WEBVTT - A Seat at the Table 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:14.480 Good morning, peeps, and welcome to Okay f Daily with 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:20.280 Meet your Girl Danielle Moody, recording from the home Bunker. Folks, 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:23.200 I cannot believe that I am saying this nearly two 0:00:23.200 --> 0:00:28.840 weeks following the Tennessee shooting. But there's been another fucking shooting, 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:33.360 and this time in Kentucky. This time it was at 0:00:33.400 --> 0:00:39.000 a bank. A twenty three year old white guy employee 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:42.440 of the bank went in with a rifle and shot 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:48.120 it up, killing four people injuring nine others. Police were 0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:50.680 called onto the scene. They got there within three minutes 0:00:51.120 --> 0:00:56.440 and killed the suspect, but not before he could do 0:00:56.520 --> 0:01:00.440 so much fucking damage. And if you've been watching the 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:06.119 reports come in, one of those that were critically wounded 0:01:06.880 --> 0:01:10.040 was an officer who this I believe was like their 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:14.440 tenth or so day on the job. They just graduated 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:18.920 from police academy. It's just, you know, folks, it is. 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:22.680 We live in the wild, wild West, we really do, 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:27.440 and it is really difficult to come on here. Every 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:30.840 feels like every other week there is another mass shooting. 0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:35.280 And you know, funny enough, but not funny. We are 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:38.760 in I believe that this is the one hundredth day 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:42.120 of the year and we have had over one hundred 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:46.160 and fifty shootings like that. It just doesn't even make 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:50.560 any fucking sense, you know. And what is what is 0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:53.480 worse about this one is that it is in a 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:56.640 red state that has all of these fucking you know, 0:01:57.600 --> 0:02:02.360 wild wild West laws for ceiling carry and anybody and 0:02:02.400 --> 0:02:05.400 everybody can get a gun with a slurpee and you know, 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:07.680 and they're gonna blame it on oh, this person was 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:11.000 mentally disturbed. Do we think other nations don't have people 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:14.360 that are mentally disturbed? They just don't have access to 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:16.600 fucking guns in the way that we do. Do we 0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:20.160 think that anyone else doesn't suffer from some type of 0:02:20.760 --> 0:02:24.400 you know, mental trauma people do all around the world. 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:26.360 That you just that in America you can get a 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:29.720 gun easier. Well, of course, now then you can get 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:36.280 like anything, including an abortion which on Friday, six PM, 0:02:36.320 --> 0:02:40.240 we had two conflicting rulings come down on myth of pristone, 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:45.639 the abortion pill, which if the judge in Texas, the 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:51.040 Trump backed judge in Texas, if that ruling holds, then 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:55.320 myth of pristone, which was approved twenty years ago by 0:02:55.360 --> 0:02:58.799 the FDA, is another way for the GOP to say, 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:02.280 fuck precedent, we don't care, right, so they can pull 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:07.000 anything down, bring anything to court. Law and order is 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:10.600 just it was their terminology for the Republican Party and 0:03:10.800 --> 0:03:15.880 they clearly don't care about it anymore. And so I 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:19.080 don't know where we find ourselves, dear friends, but I 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:21.480 don't feel like we are in a good place, and 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:25.840 it feels like things are getting aggressively worse on a 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:32.520 passing daily basis. So I'm trying to look for something hopeful, 0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:36.160 Hopefully something good will happen this week. I hope you 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:40.840 all had a RESTful weekend, if you celebrated the holiday 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:43.360 or you just you know, took some time to do 0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:49.360 something that was joyful and very much needed. And yeah, 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:52.400 because we need to ground ourselves in something, because this 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:57.320 ship is just it's increasingly