Carrollton's Ghouse calls for Interfaith

Carrollton's Ghouse calls for Interfaith Understanding after Holocaust Museum Slaying

6:25 PM Thu, Jun 11, 2009 Permalink
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Like many, Mike Ghouse was horrified and worried when he heard about the fatal shooting this week at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

Who was the killer behind the death of security guard Stephen Johns?

The Carrollton resident, homebuilder and property manager, hoped it would not fuel religious tensions. "I thought why do people have hate," Ghouse said. "That was my first response."

Ghouse is an avid blogger and many of his commentaries can be found at www.mikeghouse.net and an array of links. He called for more understanding as details poured out about the violence at the Holocaust Museum.

Fifteen years ago he founded the Foundation of Pluralism. Its mission is to embrace and accept the eccumenical ways of the world. "There is not a faith we haven't covered," he says.

He is a Muslim himself and originally emigrated from the Bangalore area of India some 30 years ago.

"I will never claim my faith is superior to others," he says. "Every faith is beautiful to me. The inability to accept the differences of others causes conflict."

And when weekend worship comes, Ghouse likes to bounce around North Texas to different houses of worship, including a few synagogues.
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Mike Ghouse has shared his thoughts. Please share your own.

Orginal Article was published at:
Muslims Condemn display of hate at Holocaust Museum
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/06/muslims-condemn-display-of-hate-at.html

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Comments
Posted by Mike Ghouse @ 8:36 AM Fri, Jun 12, 2009

I have received a lot of flak for saying "I will never claim my faith is superior to others,” This arrogance is the mother of all conflict.

Think about this; Spirituality and Arrogance are inversely proportional to each other. Higher the arrogance, lower the spirituality (humility or religiosity).

Most people, religious or not, believe that the purpose of religion is transform an individual to be a good human being to him and what surrounds him or her. Most people get it, a few don't.

Every one of the spiritual masters had a similar message - the whole world is one family, indeed, our pledge of allegiance is the most beautiful thing “one nation under God with liberty and justice for all".

What happened at Holocaust Museum is sad and all of us need to stand together in solidarity, not to be against some one, but to be together for all. It is our duty to work towards safety and security of every one of the 301 Million of us. No one will be safe unless every one around him or her is not.

As a society we need to have long term plans and dialogues with extremists. Every human is amenable to goodness, we cannot eliminate hate with anger and drastic actions, we can fade it out with love and long term plans to have goodness for one and all. Together, we can gradually shape a better society with patience.

Stereotyping Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus or others is another evil, some of us give room to in our hearts, remove it and see the joy of being open mindedness, that is what God is, open minded, all embracing, all loving.

Visit every place of worship and see how many ways you can appreciate the causer of life.

I appreciate Dallas Morning News for giving a lift to good happenings that gives hopes to the mankind when things like the hate at display at the Holocaust Museum.

Carrollton quilt project stitches community together

There are so many ways of forging the communities to come together for the well being of itself, and the Carrollton quilt project stitches community together and will go down in the history as a record of doing it.

The idea is brilliant and the focus is right. This is one simple way to bring the communities together.

I pray every community and every city starts working on it... it is in our interest to understand each other, live as a cohesive community and contribute towards the wellbeing of community life.

Thanks Bonnie for this initiative

Mike Ghouse
Carrollton


Carrollton quilt project aims to stitch together migration to city over century
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=211756900651&h=uP4wa&u=2ILVc&ref=mf

Bonnie Kaplan says she wants to put the unity back in community.

The former Carrollton city councilmember leads a move to stitch the city's various narratives together in a community quilt--a signature quilt--that will be displayed in the city's historical museum. The quilt started as a fundraising project to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the A.W. Perry Homestead. A museum bears that homestead's name.

But constructing the narrative of the city became something deeper as Kaplan reached out to different niches in this city of 124,000. Others have had a similar experience with quilts that chronicle life--and death. Think of the AIDs memorial quilt and how it grew, or the history recorded in the fabric and appliqués in African-American quilts from slave days. Or maybe think of your mother's block quilt, stitched together from scraps of fabric used for the dresses and blouses of your youth.

For Kaplan, the fund-raiser's morphed into an exercise in demography. She realized how much change had swept through Carrollton.

And she'd like signatures from those with long-time roots and those among the many immigrant communities. About a fourth of the city is foreign-born.

Kaplan's reaching out to Muslims, to the Vietnamese, Korean, and Mexican and Salvadoran immigrant communities, as well as long established black and Latino residents.

Tuesday, she was collecting autographs at the City Council meeting, including the signature of new politicos like Jeff Andonian. Josh Potter, an Eagle Scout, led the Pledge of Allegiance, and then he got courted by Kaplan, who soon had him signing a fabric ribbon for the quilt.

Anyone who wants to be stitched up should contact Kaplan at be.kaplan@verizon.net. She'd like to get signatures together and delivered by mid-June to a veteran quilter.

Also in Carrollton Leader:
http://www.planostar.com/articles/2009/06/04/carrollton_leader/news/53.txt