A Presentation of the Center for Pluralism
If it is Sunday, it is time for pluralism
Pluralism Events on culture, politics, religion & workplace
https://centerforpluralism.com/workshops

First Sunday – Cultural Pluralism – Work in progress
Second Sunday – Political Pluralism
Third Sunday – Religious Pluralism – – Work in progress
Fourth Sunday – Pluralism in Family, community, and workplace

The Center for pluralism is committed to building cohesive societies where every human feels secure about his/her faith, politics, race, ethnicity, culture, or other uniqueness. We are a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization and your donations are tax-deductible. We bring good things to you, and we welcome any donations to run these programs. Please donate at https://CenterforPluralism.com/donate America Together Foundation is the Center for Pluralism.

Previous event Archives: https://centerforpluralism.com/pluralismworkshop-archives/
Our YouTube Channel – Please don’t forget to subscribe https://www.youtube.com/centerforpluralism
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MARCH 2021

Sunday, March 07, 2021 – 12:00-1:30 EST
Festivals of March (CULTURAL PLURALISM)
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Sunday, March 14, 2021 – 12:00-1:30 EST
Do you want to run for Public Office?
please register here to get the zoom link
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/do-you-want-to-run-for-congress-or-senate-tickets-145577519279
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Sunday, March 21, 2021 – 12:00 to 1:30 EST
The essence of Judaism (RELIGIOUS PLURALISM)
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Sunday, March 28, 2021 – 12:00 to 1:30 EST
Cohesive Family (FAMILY PLURALISM)
Details – work in progress at https://centerforpluralism.com/workshop-busting-myths-about-jews-and-muslims-for-peace-and-productivity/

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Understanding the Essence of Religion
All the beautiful Religions

The Center for Pluralism is committed to promoting understanding between peoples of different religious affiliations.  We would like to thank the Church of Scientology National Affairs Office for hosting the series of events. In support of Article 18 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance and appreciation of another faith.  If we can learn to respect the otherness of others and accept the genetic uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge. Details at www.Centerforpluralism.com/Workshops

Understanding Baha’i – November 2016
11/22/16 – Tuesday, 1:00 to 3:30 PM – Understanding the Essence of Bahai Faith
Details:   https://centerforpluralism.com/religion-matters-understanding-bahai-faith/
RSVP – https://www.eventbrite.com/preview?eid=29138182087

Understanding Buddhism – December 2016
12/22/16 Thursday 1:00 to 3:30 PM – Understanding the Essence of Buddhism 
Venue: The Church of Scientology, National Affairs office, 1701 20^th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009
Details – https://centerforpluralism.com/what-is-buddhism/
RSVP – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/what-is-buddhism-understanding-the-essence-of-buddhism-tickets-29718796721

Understanding Christianity – January 2017
01/31/17 Tuesday 1:00 to 3:30 PM – Understanding the Essence of Christianity
Venue: The Church of Scientology, National Affairs office, 1701 20^th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009
Details: https://centerforpluralism.com/christianity-understand-the-essence-of-christianity/
RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/christianity-understanding-the-essence-of-christianity-tickets-30942499850

Understanding Hinduism -March  2017
03/07/17 – Tuesday 1:00 to 3:30 PM  – Understanding the Essence of Hinduism
Venue:  1701 20^th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009
Details:  https://centerforpluralism.com/hinduism-understanding-the-essence-of-hinduism/
RSVP:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hinduism-understanding-hinduism-seminar-tickets-32047632331

Understanding Humanism – March 28,  2017
03/28/17 – Tuesday 1:00 to 3:30 PM  – Understanding the Essence of Humanism/Atheism
Venue: 1701 20^th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009

Understanding Islam – April 18, 2017
04/18/17 – Tuesday 1:00 to 3:30 PM  – Understanding the Essence of Islam
Venue:  The Church of Scientology, National Affairs office,
Address: 1701 20^th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009
Details: https://centerforpluralism.com/understanding-the-essence-of-islam/
RSVP – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/islam-understanding-the-essence-of-islam-tickets-33377341527

Understanding Jainism – May 30, 2017
05/30/17 – Tuesday 1:00 to 3:30 PM  – Understanding the Essence of Jainism
Venue:  The Church of Scientology, National Affairs office,
Address: 1701 20^th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009
RSVP –  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/understanding-the-essence-of-jainism-tickets-34552924728
Understanding Judaism – June 2017
Understanding Native American Traditions – July 2017
Understanding Scientology – August 2017
Understanding Sikhism – September 2017
Understanding Wicca, Paganism – October 2017
Understanding Zoroastrianism – November 2017

We believe knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance and appreciation of another point of view.

By the end of 2020, there will not be a major city in America, and perhaps in the world, where you will not find people of different faiths, cultures, ethnicities, races, nationalities and social backgrounds working, eating, playing, marrying, and doing things together. This is bound to create conflicts.