wild every single day. Coming 0:03:57.400 --> 0:04:02.200 up next, my conversation with my friend and co host 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:06.080 of Democracy ishwjahat Ali. We get into a really good 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:12.240 conversation about religion and politics, and you know, talking about 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:17.640 the weaponization of quote unquote Christian white Evangelical Christianity, and 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:23.400 we talk about Ramadan, which was jahat is in the 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:27.839 midst of celebrating and you know the fact that you 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:34.320 have this Islam right has one point seven billion followers, 0:04:34.960 --> 0:04:39.000 and you would think in this country, you know, that 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:43.040 says that we are you know, open for all people. 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:46.160 There's not a mention, right, not in the same way 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:48.880 that you hear about Passover, not in the same way 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:54.760 that you obviously hear about Easter. No acknowledgment whatsoever. And 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:58.640 I talk about that with Wasjahat and what it feels 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:04.039 like to be in the religion that is so very large, right, 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:09.240 with so many followers and practitioners, and not have that acknowledgement. 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:13.120 It's pretty much you know, invisible in the United States, 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:21.320 and what that feels like. So that is coming up next, folks. 0:05:21.400 --> 0:05:25.800 I am so excited to welcome back to Woke Appa 0:05:25.880 --> 0:05:30.400 Daily my friend and co host of Democracy Ish Wajahat Ali, 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:33.280 who is also the author of the book Go Back 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:36.520 to Where You Came From and other helpful recommendations on 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:44.760 how to become American one. It is Ramadan, So happy 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:52.080 Ramadan to you. I realize that while Ramadan is in 0:05:52.160 --> 0:05:55.800 my calendar, right, it's I have all my holidays that 0:05:55.880 --> 0:06:00.279 come up, and you know, I reach out and you know, 0:06:00.640 --> 0:06:06.320 share well wishes to my friends of different religious affiliations. 0:06:06.880 --> 0:06:10.080 You get no love in this country. Huh andy, Nobody 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:13.960 mention it anytime. No, it is not, it is not. 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:20.240 There is no edmurbach On like on any network. No 0:06:20.240 --> 0:06:25.040 nobody maybe other than Amen or medi will mention anything. 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:29.360 Um So, I just like, what is that experience like 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:32.520 to be a part of a religion that is like 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:38.520 a billion plus strong, right, Like, it's not a small religion. Uh, 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:44.440 and yet there is no recognition in this in this country. 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:47.920 It Yeah, we've got numbers, we've got challenges and problems, 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:50.760 but we've also got numbers. So if other religions are 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:53.320 struggling right now, like I have Jewish friends, they're like, 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:55.159 you know what we enview about Muslims. I'm like, what, 0:06:55.520 --> 0:06:59.599 there's a lot of you, there's only except million of us. 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:01.960 It's one of the situations that even though it was 0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:04.840 born and raised in this country, right and you know 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:07.560 this as a black queer woman, we're not trying to 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:11.200 replace anybody. And I mentioned this because the white supremacist 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:13.240 and I always want to mention to people it's a 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:16.880 white supremacist conspiracy theory that came from the swamps of 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:20.280 the KKK Nazis that now over a third of Americans 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:24.360 believe because one political party in particular, and one network 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:27.880 in particular, Fox has mainstreamed it that we are trying 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:32.240 to actively replace and weaken Western white Christian civilization. Right. 