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A lot of work is done since 2012, the last time we have updated this site. We have stood up for Atheist, Bahai, Buddhist, Christians, Hindu, Muslims, Jain, Jewish, Sikh, Shinto, Native Americans, Wicca, and Zoroastrians. It will be updated this year in March.
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Showing posts with label Muslim Speaker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Muslim Speaker. Show all posts

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Holocaust and Genocides 2020

15th Annual Holocaust and Genocides

PRESS RELEASE

Dr. Mike Ghouse
Center for Pluralism
email: MikeGhouse@gmail.com 
Office: (202) 290-3560
Cell: (214) 325-1916


15th Annual Reflections on the Holocaust and Genocides  

The purpose of this event is education, information, and activism. We hope to learn and acknowledge our failings and make a personal commitment to our share of saying, "Never Again."

15th Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides
5:30 PM - 8:30 PM Sunday, January 26, 2020
Arlington Central Library, 1015 N. Quincy Street
Arlington, VA 22201

Tickets are complimentary, but donations are accepted 




We hope you will walk out of the event with a genuine feeling of being a contributor towards building a cohesive world where no human has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. 

The Jewish community has been commemorating the Holocaust event since 1953, known as Yom HaShoah in Synagogues around the world. The general public learns it by visiting the Holocaust Museums and educational institutions.


At the Center for Pluralism, we are committed to spreading knowledge of the Holocaust and Genocide through interfaith and public events, including the Annual reflections. 



Speakers: 


Robert F. Teitel - Holocaust Story

Dr. Gregory Stanton - Signs of Genocides

Rushan Abbas & Omer Kanat - Uyghur Updates

Dr. Wakar Uddin - Rohingya Update

Muneer Baig - Kashmir Update

Dr. TO Shanavas - India Update

Dr. Rani Khan - Peace Pledge

Dr. Mike Ghouse - Genesis of this event

Rabia Baig - Mistress of Ceremony


Volunteers:


Nausheen Baig

Rabbi Alana Suskin

Jafer Imam

Dr. Zafar Iqbal

Charles Stevenson


Sponsors:


Would you like to be a sponsor?

Our budget is $2000, full or any part 


Co-Chairs:


Dr. Rani Khan

Dr. Mike Ghouse


Organized by:


Center for Pluralism


Our format consists of four parts; Interfaith prayers, Holocaust, Genocides, Massacred and the Pledge of Peace. Silently, we will acknowledge all suffering, but physically we are limited to a few Genocides each year. 


 This year, a Holocaust survivor will share his story, followed by updated Uyghur, Rohingya, and the signs of making of Genocide in India. I urge everyone to watch the Schindler's list and Civil War movies to grasp the signs.


I believe, when we acknowledge each other's grief and participate in each other's commemoration, we connect with the humanness within ourselves and seed the relationship of understanding and caring for each other. 


There is a shameless cruelty in us, either we shy away or refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own, or amounts to infidelity to our pain, and every community and nation has suffered through this. To all those who have endured the Holocaust, Genocides, Massacres, Ethnic Cleansing, Land Mines, Hunger, Rape, Torture, Occupation, Expulsion, and inhuman brutality, we must say, you are not alone. The least we can do in the process of healing is to acknowledge every one's pain in one voice. 

 

I cannot be safe if the people around me are not, and I will not have peace if people around me don't. It is in my interest to seek a peaceful world for one and all.


This is a Muslim initiative to assure fellow humans who have endured the Holocaust, Genocide, ethnic cleansing, massacres, rapes, injustice and other atrocities that we are all in this together to create a better world. Tikkun Olam is our sacred duty. 

