Pope Francis, the pluralist

Pope Francis is my hero and an inspiration.  He is one of the true pluralists, respecting God and respecting every one God has created. Ever since he became the Pope in March, I have read up on him and now read almost everything about him.He gives me hopes that he can influence the world to be a better place to live for every human. He has already performed the acts of Jesus by embracing humanity regardless of their beliefs and practices. 

The age old conflicts between Judaism and Christianity, and Christianity and Islam, and denigration of Paganism and Hinduism have been down cast on the peace and tranquility of the world.  

After Gandhi, MLK and Mandela, Pope Francis is one person that does not have barriers between him and humanity. He is almost following the teachings of Jesus and Prophet Muhammad in spirit. Let's pray that he becomes an instrument of mercy to mankind.  

I have written 15 articles about him and hope to meet up with him. 

http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/12/pope-francis-articles.html 

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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam,Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building aCohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day atwww.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and a book with the same title is coming up. Mike has a strong presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links. 
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Festivals of the World: Essence of Christmas

Should Christmas be an exclusive Christian event? This Muslims' answer is no. We cannot limit Jesus to be exclusively owned by any group of people, nor can anyone monopolize his message. Jesus and his message belong to the whole of humanity. For Christians, he is the son of God, and for all others, he is a great man who brought the message of hope and peace to the world. Whether we believe in God or not, 

Continued http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/festivals-of-the-world-es_1_b_4492571.html#es_share_ended
 

Thank you
Mike Ghouse
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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and a book with the same title is coming up. Mike has a strong presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links. 
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Texas Faith: Does a white Christmas mean Santa and Jesus have to be white?

Some of the white Christians will resist the idea of Jesus to be anything but what they have come to believe, as if Jesus will cease to exist if he were black.  The black Christians may feel the image of white Jesus and Santa was imposed on them, and it is human to resist anything forced on you against your will. I am certain they had their own un-articulated image of Jesus and Santa for as long as they have been Christians. Mike Ghouse

TEXAS FAITH: Does a white Christmas mean Santa and Jesus have to be white?
By Wayne Slater - wslater@dallasnews.com
1:54 pm on December 17, 2013 | Permalink

A cable television anchor named Megyn Kelly told viewers last week that Jesus and Santa Claus are both white men. At issue was a Slate article written by a black writer titled “Santa Claus Should Not Be A White Man Anymore.” The context of the piece was the tendency of cultures to view important figures in the most familiar and comfortable light. On her Fox News program, Kelly took issue with the writer.

“Just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn’t mean it has to change. Jesus was a white man, too. It’s like we have, he’s a historical figure that’s a verifiable fact, as is Santa, I just want kids to know that. How do you revise it in the middle of the legacy in the story and change Santa from white to black?”
Both sides pounced. Liberal web sites and late-night comics lampooned her. Conservative web sites defended her. Saturday Night Live did a skit featuring a black Santa. The debate went viral on the Internet. Kelly subsequently suggested she was joking and cast herself as a victim of identity politics. Clearly, her facts were flawed. Jesus was a 1st Century Jew who was likely dark skinned and Santa Claus is a mythological figure whose historical antecedent was from Turkey.

People believe what they are prepared to believe. What’s interesting was the passionate reaction to the remarks. Why the fierce dustup? Why did the idea that a white Christmas means Santa’s white cause so much consternation? What did this episode say about the way we see the world and our willingness — or reluctance – to see things in different ways?

Our Faith Panel weighs in thoughtfully (and with a few fireworks) on history, ethnic identity, political correctness and the virtues of faith and the holidays:

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism and speaker on interfaith matters, Dallas

If Jesus is our lord, and Santa Claus represents the joys of Christmas, I have to relate with them to call them “our Lord” and “our Santa”. Just as God claims to have created humans in his own image so he can relate with them, I would say, we have created God in our own image, a whopping 7 billion perceptions of God.

Even though God is stamped onto our memory with certain images, features and characteristics, some of us have developed our own embellishments to it to personalize him, her or it. While a majority of Christians, Hindus and others have a built-in image of God, the Buddhist, Jains, Zoroastrians and Native traditions do not have a set image, yet they have created their own image of God. The Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Baha’i and others do not take God as a being or an entity, and certainly have a built-in resistance to collapsing God into an image or a shape. But deep down, they imagine and describe God as a being, however, they knock it out instantaneously. It’s human to relate God as their own.

