29 in western countries. 42% of french muslims, 35% of british muslims, and 26% of american muslims believe suicide bombings against nonmuslims can be justified. this is the next generation of muslims speaking. a majority of muslims surveyed, 53% said they want sharia or islamic law to be the law of the land in muslim majority countries. of those who said they want sharia to be the law of the land, over 52% said they support whippings and cutting off of hands or feet. it comes to about 281 million people. do you think that's a radical belief? and 51% say they're in favor of stoning spouses if they're unfaithful which equals 289 million people. of course, not every muslim believes in these things, but hundreds of millions do. the numbers are right here. for all to see. it's time for an honest conversation. about one of the most important issues of our time. by silencing the debate about radical islamic believes, we abandon our roll call with use of truth, free speech, and tolerance. we abandon human rights in favor of political correctness. together we have begun the conversation. now it's t

they didn't. >> why are they arguing about muslims and what was done or not done in terms of muslims. the muslim tag that they're trying make as a broad statement about a faith we didn't hear. >> in the days following 9/11 i had gone to ground zero with the then senator hillary clinton where she had done a great job in comforting people. in the days following that, president bush as well as senator clinton and others went and met muslims. many went to mosques. this is a small group of terrorists we're trying to get and bush was very careful on this issue and this is what is so alarming about what donald trump is doing. if we want to have any hope of staying safe we need intelligence from the muslim community. if we want hope of repairing this world we have to stop bashing muslims and if we have a president that is on record as mb that me lines muslims we're in a world of hurt. >> why didn't we see this emerge in the 2008 election, 2012? even 2004 which was the election right after 2001, the attack. it was never like this. in terms of trying to identify all muslims as terrorists and so

others who follow these issues another american muslims. -- and other american muslims.: from so many different up in of all different groups, there's a kind of reaction when the people were being sought. please, don't let it be, whoever they are. your thoughts about that? >> i think that is a natural reaction because especially in the u.s. when the backlash to incidents like this when they have been perpetrated by muslim identified individuals is so often swept to broadly, included an overreaction by government and obviously, private acts of hate by citizens -- minority of individuals that act on our prejudices and take it out, as debbie mentioned, on women who visibly appear to be muslim or others. in 2015, based on a recent study, anti-islamic incidents when up by 78%. this is a study that draws on official hate crime data from many states. in anti-ararab incidents targeting people who are middle eastern or a pure to be middle eastern. that is troublesome. that is the thing we are most focused on right now. , i: dr. debbie almontaser you last week before all of this a

-- 1.6 billion muslims. you allah is witness, i ask is it because the majority of muslims have been silenced against the threat of terrorism on islam? i ask you today to stand up in the name of your creator to claim that smear of violence from the name islam, and through -- i ask 16 billion muslims lion muslims to say no more. it ended today. aunt -- by a law as witness, it is ended today. name ofr from the islam, this smear from violence is ended today. billion reject the violence. we will be standing tall in front of our allah, and say wheat the lead, we were silenced, but no more. [applause] my second request is we live in the democracy of the united , and the first visible of living in a democracy is participation -- symbol of living in a democracy is participation. you get back, be part of the process of democracy so that your voice will be heard. this generation, all of us, our banner bearers of this message , this universal message of islam which is peace. please do justice to your status, to your pos

it is possible to the western -- be a stern and a muslim -- be western and a muslim. with't want a bust-up donald trump, but you are standing to be the most powerful person in the world, the president of the usa. the rest of the world looks with admiration of the country, and running for office brings responsibility. i don't want to get involved in u.s. elections but i cannot but respond to an invitation where i'm the exception to a rule that i think is unfair. katty: maybe donald trump is just reflecting what people think. votersrepublican primary in some states supported the ban on muslims. that is what the american public is telling him what they want. mayor khan: one of the roles of a politician in an unpatronizing way is to tell people what they think. there are sports people, engineers, many people of islamic faith. one of the teams i made yesterday, the 9/11 site, but also the protection team, our muslims. what are you saying about them? as someone who wants to hold elected office, there is a responsibility. katty: sadiq khan, thank you very much. mayor khan: p

