Texas Faith: The Global South’s influence on religion

 If a Church, Synagogue, Mosque, Temple or any place of worship delivers a sense of home – a feeling that permeates in your heart and soul when you walk out of the place of worship with a feeling of  ‘malice towards none’,  then it earns the larger congregation. Those places of worship that pound ill-will towards others will fade.  

TEXAS FAITH: The Global South’s influence on religion

 “Pentecostal and Charismatic religion flourishes at some of the most fluid and hotly contested boundaries — cultural, religious and economic — in the age of globalization. Broadly categorized as renewalist movements, these religious communities are experiencing their most dramatic growth at the frontier between Christianity and Islam in Nigeria; in the vast factory towns of China’s interior; among members of the rising middle class in Kenya; in the slums that ring the rapidly modernizing urban areas of Central and South America; in Muslim-majority Indonesia and Hindu-majority India. Encompassing more than half a billion adherents and blurring many of the traditional distinctions between Protestantism and Catholicism, renewalism is widely believed to be the fastest-growing religious movement in the world.”

Looking into the future, how do you see this movement affecting religion in general? Are the patterns of the Global South going to keep making their mark on various faiths, not just Christianity? If not, what trends do you see most affecting religion over the next 
decade?

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas, and Speaker on interfaith matters, diversity and pluralism

The renewalist movements can be likened to the industrial revolution of the 19th century that dissolved the traditional nationalistic boundaries to reach out to new consumers and new producers. 

The product of revolution was “improved life style” with new conveniences in transportation, communications and the day to day living, where as the product of renewalist movement is charismatic entertainment that is crossing the traditional religious boundaries to form a new enclave.

The post denominational movement is the new face of protestant church, according to Rachel Tabachnick at talk 2 action organization, “Their ideology and relational networks have taken root in the block of 400 million independent charismatics, sometimes referred to as neo-charismatics or neo-Pentecostals. This is an often overlooked mega-block of Christianity that is larger than all Protestant denominations combined, according to world missions statisticians.”

The future of renewalist movement is based on entertainment; whoever can deliver the most mesmerizing sermons will gather up a larger flock. After all who wants to hear boring sermons week after week? Indeed, the trend is similar in Islam, and great oratory is making a comeback to cross the traditional boundaries.

The United States sets the new tone for cultural, religious, entertainment and social trends around the globe, and the underlying theme is  renewed inclusivism; i.e., acceptance of diversity of humankind in work place, church, weddings and schools.

As a pluralist my concern is the growth of Hagees, Jeffress and their likes who sell exclusion in the name of Christ. They act like they want to give birth to the Christ of their making, and ruthlessly clear the path for his speedy arrival compromising on the centrality of his message; love and forgiveness. 

If a Church, Synagogue, Mosque, Temple or any place of worship delivers a sense of home – a feeling that permeates in one’s heart and soul when you walk out of the place of worship with ‘malice towards none’,  then it earns the larger congregation. Those places of worship that pound ill-will towards others will fade.   

I am optimistic about the future. The renewalist movements would be sensitive to the needs of the diverse congregations and build upon positive things about their own movement as opposed to focusing on what others don’t have. The anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic, anti-idolatry or anti-Islam rants will drive the congregants out.  

To read contributions from all the panelists go to:http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/2013/03/texas-faith-the-global-souths-influence-on-religion.html/
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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer onpluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building aCohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes inStanding up for others and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He 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 all his work through many links.

Is Aamir Khan an Avatar of Krishna?

In his first show, called Satyameva Jayate (truth ultimately triumphs), Aamir Khan brings out different aspects the society to the fore.

What is great about this man, rather a pluralistic man is that he will not let the audience slip into prejudices. First, he shows a family living on the street, if anyone jumps to the conclusion, "o, it is the street people."  Then he goes on to show a Muslim family, you can slip some more on the slope, its the poor and the Muslims... he takes through several levels and makes you fall into an ugly pit full of shit - it was the bloody mother in law who was a rich Doctor who wants her Bahu Doctor to drop the baby in New Delhi! Evil has no religion and no economic levels. If Aamir Khan keeps doing his shows, one day, India will be cleaned up from prejudices of different varieties.  He is a truly a Krishna's avatar. He had said, whenever adharma takes over a tribe, someone will emerge from among them as his avatar and restore Dharma.

Abuse of Sonogram is a big story in India. In its first show, called Satyamev Jayate (truth ultimately triumphs), in May this year, it featured female feticide. The show has turned India upside down and new laws are being passed to prevent the abuse. A salesman sells the sonogram machine to the Doctors as an investment that will return their capital in six months, and unchecked income continues after that by performing abortions - not male babies but female babies. Guardian reports 6 million girl abortions in the last decade in India, reconfirmed by ABC news i.e., aborting 50,000 female babies a month.

In the sting operation, one doctor asks; if the baby does not die thru aborticides, what should be done, the other says, throw it in the river when it comes out. Yes, it is disgusting and heart wrenching to watch. This, one particular evil has led to disproportionate ratio of men and women to a point of sharing the wife with brothers and friends or selling one’s wife to the highest bidder.