I am blessed to have universalized God. Even those who knew me, particularly Muslims in Dallas, thought I was a Hindu, Buddhist or a Baha’i, and the Hindu community thought I was a Christian and a Buddhist until ten years ago. Three years ago, I was in a Muslim conference and an Arab Muslim came over and started praising my articles on Islam, and said he has translated and published them in Arabic. He then asked me how do I know so much about Islam, and when I said, I am a Muslim, he was taken back and said he thought I was Jewish all these years! One of my Hindu friends of 20 years, until recently, insisted that I cannot be anything but a Hindu or at least a Christian.

If someone likes you, they want to see you as their own, in their own image. Of course the white Christians saw Jesus in their own image, and the African Americans just took that image when they became Christians. But I am certain; they had their own un-articulated different image of Jesus and Santa for as long as they have been Christians.

Some of the white Christians will resist the idea of Jesus to be anything but what they have come to believe, as if Jesus will cease to exist if he were black.  The black Christians may feel the image of white Jesus and Santa was imposed on them, and it is human to resist anything forced on you against your will.

The need of the day is to upgrade Jesus, above all human imaginations and limitations and accept him in essence rather than in physical form. It is his love and sacrifice to humanity that needs to be appreciated. I hope and pray that at least from this Christmas season forward, we accept and embrace Jesus without reserve just as he set the example of embracing the humanity without reserve. Let him be meaningful to us in every which way he can be imagined.

To see the take from 12 different panelists, go to Dallas Morning News at:http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2013/12/texas-faith-does-a-white-christmas-mean-santa-and-jesus-are-white.html/

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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and a book with the same title is coming up. Mike has a strong presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest onSean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links. 
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The Power of Faith - Hindu woman and Muslim man praying together

This is a good story of pluralism, i.e., respecting the otherness of others and accepting the God-given uniqueness of each one of us.  This a common scene in India, sadly a few Hindus and Muslims are corrupted and have become intolerant towards each other. Thank God, they are still a few and we have to work in preventing that poison from spreading. Mike Ghouse

Beauty as seen in a sufi shrine.

[Text and picture by Mayank Austen Soofi]

One humid Saturday afternoon I was at the dargah of sufi saint Sarmad Shahid. It is in Old Delhi, just outside Jama Masjid’s gate no. 3.

The red-walled shrine was empty, save a few pilgrims. There was a man, with a beard and a skull cap, praying in front of Sarmad's tomb. Just then a young woman appeared in a sari and stood by his side. With the sindoor spread length-wise on the parting of her hair, and a black-beaded mangalsutra wound round her neck, it was clear that she was a Hindu.

The woman had a few agarbattis in her hands. The sari’s pallu was drawn modestly over her head. Her eyes were closed, her lips were moving, and so were the agarbattis in a never-ending circle, just the way Hindus do in their temples.

I do not know what the lady was murmuring to her saint. I’m not even certain if she was familiar with the ethos of Islam, but the sight was beautiful. Here was a Hindu woman, standing beside a Muslim man; both making their own personal prayers. Both had their eyes closed. Neither minded the other's presence. Neither felt 'impure'.

We Delhiwallas are just amazing people.

These two were from different religions, different backgrounds, but for a short time, they came together in a place of spirituality and, rather unintentionally, stirred up a joint communion.

It does not matter if the shrine belonged to a sufi saint, or a Hindu god, or a Sikhu guru. It does not matter if they were not in the pursuit of spirituality, but merely petitioning for personal favors. What matters is that together they showed all that is beautiful in our city, and in our religions.

While there is no argument that all faiths have caused conflicts, cruelties and communal riots, the same religions have, at times, brought out the best from their followers. That is why that Saturday afternoon I thought of Samuel P. Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations and laughed.

Blaming religion is stupidity

BLAMING RELIGION IS STUPIDITY

We should tell the criminals, those who murder, rape, steal, kill, burn, bomb and go to war - you SOB, you did the harm, you killed, you wronged and you pay for it.