 


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List of Supporting Organizations (links embedded)

Published at 148 News Outlets
A few are listed below 

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Tuesday, February 6, 2018

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?
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.
Mike Ghouse, President
Center for Pluralism
Washington, DC
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Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Persecution of Falun Dafa in China

Dallas, Texas: Practitioners Protest CCP's Atrocities in Sujiatun Concentration Camp (Photos)

http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2006/3/19/70952p.html
(Clearwisdom.net) It was shocking to learn that in a secret concentration camp in the Sujiatun District in Shenyang City, at least 6,000 Falun Gong practitioners are locked up. Their internal organs are harvested and sold for profit, and their murdered bodies are cremated to destroy the evidence. Practitioners in Dallas, Friends of Falun Gong at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) and a representative of a non-governmental organization held a press conference in front of the UTD Student Union at noon on March 16, 2006. They strongly condemned the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP's) atrocities and called on the international society to immediately investigate, stop the killing and rescue the practitioners being tortured and murdered for profit.
High Resolution Picture
Mr. Mike Ghouse gives a speech at the press conference
High Resolution Picture
Signing a petition to stop the CCP's killing of innocent people
High Resolution Picture
Signing a petition in support of Falun Gong
High Resolution Picture
A student reads a truth-clarification poster board attentively
In the press conference, Ms. Fu, President of the Friends of Falun Gong UTD, introduced the shocking inside story about the brutality at the Sujiatun Concentration Camp, and called on all UTD faculty and students to condemn the CCP's barbarity and help rescue those practitioners being persecuted in China.
Ms. Zhang, a practitioner and information specialist, said in her speech, "Concentration camps for detaining Falun Gong practitioners were reported a few years ago. AFP reported on October 1, 2000 that two concentration camps were established to imprison Falun Gong practitioners. One was in Northwest and the other in Northeast. Each camp can imprison 50,000 people. Minghui.org (the Chinese version of Clearwisdom) reported on October 6, 2000 that a concentration camp was established in Xinjiang to imprison practitioners. Insiders disclosed that practitioners were taken to Xinjiang by train. But no further information was available because no one comes out of there."
Practitioner and computer engineer Mr. Sun introduced Falun Gong and explained why Falun Gong is persecuted in China and why many people had not heard of Falun Gong after it began to be persecuted for nearly seven years. Mr. Sun said that even in China many people do not know that other people are persecuted because of personal belief. It is because of the information blockade in China. The CCP spent a huge amount of money to filter information over the Internet and demonize Falun Gong. The CCP breeds hatred towards those it does not like. It also forces western countries and media to keep silent on the Falun Gong issue with economic enticement. Mr. Sun called on people to spread the facts to more people.
Dr. Wu, a teacher in a local community college, said in her speech, "After the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals, people hoped that concentration camps like Auschwitz and Buchenwald would never again appear in the future. Unfortunately, a similar concentration camp is running under the control of the CCP in China and the genocidal policy of Jiang Zemin, and the CCP is being applied to kill practitioners. In addition, the CCP is gaining a profit from the victims by harvesting their internal organs. This clearly exposes the CCP's evil nature. I call on the international community and human rights organizations to investigate the Sujiatun Concentration Camp. I urge all kind-hearted people to help end the CCP's killing of innocent people."
Practitioner Ms. Hu said, "The CCP's persecution of Falun Gong has continued for nearly seven years. Such a brutal persecution is beyond normal people's imagination. More people should know about this. I call on the Chinese people stop being so numb, pay attention to the practitioners being tortured and help end the brutal persecution."
Mr. Mike Ghouse, president of the Foundation for Pluralism, attended the press conference and gave a speech. He said that he was shocked after hearing of the brutal persecution against Falun Gong practitioners. He expressed the concept that when an unfortunate incident occurs, for people with righteousness, they at least can speak out. If everyone keeps silent, when an unfortunate thing occurs to you, no one can speak for you. Mr. Ghouse called on people to be courageous and speak out for righteousness.
High Resolution Picture
Exercise demonstration		High Resolution Picture
Explaining the facts of the persecution