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:34.559 And I always joke with folks that if you only knew, 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:37.320 we didn't want to replace you. We just wanted to 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:40.480 invite to the party. We just wanted some acknowledgment, We 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:43.040 wanted a speaking rule. And I say all this because 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:46.080 we wanted to be a character with a background. Yeah, 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:51.360 character like I don't know, an arc, a name, an 0:07:51.480 --> 0:07:54.520 arc like something, just a few lines, you know. And 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:56.520 I say that because when you grow up in this country, 0:07:57.400 --> 0:08:00.760 you know, you learn the Christian songs, you you learned 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:05.680 of about the Jewish traditions, and Jews had to mainstream themselves, right, 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:08.680 even with Judeo Christian. That's a recent innovation that's only 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:11.680 like one hundred years old. Before then, it was very 0:08:11.800 --> 0:08:14.520 clearly Christian. You would never add the word Judeo, right, 0:08:14.560 --> 0:08:16.480 Like probably even fifty years ago you would you would 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:18.920 have done that. So that's new. The fact that America says, 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:24.320 oh Jews welcome, pass over, you know, wonderful Hanuka. Nothing 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:27.239 for Muslims, even though, like you said, one point seven 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:31.320 billion people over fourteen hundred years of Islamic civilization. So 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:35.240 growing up, you know, we were just like, we're doing 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:37.959 eds for something called rama, and your teachers like, what's that? 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:40.560 Are you making something up? Like I swear to God 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:42.240 we're not. I just need to take a day off. 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:44.720 Which day, well, you know, we have to look at 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:47.360 the moon. So some people are gonna do Tuesday and 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:49.079 some people are gonna do Wednesday. Like what the hell 0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:50.720 are you talking about it? Like I swear a teacher, 0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:53.400 I'm not not a con. And then a few years ago, 0:08:53.880 --> 0:08:57.080 coinciding with our Muslim brothers elevation of the White House, 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:01.880 Barack Obama, you saw a slow you know, our brother 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:05.199 who prays towards Mecca and says Jesus Christ as his 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:08.280 Lord and Savior and celebrates Easter and had a reverend 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:11.520 in each sport openly. But I digress. You saw a 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:16.080 small trend Danio where you saw the stamp and people 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:18.040 are like, well, what is this? Who cares about the stamp? 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:20.720 Like the fact that there's an eat stamp, the fact 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:24.040 that Lego in Sesame Street over the past couple of 0:09:24.080 --> 0:09:28.079 years on Twitter or Instagram, say Ramadan Mobark or Eve Mobark. 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:32.480 The fact that Barack Obama and Joe Biden and others 0:09:32.679 --> 0:09:35.800 in the State Department and the White House iftar. Excuse me, 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:37.959 the White House do an if thar right like a 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:41.840 Ramdan iftar, and they do a State Department like eat celebration, which, 0:09:41.880 --> 0:09:44.840 by the way, I want to remind people, the Trumps 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:49.000 when they came in, they ended that. Huh, I wonder why. 0:09:49.400 --> 0:09:52.000 So that's one of those situations where you asked a 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:54.640 simple question. But even if you look at what I 0:09:54.640 --> 0:09:57.720 just said with Trump, why did he continue the other 0:09:57.760 --> 0:10:01.240 celebrations and went out of his way to say, now 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:04.480 we're not going to do the ead celebration because Muslim 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:09.520 even though the first I would say, even though Muslims 0:10:09.559 --> 0:10:13.079 have been here for four hundred years, a third of 0:10:13.120 --> 0:10:15.439 the slave trade that was brought here forcibly against its 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:18.200 will was Muslim. Our blood, our sweat, our tears, our 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:22.680 labor have fertilized this country. Muhammad Ali, one of the 0:10:22.720 --> 0:10:24.840 most well known athletes of all time who's given the 0:10:24.880 --> 0:10:27.760 honor of lighting the Olympic torch for the ninety six Olympics. 0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:31.160 Muslim even though we're part and parcel of America, we're 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:34.600 still seen as foreign, as the other and as them. 