As peacemakers and faith leaders, it is our duty to prepare fellow humans to deal with those eventualities to prevent possible conflicts, and lay a good foundation for nurturing goodwill and effective functioning of the societies.

Exclusive communities will become a thing of the past. If you live amidst others, you must also respect the otherness of others, as you expect them to do the same for you. Our goal is to bring people of different faiths together and provide a platform for them to share about their beliefs, their systems and rituals, while expanding the knowledge zone of each group.

The goal is to bring people of different faiths together and provide a platform for them to share about their beliefs, their systems and rituals, while expanding the knowledge zone of each group.

You are who you are, and I am who I am. As long as we don’t mess with each other’s space, sustenance and nurturence, and mind our own business, we all will do well. If we can learn to respect the otherness of other and accept the God-given uniqueness of each one of the seven billion of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

We are committed to building cohesive societies, where no human has to live in apprehension, discomfort or fear of a fellow being.

We have crystallized the definition of pluralism as, “respecting the otherness of the others and accepting the uniqueness of each one of us”. Pluralism is not a set of rules or a system like democracy, secularism, theocracy, fascism, authoritarianism, socialism, communism or capitalism, it is merely an attitude of live and let others live, and it is applicable in every aspect of life including culture, society, religion, politics, gender, food, ethnicity, race and other uniqueness’s.

We hope each one of us would walk in with an open mind and an open heart towards understanding other faiths, and walk out feeling connected with our fellow beings who are different than us.  No matter what faith we believe, we have to live together, and as responsible citizens we have to create an environment for each one of us to live without apprehension.

It is difficult to shed the prejudices, but once we do, there is genuine freedom (Mukti, Moksha, Salvation, Nijaat and Nirvana.) in it.

We had tremendous success in the program before, and we hope to improve upon it.   A Scholar from the given faith/tradition will present the program moderated by Pluralist Mike Ghouse.  This is not about rituals or theology, but how each faith contributes to the well being of an individual and the society, how does it contribute to common good.  In the coming years, we will follow it up with theology and rituals aspect of each faith/tradition.

The Center for Pluralism is committed to promoting understanding between peoples of different  religious affiliations.  We would like to thank the Church of Scientology National Affairs Office for hosting the series of events. In support of Article 18 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance and appreciation of another faith.  If we can learn to respect the otherness of others and accept the genetic uniqueness of each one of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

We hope the series of seminars will help one understand each faith tradition and respect for its contribution towards creating cohesive societies.

13 SEMINARS | 13 MONTHS | 13 TRADITIONS
Each month, we will explore a faith, the dates will be announced at www.CenterforPluralism.com/workshops

A majority of the conflicts we have in our day to day lives are not real conflicts that deal with our space, sustenance and nurturence, but intangilbe conflicts based on misinformation about each other.

Over the years we have conducted several workshops called “Understanding religion, all the beautiful religions.” 26 workshops have been conducted thus far and more are planned.

All our workshops are designed to demystify the myths about each one of us and prevent stereotyping others.  We hope to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill in every aspect of interactions with youth, women, adults and Seniors of different faiths, races, cultures and orientations.

The idea is when someone attends the workshops, he or she would be able to speak intelligently and without bias towards any of the religions, cultures, ethnicities.. etc. Please refer to our programs section.

