What is going on everyone? I have a brand new movie review for you guys today and today we're discussing Alita Battle Angel. If you guys are new here consider hitting that like and subscribe button because this is where you guys can get early movie reviews, movie news and any sort of geeky content plus you guys can get information and also check out see how much on films down below where you guys can check out how to see movies early like Alita Battle Angel. Alita Battle Angel is directed by Robert Rodriguez and is very much executively produced by James Cameron and I know James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez. If you read into this film they have both been working on this film for a very long time and I've always been very interested with this film because I know it's based off a manga and personally I've never really read a lot of the manga but I've read some of it and it's a pretty fascinating world and story. As Alita was coming up I looked at the trailers I was like that has my interest I'm peaked let's see where this goes. I have to say Alita Battle Angel rocked my world. What an exhilarating absorbing and just energetic paced film from top to bottom with a fluid and beautifully realized mythology and world. Maybe I'm the only one to be saying this but coming out of this film buzzed. I am jacked for this film. I found this film to be just an energetic ride non-stop. Battle Angel in a weird way is actually a coming of age story about a young woman who is she is and what her place is in this world. This world full of cyborgs. This world full of weird cultists and humans and weird sport games and in general just super sci-fi-ish stuff. That's the great take that Robert Rodriguez took within this film is making it a coming of age story for this girl. Finding her first love. Finding who she is. Believing who she is and figuring out what her position in this world is going to be. With mixed in there of course this is an action sci-fi adventure as well and I don't know exactly where to start with this film because there was a ton that I loved about it and a ton that I really liked and one most notable thing that I was not the biggest fan of. I mean if I am talking about my cons let's just get that right out of the way. I was not the biggest fan of the love interest in here. I get why he was in here. I understand where he was coming from and I don't exactly know if it was how he was written or how the actor was performing him but I felt like there could have been less of him. I understand again why he was in here. It's a part of her journey and her story to who she is becoming but I didn't need him honestly. I would have personally wanted more of a relationship with her and Kristoff Waltz character the doctor or other than known her father. I think their dynamics were some of the best parts earlier in the film and again I wanted more of that. Oh it's the cons out of the way. Let's talk about Alita Battle Angels all of its pros.  I saw this film in Adobe Digital Theater with 3D. Now I'm not the biggest fan of 3D. The 3D though is seamless and some of the best 3D I've seen since well Avatar. Makes sense because James Cameron was helping make this film and the 3D if you have the chance to see this in 3D or Adobe Digital or IMAX whatever you do want to go check it out on that because it is amazing. This world's completely built from the bottom to the top is insane. One of the big pros that I have for Alita Battle Angel isn't just the great coming of age story that I felt like they had built within this world to Alita and really having me fall in love with her character. I want more of Alita. I wanted more of just talking to her and again just as our main characters and her surrounding peers around her are also falling in love with her you're finding yourself falling in love with her as well.  Every single action scene every single pacing to them is excellent. This is great action here. You're going to be on the edge of your seat, jaw on the floor and I'm very surprised that this film is PG-13. Some of the action in here was like whoa that is that's a man getting cut in half. Really just dug the action here. I don't exactly know where to start with it. There's so many great action scenes in here. There's one that takes place within a bar where she just smashing people in the tables.  That's really what I can say more about Alita Battle Angels. I was engaged. I give you guys my final thoughts on Alita Battle Angel. Let me know what your guys thoughts are. Are you guys excited for this film? Are you not? Let's talk about it down below. Alita Battle Angel is again an exhilarating sci-fi action adventure film that has an excellent performance by Rosa Salazar who is wonderful in here. I've never seen her in anything but I am looking forward to whatever I can get more of her from. I think the long development of this film was very much worth the wait for people who were waiting for this film and in general who had seen that first trailer and was blown away. I was especially. The action in here excellent. The story and the pacing of the film felt great. It didn't feel at all lagging or it felt like it was too long. It really felt perfectly paced. It opened up a brand new world to explore. A world that I just fell in love with. Again I fell in love with Alita herself and the coming of age story that she had for one another. The dynamic that she had with her father in here and even though a lot of the other supporting characters besides our main two didn't love the love interest the villain in here is kind of one-dimensionally. You don't get to know much about them but there's a lot to love in this film. There yeah of course there's gonna be cons to it but overall if you're going into this film wanting an entertaining time to be sucked into a brand new world and want more because I'm telling you that I want more Alita. I want more of this world and I want to see where her story goes. Then Alita Battle Angel is an excellent film to go check out. All that said I'm gonna give Alita Battle Angel an A minus. So where you guys thoughts are on Alita Battle Angel. I'm curious to hear your guys thoughts on this one. Please go check it out opening weekend guys. February 15th the weekend of that. That is when you guys can go check out Alita Battle Angel. You do not want to miss it. I know it's gonna be a busy week. Valentine's Day. Happy that day to you but promise me guys you're gonna go check it out. Let's get this thing check in some money. Let's make another sequel to Alita Battle Angel. Again if you guys are new here consider hitting that like and subscribe button for all those early movie reviews. Check out Sam and Sean films and I'll see you guys soon. Stay classy.


