Texas Faith - God and religion have gone missing in the presidential race?

Is our electoral process better off without the polarizing issues of faith-based politics at center stage? Or does the absence of explicit moral and religious expression impoverish our political debate? Our Texas Faith panel weighs in:

Texas Faith is a weekly column at Dallas Morning News managed by Editors William McKenzie and Wayne Slater, the material is contributed by several panelists including Mike Ghouse, for all responses visit http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/2012/07/texas-faith-is-it-good-or-bad-that-god-and-religion-have-gone-missing-in-the-presidential-race.html/

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas

Absence of faith will not impoverish political debate; in fact, it will enrich it with a focus on the most important economic need of the day: jobs.

Congress, Senate or the President is not in the business of establishing or supporting a religion; their responsibility is to be a catalyst and serve Americans in the pursuit of their happiness and economic freedom.

Faith should not be a factor in this election, as both parties stand to lose; the Democrats worry about the Catholic vote and the GOP stands to lose if they make an issue out of Romney’s faith, it would mean back peddling.

Social issues will be played out by the Democrats; the anti-GLBT-abortion-immigration stance of GOP will be a fodder to the Democrats. The CBS poll in May discovered that 62% of Americans “believe that same-sex unions should be recognized by law.” While we remain divided on abortion, Romney cannot afford to flip flop on immigration.

GOP may not even succeed in carving up an enemy out of Sharia. First of all, American Muslims are not asking for it, and secondly it will not pass the House and Senate, let alone the president signing it. Democrats will hit them hard for squandering public time on a non-existent issue.

GOP’s chorus about repealing Obama care on the first day in office will fall flat on its face, unless both the houses and the Presidency is Republican. The Republicans would risk losing votes of the young people benefiting from insurance coverage of their parents.

As a disclosure, I am Moderate Republican, and when I posted a note on Facebook and my blog congratulating fellow Americas upon Judge Roberts’s decision, an incredible number of Republican men and women came out of the closet and appreciated the decision. Thus we have Obama Republicans now.

Absence of faith talk will not be missed, our nation is operating on Maslow’s hierarchy theory, and Jobs is our priority, food is more necessary than faith, and abuse of religion for politics may not work this time.

I hope the debates remain focused on economy, and for entertainment they can resort to Presidential dogs, vacations, Kissing Children, pipe line, fund raising and the price of rice in China.

MikeGhouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike 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 and regularly at Huffington post, and several other periodicals across the world. The blog www.TheGhousediary.com is updated daily.

TEXAS FAITH: Should the ban on political activity by churches be repealed?

Should the federal ban on political activity by churches and religious institutions be repealed – or remain in place? Our Texas Faith panel weighs in – and they don’t agree on the answer. This is a weekly column at Dallas Morning News, addressing the issues facing the nation. http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/03/texas-faith-should-ban-on-political_20.html

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas, Texas

As Americans of Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, independent and other persuasions, we are collectively and partially funding religious institutions through tax subsidy, and the least we can expect from them is to remain neutral to each one of us on political matters.

Every American has 1/312 Millionth of a share in such subsidy, why would I, a Republican want my money to go to a church that supports democrats or vice-versa?

As a nation we have to debate the need for giving tax breaks to religious organizations, and why do they need the tax break? We may disagree with Governor Perry on a lot of issues, except the idea that every foreign nation must justify their need for even a dollar to go to them. How does giving a tax break for religious organizations benefit every American indiscriminately?

Dallas Morning News had a similar question a few months ago. Can the Pastor of a Church publicly endorse a candidate without influencing or dividing his or her congregation? That is the fine line that blurs the separation of Church and state.

The fact of the matter is, every one of us is politically inclined towards one candidate or the other; for a majority of us it is an emotional decision. Nearly 2/3rds of Americans have decided through party affiliation who they will vote for – it is a clear choice to them; Democrats or Republicans. It is really the 1/3^rd of undecided voters that the parties are vying for.

So the top ten evangelicals ganged up on Romney, simply because of his faith - cloaked in the disguise of not conservative enough. Wouldn’t their congregations follow their lead? The most conservative states are following that lead and giving boost to Santorum. He in turn has followed the bait by going to the extreme and becoming Mullah Santorum.

If we allow any majority to dictate the nation, we will lose the very essence of America; a God’s country where everyone of His creation lives in harmony.

