The irony of intolerance

The irony of intolerance; Two articles By Tim Wildmon, AFA president & Mike Ghouse, Foundation for Pluralism

http://mikeghouseforamerica.blogspot.com/2008/04/irony-of-intolerance.html

I am pleased to see clear statements coming out of a self proclaimed Christian fundamentalist. It is a good thing, and hope more and more God's men and women express their sentiments as truthfully as they can. You can dialogue with those who tell their version of the truth like it is, rather than propaganda.

We must rejoice that we have figured out the truth and it works for “us”. I do not see a problem when one claims and gets excited about the path s/he has chosen gives him all the joys of life. The problem erupts when one’s truth is made to negate other’s truth. At this time one has certainly crossed the line of spirituality and has entered the realm of politics.

Unless we develop the capacity to acknowledge that other’s path is as sincere to them as our own is to us.

This is where germs of the conflicts can take root. The belief that my way is the only way, the right way, imbues arrogance in one’s self and causes one to believe that other’s way is inferior, incomplete, deficit and not really the right way. It would make me to look at the other in a condescending way “man you are behind, you need to come up” as if my belief is on par and every one else’s’ is under par, thus not as valuable as my own.

As Rabbi Gordis says, at this critical point, your dialogue would be infused with missionizing efforts, and gets reduced to a monologue. There is no more communicating going on except the repulsion and internal conflicts “how do I get this guy to see the truth” and the other’s frustration “this guy does not get it”.

This is also a point where Muslims need to seriously push the refresh button on the verse “no compulsion in matters of faith” to be larger than it sounds. Qur’aan offers its wisdom “you cannot tell or compel other to believe what you believe unless they see your point of view”. The Jain faith encourages several ways of looking at the issue and Hinduism wraps up “Vasudeva Kutumbakam” meaning the whole world is one family, when you believe that differences work out as diverse views rather than conflicting ideas.

Conflicts can be classified into real and imaginary. The real ones are; i) When some one’s space is invaded, ii) when some one affects your loved ones and iii) your sustenance, your food is challenged. All else is imaginary outsides these three real conflicts.

If the Religious heads can make an attempt to understand and communicate at least to their own congregations that “my belief will earn the grace of God” as others belief will earn it for them.

My appeal to all religious leaders is to see arrogance in their claim that our way is the only way. Even the idea that my faith does not claim monopoly like others is a statement of arrogance. Spirituality is about humility, accepting the parity of life.

Christians and Muslims in particular can push the refresh button and ponder on the following two statements, and lift the limits ascribed to these sentences.

1. I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
2. Islam is the final and complete faith. This is the way.

Do these statements negate other faiths? Are these statements for the believers without any comparative reference to other belief systems?

I think not.

When Jesus says follow me, Krishna says surrender to me or Allah says submit to my will, they are not asking to tread the physical path, surrender the physical being, or give up oneself physically.

They are in turn asking us to act like God, who loves his creation. The Sun he has created will shine on the dirtiest puddle as well as the crystal clear mountain indiscriminately, and when we do that, give the warm love and energy to the others indiscriminately, it falls all the barriers and the idea of oneness consolidates itself and a state of conflictlessness evolves; resulting in a blissful state of existence.

Jesus' words are profound, they are limitless and not confined to the shallowness of the words, and they are inclusive and all embracing. "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." Islam is certainly the final and complete faith, and the truth and the life, to the follower. One cannot go wrong if he or she follows any religious path.

After all, religion's purpose, viewed from Mr. Spock's point of view, which is not conditioned with any faith, is to bring balance to one own life, and balance with others and what surrounds him or her.

Respecting other paths as legitimate and divine does not mean infidelity to one's own, it simply means raising ourselves closer to God, the state of nothingness and everythingness. The higher we go, the broader our horizons would be.

Are we ready to push our refresh button and see the essence in all teachings?

Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker, Writer and a Moderator. He is a frequent guest on talk radio and local television network discussing Pluralism, politics, Islam, Religion, Terrorism, India and civic issues. He is the founder of the World Muslim Congress, a group committed to building bridges and nurturing a world of co-existence. He also heads the foundation for pluralism, an organization committed to studying religious pluralism and pluralistic governance. His personal website is http://www.mikeghouse.net/ and his writings are on the above websites as well as several of the ancillary Blogs listed on the sites.

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The irony of intolerance
By Tim Wildmon, AFA president -
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Journal/commentary.aspx
AFA Journal, April 2008

I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
I am a Christian fundamentalist, meaning, for one thing, that I believe in the declaration by Jesus Christ in John 14:6. I believe His claim to be absolute truth.

Compared to other belief systems, this is an exclusionary statement. It divides people. Either you subscribe to it, or you don’t. There is no in between. No gray area. The Scriptures contain many other similar quotes from Jesus. For example, in John 3:3 He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” And in Luke 13:3, He says, “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Christian fundamentalists like me take these words literally. Jesus wasn’t talking metaphorically. He wasn’t talking in parables, as He often did when teaching. In these declarations, He meant what He said and said what He meant.

