and all of the microphones left, these young muslims approached me and my mother, and they said, "mrs. manjithank you so much for supporting your daughter. it is so rare to see a muslim parent stand by his or her daughter as she speaks some very, very hard truths." and my mother diplomatically, graciously, but somewhat frustrated said to them, "well, thank you, but why didn't you say that when the cameras were here and when the radio microphones were here, so that other freedom-loving muslims could see that they are not alone?" and a number of these young people looked at each other sheepishly and one of them finally stepped forward, just a little bit, to say, "mrs. manji, you don't understand. we live here. you and irshad get to leave two hours from now, but we stay in this community and we can't afford to be accused of dishonoring our families." this is america. these are children of the first amendment. and still the cultural pressure of group honor intimidated and silenced them from speaking their truths as budding reformist muslims. ultimately, this is why i suggest to you that professo

young people looked at each other sheepishly and one of them finally stepped forward, just a manji,bit, to say, "mrsyou don't understand. we live here. twoand irshad get to leave hours from now, but we stay in this community and we can't afford to be accused of dishonoring our families." this is america. these are children of the first amendment. pressure the cultural of group honor intimidated and silenced them from speaking their truths as budding reformist muslims. is why iy, this suggest to you that professor dajani, as i mentioned, one of my heroes, is not a moderate. he takes risks. he takes risks that ruffle feathers within his community. he is willing to put his life on the line for reconciliation. he is not defensive -- not defensive about the backlash that comes his way. quite the opposite. he seems to be extremely, if i can use that word, calm and levelheaded and philosophical about it. and -- and what i would like to leave you with is this -- the good news is that the mohammed dajani's of the world, though they are rare, will be more and more populous as you see the next generation of mu