we are muslim. it has totally changed in the past 30 years with migration, with technology, and with a change in demography. jonathan: i think we are coming down to the last -- no, we have about five minutes or so, but this is a good question from the audience. in the book, it is what the sheikh is telling you and other people about islam, its arc, how he is living the muslim life. a good muslim life. the question is what, if anything, do you think he learned from you? how did you change his perspective or perspectives? carla: it was funny. because in our last lesson, we met at this museum in oxford. and i was really excited. because i was sort of like, you know, all through the year, i was kind of like, you know, don't you want to know about what the beatles are? don't you want to know? are you as curious about me as i am about you? and he was not. he was incredibly polite and would always ask after my kids and my husband and what i was writing. but there was a self satisfaction there. and so, we g

sunni muslims were $9,988. shiite muslims were 20, muslims in general were 90. total of muslims 10,098 people. now, the reason why it is important right now to talk to your elected officials tomorrow and i'll get on that even more tomorrow, later on in my speech, because obama is coming to speak before the united nations september 19th and 20th this month, the united nations comes from the annual meeting up in new york. and obama this 19th and 20th is holding a summit on migration and he wants to be able to go before the united nations and tell them america, i'm pledging to bring 200,000 refugees to america in the next fiscal year, 2017, starting this october, 200,000 refugees. this is why right now congress has to decide in the next four weeks whether they pass obama's proposal. you are the barrier, you are the firewall, your elected official is the firewall tomorrow afternoon to stop that. [ applause ] but i jumped ahead of myself. i want to continue a little bit more information because i believe this is very important. some syrians will end up coming here th

the air is an argument that the muslims are the latest in this continuum, the cururrent exampme that hasas replaced communists d other groups as this favorite group from the u.s. govovernment to target and demonize to justify abuses of power. there is an argugument that one should look atat it that way.. i actually think there are some unique attributes about this persecution that distinguish it from those other prior examples. i think is very difficult to compare injustices quantitatively to see which arae better or woworse. it's not profitable to do that, there are unique attributes to the way in which the civivil liberties are being justified. the first of those unique attributeses is all of the civil liberties abuses are taking place within the context of multiple wars. the reason why that is so important is because the number one tactic of the government in vogue, true since e the historyf war was begun, is the enemy of the war has to be dehumanized, has to be completely demonize to the point of almost subhuman state of nonexistence. the reason for this is even the most sociopat

who know a muslim like muslims more. in fact, even republicans, which gives me optimism. in this poll, 22, 23% of republicans have a favorable view of muslim if they knew a muslim very well it wasn't up to a 55% favorable view of muslims and islam. that's why we want to be your muslim friends. >>> want to be a friend to donald trump and all republicans. >> that would be great. and the point is we are a human counter-balance to misinformation to the images you see in the media which are generally negative about us and you daent hear using the our story. that's why one on one connection plays a big role. >> i have to leave it there. dean and saba, thank you so much. important discussion to have. >>> coming up next, law makers in washington it look like could finally be close to a compromise to funding to fight the zika virus. we're going to talk about that. and. >>> also what you need to do to protect yourself in the meantime as we have learned more than 80 pregnant women in miami now have zika. next. so you're up at dawn,

see what is happening in so many other muslim lands. brethren our brother and go to sleep at night worried about bombs and they wake up in the morning worried about where to get their food. so tran1, we thank the law for all the blessings he has given us. we strongly disagreed with the sentiment that some people have that they are always complaining about the times that we live in. recently i heard somebody moan and say that this is the worst time to be a muslim in america. i disagree. in fact, i agree this is the best time to be a muslim in america. there has never there has never been a better time. do you know why? it goes back to the theme of this convention. navigating challenges and seizing opportunity. we are facing colossal challenges, unprecedented challenges and it is a struggle navigating our way through the challenges. the struggle to always try to find opportunities in the problems around us. these days were constantly having to struggle to maintain our faith, to struggle to stress our faith, the struggle to defend our fait

these are very important issues for muslim women, too. diane: and like many people around the world, they too condemn terrorism. mirriam: for example, people will frequently say moderate muslims don't speak out against extremists. we do. millions of us, millions of us speak out every day. diane: seddiq says her pac may have started with this election cycle, but she hopes it strengthens the cause of american muslim women for years in washington, diane roberts. soledad: the american muslim women pac has been around for about two weeks. they've raised a few thousand dollars, but say they hope to bring in millions for ad buys and a voter registration drive. so who will that benefit? probably the democrats, according to pew research. their polling shows 70% of the 3.3 million american muslims describe themselves as democrats, or say they lean democratic. calling out the media? soledad: in reality they're not equal and that's where journalists are failing. >> soledad speaking out, about her own profession. but first -- >> good morning. >> who h