In recent years there has been a plethora of books proclaiming the “dangers” of Christian fundamentalism. Some have reached the best-seller list, e.g. American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century by Kevin Phillips; Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism by Michelle Goldberg; American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America by Chris Hedges; and The Theocons: Secular America Under Siege by Damon Linker.

Christopher Hitchens, arguably today’s leading spokesman for atheism, has a new book titled God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. To give these folks their due, they are intelligent thinkers. They and many others like them represent the intellectual power of the secular left and they have significant influence in the world of academia, the mainstream national media, and the arts and entertainment industry. The common theme in these books and among the secular left is that people like Tim Wildmon are a clear and present danger to other Americans who do not agree with my fundamentalist Christian beliefs. Three pejorative words are often used to describe us: The Religious Right. In the secular leftist view, people like me have a political agenda to take over the country and subject non-believers – through the power of government – to our particular religious dogma. Often these people will say that we represent the Christian version of the Taliban. Obviously, the idea of a group of people gaining control of government and using it to force others to obey their particular religious beliefs scares many Americans. It would scare me, if I thought it were a real possibility. Now there may be people in this country who would like to do this, but trust me, none of the Christian fundamentalists I know have any desire to force their religious creeds on other Americans who choose to believe differently.
The secular leftist thinkers become intellectually dishonest when they mislead people into accepting the lie that just because fundamentalist Christians are active and engaged in championing Biblical morality in the political process, that activity somehow equates to theocracy.

Consider abortion, perhaps the most divisive social issues of our time. Christian fundamentalists believe that human life begins at conception and should be protected by government. So we work through the legal and the political systems to elect representatives who share this view. This is how the American process works. All we do is participate the same way other groups do. We have no desire to send an atheist to prison because he doesn’t confess John 14:6.If you argue that religious people should be excluded from public debate because their beliefs motivate their political activity, then you would have say the American civil rights movement was illegitimate. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a Christian minister, led the movement to pursuade government to impose a particular belief on America that all men are equal in the eyes of God. It was a movement that found it’s deepest conviction in Christianity.

WE CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISTS ARE BECOMING OUTCASTS IN AMERICA. BECAUSE WE ARE UNWILLING TO GO ALONG WITH THE IDEA THAT ALL ROADS LEAD TO GOD, WE ARE LABELED INTOLERANT. WE ARE UNWILLING TO SAY THAT ALL LIFESTYLES ARE MORALLY EQUAL, THEREFORE WE ARE BIGOTS. WE BELIEVE EACH PERSON MUST REPENT OF PERSONAL SIN AND ACCEPT JESUS CHRIST AS SAVIOR TO GO TO HEAVEN SO WE ARE LABELED FASCISTS. IT’S UNFAIR, BUT IT IS REALITY. THE SECULAR LEFTISTS WHO SUBSCRIBE TO SECULAR HUMANISM AND MORAL RELATIVISM MAY FREELY PUSH THEIR AGENDA, BUT THEY WILL NOT TOLERATE CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISM. AND WE’RE INTOLERANT? NOW ISN’T THAT AN IRONY.

Everywhich way Jesus

Everywhich way Jesus
http://mikeghouseforamerica.blogspot.com/2008/04/everywhich-way-jesus.html

Deepak Chopra on Jesus follows my comments;

This is a fascinating account by Deepak Chopra, a cosmic Jesus.

I have expressed time and again the injustice done to the teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians have bottled up his teachings by exclusively owning them, just as Muslims have done with Muhammad or Hindus with Krishna and similar stories go with the believers of different faiths.

It may not be wise to classify or claim the teachings of Jesus as Christian; they are indeed for every human. He was a great teacher who taught us how to attain nirvana or freedom from the bondage of suffering by simple teachings like love thy neighbor, treat others as you would want to be treated and turn the other cheek. This is the stuff for every one, it is pure wisdom.

By making Christ divine and owning him, the Christians have alienated Jesus from making home in the heart of billions of people in the world. He is a guide and whatever anyone wants him to be in their lives. No one needs to insist Jesus has to be one way or the other, he is every which way.

Jesus is a prophet and a great spiritual teacher to me and I will not take away the divinity Christians ascribe to him, he is everything to what any one wants him to be. As a Muslim I was taught to revere Jesus Christ, and Muhammad conveys God’s words that all the teachers are on par. About 25 are listed by name and the others lumped as an infinite number of 124,000, a prophet, a teacher to every community, every tribe and every nation was the promise of the creator.

When Jesus says follow me, to a few Christians it is invoking his name and believing him to be an absolute savior, savior from what? It is saving from going to hell. That works for the believers in that theme; however, others have their own understanding. To me he is a savior from the miseries (hells) of life, as following his teachings like love thy neighbor, treating others as you wanted to be treated, would bring peace and tranquility. The same message of bringing goodness to humanity was expressed in every nook and corner of the world by sevaral teachers.