What are we looking at here mom? Looking at a little rain this morning. Happy rug ride! You excited for your first rug ride? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can't wait to get started. Right after I have coffee. She comes now singing, moaning, moaning, bump, bump, bump. You ready for a rug ride or what? I'm so excited. I've never done rug ride ever. It's my first time. I know, and it's nice and cool. So cool. Not hot anymore. It's not hot. Not hot. Now hopefully she doesn't hit any of that lightning as they're headed to Atlantic. That's where everyone's heading today. It's about a 60 mile ride. My feet are looking pretty awesome, I gotta say. I actually get to show you in a mirror today. Here she goes to do her first rug ride. Good morning! We are ready! I wanted to stay in bed and just be like, I'll just meet you guys there. All right, we are getting our crew together in the lobby. I'm so excited to share this experience with them. Rug Ride is one of my favorite things in the world and now I have all of my favorite people here to share it with me. How good it feels to be in cool weather. I never thought it would cool down ever again after this past week. This is the Missouri, the official start of Rug Ride. We're gonna go all the way to the Mississippi. Mom's psyched. Woo, a little bit wet. Good morning, good morning! It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Good morning! Yeah, what's up, what's up? Yeah! Mom's all wet, so's my camera. Yeah. In the rain, just singing. In the rain, all the glory to ride bikes in the rain. Absolutely, let's get some pie. Let's get some pie. I'm going for the most unhealthy pie. There is no fruit in this. It's the fudge swirl. Oh yeah, hook it up. Oh, thank you! This is your Rug Ride eco tip. Bring your own fork because there's lots and lots of plastic waste here.  I lost my mom. Mom! Mom, where are you? She's probably off partying. Drink a Bloody Mary's. I'm having a lot of trouble keeping up with my mom because she's on that little e-bike and she just zooms up these hills. Mom, wait up! She's not waiting up for me. So I just ran into a guy named Jordan. What's up, buddy? What's up, guys? And Jordan, I met him a couple weeks ago in Boulder. He is riding his bike across the country. You're only 18, right? Yes, I'm 18, just graduated high school and now we're here at Rack Ride. And he's riding his bike all the way across the country. I'm proud of this, dude. Let's go get some pie, huh? Hey, guys, Ryan's been the biggest inspiration for this ride and I really support him all the way. So guys, give him a like and a follow. Yeah, thank you. He's my new agent, by the way. And it's not just fried food and turkey legs. There's actually a salad bar. I know it doesn't look like salad because it's just drenched in ranch, but it's all vegetables in here. Real good stuff. I'm now at the top of my top distance. How far have we gone? We've gone 43 miles. You've been lovin' rag by our way? So far, Rack Ride's been anything or if more than I've expected. And you've been riding all the way across the country. How's that been going?  Nobody told me that part. But a sore butt is the sign of a good day on a bicycle. We have made it to Atlantic Day 1. It's time to go find Mama and Dana and Xantha. We lost Dana and Xantha at the very beginning part of the day. No clue where they went, but they're all camping with pork belly. And I think that's right around here. Mom, what is this? It's a vino. Mine to go. So, Mom, how was your first day of Rack Ride? My first day of Rack Ride was really fun between the rain and the fun and the food and corn and the people. The food and the people. Yeah, it was good. You glad you came all the way on here? Yeah, I am. I'm glad you're here. All right, it's time for a very serious interview with Dana. Dana, how was your first day of Rack Ride? Dana, how was your first day? Awesome. It really was awesome. It was different than what I thought it would be because, as you know, it's been like hot, hot, hot, hot, hot. And it was not hot. But it was nice. It was rainy. It was wet. It was cool. I got a little cold. I know that's hard to believe, but I still ate ice cream. That was amazing. What about pie? You eat pie? I absolutely ate pie. I would not have ridden a day without pie. It's my first time I've ever ridden 60 miles today. I have 68 tomorrow. But I had a great time. I talked to, I think, everybody. And it was challenging. It was challenging. But I had a blast. And I didn't eat like these guys ate. I had a pork chop. I'm always like saying hi, talking to people and checking things out and using my ice cream bell. And every hill I tell people, this is it. Last hill. It's not. It makes them feel better. All morning to make sure that we're having a good morning. Since about four in the morning. Good morning, Red Bikes! Good morning, guys! This is the first day I'm going to ride 68 miles. Yesterday was my longest day ever. Today's going to be the longest day ever. Oh, I like that. Look at that. Ta-da! It looks like I got beat up last night.  I think I may have slept a little bit downhill or something on the bloods in my head. You ready, Red Bikes? Yep, I'm ready. I think so. So, I have a new friend, Rick, here. What's up, Rick? What's up, dudes? Dude, tell me some of your story. You were just telling me it was incredible. Let's hear this. Well, this is a pretty big deal for me. I'm about 285 right now.  