You blame an individual to punish, hang, beat, bury or pay to restore trust through justice in the society. Individuals commit crimes, not religions. Religion does not teach one to be criminal, none whatsoever! We should not buy poor excuses of abusers!

I am not buying your ridiculous stupidity to blame the religion. I am not going to let you get away and blame the religion that I cannot do anything with, it is intangible, I cannot kill it, hang it, fire it or bury it. What's the point in blaming if does nothing?

We build better societies by placing the blame where it belongs; the individuals and not his parents, spouse, siblings, kids, spouse, rabbi, imam, pastor, pundit, gyani, shamans and the mayor of the town and even religion. If we take that stance, we increase the chances of building cohesive societies where no human has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. Where there is justice, trust, harmony and peace are the products.

Mike Ghouse, speaker on building cohesive societies to function effectively. www.TheGhousediary.com

Thank youmike
Mike Ghouse, President
Foundation for Pluralism
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Studies in Religious Pluralism and Pluralistic societies
2665 Villa Creek Dr, suite 206, Dallas, TX 75234
Workshops | Radio Shows | Seminars | Lectures

If we can learn to respect the otherness of others, and accept the God-given uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge. Pluralism is respecting the otherness of others.

Mike Ghouse,  the Foundation for Pluralism

Jewish Christian Conflict and Pope Frances solution by releasing Evangelii Gaudium

Once again, Pope Francis is committed to building bridges and this is a good step forward and I have highlighted the Muslim-Christian conflict in another article. "Pope Francis was probably not looking at the Jewish calendar when he released his new apostolic exhortation, "Evangelii Gaudium," (The Joy of the Gospel), it was a serendipitous Chanukah gift, that brought joy to the Jewish world. " - Mike Ghouse

Pope Francis' unexpected Hanukkah gift

By Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein

Published December 03, 2013

FoxNews.com

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  Dec. 2, 2013: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, presents Pope Francis with a Menorah during their meeting at the Vatican. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Pool)
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  Pope Francis adjusts his skull cap as he arrives on his pope-mobile for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2013. Francis is bundling up for the cold snap belting Italy, donning a white double-breasted winter coat and scarf for his weekly general audience. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (The Associated Press)
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  Pope Francis grabs a shirt thrown to him by faithful as he leaves at the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2013. A chilly Pope Francis has cheered the thousands of pilgrims who braved a cold snap belting Italy to attend his weekly general audience, saying they were courageous to come out. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (The Associated Press)
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  Nov. 27, 2013: Pope Francis waves as he conducts his weekly general audience at St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. (Reuters)
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  Pope Francis tries to keep himself warm as he attends his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2013. Francis is bundling up for the cold snap belting Italy, donning a white double-breasted winter coat and scarf. Several times Wednesday, the pope used his sleeves as a muffler to keep his hands warm amid temperatures that dipped to freezing with the wind chill factored in. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (The Associated Press)

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Pope Francis was probably not looking at the Jewish calendar when he released his new apostolic exhortation, "Evangelii Gaudium," (The Joy of the Gospel), it was a serendipitous Chanukah gift, that brought joy to the Jewish world.
The document is full of warmth to Jews and Judaism. It speaks of the growing friendship with the Jewish people, and regret for the history of Christian persecution of Jews. 
Of Judaism he wrote: “We cannot consider Judaism as a foreign religion; nor do we include the Jews among those called to turn from idols and to serve the true God.” It confirms the continued contribution of Divine truth that comes through the “treasures of wisdom which flow from their encounter with his word.”
Pope Francis understands that theology matters. It produces catchwords that galvanize millions. Even in the 21st century, a subtle theological point uttered in a local mosque can cascade into araging deluge of violence.

The Jewish community’s support may not be the greatest Christmas present Pope Francis  receives this year, but it will be among the most heartfelt.