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:37.680 And it's one of those interesting situations is how do 0:10:37.720 --> 0:10:40.000 you love a country that doesn't love you back? And 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:42.160 how does it feel to be American when your country 0:10:42.160 --> 0:10:45.800 says you're both us and them? And that is how 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:48.280 it is to be a Muslim and to celebrate Ramadan 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:51.720 growing up in this country. But concisely to answer your 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:54.679 question the last few years, if you build it, they 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:57.320 will come. If you teach people, they'll understand. People ain't dumb. 0:10:57.800 --> 0:11:02.400 Slowly but surely people are like, Oh Ramadan, Muslims are fascinating, 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:05.560 not even water, not even water like. They become more aware, 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:08.600 they become more empathetic. If you teach people, becomes part 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:12.440 and parcel of the fabric. Oh halala meat. Oh Muslims 0:11:12.480 --> 0:11:16.920 eat really well. Eat Parties are the bomb. So just 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:18.680 one of those situations that now at the age of 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:22.120 forty two, I feel like my kids will finally get 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:26.079 an America where Ramadan and ed and halal is an 0:11:26.120 --> 0:11:28.719 integral part of the American experience and not seen as 0:11:28.720 --> 0:11:33.560 something as villainous evil foreign and other you know, it's 0:11:33.600 --> 0:11:37.959 it's and I love you for giving that his kind 0:11:37.960 --> 0:11:42.439 of historic breakdown of your experience, because what I experienced 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:46.760 over Passover with one of my best friends who is Jewish, 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:49.319 and what she has found. You know, she was raised 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:55.000 in a kind of hybrid religion household, but as she 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:58.480 is experiencing and witnessing the rise of anti Semitism in 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:05.320 this country, she is choosing actively choosing to really really 0:12:05.400 --> 0:12:10.160 ground herself in in Judaism in a way that she 0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:15.559 hadn't you know, ten years ago. And what I'm finding 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:19.560 is that there are lots of people, whether they are 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:27.160 Jewish or Muslim, Christian, even of like in spiritual practices, 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:32.280 doubling down and grounding in faith as the world around 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:36.000 us becomes more tumultuous. And so I wanted to get 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:38.559 your thoughts because we love to believe that we are 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:41.559 a country that has separation of church and state, which 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:44.320 I always find so interesting when even on our money 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:46.640 it says in God we trust that at the end 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:50.240 of each president, regardless of parties, you know, speech, that 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:53.439 they will God bless the troops and God bless this country. 0:12:53.559 --> 0:12:56.719 Like so it's it's interesting, like we don't pray at 0:12:56.760 --> 0:13:01.280 school as of right now, I'm certain that a second 0:13:01.400 --> 0:13:04.680 term President Trump or a president to Santis would have 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:09.440 that change. But what do you what do you think 0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:14.520 about this grounding, this kind of doubling down of faith 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:19.199 that seems to be taking hold, you know, human beings 0:13:19.240 --> 0:13:22.320 since the beginning, since the chromagnet times, ever since we've 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:25.960 developed the capacity for you know, language and communication and 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:30.040 higher thinking and art. The latest, the artwork, the earliest 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:36.079 artwork of our human ancestors, right depicts some belief, uh, 0:13:36.440 --> 0:13:38.880 some idea that we're not alone, that there is a 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:42.800 metaphysical other. Right. I think it's fundamental to most humans 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:47.440 to not necessarily subscribe to an organized religion, but to 0:13:47.480 --> 0:13:51.120 be spiritual. I remember David Bowie even said, like you know, 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:53.120 even though he wasn't religious, but like you know, even 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:58.760 he finds himself like praying in times of immense crisis. Right. So, 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:02.520 I think when it comes to humanity, there is it's 0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:05.880 just something they're always ingrained within our narrative and our 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:10.080 storytelling that wants us to believe that there is something, 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:14.880 some benelevant force, some being, some and some ether that 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:19.080 that is made of love and will will protect us 