But I was close to 400 pounds. Like, in the way high, up for 300s. And I switched doctors. And I was a DJ in San Francisco. I still am in the Bay Area. And so the doctor says, hey, you're big Rick. And I said, yeah.   You know, and I'm like, what? Done with what? And he's like, everything. Like, have you done everything you want to do in life? I was kind of like in my mid-late 40s. No. Why are you asking me this doctor? He's like, because you're like this close to having like heart attack, stroke, massive health issues. And so he goes, you have to change everything you're doing, everything. What your goals are, how you achieve them, what you eat, what you do for exercise, who you hang out with. Change it all. You can't do 20 minutes a day, three days a week, and get in shape like the TV. I'd say it doesn't work. And I knew that, right? Everybody knows that. So I was like, okay. So I lived in the Oakland Hills and I would see people bicycling up and down the Oakland Hills. And I looked and I paid attention and they weren't like super athletes. They were lots of different people. And I thought, well, I'm like one of those regular people that does that. So I bought a pretty inexpensive but safe kind of a beginner road bike. And boom, I did it. My first goal was to do a 12-mile charity ride, which was totally awesome. I thought that was like an incredible goal to accomplish. And I really think it is for a lot of people. And I'm still proud of it. And this is my third rag bar in 2019 riding across Ohio, which still kind of amazes me.  And I get inspired by not just the super fit athletes, but I actually get more inspired because I relate to the bigger people that are on this ride. And I know that it's a huge deal for them. See this bracelet right here? This guy, Mike, made it last year. And I've been searching him out amongst the 20,000 people. And I found him. And it is, of course, time for a new one. How long will it take you to learn how to do this? Uh, I don't know. I was just goofing around with him when I was probably supposed to be working at the bike shop.  Sometimes I think the best place to find food at Ratbriar are in the church basements. Food is always homemade and served with a lot of love. I love seeing windmills. I think they're beautiful. They produce clean energy. But the bad thing about seeing windmills means that they put them in a windy area. And it's seriously windy this morning. You know I love historical markers. And this one right here is pretty cool. This is the site of Jesse James's first train robbery. Just showed up in Adair. Adair, Iowa. And the signs along the way have said ice cream, ice cream, ice cream. I guess they're famous for ice cream. We're silver and homemade pie and ice cream. We have a 1912 ice cream freezer from the old creamy here in Adair. And we crank it with a tractor and a belt. Ten gallon at a time. And how many gallons did you make today? We made 50 gallons. It's really a great experience with this. And I have ridden Ratbriar before. So I know what it is and it's great. And the people love it. And one of the things that they really like is homemade ice cream and pie. So when they said Ratbriar was coming through, I said we'll make ice cream. That's what we'll do. I've been in Adair for 65 years and we've been making ice cream ever since I've been here. So ice cream is your thing? Ice cream is our thing. It is. I know it's lunchtime and I should be eating lunch food. But I think ice cream and cookies counts as lunch food, right? It feels so good to be back here at Ratbriar. This is my fourth one now. And I'm starting to make friends that I only see once a year on Ratbriar. So it's kind of like a family friend reunion type thing. You know, I love these corn fields and I love the little puppy clouds. All the people from around the world and around the country makes me very happy to be amongst my biker people. The bear belonged to my sister. She was a school teacher. So instead of carrying around a flat Stanley, she carried a teddy bear named Arlo. And everywhere she went, she took the bear with her. Bear has been to six different countries, 42 states. And she passed away back in November last year. And after Ratbriar, the bear is going to, Arlo is going to go to Glasgow, Scotland to be with my sister's pen pal, Astrid. It is so nice to sit down in some grass after riding your bike all day. We are now in winter set. And this town looks like a Hollywood movie set. It is so perfect. It is like when you watch a movie of old time America, this is exactly what it looks like. I didn't think it still existed, but it still does. I mean, of all the old storefronts, the old pharmacies, the old theater. It's good to see because small town America is dying. I've ridden my bike all over this country. And so much of small town America is just decrepit and falling apart and going out of business. But it seems like Iowa has found a way to keep their small towns thriving. Maybe it's rag bride. I don't know what it is. But it is, it's good to see it. It makes me happy. And it's nice that we're ending the day in cities like this. It's Luke. What's up bud? Not much, but just enjoying the ride.


