www.FoundationforPluralism.com

Religious Tolerance in Action.

http://www.dallasnews.com/religion/stories/122703dnrelconnect.ed78.html

04:07 PM CST on Friday, December 26, 2003

By MARY A. JACOBS / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

During the holiday season, most people only wish for peace on earth and goodwill toward men. But Mike Ghouse has already rolled up his sleeves and gotten to work on it.

Mr. Ghouse hosts "The Multi-Faith Radio Program" weekdays at 6 a.m. on KBIS-AM (1150) and KYNG-AM (950). Each day, he interviews a guest from a local religious community, with the goal of helping his listeners learn to "cherish and respect every which way people have to come to praise and worship the divinity."

He's also a frequent visitor at gatherings hosted by the various faith communities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and founder of the Foundation for Pluralism. He writes prolifically on his Web site (www.MikeGhouse.net) about religious tolerance and understanding different religions.

"I don't see any conflict worshipping God in different ways," he said. "I'm comfortable in a church or a temple or a mosque."

Dr. Judie Arkow, executive director of the Interfaith Center of DFW and a frequent guest on the show, said, "Mike believes as I do, that it's entirely possible to bring peace to the world, by chunking away at it one piece at a time."

A series of childhood experiences spurred that conviction. Mr. Ghouse's father was mayor of Yelahanka, near Bangalore, India. He frequently brought his son to gatherings for various faith groups – Muslim, Hindu, Christian and others. Mr. Ghouse also witnessed incidents where his father defused potentially violent conflicts between different religious groups.

Mr. Ghouse was raised in a Muslim family, but calls himself a Multifaith person. His wife is a Muslim, his daughter is a Baptist, and his son is wavering between becoming a Bahá'í or a Hindu.

All of which is fine with Mr. Ghouse.

"I look at it this way," he said. "You like apple pie, I like peach cobbler. You can enjoy your favorite dessert and I can enjoy mine. It's the same thing with how you choose to worship God.

"If I hate Hindus, then I'm the one who is suffering, not them."

By appreciating the goodness in all religions, Mr. Ghouse believes, differences lose their power to divide.

A mortgage loan officer by trade, Mr. Ghouse once worked 16-20 hours a day at his job until about eight years ago, when his 8-year-old son asked him, "Why do you work for so many hours? I don't need your money. I want your time."

Mr. Ghouse cut back on his work schedule. Now, he's still just as busy – he sleeps only five hours a night – but most of his time is devoted to projects he's passionate about, including his interfaith work, his family, and the North Texas Cricket Association, which he spearheaded to promote the sport locally.

"This is a man with a good brain and a soft heart," Dr. Arkow said. "I think that's what drives him."

Mary A. Jacobs, a Dallas free-lance writer, can be reached by e-mail at maryjacobs@aol.com.

DETAILS: Mike Ghouse's Multifaith Radio will run a two-hour special at 6 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday featuring representatives from each of the nine major world religions.

WISDOM OF RELIGION - RADIO PROGRAM (2004-05)

Learn the wisdom of all the beautiful religions of the World. It is broadcasted on weekdays at 6:00 AM on AM Radio 1150 KBIS in Dallas/Fort Worth and world wide you can log onto www.RadioSuno.com. More about Foundation please navigate to Foundation on the website www.mikeghouse.net . A website is in the making called www.FoundationforPluralims.com. All ideas are welcome.

This Radio program is sponsored by Rehan Siddiqui of Asian Media World Wide and Mike Ghouse of the Foundation for Pluralism. The Program will celebrate its' first anniversary at the end of July 2004. This program was however commenced in August of 1995 in 15 minutes segments on the Saturdays. Now we will be completing one full year with one hour program each. In this period of time we have done 52 Hours of Each - Christianity, Hinduism and Islam = 156 Hours & 12 Hours each of Baha'i, Buddhist, Jain, Jewish, Sikh, Zoroaster and interfaith = 7 x 12 = 84 Hours + 9 Hours of general conversation. I.e., a total of 259 Hours of wisdom of Religion. I missed 1 hour in the entire year.