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:23.040 and comfort us. Okay, organized religion is getting a bad 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:26.120 rap because organized religion has been used and abused by 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:29.240 many of its practitioners as a sword against the weak 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:32.840 and as a shield to protect their power, as a 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:35.840 bulwark against modernity and progress. Which is why we shouldn't 0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:38.800 be surprised n that with gen Z and millennials, there's 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:41.920 so many nuns, not the nuns who wear the habit, 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:44.760 but n o ns. That's an actual word. So these 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:47.400 are people who unaffiliated. They're like, I'm done with Christianity, 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:49.480 I'm done with Islam, I'm done with can lose any 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:52.680 organized religion? I'm done. And coming from a religious community, 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:56.040 you know, you see all these uncles and aunties freak out. 0:14:56.080 --> 0:14:58.200 We're losing them. We're losing them. Why are we losing them? 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:01.080 It's like what Scott Walker did recently, right, we need 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:03.520 to do religion in doctrine. We basically was saying, we 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:06.120 need to do indoctrination skills. How are these Tennessee youth 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:09.480 you know, doing these protests and how come they're they're 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:13.440 so upset? Ah, We've failed them. Maybe because they realize 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:15.680 what you're selling them is toxic and it's killing them 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:18.880 and they're rebelling against you. Maybe women want equal rights 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:21.440 and maybe quote unquote minorities want to be treated respectfully. 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:24.680 And they've seen organized religion used as a weapon, and 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:27.920 they've seen the prophets turned into political mascots like Jesus 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:30.880 in this country. So that explains the rise of the 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:34.720 n O N s. Now, this what's interesting, just because 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:39.160 gen Z and Millennials in particular have rapidly Daniel, like 0:15:39.160 --> 0:15:41.160 the last fifteen years, like shift. If you look at 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:44.600 the numbers, it's it's fascinating. Bobby Jones of pr R 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:47.120 I does this. He's like the shift of people moving 0:15:47.120 --> 0:15:49.880 away from religion and one generation in America, this very 0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:52.440 religious country, that's separation of church and state. But you 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:54.240 and I, you know, you know you and I know 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:57.440 that's bs because the white Evangelical Christians have always been 0:15:57.480 --> 0:16:01.600 their own party, if you will, and unfortunately that has 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:03.480 been a party of violence and a party of white 0:16:03.480 --> 0:16:06.120 supremacy and not at all. But I'm just keeping it real. 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:09.880 But he says, the shift is stunning, But those nuns 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:14.400 are still spiritual, Daniel, that's what's interesting. You're still searching. 0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:17.640 So it's like people say, oh, they're all leaving. I'm like, 0:16:17.680 --> 0:16:22.040 they're not. They're leaving you, right, But they're still searching 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:25.640 for meaning, for purpose, for community. And I think what 0:16:25.720 --> 0:16:28.240 the pandemic has done, Daniel, and with the rise of 0:16:28.280 --> 0:16:32.720 incomm inequality and the rise of isolation and social media, 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:37.440 people desperately want belonging, They want community. They see that 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:40.240 materialism and the likes in the Instagram posts and the 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:44.280 tiktoks don't give them that sense of fulfillment, which is 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:47.000 why I think you're seeing some of these folks double down. 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:49.760 The other reason you're seeing people double down is in 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:52.200 the face of modernity and in the face of crisis 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:57.240 and the face of challenges, instead of expanding themselves, they're 0:16:57.400 --> 0:17:00.720 restricting themselves. Instead of creating a store where the tent 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:04.160 is bigger and has shade for everyone, they're like, I'm 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:07.159 going to make sure my tent protects me and my tribe. 