Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Interfaith experiment; standing in others shoes

Given the growing apprehensiveness through politicizing religion, it makes a lot of sense for one to step in other’s shoes and experience the wisdom of every beautiful religion first hand, rather than live in phobias generated by hearsay.

Finding the truth is our own responsibility, as truth relieves one’s anxieties. The Quraan Conference took the wind out of the sails of the misrepresented verses like “Kill the infidels”, “beat your wife” or  “Don’t make friends with Jews and Christians and seven other verses”, mind you the verses were read in public by the clergy of different religions and not Muslims. (Quraanconference.com)

Mike Ghouse, a speaker on Interfaith, Pluralism, Islam and Cohesive Societies adds, “ I am delighted to share the successful interfaith experiments we have been conducting since 1996 through my Radio show and the Unity Day USA since 2005”


CLICK ON THE PIC TO SEE A LARGER VERSION
     The following experiment was conducted in 1997 at the Unity Day USA event.

Thirty Nine (39) Individuals were called in from the audience to form thirteen (13) groups of four (4) each. The groups were given a statement, verse or the wisdom (atheism) of each faith they represented randomly. No person was assigned his or her own religion but religions were assigned by a drawing. Every group was asked to read and share their understanding of that religion, the idea was to stand in others shoes, and it was one of the most successful experiments in religion.

Each one of the participant loved being a Jew, Zoroastrian, a Hindu, a Christian, Muslim or the other. When we read the book for real and not go by hearsay, our hearts and minds will open up to the wisdom of every religion, thus learning about each other first hand mitigates the conflicts and paves the way for solutions.

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, futurist and a writer on the topics of Pluralism, Coexistence, interfaith, Islam and cohesive societies. He is committed to building cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day, no matter what the issue is, he is a frequent guest at Hannity Show and other national syndicated shows. His work is indexed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/  

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quraan burning

Planned Muslim Response to Qur'an Burning by Pastor Jones on September 11 in Mulberry, Florida

PRESS RELEASE
August 19, 2013| Dallas, Texas

Mike Ghouse
Text/Talk: (214) 325-1916
MikeGhouse@aol.com

Mirza A Beg
(205) 454-8797
mirza.a.beg@gmail.com

www.WorldMuslimCongress.com


PLANNED MUSLIMS RESPONSE TO QUR'AN BURNING BY PASTOR JONES ON 9/11/13 IN MULBERRY, FLORIDA

We as Muslims plan to respond to pastor Terry Jones' planned burning of 3000 copies of Quran on September 11, 2013 in positive terms.

Our response - we will reclaim the standard of behavior practiced by the Prophet concerning “scurrilous and hostile criticism of the Qur’an” (Muhammad Asad Translation Note 31, verse 41:34). It was "To overcome evil with good is good, and to resist evil by evil is evil." It is also strongly enjoined in the Qur’an in the same verse 41:34, “Good and evil deeds are not equal. Repel evil with what is better; then you will see that one who was once your enemy has become your dearest friend.”

God willing Muslims will follow the divine guidance and pray for the restoration of Goodwill, and on that day many Muslim organizations will go on a “blood drive” to save lives and serve humanity with kindness.

We invite fellow Americans of all faiths, races, and ethnicities to join us to rededicate the pledge, “One nation under God”, and to build a cohesive America where no American has to live in apprehension, discomfort or fear of fellow Americans. This event is a substitute for our 10th Annual Unity Day Celebration (www.UnitydayUSA.com) held in Dallas, but now it will be at Mulberry, Florida.

Unwittingly Pastor Jones has done us a favor by invigorating us by his decision to burn nearly 3000 copies Quran on September 11, 2013. Obviously he is not satisfied by the notoriety he garnered by burning one Qur'an last year.

As Muslims and citizens we honor the free speech guaranteed in our constitution. We have no intentions to criticize, condemn or oppose Pastor Terry Jones' freedom of expression. Instead, we will be donating blood and praying for goodness to permeate in our society.

We plan to follow Jesus Christ (pbuh), a revered prophet in Islam as well as Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) – that of mitigating the conflicts and nurturing good will for the common good of the society.

We hope, this event and the message will remind Muslims elsewhere in the world as well, that violence is not the way. Muslims, who react violently to senseless provocation, should realize that, violence causes more violence, and besmirches the name of the religion that we hold so dear. We believe that Prophet Muhammad was a mercy to the mankind, and we ought to practice what we believe and preach. We must not insult Islam by the negative reactions of a few.

We can only hope it will bring about a change in the attitude of the followers of Pastor Jones, and in the behavior of those Muslims who reacted violently the last time Pastor sought notoriety – We hope this small step towards a bridge to peaceful coexistence would propel us towards building a cohesive society.

Like most Americans a majority of Muslims quietly go about their own business, but it is time to speak up and take positive action instead of negative reaction. May this message of peace and goodwill reverberate and reach many shores.

Lastly, we appreciate the Citizens of Mulberry, Florida, Honorable Mayor George Hatch, City Commissioners, police and Fire Chiefs for handing this situation very well. This will add a ‘feather of peace’ in the City’s reputation. We hope Mulberry will be a catalyst in showing the way in handling conflict with dignity and peace.

We thank the Media for giving value to the work towards peace rather than conflict.






URL- http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2013/08/planned-muslim-response-to-quran_18.html



Thank you.

CIVIL DIALOGUE

The people in Dallas are making an effort to understand and clean their own hearts first, when we are free from bias, it would be easy to share that with others. Islam teaches us in so many ways to "respect the otherness of others" and it is time we find simple practical ways of doing it.