The pontiff knows that for centuries, European Jewry was battered by theological cudgels. Early Church figures like Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr and John Chrysostom translated theology into hatred of Jews on the local level, and directly fed the auto-da-fes, the Crusades, and the pogroms that destroyed hundreds of thousands of Jewish lives.
The two theological positions most damaging to Jews were replacement theology and deicide. The former maintains that the Jews of the Bible have been “replaced” by the New Israel, meaning Christians. All covenants and promises in the Bible no longer apply to Jews; they subsequently have no claim to land or history. The latter position holds all Jews responsible for the crime of killing God through the crucifixion of Jesus.
Both of these positions mostly disappeared after the Nazi Holocaust, as Christians came to grips with the contribution that Church-inspired anti-Semitism made to Hitler’s extermination machinery. 
Catholics scrapped both replacement theology and deicide through the historical teachings of Nostra Aetate a half-century ago. 
Protestants for the most part rejected deicide, affirming that Jesus died, by the Will of G-d, for all sinners. They stopped talking supersessionism, and opted to build bridges of understanding with the Jewish people.
Recently, however, Palestinians and their Christian supporters have resurrected the old theological poison. Frustrated by their inability to defeat Israel through conventional warfare or terrorism, they launched a new front attacking the very legitimacy of the Jewish State. 


Support for Palestinians, they claim, is theologically mandated; support for Zionism -- the Jewish people’s return to an ancestral homeland is denounced and denied. The Jewish people’s covenant with G-d was canceled long ago and today’s Jews have no right to reclaim their past or prepare for their future.
One outgrowth of this is a campaign to strip the Holy Land of all Jewish connection, going so far as to deny that there ever was a Temple in Jerusalem, or that Rachel’s Tomb has Jewish significance. 


It is in vogue to deny that contemporary Jews are even related to those of the Bible, claiming that they are all recent converts having no connection to those of antiquity.
In one of his Easter messages, Rev. Naim Ateek of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theological Center declared “Jesus is on the cross again with thousands of crucified Palestinians around him. It only takes people of insight to see the hundreds of thousands of crosses throughout the land, Palestinian men, women, and children being crucified. Palestine has become one huge Golgotha. The Israeli government crucifixion system is operating daily.” 
Ateek thereby turned Jesus into a Palestinian and the Palestinians into Jesus, with Jews once more practicing deicide. 


The KairosPalestine Document has become the iconic cry of those seeking to rewrite history and denial of any Jewish stake in the Holy Land – all the time citing Scripture. This smacks of de facto replacement theology. 


Some advocates of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Movement, cite the arguments of replacement theology as proof that today’s Jews could not possibly claim that their return to the Land was consistent with any Divine promise.
The author of "Evangelii Gaudium" is certainly aware of the importance placed by all of Israel’s enemies on downplaying – and denying – a connection of today’s Jews to those of the Bible. Nonetheless, the language of “Evangelii Gaudium” is emphatic:

God continues to work among the people of the Old Covenant and to bring forth treasures of wisdom which flow from their encounter with his word. For this reason, the Church also is enriched when she receives the values of Judaism.


In a time of need, Pope Francis stepped up to underscore the un-severable bond between Christians and Jews, and lauding the continued closeness of Jews to the Divine Will.
What gift might us Jews present to our Christian friends?
When Rabbi Marvin Hier led a delegation from the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) to the Vatican a few weeks ago, he told the pope that Jews are his allies in protecting the rights of persecuted Christians and other religious minorities, just as he is their partner in fighting anti-Semitism. 


The SWC has taken the struggle on behalf of an estimated 190 million endangered Christians across the globe to world leaders and the media. 
For those living in daily fear of attack, this Christmas and New Year’s holidays are times of little joy -- only great stress and danger.
The Jewish community’s support may not be the greatest Christmas present Pope Francis  receives this year, but it will be among the most heartfelt. 
He’ll feel the love directly when he visits Israel early in 2014.  And we can only hope and pray that Pope Francis' words and deeds will contribute to a new commitment by believers and atheists alike to protect religious minorities everywhere.


Rabbi Abraham Cooper is associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. Follow the Simon Wiesenthal Center on Facebook and on Twitter.
Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein is Director of Interfaith Affairs for the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Gee Dad, God can be worshipped in so many different ways!

GEE DAD, GOD CAN BE WORSHIPED IN SO MANY WAYS. LESSONS IN PLURALISM

I am pleased to share the wisdom of a seven year old girl, my daughter. Who wants to raise their child as a bigot? Some of us recklessly do.