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:09.720 And this is where you see religious chauvinism and white 0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:13.040 supremacy in Jesus being used as a mascot for you know, 0:17:13.080 --> 0:17:16.440 for white supremacy and white Evangical Christianity, where it's like 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:20.360 I will reject minority, I will double down, I will 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:22.720 bury my head in the sand, and I will I 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:26.000 will use religion as a sword against my perceived enemies, 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:29.159 and I will use it as a shield to protect 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:32.640 my power and privilege which is under threat by forces 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:36.439 I cannot comprehend. It's too confusing. And so this is, 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:39.680 you know, my explanation of the doubling down in which 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:42.240 in one way which is negative, which I hope is clear, 0:17:42.640 --> 0:17:46.920 and the type of return to it's just laugh all 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:49.840 the time, fige it. I always feel bad, like like 0:17:49.920 --> 0:17:52.280 I never get on the grift because I'm not a 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:56.399 good businessman, like like the Gwyddeth Paltrows and the goops 0:17:56.440 --> 0:17:58.920 of the world are now like frigging charging ten dollars 0:17:58.920 --> 0:18:02.280 for Tumeric. I'm like tumeric, the stuff that my grandmother 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:05.160 has that we eat every day. That shit is being 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:07.840 sold at like whole food for twenty bucks. Remember bone broth, 0:18:08.080 --> 0:18:10.200 They used to like give away those bones for free, 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:12.760 and like Jamaicans and Muslims are like yay, And now 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:15.639 freaking white women have discovered bone broth, and now this 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:18.399 crap sells like thirty bucks. You're like mother effing Gwyneth 0:18:18.440 --> 0:18:21.400 Paltrow and like the whole wellness industry is so amusing 0:18:21.440 --> 0:18:23.719 to me because all the stuff that we've been doing 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:27.920 Daniel for a thousands of years, meditation, gratitude, intermitted fasting, 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:30.520 which is I'm doing right now like rich White, So like, 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:35.000 you know what we just discovered intermitted fasting and meditation 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:38.960 and tumeric give us a thousand dollars. So that is 0:18:39.000 --> 0:18:42.959 like a succinct way of saying the return of people 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:46.680 in modernity who rejected organized religion but are now going 0:18:46.720 --> 0:18:52.399 to these old school rituals to find peace. Ain't that something? One? 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:56.520 It's hilarious and you recognize it so much. I mean, 0:18:57.359 --> 0:19:00.400 I will say, my mother owns a yoga studio on 0:19:00.480 --> 0:19:04.400 Long Island, and you know, a lot of what has 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:08.280 grounded her has been like from her childhood, right and 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:13.840 obviously like you know, uh, Buddhism and Hinduism, and then 0:19:13.960 --> 0:19:17.000 like the recognition that you know her mother was half 0:19:17.040 --> 0:19:20.560 Indian because my great grandmother was from Calcutta, right like, 0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:24.120 and so there is just like this connection and interwovenness. 0:19:24.400 --> 0:19:27.399 But there's always when it comes to whiteness, there is 0:19:27.440 --> 0:19:31.640 always this like Columbus saying of shit um and not 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:35.080 necessarily an integration. It's like we have found this, and 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:38.560 so we're offering your stuff back to you at higher 0:19:38.640 --> 0:19:44.879 value tumeric for example, oxtail. Okay, well, let me just 0:19:44.920 --> 0:19:50.959 put it out there, oxtail. I think that what is 0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:54.480 really what is really fascinating, and this has been my 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:58.760 kind of journey, is that I have always been intrigued 0:19:59.480 --> 0:20:04.879 by various religions. And you know, I went to a 0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:10.840 Catholic university and had to take religion of the world, 0:20:11.000 --> 0:20:14.159 as you know, as in order to graduate, and it 0:20:14.240 --> 0:20:16.080 was one of the most eye opening. And I think 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:20.399 that because I was raised as a Protestant, but not 0:20:20.440 --> 0:20:22.480 really because I stopped going to church when I was 0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:27.520 ten and then don't had never subscribed to any organized 0:20:27.520 --> 0:20:30.080 religion because I thought that it was oppressive by nature. 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:33.879 HAVE always been a person that is very interested in faith. 