Toyota Super Bowl Commercial is insensitive

February 5, 2018, Washington, D.C. – We welcome the Toyota Commercial played during the Super Bowl, it was aimed to be inclusive of all Americans but it failed to do so, someone fumbled.  At the Center for pluralism, we take an exception to this commercial.

The interfaith movement needs to be lauded, as it brings Americans together. However, in the commercial played during the 52nd Super Bowl on Sunday, February 4, 2018,  leaders of a few faiths forgot about people of other faiths,  that is not inclusion, interfaith means all faiths, not just the Abrahamic faiths.

Mike Ghouse, President of the Center asserted, “As a Muslim, I was elated to see the commercial, but by the time the commercial was over, I was sourly disappointed to see the exclusion of people of other faiths, the commercial is perceived to be inclusive, it is not, we the people are not in this together.”

Where was a Native American, Hindu, Sikh, Bahá’í, Zoroastrian, Wicca, Jain, Shinto, Atheist, Confucius or the other in the commercial? Aren’t they consumers of Toyota?

The commercial-  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrGu6H8t2gU&sns=em 

We urge Toyota to make a new commercial, where Americans of all hues are represented, you can place 30 different Americans in two rows of stadium chairs or whatever the background for a fleeting 3 seconds, each American will recognize his or her inclusion. Inclusion is good for business.

The Center for Pluralism is committed to building a cohesive America where no American feels excluded. If we can learn to respect the otherness of other and accept the given uniqueness of each one of us then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

Please sign the petition at https://www.change.org/p/chairman-takeshi-uchiyamada-insensitive-toyota-commercial-at-super-bowl-needs-a-remake

Mike Ghouse, President
Center for Pluralism
Washington, DC

Persecution of Christians in India, Pakistan, Egypt

The US International Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is holding a meeting tomorrow at the National Press Club about Persecution of Christians around the world. This agency does its work honestly and reports on just about every religious persecution around the world.

It may come as a surprise to many, but it is a fact; on the list are India, Pakistan, China, Russia, Egypt and a few other countries. The ultimate religious freedom comes to each one if we stand up for people of other faiths including Atheists and LGBT community.

Would you support me in making an effort to stop the persecution of Christians in this instance and all people in general? It requires you to take a stand or sign a petition if needed. I want my Hindu friends in particular to join the effort.

If you are an Indian or a Hindu, you don't need to be embarrassed, it is not you and I, it is the radicals among us who are doing this. If we don't stand up, everyone will suffer at the end. The least we can do is loudly say that it is not Indians nor Hindus or Hinduism, it is the misled innocent men and women by the politicians and we will do our share to bring common sense to India, we will make an effort to see that every Indian lives his life freely and respects other persons right to believe, worship, wear, drink and eat whatever he or she wants.

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrjU0KULv-Y

The Open Doors organization shares this information in the following four paragraphs;

“As many as 410 incidents of attacks, harassment, and threats on Christians were reported in India in the first six months of 2017, the highest ever since the country’s independence, generally from or influenced by groups associated with the governing Hindu according to figures compiled by partners of Open Doors. Attackers are a nationalist party.

The first quarter of 2017 saw 248 incidents of persecution, and by June-end, the number grew to 410, a report by Open Doors said, noting that a total of 441 incidents were reported in all of 2016.

“When the Christians are beaten by the extremists, they receive injuries mostly on their heads or their vital body parts,” a local partner of Open Doors was quoted as saying in the

report. “The assaulters do not care if the person dies in the attack. They know that they will not be punished because the government (and hence the judiciary) will take their side. In most of the cases, the assaulters go unpunished.”

In one case, Hindu nationalists beat an evangelist with chains, stripped him and forced him to drink urine, according to another recent report. In a separate incident, a Christian cemetery was desecrated and skeletons dug up and strewn across the graveyard. “

Apart from physical attacks, Open Doors’ partners recorded 37 incidents where Christians were socially boycotted and 34 incidents where Christians were forced to leave their homes.

Mike Ghouse www.StandingupforOthers.com