found on the Web sites and Blogs listed at his personal web site www.MikeGhouse.net . He has authored over 600 articles on Pluralism, interfaith, Islam, India and peace.

His life mission is to open people’s hearts and minds towards fellow beings by mitigating conflicts and nurturing goodwill. He is a peace maker and an educator with two Master degrees and working on his doctorate in Psychology. He has two books on the horizon ; Basic Islam- everything you want to know about Islam and Pluralism, a text book on Pluralism 101.

Mike is a Neighborhood Commissioner at the City of Carrollton, and a Board Member of Dallas Peace Center. He is an Ambassador for Peace for the Universal Peace Federation and a member of the International leadership council. He has initiated the annual events like the Annual Thanksgiving Celebrations in its 12th year, Unity Day USA in its 5th year, Holocaust and Genocides, event just finished its 2nd Annual event. Mike Ghouse Cricket Gold cup and several other initiatives were taken. He was Past President of Indian Creek HOA and North Texas Cricket Association and has been a member of several Boards.

Mike is a Dallasite for three decades and Carrollton is his home town.

For a full still to be updated bio: http://www.mikeghouse.net/ProfileMikeGhouse.asp