by way of introduction. If you didn't happen to look at it in the bulletin, Hina Khan Mukhtar lives in the East Bay. She's the mother of three boys. She's an author, blogger, teacher, and much to my delight. She has become active in interfaith dialogue. We'll talk about how that came to be. This conversation arose out of what I would describe as inflamed rhetoric, especially at the end of last year, growing out of several incidents of violence. And my belief that the reaction, especially in the media, came from fear and ignorance. And the best antidote to fear and ignorance is familiarity and education.  So Hina has agreed to come speak with me and with us. I don't claim to speak for all Christians. I am not going to ask Hina to speak for all Muslims. What you will see this morning is a conversation between two individuals. And yet, as two individuals, we have more or less volunteered to represent our different faiths to each other, and including you in that conversation. So maybe we're not as much representatives as we are role models this morning. So my first question for you, Hina, is the one that's sort of the broadest. And we'll give you a chance to run with it. Which is, what do you wish that non-Muslims knew about Islam? So that question always comes to mind, depending on who I'm speaking with. Because in different communities, you find out that there's different misconceptions, misconceptions. I guess these days, especially with the media and all the messages that are being put out there, I think one thing that is really important for the general public to understand is that Islam in America is nothing new. It's not something that's suddenly coming across the borders. We've been here from the beginning. They say that there was Muslims on the ships. There's historical evidence that there was Muslims on the ships with Christopher Columbus coming from Spain and also with the African slave trade. Many Muslims were brought over at that time as well. Another misconception that I would love for people to get clarified is about how Muslims love Jesus, that Jesus Christ is a very, very revered prophet and Islamic tradition. And we love him. I've always felt a special affinity with him out of all of the prophets that we've learned about. He's mentioned more in the Quran than the prophet Muhammad himself. And so whenever I hear any hymns or songs or praise of Jesus, I have absolutely no Muslim I know has any problem saying amen right along with that. So I think those are probably two of the major misconceptions I would want to address. Just to remind me and maybe to help some of the people here describe besides the prophet Muhammad who is the central prophet, what other prophets are included in your list of? Pretty much all the biblical prophets that you read about in the Bible and the Torah. Moses is the prophet who's mentioned most in the Quran. Whenever we do mention any of the prophets, we say peace be upon him after mentioning their name out of reverence. There are some Islamic scholars who believe that Mary may have been a prophet as well. That's an opinion. And there's an entire chapter in the Quran called the chapter of Mary. So she's a very revered figure. But David, Solomon, John the Baptist, Adam was the first prophet. So yeah, you name it those other prophets we believe in. So the Quran is Muslim scripture. How is the Old Testament and New Testament, how are they treated? How are they seen? So the Christians and the Jews by Muslims are called the people of the book. That's how God refers to them in the Quran. So that as considered to be communities that believed in one God and had prophets sent to them. The difference that we believe in the prophets is that the prophets, the biblical prophets, were sent to specific communities to teach the people in a specific time. And we see the prophet Muhammad as the last prophet in a long line of prophets. And that he was sent for all of mankind, all of humanity. Like when people say that, oh, Islam needs a reformation. Muslims actually see, Islam sees itself as a reformation. Actually of like previous faith traditions. And so yeah, the prophets are absolutely adored and you hear a lot in the media about Muslims going crazy when anything is said disrespectful about the prophet Muhammad. But what people don't know is that there is also a lot of hurt and a real visceral reaction to any of the prophets being made fun of. I know a few years ago there was an art exhibit in New York City where they were talking about making a chocolate, a statue of Jesus, a nude statue of Jesus out of chocolate.  And it had all the private parts as well. And I know that there were Muslims who really were feeling like that was disrespectful to a prophet that they adored. And they wrote letters saying that he shouldn't be depicted nude and you know. Yeah, in particular, is there something that you wish Americans knew about Islamic practice? Islamic practice, you know with the relationship with God, it's a very private relationship with God but it's seen very publicly. So like when I go out and I've got the headscarf on, you know, it's a public manifestation of my faith. If I'm at the park and the time for prayer comes in and I find a private spot in which I wanna go, say my afternoon prayer, anyone passing by will see it. And so for a lot of people, they see the outward form of the Islamic way of practicing the religion but they're not aware of what's actually going on on the inside. And there's many different dimensions to the Islamic tradition and the Islamic way of living. And Muslims really