We are not a mobcracy-democracy, where the majority bullies the minorities, like the Republican house bullied the Democratic minority in holding out the payroll tax break for majority of Americans. We need to follow the rule of law and temper the majority with righteousness and honor everyone’s space and right to the pursuit of their happiness.

Greatness of our nations lies in our system, the checks and balances. The representative form of governance has not let us fall into a pit like most other nations. We must keep the separation of church and state and strip the tax breaks from those institutions that break the rules.

Had it not been for bad politics, there would have been one Christianity; one Islam, one Judaism, one Hinduism and one Native Tradition. Now let’s not allow the same bad politics to divide our nation based on religion.

For all the responses from the panelists, please visit Dallas Morning News at http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2012/03/texas-faith-should-the-ban-on.html
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MikeGhouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he writes weekly at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, The Smirking Chimp and several other periodicals. His daily blog is www.TheGhousediary.com

Happy Lent, a Muslim perspective

As a token of solidarity, today, I join my Christian friends and give up drinking soda for the next 40 days to honor their practice.

Lent reminds me of 3o days of Muslim Ramadan of Muslims; 7 days for Jain Paryushan of Jains; 8 days of Jewish Passover; and 9 days of Hindu Navaratri. The essence of all these events is renewal of the soul and reflection on life. I am happy that these actions are designed to make better humans out of us.

Every faith is composed of a set of unique rituals to bring discipline and peace to human life. Fasting is one of the key elements of observing Lent.

The spirit and intent of Lent lies in a human transformation in a forty days long inner spiritual journey of finding oneself in tune with spirituality.

Continued

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Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a speaker thinker and a writer and a frequent guest on Fox TV with Sean Hannity and a regular on National syndicated Radio shows talking on Pluralism, Politics, Islam, Justice and cohesive societies. His work is all listed at www.MikeGhouse.net

TEXAS FAITH: When the pew and the pulpit don't see eye-to-eye?

There is a difference between the pew and the pulpit on this matter. Of course, that is not the first time a divide has been seen between the leaders of a religious tradition and those who adhere to that faith. What I would like to hear from you all this week is how such a divide gets resolved in your tradition. I recognize that sometimes they aren't resolved, but I would like you to elaborate upon this question.

Indeed, there is a great difference between the pew and the pulpit and most certainly a few issues get resolved and a few go to the holding pen to be unleashed whenever the opportunity arises to get even.

Continued

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Mike Ghouse is a writer, thinker and a speaker on pluralism, politics, Islam, peace and building a cohesive America, links to details at www.MikeGhouse.net. 

Israel Palestine commitment, part 2

Israel's security and justice to the Palestinians are directly proportional to each other. Hundred percent security for Israel comes with 100 percent justice to the Palestinians. A majority of people in the conflict understand this, but the leadership runs aground with short sighted false perceptions.

Huffington post on Israel Palestine solutions : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/commitment-to-israelpales_b_1263793.html

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Mike Ghouse is a writer, thinker and a speaker on pluralism, politics, Islam, peace and building a cohesive America, links to details at www.MikeGhouse.net.

TEXAS FAITH: Across religious spectrum, voters are increasingly identifying themselves as Republican. Why?

Every religious group is clamoring to have their personal religious interests take precedence over the interests of America. In the long run it is not sustainable and does not bode well for America. There are two critical factors in the play to explain the voter shift towards Republicans; unemployment and religion.

TEXAS FAITH: Across religious spectrum, voters increasingly identifying themselves as Republican. Why?

Across almost every major religious group, the share of voters identifying with or leaning toward the GOP has either grown or held steady. So what's going on? Why has the number of religious voters identifying themselves as Democrats declined - and as Republicans risen? Why do you think this is happening?

We asked our panel of Texas Faith experts to weigh in. Their responses follow:
MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas
There are two critical factors in the play to explain the voter shift towards Republicans; unemployment and religion.

Every religious group is clamoring to have their personal religious interests take precedence over the interests of America. In the long run it is not sustainable and does not bode well for America.

There is a positive correlation between the swap among unaffiliated Independents and Democrats. The 4% loss to Democrats comes from the 4% gain to the unaffiliated independents; there is also an identical 4% increase in Republican leaning independents from 39% to 43%. The major contributing factor seems to be the unemployment. Per the department of Labor, the unemployment grew from 6% in July 2008 to 9.2% in July of 2011 and the shift has occurred during the same period. Disenchantment factor seems to be in the play.