At noon, many faculty members and students passed by the Student Union. They stopped to learn about the event when they saw the banners and posters for the press conference. When they saw the practitioners' exercise demonstration, they could not accept the fact that that CCP brutally persecutes such a peaceful practice. Many students signed a petition calling for a halt to the CCP's killing of innocent people. Some faculty and students expressed their interest in Falun Gong and started to learn the exercises on site.
Learning the Falun Gong exercises
Practitioners in Dallas will hold a rally near the Richardson Chinatown to condemn the atrocities in the Sujiatun Concentration Camp, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on March 18, 2006.
CATEGORY: Rallies & Protests
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Friday, January 25, 2013

Standing up for others

This site  www.StandingUpforOthers.com is dedicated to Rev. Sun Myung Moon, whom I have come to respect and honor for his teachings in creating a cohesive world. Standing up for others is the right thing to do, every human goes through a period of invincibility to vulnerability, if we don't stand up for those who are vulnerable, then who will stand up for us when we are vulnerable? 

The idea of alms, charity, taking care of the elderly, weak, sick and the children is a common theme in every religious tradition. It is indeed an insurance for every one's well being. I cannot be at peace when others around me aren't, and hence it behooves me to take care of the ones who need assistance.


I am blessed to have taken a stand for Jews, Catholics, Ahmadiyyas, Immigrants, Hindus, Falun Dafa, Zoroastrians, Muslims, Native Americans, Christians, Baha'i, Wicca, Sikh and other identities of humanity including GLBT community. It is the right thing to do. 

Father Moon emphasizes the idea, "Living for the sake of others" indeed there is a lot of wisdom in it as Martin Niemoller also reflects it in his eternal poem, "first they came for the Jews, I wasn't a Jew, so I did not say a thing, then they came for Communists, I didn't care, I wasn't a communist, then he concludes, then they came for me and it shattered me to know that there was no one left to speak up for me."
Please note that I am no more of a volunteer than you are, if I have not spoken out against one of your dear causes, it is simply because not being aware and having only 24 hours in a day. If you would like to share it with me, please do so in the comments section.
Mahatma Gandhi has been a major inspiration in my life. Twice in my life I have seen Mahatma Gandhi in my dreams, the first time was when I was in College around 1971, when Mahatma Gandhi, the vice-chancellor of Bangalore University Sri V. Narsimaiah and I were having a dinner together and Mahatma puts his hands on my shoulders and says, "tujhe bahut kaam karna hai beta", you have a lot of work to do son, and again around 2003, he appears in my dreams and with the same affectionate hand (as my Dad's), he pats on my back, "you have to do it"... the only thing I consistently get from this message was the work of Pluralism, help me God, I am committed to do.
Thanks to my Father and Mother for breaking away from the traditional practices of apartheid, growing up as kids, we did something that was un-heard of, the Dalits and us would eat off our plates, and drink tea off our glasses, they would come in to our home... and many had called my Dad for stopping it. I shall write that some time.

Links are linked where the compilation is done, others will be completed by 12/31/12 - God willing if I am alive. 
 

 

I am dedicating this site to Reverend Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unificationists Church ascended to heaven on Sunday, September 2, 2012.  I have written many articles about his teachings and planning to write a tribute to his work after the Unity Day event on September 11, 2012.

I was moved by his teachings of the divine principles, and his continuous emphasis on "living for the sake of others


 Reverend Moon's work for humanity is exemplary, he was committed to peace between North and South Korea, and Israel and Palestine. He was also considering enabling the United Nations to understand and resovle the religious conflicts before they exploded into genocides and massacres.

His greatest legacy to mankind is the book he compiled called, "World Scripture" a comparative anthology of sacred texts. It is indeed the best reference guide for the pluralists and interfaithers. (A tribute to Rev. Moon).

 
To be updated, God has blessed me to be a part of many a societies and I am thankful for the same. I urge you to knock off one hour's TV or gossip and spend that time standing up for others, the least you can do is to let them know that you are with them and that they are not alone.

 Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace making, foreign policy, Islam, Israel, India, Pakistan, interfaith, and cohesion at work place or social settings. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. Mike has a strong presence on national local TV, Radio and Print Media, and 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 everything you want to know about him.

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