honestly from all the people I know, the Christians, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, there's no difference. Everybody wants the same thing. They worry about their families. They want peace on earth. They wanna be good to their neighbors. But a lot of the traditions of Muslims are different from what we see out there going on a daily basis. But hearing like the singing in the church that reminded me also of the singing that we have in our mosques. We don't have music, but we have like a drum that goes with the singing. But just the fact that hearts are moved and souls are moved by music is a universal thing. That's pretty important in this congregation. Yeah. So that leads me to my next question, that your involvement in interfaith work, it's clearly a passion for you. How did that come about? You know, a lot of Muslims are very insular and they're in their communities and they're not necessarily out there. And what we realized, especially after 9-11 is that that has to stop. We have to get out there. We have to be willing to talk about who we are. And I know many of us are nervous about being seen as proselytizing and trying to go out and convert people. So people stay private and they stay in their own circles. But I think what did it for me was this Pew survey came out and this national Pew survey which showed that a majority of Americans had an unfavorable view of Muslims. But what was interesting was that the majority of that majority did not know a Muslim. And the minority that had a favorable view of a Muslim, the majority of that minority actually knew a Muslim. So what the statistics are showing is that that old fashioned rule of just getting to know one another, that that's what makes a difference. That once you get out there and you get to know each other and can put a name to the face and can put a face to the religion, it makes a difference. Now there's a lot of diversity within the Christian tradition. Different approaches to worship, different approaches to theology. That's true for Islam as well. For example, not all Muslims are Arabs and the way Islam is practiced might depend to some degree on culture and ethnicity. Is that correct? So how do you approach this diversity within your own tradition? The understanding is that all the different traditions are supposed to be respected and it's totally fine to believe that the way you're practicing your faith is the best way to practice it. But with the understanding that it's totally possible that another person's way of practicing their faith may be just as good if not better. So there has to be humility with it. The difference is that you will see our cultural Islam spans the globe. The Islam you'll see in Africa will be very different from the Islam you'll see in India and the Islam in Indonesia. The Islam in the Middle East and in the Arab countries is different. Unfortunately, in the media you'll see one depiction like from one part of the world usually where there's the most political strife. But you go to Malaysia and you see the Islam there and I find it beautiful everywhere obviously but how I approach it is just finding respect and having respect for all the different traditions and knowing that everybody's just trying to please God. That's a wonderful approach and as you may have guessed within our tradition that doesn't always happen either. Of course we all think the way we're doing it is at least the best way for us. But there's a tremendous amount of disrespect even among the Christian traditions and it's saddening, it really is. And the media shows pretty much one kind of fundamentalist approach. So can you tell us what ways your culture impacts your family in practice? So it's really interesting because we're in this new phenomenon where people are trying to figure out what it means to be an American Muslim. Recently one of the scholars from our mosque, his sermon got posted and his sermon was in English and he's an internationally renowned scholar. He's got followers from all over the globe and you never want to read the comments section but in the comments a Muslim had written what kind of sermon is this? It's not an Arabic and a sermon isn't valid unless it's an Arabic which showed that people really do think that where they're from, the way they're doing it is the correct way. And so as an American Muslim, especially raising my kids here, it's trying to figure out how to take the best of what this culture has to offer and see the Islam in it. So for example, like in our family and my community, people don't celebrate Halloween and it's seen as having pagan roots and celebrating demonic elements. That's how many Muslims view it. However, Thanksgiving is completely embraced because Thanksgiving is seen as a celebration of gratitude and a celebration of thanking God for what you've been given. Even Christmas, even Christmas is something that people honor even if they don't celebrate it because it is a recognition of the miraculous birth of Christ, Muslims recognize the immaculate conception and that Mary was a virgin. And so, you know, using that filter. So I know one of my teachers said that Islam, whatever culture it goes to is like a sieve and so you take out the parts that don't correlate with the Islamic belief but to keep the stuff that even if it's not from Islam, you know, validates what we believe. That's a great metaphor. I like that. And I think in our tradition, we struggle with that as well. I think we're less likely to, I'll speak for myself, less likely to think in terms of which parts will injure my Christianity as opposed to which parts will injure my children just generally. And I think I've mentioned to you or to the congregation that Pina has a particular focus on raising Muslim children. She's got some terrific articles on raising kids with manners and raising kids in the culture, religion and culture that I think that if I say them correctly, Dean and Dunya, the words that mean faith and culture. And so from your perspective on culture, can Allah, can God speak through culture? Oh, absolutely.  