While the Republican base has remained even at 28% in the survey period, the loss has occurred in the Democratic Party, moving away towards independents. Which throws a challenge to the Democratic Party that it was a performance based change and the gain will shift back with new and improved results, which is yet to be surveyed.

Not sure, how big a factor unemployment is when you review the new analysis in the same survey that claims, "the share of voters identifying with or leaning toward the GOP has either grown or held steady in every major religious group."

The biggest gain for the Republican leaning registered voters comes from Mormons, Jews and White Catholics respectively. That is 12, 9 and 8 points. Is it easy to draw conclusions?

Is Romney a factor for a 12% gain for the Republicans among Mormons? That is the highest singular gain among all religious groups.

What percent of the 9% Jewish shift towards Republicans is attributable to Democratic President's stance towards Iran? What percentage goes towards his call for the 1967 borders and stopping the settlements?

The White Catholics have the third largest leaning towards Republicans with 8%. Is it the abortion issue or the same sex marriage? We cannot entertain political candidacy as Gingrich and Santorum had not announced their candidacy during the entire survey period, where as Mormons know Romney was going to run.

America was founded on liberty from religious persecution and we should consciously not let a religious ideology dominate the nation, we are the final frontier land of freedom and we should preserve it, unless we have the promised moon colony ready to flee.

Let people have the freedom to choose and not let the government regulate what we eat, drink, wear, believe or who we marry.

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The other panelists responses at: http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2012/02/texas-faith-across-religious-s.html

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Here's the link for the Pew study: http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Trends-in-Party-Identification-of-Religious-Groups.aspx

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Additional Notes: I am glad to see the spread in party identification – 34% identify themselves as Democrats with an additional 14% independents who lean towards Democrats giving them a 48% political share, where as 28% identify themselves as Republicans with an additional 16% who lean towards Republicans giving them a share of 44% and that leaves an 8% true independents. Where are you in this affiliation game?

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Mike Ghouse is a thinker, writer speaker and an activist of pluralism, interfaith, co-existence, peace, Islam and India. He is a frequent guest at the TV, radio and print media offering pluralistic solutions to issues of the day. His websites and Blogs are listed on http://www.mikeghouse.net/

A commitment to Israel and Palestine dialouge

Who am I to worry about Israelis and Palestinians? What inspires me to be involved in the Israel Palestine conflict? The following is the story of my struggle to see a cohesive world, the story will take you through different emotions but at the end, I hope you feel a sense of completeness of the story. Please let me know. Thank you.

I believe at the heart of the world peace is the Israel Palestine conflict, it is the mother of all conflicts, and if we can find a solution to this, peace is on the horizon ready to shine on us.

Until we can see our own faults, peace for both people becomes a forlorn hope. The burden to find solutions falls on all of us, but particularly Jews, Muslims and Christians.

Continue....

TEXAS FAITH: How do we create a common good today?

We hear plenty about how political bodies can shape it, but I'd especially like to hear what other institutions could play a role. And how they could shape the common good, or perhaps are shaping it.

Ten Panelists respond:

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas

Fifty years ago, President Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country" and President Obama's theme in the 2012 State of the Union -- "Government and citizens are responsible together for the common good, even as they celebrate individualism and free markets." -- completes that equation.

Indeed, welding two of the greatest statements from the last fifty years can shape the common good and uplift the American spirit from the doldrums. Each one of us is individually responsible to achieve that with the state as a mere catalyst.

One of the few things that made us a great nation is the belief in "Live and let live." It is an epitome of responsible capitalism. We have slipped away from that. Some of the Americans who made it big on Wall Street were consumed by greed and messed up the goose that gave them the golden eggs. Instead of walking away with millions in bonuses, they could have reinvested that money in keeping the jobs of fellow employees. Then they would have continued picking the Golden Eggs, kept the jobs, survived the corporations and kept the economy going.

A few among us have been misled for perceived political gains of someone else, and attack those who have made it. Instead of denigrating Mitt Romney for cashing in on his investments, we should applaud and look up to him as a model of prosperity. Isn't that the American Dream?

The biggest victim of the bad economy is our attitude. It is tearing the social fabric of America. Our belief in "live and let live" has become corrosive, and we have let a few politicians shamelessly divide us.