-- 1.6 billion muslims. you allah is witness, i ask is it because the majority of muslims have been silenced against the threat of terrorism on islam? i ask you today to stand up in the name of your creator to claim that smear of violence from the name islam, and through -- i ask 16 billion muslims lion muslims to say no more. it ended today. aunt -- by a law as witness, it is ended today. name ofr from the islam, this smear from violence is ended today. billion reject the violence. we will be standing tall in front of our allah, and say wheat the lead, we were silenced, but no more. [applause] my second request is we live in the democracy of the united , and the first visible of living in a democracy is participation -- symbol of living in a democracy is participation. you get back, be part of the process of democracy so that your voice will be heard. this generation, all of us, our banner bearers of this message , this universal message of islam which is peace. please do justice to your status, to your pos

>> in so far as anyone who calls them muslim is a muslim then yes, isis is a muslim. i think that the debate about being muslim or not is silly. if you say you are acting in the world of islam we should take your words. but to think that creates a generalization is silly. the fact of the matter is isis may be islam but so are the vast majority of its victims by the tens of thousands. the people fighting against isis are muslim. the people riving their lives battling this cancer are muslim. if isis is muslim and the victims are muslim and the people fighting them are muslim that doesants say much. >> and more and more people are identifying as atheist. >> yes, it is still 2% of the americans in the united states. there is a surge but it is still in ridiculously small amounts. 71% christian in this nation. so we are deeply influenced by christianity in this country. there is no way around that. >> host: reza aslan is our guest. he has appeared on in depth where we talked about all of this books. the recent book is the life and times of jesus of nazareth. we are talking

these are very important issues for muslim women, too. diane: and like many people around the world, they too condemn terrorism. mirriam: for example, people will frequently say moderate muslims don't speak out against extremists. we do. millions of us, millions of us speak out every day. diane: seddiq says her pac may have started with this election cycle, but she hopes it strengthens the cause of american muslim women for years soledad: the american muslim women pac has been around for about two weeks. they've raised a few thousand dollars, but say they hope to bring in millions for ad buys and a voter registration drive. so who will that benefit? probably the democrats, according to pew research. their polling shows 70% of the 3.3 million american muslims describe themselves as democrats, or say they lean democratic. >> calling out the media? soledad: in reality they're not equal and that's where journalists are failing. >> soledad speaking out, about her own profession. but first -- >> good morning. >> who hear knows what a firefighte

when you say that you're going it profile certain muslims, are you ever worried that the peaceful muslims, and there are millions of american -- you know, we don't have a big problem here with muslims like they do in europe and france. we don't have that big problem where they are ghetto wise and they don't like their country and police can't go. we don't have that. you say these things like peaceful muslims will be the victim of backlash, victim of people just lumping everybody into the terror jar? i never said that they were muslims. you said that but to in to profile people that look

muslims can. so it's our duty to help and this is the type of question or comment you can tell your pastor is when they start talking from the pulpit about how they are bringing these wonderful things to bring refugees into america. good morning. can you explain the current bidding process that is going on? can you explain the current bidding process going on for the refugees coming in? >> basically right now, they are skipping the process. the government is telling us it takes 14 to 16 months. baloney. right now they have them on the federal express program. they are bringing them as fast as they can. so they would say in the refugee camp they tell me i don't have any papers. i lost my passport and i don't have the identity because i fled. my name is muhammad. how can you prove anything? you have to take him at his word because you don't know. you have no idea. there is no way. so when they tell you the process, it is absolute baloney. we know isis was in the business of the passwords. so the who