When we hear hate spout out of the mouths of men and women in politics or religion against Jews, Muslims, Christians, Atheists, Hindus, Blacks, Mormons, Gays and Lesbians, Hispanics or Immigrants, we just shake our heads with disbelief, that is of course, if we are not bigots ourselves.

I must give credit to face book, a great equalizer for humanity. Even though the hate mongers and bigots don't survive on the face book, they still continue to rant with a few or no friends liking their hate material. They still don't get the message - hate is not natural. .

When she was visiting the Baptist Church, as a father, I just advised her, if the Pastor by any chance denigrates other faiths, he is not being truthful and you don't need to listen to him. She was around 9 then, and argued with me, a part of our routine to argue as equals, "Dad, if he does not say bad things about other religions, why would people to go his Church when they can go somewhere else? I know it, don't worry Dad, I won't hate anyone".

I took my kids to every place of worship, so they were raised with familiarity of fellow humans with no bigotry towards others. At each place of worship, I would summarize to her what they were saying…over the years, I learned that, all she wanted to hear, a six year old, was a simplified version of the talk. I had gotten it down well - a standard reply - "Sweetie, they are telling that we must thank God, that God gives us life, ability to breath and live…" Mind you, I was an atheist then, but not anti-religious.

One day, we were in DFW Hindu Temple joining the group singing Bhajans (Chanting) in the sanctuary. In the middle of a Bhajan, she leans over me, and asks the standard question, "Dad, what are they singing"… out came my standard reply. To that, oblivious to the crowd, she gets up, and throws her hands up in the air, and cheerfully announces "Gee Dad, God can be worshiped in so many ways" to the amazement of the devotees!

That, my friends is pluralism. "Respecting the otherness of others." Thank God she ain't a bigot today. She is a rationalist and would question any one's ill-will or hate towards the other. If nothing else in my life, I have feel good about raising my kids with no bigotry. Like me, she would defend any faith, we won't let any one put down a faith, any faith - individuals yes, but not their faith.

I am writing a fuller article with Religion News with a few more anecdotes with my daughter. Meanwhile, enjoy this.
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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and a book with the same title is coming up. Mike has a strong presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links.

Funeral Prayers

URL - http://pluralismcenter.blogspot.com/2013/12/funeral-prayers.html

I was completely taken back when I wished prayers for a friend’s mother today. He was from a different faith, and deleted my message on Facebook with an apology. I understood it; we all have to deal with our friends who may have difficulty in seeing goodness coming from others.

As a society we need to grow up, and not get bogged down with petty details. Pope Francis said it well, “The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules.”

If you translate the Funeral prayers from Sanskrit, Arabic, Hebrew, Pali, Latin and other languages into English – it simply means well. You wish peace for the deceased and express that you care for those who are alive.

Over the years, I have recited Jewish, Hindu, Jain, Zoroastrian, Christian, Sikh and Muslim prayers on different occasions when my respective friends could not make it, and I would recite prayers from every religious tradition. If I am alone on the Himalayas or in the Jungles of Amazon, and a person gets sick around me and wanted someone to pray, I will honor that person with his beliefs – I will recite and chant the prayers that comforts that individual. I may not bow to an idol or bow in front of the cross, but I will recite the prayers. Have you ever translated a prayer and understood what it means?

Upon my Mother’s death, Bible, Bhagvad Gita and Quran were recited. Of course my mother had Zoroastrian and Jain friends, not sure if they did something. There were no Jews and Sikhs in my town then.  Upon my late wife’s death, everyone from Baha’i to Zoroastrians and everyone in between prayed and attended the funeral prayers at the mosque to pay their tributes.

I am not alone, there are many like me who would do that, wouldn’t you? I expect at least 2/3rds of the population to do that and respect those who won’t.

I perform interfaith weddings and my sermons are customized to suit the religious traditions of the bride and the groom.

Over the years, at the Unity Day events, we have experimented different combinations for people to be in other’s shoes, and almost everyone felt good about it.


A full article and sample prayers with English translations will be uploaded in a few weeks at this site –www.PluralismCenter.com and www.TheGhousediary.com
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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links.