The good news is that the prophecy of Krishna is relevant, in Bhagvad Gita IV-7 Krishna narrates to Arjuna: “Whenever Dharma, or the situation of law and order, is endangered on this world, I incarnate onto this world to re establish Dharma, law and order, and to protect good and destroy the evil elements of the society.” The movie actor Aamir Khan is indeed an incarnation of Krishna in mitigating the evil of female feticide, dowry, child abuse, and other evils of the Indian society.

Texas Faith is a weekly column at Dallas Morning News managed by Editors William McKenzie and Wayne Slater, and the material is contributed by several panelists including Mike Ghouse.

For all the other responses visit:

http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2012/06/texas-faith-is-knowing-a-fetus.html

How much information is enough? The New York Times reported last week that researchers have discovered that performing simple tests on parents can lead to an understanding of almost the entire genome of a fetus. By taking a blood sample from a pregnant woman and a saliva specimen from the father, experts can let parents know virtually all the DNA of a child before it is born.

As the Times reported, thousands of genetic diseases could be detected. In the not-so-distant future, parents could pay an affordable price to get that information, too.

But this breakthrough also raises complicated ethical issues. On the one hand, parents could be more ready for the challenges that await them. Yet will this lead to more abortions, including of children whose parents don't like the DNA profile?

Undoubtedly, we all like information. But you could argue the creation story in Genesis shows the risks that come in acquiring knowledge.

Is this one of those instances? Is this discovery taking medical knowledge too far?

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas

We have come a long way in accepting things we would not have accepted each previous decade or a century. Whether it is ethics, morality, civility, religion, science or medical knowledge, we have accepted the new information despite the initial resistance.

There was a time, when saving a life was considered evil, it was considered against the will of God, and we battle that even today. In 2010, 70 children died in Zimbabwe, because of the religious opposition to vaccination. The religious tolerance organization reports that an average of one sick child a month dies in the United States from denied medical attention.

Discovering medical knowledge is not going too far. It is indeed beneficent in living a better life. The problem is not with the knowledge; but with the abuse of it, which will always be there as a part of the whole. We should not resist new research for the fear of its abuse. Let the benefits to society at large determine our research and not the abuse.

We might consider a requirement of ethical dimension and abuse prevention in the research proposals before they are submitted and funded.

Nuclear power in the right hands is a blessing, but a hell in the hands of evil men. Religion in the right hearts is a mercy to mankind, but a hell for others in the wrong hands. Evil men are not a separate group; they are among us, within each one of the faiths, races, and nationalities. As a society, we have to prevent abuse, but must welcome research.

Abuse of sonograms is a big story in India. The Guardian reports 6 million girl abortions in the last decade in India, reconfirmed by ABC news i.e., aborting 50,000 female babies a month. The good news is there is a strong movement to stop this and laws are being passed.

Unless we discuss the ethics of what parents can or cannot do with the knowledge of a DNA child before it is born, we will never be able to deal with it. With the new knowledge of a difficult DNA child, we will also develop techniques in re-aligning a few, if not all of the defects. We must not withhold the good from those who benefit from the DNA research.

A Doctor friend of mine is teaching stem cell research in Australian and European Universities, and sees the value of the research in terms of improved quality of life for many, in the United States we are still struggling with it. I'd rather struggle and place things in order before we embark on it. It is the American way; infrastructure first.

We have dealt with Dr. Kevorkian, Terry Schiavo and many other ethical issues and we will continue to do with resistance. We are indeed better off today, living a little better and little longer due to the research in medicine.

Other pieces on Aamir Khan:
Aamir Khan is God sent http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/05/aamir-khan-is-god-sent.html

Aamir Khan, the new Social Hero of India
http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/05/aamir-khan-new-social-hero-of-india.html

CRITICAL ADD ONS:

WAS

Khursheed,

Shirk/ Incarnation

My apologies for lack of clarity in my piece about Aamir Khan. Each one of us has an obligation to resist the temptation to judge a statement or a person, I should have clarified more.

Personally, I don't believe in reincarnation, we are here once as person in flesh and are gone forever. However, on this topic; using the civil language of Sura Kafirun, I must add that, "Muslims don’t believe in what Hindus believe, and Hindus don’t believe in what Muslims believe" when it comes to life after this life, and we don't have. To you is your religion and to me is my religion. Kindly note, God did not condemn the other religion, not one word, he taught us how to be civil in putting the other religion and our religion on Par. Read the Sura again.

As a person committed to seeing the essence of each religion, I see the reincarnation (Hindu) and Life after death (Muslim) as a common value to mould one’s behavior. One does not want be born again less than human, and the other does not want a painful here after and prefers azab-less life. In both instances, reincarnation or life after death, serve the same purpose; behavior modification, to avoid a difficult continuum after this life.

When I wrote, “The movie actor Aamir Khan is indeed an incarnation of Krishna,” and then wrote, “in mitigating the evil of female feticide, dowry, child abuse, and other evils of the Indian society.” The word incarnation was used in its broadest meaning - playing the role of. It is like saying, “my Grand Son talks just like my father” or “Amitabh Bachchan gestures look like like Dilip Kumar’s” or Dev Anand appeared at times like Gregory Peck… The role Aamir Khan is playing fits the ideal role that Krishna played - in removing the evil.

I hope this gives some clarification. I am a strong believer in oneness of creator, creation and humanity.

Jazak Allah Khair

Mike Ghouse