Together as Americans, we can restore America individually and collectively. Chief Seattle, a Native American said this perfectly, "All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the webs, he does it to himself."

We have to ask ourselves, what I am doing as an individual to maintain the harmony and cohesiveness of one nation under God with liberty and Justice for all.

We must question our politicians and the clergy who deviate from our foundational value, which is: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Isn't that ideal the one that has made us a great nation? We need to align ourselves with it. Martin Luther King Jr. expressed it so well that we must be judged by the content of our character rather than the external manifestations.

Yes, we can restore the common goodness and uplift the soul of America by asking and correcting ourselves, whenever we feel less of the other Americans regardless of their religion, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity or economic status. The question is what have I done to preserve the cohesiveness of America?

To view all the ten responses, please visit Dallas Morning News’s Religion Blog at:
http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2012/01/texas-faith-how-do-we-create-a.html

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Mike Ghouse is a thinker, writer speaker and an activist of pluralism, interfaith, co-existence, peace, Islam and India. He is a frequent guest at the TV, radio and print media offering pluralistic solutions to issues of the day. His websites and Blogs are listed on http://www.mikeghouse.net/

Ghouse speaks at Red River Unitarian Church Feb. 5

Mike Ghouse to speak at Red River Unitarian Universalist Church Feb. 5

http://www.ntxe-news.com/artman/publish/article_74515.shtml

By Red River Unitarian Universalist Church

Jan 30, 2012

Red River Unitarian Universalist Church will hear Mike Ghouse speak on the topic “Welcome to My World: The World of Pluralism” at 11:15 a.m. on February 5.

Mr. Ghouse was a speaker and moderator at the 2009 Parliament of World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia, and spoke at the Universal Peace Federation’s peace initiative in Jerusalem in August 2010. He often speaks at UU churches about pluralism, a worldview that advocates inclusivism, tolerance, ecumenism, and diversity among the world’s religions.

At 10:00 that morning, Adult Forum will discuss plans for increasing RRUU’s effectiveness in its community, presented by the church’s “Let’s Grow Group.”

RRUU meets at 515 N. Burnett Ave. in Denison, and all are welcome to attend its services and forums. Nursery care is provided.

More information about the church is at www.rruu.org.

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TODAY’S SERMON: ESSENCE OF RELIGION
February 5, 2012, Unitarian Universalist Church

The questions about what is religion, why are they so many and what is the purpose of religion will always linger. If we were to step back from each one of our faiths and see the purpose it serves, we may discover that the essence of the religion is to bring peace to oneself and peace with others. In essence, religion is about building cohesive individuals and societies.

Religion is about humility and not arrogance, humility builds relationships and arrogance kills it. Indeed the spirituality and arrogance are inversely proportional to each other.

Mike’s sermon today revolves around the topic and we hope you walk out with the feeling that truth is same in different manifestations and that your tradition is as beautiful as every tradition out there.

The Unitarian Universalists have understood the essence of religion; they live it.

The Unitarian Church is located in Sherman Texas, if you wish to attend as my guest, please let me know.

About

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker, writer, and an activist committed to building cohesive societies, and offers pluralistic solutions to the media and the public on current issues.

Mike is a frequent guest on Fox News, “The Hannity Show”, and on nationally syndicated radio shows along with Dallas TV, print and radio networks, and occasional interviews on NPR.

He has spoken at international forums including the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia; the Middle East Peace Initiative in Jerusalem; and the International Leadership Conference in Hawaii, Chicago and Washington.

He is a member of the Texas Faith panel at The Dallas Morning News and writes about issues facing the nation every week. He writes for the Huffington Post regularly, and occasionally for the Washington Post and other daily newspapers and magazines around the world. In 2011 Mike published over 300 articles on a variety of subjects. Two books are poised to be released this year on Pluralism and Islam in America.

Mike was a commissioner for the City of Carrollton and president of many organizations including Home Owners Association, North Texas Cricket Association, and a board member of several non-profits such as the Dallas Peace Center.

Mike is a collaborator and much of his work revolves around the subjects of pluralism, interfaith movement, politics, justice, cohesive societies, Islam, India, hope and world peace. Mike’s work is reflected in four websites and 30 blogs indexed at www.mikeghouse.net, and he writes daily at www.TheGhousediary.com