And so, and one of my favorite lines from the Quran, because we believe the Quran to be the direct revelation of God, like the word of God. And is that, oh mankind, I've created you in nations and tribes so that you may know one another.  I mean, God in His mercy has created us in different religions and different tribes and different cultures, but it's so that we may come to know one another. And so I personally do believe that God can speak to us through culture. What is central to you about Islam? Central to me about Islam is, the analogy that I was once given that really spoke to me was of this world being kind of like, you know, when you see a father holding a baby and he throws the baby up in the air and then catches the baby again. And when you see the baby up in the air, he's in the state of panic, frightened. He's laughing before, then he's in a state of panic and then he comes back to his mother's or father's hands and is content and calm once again and laughing. That's the analogy that was given to me is that that is what state we're in right now, having been thrown out into the world and we're in this state, mankind is just in the state of anxiety and panic and not knowing what's coming next but to know that we came from good hands and we're going back to good hands and to really just center on that. The thing that we're taught over and over in our tradition is that this isn't home. This is, we're here for a little while on the Prophet Muhammad told us to treat this world like you're on a journey and like you're crossing a bridge and you don't build your home on the bridge. The bridge is just to get from one point to the next. And so focusing on being good to one another and worshiping God and trying to live the life that the prophets have taught us about how we're supposed to live our lives so that we can then find peace in our true home which comes in the next life. I love the tossing the baby metaphor that I think fits very well for us as well. I have a question about the violence done in the name of religion but I want to qualify by saying that I'm completely aware that violence is done in the name of pretty much every religion. But how do you tell your sons or three sons when the media is plastering this all over about violence done in the name of particular Islam? Yeah, it's a struggle. It's every phase of life of parenting you discover something new and this is something that I didn't think I would be grappling with. My heart is really going out to African-American mothers who've raised their children in the society and to the Palestinian mothers who are having to raise their sons in occupied territories because I'm only now starting to experience what it's like to raise three young men who have testosterone and they have dignity and they don't want anyone to mess with them and they're just day in, day out hearing things in high school. And I talked to my son after the Paris attacks I wrote an article about it where I said to him you might want to think about what you're going to say to kids when you go back to school on Monday and I remember he just all of a sudden looked irritated and he said oh I'm a pro at this now. He said my freshman year I think it was the Benghazi, the bombing in Libya I had to deal with that. Then the next year it was Charlie Hebdo then the year after that, the year before that was Boston sophomore year was Boston Marathon Bombing last year was Charlie Hebdo now I have to deal with this. He said I'm a pro and I felt really bad for him. It was heartbreaking and I said I'm sorry I'm sorry that this is your reality and then he said isn't it sad that I've become a pro at this? And I said absolutely but he said you know I feel like I'm not fighting for my rights as a Muslim he said I feel like I'm fighting for my rights as an American because every day the message that's being given to Muslim kids in schools is that you guys need to go home and you guys are all terrorists and your parents need to be investigated and your mosques need to be investigated and he said the rumors that are spreading in school about what Muslims believe it's like putting out fires everywhere you go so recently what happened with my son is some guy said something to him and he said something which I won't repeat but he said something that shut the guy up but isn't in line with what we've been teaching as far as how you're supposed to respond to somebody who's oppressing you and what I told him was you know I'm worried that you think that these stories that we've taught you about the prophets and how they dealt with trials and tribulations in their lives that you think those are all fairy tales those we haven't taught you about how Jesus turned the other cheek and how the prophet Muhammad went and asked after the woman who used to throw trash on him every time he walked down this one alleyway and one day she didn't throw trash and then she went he went and checked on her found out she was sick and prayed for her to get better you know we haven't told you these stories as fairy tales that there's a point and it's to teach