0:20:34.000 --> 0:20:37.040 And you and I joke about this weekly on democracy 0:20:37.160 --> 0:20:39.320 issue when I say I have a mustard state of faith. 0:20:39.680 --> 0:20:44.879 I have become increasingly more spiritual and more practice and 0:20:44.960 --> 0:20:48.920 more linked to tradition over the past several years. And 0:20:48.960 --> 0:20:52.320 I couldn't decide whether that was coming out of the 0:20:52.359 --> 0:20:57.040 fact that, you know, I'm getting older, or like the 0:20:57.080 --> 0:20:59.359 fact that the world feels like it's going to ship, 0:20:59.359 --> 0:21:02.680 and I need to around in something a combination of 0:21:03.200 --> 0:21:05.280 all of those things. But I think by virtue of 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:08.560 not subscribing to one religion or the other, I have 0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:17.720 kept this this sense of wonder and interest, and I 0:21:17.720 --> 0:21:20.760 I have what I realize while celebrating Passover with one 0:21:20.800 --> 0:21:24.520 of my best friends and our husband, is that that's 0:21:24.560 --> 0:21:28.639 what Republicans don't want people to have, which is this 0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:34.239 sense of wonder, this mutual respect and community building and 0:21:34.320 --> 0:21:39.000 connectedness that allows me to want to be interesting in 0:21:39.320 --> 0:21:43.159 what your experience during Ramadan is like and what the 0:21:43.280 --> 0:21:47.920 principles of Islam teach about that, right while still holding 0:21:48.040 --> 0:21:51.080 the fact that it's not my religion, but I'm interested 0:21:51.160 --> 0:21:54.639 to know how one of my friends is grounded in 0:21:54.720 --> 0:21:59.520 practice on a regular day. Like does that make sense that? 0:21:59.680 --> 0:22:03.720 Like it does make it? Because Yeah, precisely what it 0:22:03.840 --> 0:22:07.440 became an aha moment for me is exactly what they're 0:22:07.520 --> 0:22:12.280 trying to denounce in a race. I'm not surprised at all, 0:22:12.320 --> 0:22:15.440 because you know, God is love and God is truth, 0:22:15.480 --> 0:22:18.879 and all paths lead to God and not everyone is 0:22:18.920 --> 0:22:22.399 meant to be Muslim or on the path that's according 0:22:22.440 --> 0:22:24.600 to Muslims, right, But God and nonetheless is the creator. 0:22:25.440 --> 0:22:27.560 And so what's the role then of the code quote 0:22:27.560 --> 0:22:30.199 believer or the person who ascribes to the religious tradition. 0:22:30.280 --> 0:22:33.560 What it should be is that you are on your 0:22:33.640 --> 0:22:35.639 way and I'm on my way, but you walk this 0:22:35.680 --> 0:22:38.480 world and service to God and to others. So when 0:22:38.520 --> 0:22:41.840 you see how religion, specifically say Islam and in some 0:22:41.960 --> 0:22:46.320 parts spread, never through the paw taking, never through the sword. Really, 0:22:46.480 --> 0:22:48.560 how I'm talking about how it really entered heart standing 0:22:48.600 --> 0:22:51.280 all like, how it really inspired people. It was through 0:22:51.280 --> 0:22:55.560 men and women who did their rituals, followed their path, 0:22:55.920 --> 0:22:59.840 were surrounded by non Muslims, and they treated them with kindness, compassion, 0:22:59.840 --> 0:23:02.280 and love. They gave him shelter when they had no shelter. 0:23:02.320 --> 0:23:04.040 They gave him food when they were hungry, They game 0:23:04.119 --> 0:23:07.000 water when they were thirsty, and they expected nothing in return, 0:23:07.520 --> 0:23:10.239 and they fasted, They gave charity, they prayed, they had 0:23:10.240 --> 0:23:13.280 a discipline. And then folks saw that and said, that 0:23:13.320 --> 0:23:17.359 person seems content, that person seems happy. I want to 0:23:17.400 --> 0:23:21.240 taste what that person's drinking. And that's how it entered 0:23:21.240 --> 0:23:24.080 into people's heart. That's how it stuck. And when you 0:23:24.119 --> 0:23:27.320 see people like who, then you know convert to religion 0:23:27.400 --> 0:23:29.240 or become more religious as they get older, and who 0:23:29.240 --> 0:23:32.120 are stable people? And you're asking me, like, what did it? 0:23:32.920 --> 0:23:35.199 And they said, someone was kind to me. You know, 0:23:35.320 --> 0:23:38.080 someone was generous to me. Someone had a type of 0:23:38.080 --> 0:23:40.679 discipline that I really envied, someone had some balance in 0:23:40.720 --> 0:23:43.480 their life. It was very attractive to me. It was 0:23:43.600 --> 0:23:46.440 very beautiful. The reason why so many people turn away 0:23:46.440 --> 0:23:49.400 from religion is because what they're offering, and I say 0:23:49.480 --> 0:23:52.159 for all organized religions right oftentimes. I was having a 0:23:52.200 --> 0:23:56.520 conversation with the reverend who's also a PhD doctor, and 0:23:56.600 --> 0:23:58.800 you know, he's Christian, and he said, you see, you're 0:23:58.800 --> 0:24:02.800 talking about his own church. Corruption, the misogyny, the abuse 0:24:02.840 --> 0:24:06.280 of power, the taking of the wealth. And I'm like, oh, 0:24:06.400 --> 0:24:09.280 sounds like most mosques, sounds like most synagogues. You know, 0:24:09.760 --> 0:24:15.600 people using an abusing God, the language of God, the 0:24:15.760 --> 0:24:20.920 prophets to maintain power for themselves and anyone and everything 0:24:21.000 --> 0:24:24.320 that is hostile to them or threatens that power can 0:24:24.359 --> 0:24:27.080 be erased. And this is how religion is so powerful, 0:24:27.240 --> 0:24:30.119 is that you don't with religion and the abuse of religion. 0:24:30.119 --> 0:24:33.600 You could say I have the celestial stamp of approval 0:24:33.680 --> 0:24:36.960 to put my boot on your neck? Who are you 0:24:37.040 --> 0:24:38.679 to go against God? And by the way, I just 0:24:38.720 --> 0:24:40.600 happen to be a vice region of God just because 0:24:40.680 --> 0:24:43.719