is another world of experience for other
people and for the Muslim it's just by
the fact that they're Muslim it's not
you know yeah it's very interesting so
it's it goes back to some real basic
prejudices and some basic things and
hopefully you know I tend to be an
optimist
I'm skeptical a lot of things but I tend
to be an optimist so and and the Quran
does say don't don't despair it's not a
good thing to do it's the only
unforgivable sin for the Catholics
so uh-huh don't despair again it's part
of you know if you go in the way I look
at it humanity had a beginning just like
I had a beginning as a child I've grown
into my adulthood I will grow old if I
have a full life I may even become
decrepit at the end of my life right
this is part of the natural process you
know humanity had its maturity it will
have its it's decay and it will have its
old age and it will have its decrepit
period and then it comes to an end for
something new to happen from my
perspective so you know the way the
Muslims view everything is majesty
beauty and God according to the Quran is
the possessor of majesty and beauty
they're both from God so we are in a
very majestic time we're in a time where
there's a lot of tribulation this
country alone we don't I don't think we
realize the extent of our troubles in
this country if we just look at the
natural disasters in this country you
know in the 1980s insurance companies
were paying out five billion dollars a
week a year in in terms of natural
disasters we're now paying five billion
a week you know we've had a lot of
devastation in this country just in the
last ten years just in terms of naturals
that our topsoil is disappearing right
we're grossly over using our resources
our children are really getting lost in
a lot of very confusing messes our media
is extraordinarily you know pervasive
and in its you know the violence that is
putting out there and a lot of very
negative messages in the midst of that
there are some very positive things
happening you know and I would tend to
rather be identified and be part of
what's positive than just you know what
one man said well Heidegger said as well
we're way beyond pessimism and optimism
depressions a luxury
the world's coming to an end I'm
depressed you know no this is the a
you know this is the age it's like the
way I look at it you know there's a
scene in Gone with the Wind where she's
running through Atlanta and everybody's
just stretched out you know wounded and
dead you can either run through it or
you can just sit and offer somebody
water and Pat them on the back and just
say you know we're human this is it this
is the human condition it's awesome it's
incredible it's glorious
it's majestic it's beautiful it's
intense it's tragic
it's kamek it's all these elements and
and that's part of the the power and the
wonder of the whole thing so I'm going
to choose to remain positive about it
and I hope all of you do to your
teachers you can't get depressed
you know I saw wonderful program once on
PBS which was about the black schools
and and there were very very powerful
experience but there was a white man who
had been teaching in inner cities for a
very long time in since the early 1960s
and he was just saying how bad it was
getting and that he was losing hope and
that this just the faces you know the
lack of light in these young black
children's faces in these inner cities
it was just it was driving and he was
literally saying I'm just losing hope
I'm giving up and the black man jumped
up and he said you know we've suffered
we went we went through slavery went
through coming over the you know the
great crossing he said you're not going
to tell us there's no hope we sang songs
to get us through it you know and that's
the joy of the human you know the human
being is we're people of hope like the
rats and if the rats you know can do it
you know we can do it yeah really
that's that's our greatness that we do
have hope and despite all the odds right
so let's hopefully we're not like the
people on the Titanic that think the
ship is unsinkable and get to
arrogant right the band plays on and we
all go down