Hold on, we will be announcing the workshops soon

FROM THE PAST  PRESS RELEASE  |  POWER POINT PRESENTATION  |  SUMMARY Understanding Sikhism  Sun, Aug 26 – 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM  ::Sikhism  Sun, Aug 26 – 5:00 PM – 5:30 PM  ::Pluralism  Where: Crowne Plaza Hotel on Midway/ Addison. Please RSVP to: Confirmattendance@gmail.com    PRESS RELEASE The Foundation for Pluralism is committed to promoting understanding between peoples of different religious affiliations. “We believe knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance and appreciation of another point of view”. The Foundation for Pluralism has taken the initiative to present all religions in its programs. The goal is to bring people of different faiths together and provide a platform for them to share about their beliefs, their systems and rituals, while expanding the knowledge zone of each group. We hope each one of us would walk out with an open mind and an open heart towards our fellow beings. It is difficult to shed the prejudices, but once we do, there is genuine freedom (Mukti, Moksha, Salvation, and Nirvana.) in it. Sikhism: Everything you wanted to know about Sikhism, you can learn about it in this workshop. Dr. Harbans Lal will be presenting the program. Sikhism was founded on the principle of service to humankind is service to the Creator God. They believe in one God who is creator and the protector and pray for the well being of every human. Dr. Harbans Lal  is Emeritus Professor and Chair of Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience at UNT Health Science Center and Emeritus Professor of Guru Nanak Studies at the Guru Nanak Dev University in India. He is President of Academy of Guru Granth Studies and member of Interfaith Council of the Thanks-Giving Square.   Dr. Lal is known for his research in the areas of behavioral medicine, spirituality and health. He serves on many national and international advisory boards, and has published over 500 papers and book chapters.   Dr. Lal remains active in many civic activities related to religion, culture and community services. In 1988, he was elected as the national president of Association of Scientists of Indian Origin in America. In 1995, he was awarded a Doctor of Literature (Religious Faculty), Honoris Causa, from the Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India. Pluralism Workshop: – What is Pluralism? What is a pluralistic attitude? Learn its application at work place, home, social situations and other circumstance. It is about co-existence ** (Questions to ponder – listed below) Details: When: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM Sunday, August 26, 2007 – Wisdom of Sikhism Time:  5:00 PM – 5:30 PM Sunday, August 26, 2007 – Wisdom of Pluralism Where: Crowne Plaza Hotel, 14315 Midway Road, Addison, TX 75001 Directions: Click Map : From LBJ, north on Midway, after Spring Valley on the left. Confirmation: ConfirmAttendance@gmail.com Schedule for the year: http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Calendar.asp PRESS RELEASE :: Understanding Judaism Dallas, Texas: – Sunday, July 1,  2007. The Foundation for Pluralism is committed to promoting understanding between peoples of different religious affiliations. “We believe knowledge leads to understanding and understanding to acceptance and appreciation of another point of view”. The Foundation for Pluralism has taken the initiative to present all religions in its programs. The goal is to bring people of different faiths together and provide a platform for them to share about their beliefs, their systems and rituals, while expanding the knowledge zoneof each group. We hope each one of us would walk out with an open mind and an open heart towards our fellow beings. It is difficult to shed the prejudices, but once we do, there is genuine freedom (Mukti, Moksha, Salvation, and Nirvana.) in it. Judaism: Everything you wanted to know about the Judaism, you can learn about it in this workshop. As with all faiths, non-Clarity, myths and mis-information are part of Judaism as well. Please come prepared with questions, we would like you to walk out of the workshop with a greater understanding of Judaism. Dr. Howard Cohen is a student of his own tradition and history, a student of the early Church, how it emerged from and related to its Jewish background, and the history that surrounded the writing of the Gospels. Dr. Cohen has been studying history and religion at SMU’s department of religion and Perkins for over 30 years, and has been teaching Judaism to Christians and Christianity to Jews since 1975. Pluralism Workshop: – What is Pluralism? What is a pluralistic attitude? Learn its application at work place, home, social situations and other circumstance. It is about co-existence ** (Questions to ponder – listed below) Details: When: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM Sunday, July 22, 2007 – Wisdom of Judaism Time: 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM – Wisdom of Pluralism Where: Crowne Plaza Hotel, 14315 Midway Road, Addison, TX 75001 Directions: Click Map : From LBJ, north on Midway, after Spring Valley on the left. Confirmation: ConfirmAttendance@gmail.com Schedule for the year: http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Calendar.asp UNDERSTANDING HINDUISM Workshops by the Foundation for Pluralism Contact: Mike Ghouse Cell: 214-325-1916 Office: 972-919-4466 Email: Mike@FoundationforPluralism.com Website: www.FoundationforPluralism.com Dr. Hasmukh Shah and Swami Nityananda Prabhu conducted the presentation on Sunday, February 25, 2007. We will add the pictures and video to the Website shortly.  We invited friends to write about Hinduism in 600 words, and we are pleased to present the following write ups from: Programs are the initiatives of: Foundation for Pluralism & World Muslim Congress Office : 2665 Villa Creek Dr, suite 206, Dallas, TX 75234 (972) 919-4466. POINTS TO PONDER Is attempting to undermine divinity of other faiths amount to arrogance? Does that appeal to God? Is blaming a religion, nation, race, or ethnicity for the acts of individuals’ amount to deception? Is holding greed, anger, hate, or malice in our hearts depleting our freedom? Is ridiculing a person amount to ridiculing the creator? Is judging others without knowing them personally amount to _________ (fill in Please)? Is God free or some group owns him/her? Are we not limiting its _________ (fill in Please)? Does God make deals behind our back and favor some? Could God do such a thing? In affairs of the world, religion appears to be a source of the problem; it certainly is not. You can always trace the wars, genocides, oppression and other atrocities to evil insecure stupid men. Please remember, the purpose of religion was to fix the evils of humankind and it continues to do so while some men still don’t get it. Thanks God, the world is a better place today because of the Religion and spirituality, without which there would be chaos. Every Religion is on the same side, that of goodness for humankind. Finding the truth is one’s own responsibility. Truth brings salvation. If beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, then faith is in the heart of the believer. Let every one find peace his/her own way – Mike Ghouse