Monday	Christianity	Christianity	Christianity	Christianity	Christianity
Tuesday	Jainism - 1st Tue	Judaism - 2nd Tue	Baha'i - 3rd Tue	Buddhism - 4th Tue	Open
Wednesday	Sikhism - 1st Wed	Zoroastrianism - 2nd	Interfaith - 3rd	Open - 4th Wed	Open
Thursday	Hinduism	Hinduism	Hinduism	Hinduism	Hinduism
Friday	Islam	Islam	Islam	Islam	Islam

The following schedule gives the specific dates. http://www.mikeghouse.net/Calendar-WisdomofReligion.htm

Dallas's first Multi-Faith Radio

Dallas, Texas, there is more in common with the spirit of religions than the public has been given to understand. "Rituals are as unique as 7 billion living people on the earth, while the essence remains the same " says Mike Ghouse, President of the Foundation for Pluralism.

       The Multi-faith Radio program has become a beacon of hope in addressing the inherent desire in humans to get along. "Every new day, we are gaining an audience who have learned to respect and honor every which way people have to come to worship, honor and praise the lord including, but not limited to the Baha'i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islamic, Jain, Jewish, Sikh and Zoroastrian systems of belief. " Mike Ghouse continues with his eloquent expression "an overwhelming majority of people simply see the goodness of every religion and have the desire to learn the wisdom of every faith."

       All religions continue to emphasize the oneness of God, or oneness of single power behind all creation, that which is within the realm of our comprehension. God was there before we could imagine, God has been there since the recorded history of mankind and God will be there forever. Our Grandparents talked about it, our parents taught us about God ... and perhaps we will be doing the same with our kids and grand kids. Life goes on.

       Man's search for God has resulted in many pathways, each embedded with a range of rituals that gives uniqueness to each of the faiths. From a spectrum of rituals laid down for worshiping different attributes of God in Hinduism to a singular all comprising God in Judeo-Christian-Islamic traditions. While the Zoroastrian, Bahai, and Sikh faiths are equally God centered, the philosophies of Buddha and Mahavir are centered on self realization which ultimately leads to God realization.

       The politician in the preachers has driven strong wedges between the faiths, each one claiming to have sole monopoly on salvation. There is a saying that "if the preacher tells the congregation that all religions are fine, that all of them acknowledge existence of God, and that we have to be thankful to God and appreciate what God has given us all, then people may not find the passion to come to the preacher's place of worship. It is this politics of thriving on the perceived weakness of others that keeps the political religion running. The desire to amass a large congregation, a large following, is at the bottom of it and that comes through the DNA from thousands of years the animal in us wanting to control the surroundings. The political preaching is built on creating and ascribing negative things about other faiths, they are laying the foundation of 'their' faith on the perceived negatives of other faiths. This simply goes against the spirit of very spirituality they are preaching.

       To learn about different religions does not mean that you are dissatisfied with your own, rather it means that you are finding an answer as to how other people have sought for the reality and found it. None of us live on an island any more, all of us are interdependent and intra-dependent. There is no reason for any one of us to hate the other person because they hold a different view of the world than we do. We have to work together, live together, and it makes sense to learn to respect the belief systems of other people. It forms a basis for good relationships, that brings peace, prosperity and goodwill to all.

       Each one of us can make a difference at least with the people we know. My mission is to promote goodwill amongst people of different affiliations and foster understanding between them. Someday, I hope each one of us can look to each other as individuals and base our relationship on the individual personality rather than our religion, color, nationality or any other uniqueness. If we can learn to accept and respect the God given uniqueness to each one of the 7 billion of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge. Knowledge leads to understanding, understanding to acceptance and appreciation of people with a different point of view.

       We invite you to a fascinating journey of all the 9 faiths of the World on Asian Media World Wide between 6 and 7 Am on three channels. AM Radio 1150, AM Radio 950 and the website www.RadioSuno.Com. Every Monday you can hear about Christianity, Learn the wisdom of Hinduism on Thursdays and of Islam on Fridays. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays you can learn about Baha'i, Buddhist, Jain, Jewish, Sikh and Zoroastrian faiths.