you how how to deal when you're being oppressed and when you're being oppressed that's that's when you find out who you truly are what you're really made of so it was a long conversation and it's a conversation we've had over and over but um you know I what I told them is the the biggest thing that happens with being tried is most people don't even know they're being tried and so they don't even stop to think about okay well what how does God want me to respond in this moment so it's just one other aspect of parenting that's coming up now that's a that's a terrific child raising phrase how does God want me to respond respond in this moment yeah it's gonna keep that in mind I have a bunch more questions I'm gonna run out of time but I want to ask the one I think that's most important for us right now which is what can we do what what can Muslims and Christians do to respond to this tide of intolerance what can we do together you know uh what what you've done today is an example of of what people can do and um and I'll be honest all the interfaith work that I'm involved in every everything has been started by the Christians and the Jews it's by Christians and Jews saying come to our congregations come speak to our community what can we do how can we help because it's true the Muslims are feeling very frightened are scared are trying to figure out how to raise their kids how to give their kids dignity how how to give their kids confidence in who they are and so reaching out to the Muslim community has been immense goodwill immense goodwill we had Christian churches in the Tri City area Tri Valley area come out and they formed a ring of solidarity around our mosque on one day and this was before Paris happened before San Bernardino and we had rabbis and pastors and reverends speak and at that time what I said when I was asked to speak was you know the next incident we don't want it to happen God forbid may God protect all of us but it's right around the corner and when it happens to be able to tell our kids remember those people who came and formed the ring of solidarity around our mosque focus focus on them don't focus on like what Donald Trump is saying you know don't focus on what Fox News is saying you know and sure enough I mean you know that was just earlier on in the year and then by the end of the year we had a number of tragedies happen and yeah it's just like it's important for Christians and Jews to know that not all Muslims are what you see in the media it's important for the Muslim community to see that as well that the person yelling the loudest at the microphone isn't the one necessarily representing everyone's voices well I would like to commit to stay in touch and maybe we could do something longer maybe an after-worship thing some other time we had something else planned for today but some other time we would be thrilled to have you come back UNC Sean thank you


Well, I had a wrong talk with the reporters this morning as long as we were in the hospital. I thought it'd be very wise to see the content of the hospital and get orders issued to the switchboard to that no incoming calls should be taken. But I'm pretty sure it's wrong. I agree with that.  Well, both of them are really off-balance right now. Of course, it's rather terrible. I was in, I guess, about 20 or 30 telegrams a day from pretty prominent publishers asking whether they were through the dice and flowers. I replied back to them that I had, and that I needed a friend, and that they had been sent to them before. You had ordered me to make the investigation of it, which is through the dice and flowers. But one day after noon, we'd been notified in New York as soon as I got to work, but my feeling about it is that it can't prove anything but that you're a compassionate man and an understanding man. Billy Graham called me and said that, and you can quote that. He said that he got out of bed at three o'clock the other night, and he just had known him, and he had such great respect for him, and knew me, and just said his prayers. He said, just remember this, we have to do our duty, and our duty comes first. But remember that I want to Christ the Apostle to double-cross to him, and remember that he dealt with people with moral problems. He dealt with them gently, and always be compassionate. But do your duty. Well, of course, it's too damn many hypocritical. That's right. We oppress this country. That's right.  That's right. And I was as stunned as anyone else was because I jumped upon him, and in the highest regard, still do.  Of course. I think you ought to be institutionalized in some place where they can give him the very best of psychiatric treatment. And I think there might some thought be given to getting him, indeed, the law to read, which has a psychiatric ward, that the criticism that might be made with these as this man was being treated at government expense, but he's entitled to it as being a colonel. Well, I'll tell you another thing. I'm excited to know that McGreed is a pretty good thing for some of us to send him flowers or write him something, because it wouldn't have been any evidence around. And our problem was to try to get the evidence and try to see what had happened. We knew that he'd build them, and they all tell me that the odds were 95-5, he'd kill himself the first day if he didn't have a little encouragement, and that you had to interview him, and you had to go into these things, and I don't think anybody could criticize you. Well, I don't care whether they do, but I've got pretty clever pride on that. This is good, so long.