Following Christ, surrendering to Krishna or submitting to the will of Allah is no different. They mean the same thing; to become like God. When you do that, you do not have a conflict with others, you would treat everything in your embrace and everyone along with you is in his (her or it) embrace. It is conflictlessness, the ultimate in salvation, nirvana, mukti, moksha or any name you would give, it is a blissful state of mind.

Let’s free Jesus, Muhammad, Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Bahaulla, Nanak, Zarthustra, Mahavir and all the great teachers. Let’s look up to each one of them with respect, it will take the conflicts out of us; let’s not own them any more. Please do not look at some one else to begin this, if you don’t begin, don’t expect others to. I am on.

Mike Ghouse
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Deepak Chopra provides a different take on Jesus

Religion in the News By TANIA FUENTEZ, The Associated Press 2008-04-04 10:47:50.0 Current rank: # 8,333 of 8,507 NEW YORK


Before he became known for promoting holistic health and spirituality, Deepak Chopra adhered to traditional Western medicine as an endocrinologist in Boston. He eventually questioned this approach, returning to the centuries-old Indian system of Ayurveda to find a balance between faith and science.

"I wanted to extend my idea of healing," Chopra said in a recent interview. "If you don't understand spiritual experience, you'll never understand healing."
Now, at 61, the physician and best-selling author hopes to extend conventional thought again - even more controversially - in "The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore" (Harmony Books). Chopra challenges Christian doctrine while presenting an alternative: Jesus as a state of mind, rather than the historical rabbi of Nazareth or son of God.

The third perspective - which Chopra calls "a cosmic Christ" - looks at Jesus as a spiritual guide whose teaching embraces all humanity, not just the church built in his name. Chopra argues that Christ speaks to the individual who wants to find God as a personal experience.

"I said to myself, 'Why not write a book that takes Jesus' teachings - and it doesn't matter if you're Christian or not - and learn from this and improve your life,'" he told The Associated Press at the Chopra Center and Spa in midtown Manhattan.

Considered a pioneer of mind-body alternative medicine, Chopra is president of the Alliance for a New Humanity and he has been listed among Time magazine's top 100 heroes and icons of the 20th century. His books have been translated into dozens of languages, with topics that range from aging and sexuality to golf and Buddha's path to enlightenment. In 1995, he co-founded the Chopra Center for Wellbeing with Dr. David Simon, which officially opened the following year.

Fascination with Jesus' life began during his lessons while attending a Roman Catholic school in India, Chopra said. Though his parents were from Hindu and Sikh families, "if you were relatively affluent, education was always in the Christian school because of the missionaries."

He moved to the United States in 1970 after graduating from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Chopra did his internship in New Jersey, and residency and fellowship at various institutions including Boston, Tufts and Harvard universities. He also was chief of staff at Boston Regional Medical Center for two years.

His interest in Hinduism and medicine evolved while observing a mind-body connection in his research, and a chance encounter in 1985 with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at a conference in Washington, D.C.

"I first leaned toward Ayurveda medicine and then actually went on to study other wisdom traditions of the world ... this happened during my training in neuro endocrinology where I saw what happened in consciousness in biology," Chopra explained.

"I was just extending my understanding of healing from physical to mental to social to environmental," he said. "That's what the 'Alliance' is all about ... healing the body politic, healing the world."

Chopra devotes substantial time to his own spiritual development. He meditates and exercises daily, though he occasionally enjoys a triple hazelnut latte.
During the interview, Chopra switches his Blackberry, covered in an orange case, to vibrate as he speaks on faith, politics and a list of projects like a new comic book launched with his son and Sir Richard Branson. The in-demand speaker is at ease quoting Scripture or talking quantum physics. He has studied the Bible closely, reading it hundreds of times.

Though "The Third Jesus" was on his mind for 25 years, it took him six months to complete once he began writing. The next book will be a fictional account of Jesus' missing years.

"Where else do you read a story of the Son of God being executed by their own?" he said. "It is dramatic. It's three years of his teaching and it has shaped the world for 2000 years."

In a review, Harvey Cox, Hollis professor of divinity at Harvard, said "The Third Christ" is "bound to provoke both admiration and condemnation." Chopra references the New Testament and Gnostic Gospels to deconstruct church doctrine and conservative Christianity on issues such as war, abortion, women's rights and homophobia.

"I see blogs every day that are negative and very nasty because this is not a literalist interpretation of Jesus," Chopra said. "My book is about Jesus as a state of consciousness. If I can aspire - maybe not achieve - but aspire to be in that state of mind and if a lot of people were aspiring to be in that state of mind this would be a better world."

"I emphasize this over and over again that whatever we do is about improving ourselves and improving the world."
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