>> guest: well, insofar as as anyone who calls themselves muslim is a muslim, yes, isis is a muslim this tee bait whether it is or is not muslim is kind of silly. if you say you're acting in the name of islam, we should probably just take your word for it. but to think that in and of itself creates some sort of generalization i think is quite silly. the fact of the matter is that isis may be muslim but so are the vast majority of its victims. by the tens of thousands. isis may be muslim but so are the people who are fighting against isis. people on the ground who are risking their lives battling this cancer. they're monday him, too, so if isis is muslim and their victims are muslim and the people fighting them are muslims, this done really say anything all that generalizing about islam itself. >> host: more good more people are identifying as athiests. >> guest: it's true, more people are nying is a athiest. in fact there's been a doubling of athiest numbers, but let's just be clear. that's now two and a half percent of the united states. so, yes there has been a surge of people identify

the muslim brotherhood. here she is on adias, committing, telling americans on a brotherhood dias that if you do anything about what you just saw, she's going to come after you. does that not scare people? how many people think it's really important to understand what muslim advocates promoting freedom and justice for all really means? and how many people think to the extent that they saw it, if means, well, that's cool, it must be like freedom, liberty and justice for all. okay. so, and of course, i just have that muslim brotherhood thing basically saying that's who they say they are. the mother of the killer was a member of the islamic circle of north america. go ahead. then go ahead. and toward the end of the events, you had jeh johnson, the head of dhs, basically saying what? he said, well, he went to their forum. he went -- who runs the islamic society -- who runs the islamic society of north america? imam ajeed. who is he? the imam of the ara muslim center. so, here you have from the beginning of the e

so while he's saying we should be giving voice to the plight of muslims, american muslims are sayingy agree with sharia law. you talk about an enxistential disconnect. it's like living in alice in wonderland where the door mouse has a .45. i mean, it's surreal and dangerous that these things are going on simultaneously, almost woven together, and yet this administration absolutely refuses to acknowledge what the people say plainly. so i'm going to keep pushing through this faster, and this is jeh johnson. did anybody see his response to ted cruz two days after my hearings? what did he say? i wouldn't recognize mr. hannon if he walked into the room. i told you no, i don't know him, and no, i haven't looked into his claims, and are you concerned about it? well, no, it's a really interesting political discussion, but it's really just labels and semantics. well, i'm sorry, but the people that died in orlando and san bernardino are not labels and semantics, and the information that was deleted is not labels and semantics. [ applause ] it could have easily stopped the attacks if we had bee

not the muslims. muslims can go to saudi arabia. christians can't. muslims can go to yemen. christians can't. christians have to come to a christian nation. like europe or the united states. they're not accepted in saudi arabia or in pakistan or in afghanistan or any of those nations. they have no place to go. muslims can. so it is our duty to help the christians. this is the type of questions or comments you can tell your pastors when they start talking about from the pulpit about why, you know, they're bringing all these wonderful things doing to bring refugees into america. thank you, sandra. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> can you explain the current vetting process that is going on? >> say that again. >> can you explain the current vetting process for the refugees coming to the u.s.? >> basically right now they are skipping the vetting process. now, our government was telling us, it takes 14 to 16 months to do the vetting. baloney. right now they have them on the federal express program. they are just bringing them as fast as they can. and what vetting? so they are

idea that somehow muslims, the muslim community is harboring the terrorists or our rights are somewhatless valuable because we are somehow involved in the criminal enterprise i think is actually a very highly dangerous proposition and in these times future it could be any other group following as well. >> just one footnote sacrificing someone else's liberty and obviously the false dichotomy but one of the disserving parts to have boston story is that we are willing to sacrifice our own security and our own liberties. there's something incredible that happened three days after the bombing. some of you might recall that there was a manhunt. the two brothers were in a shootout, the older brother died and the younger brother was on the loose. at this point the boston police and the fbi were fairly sure that this was a 19-year-old kid maybe armed with a shotgun, a handgun that he didn't know how to operate or maybe unarmed. he was hiding somewhere in watertown, a western suburb of boston. the governor of massachusetts asked the people of boston, greater boston, many sacrificed leaving housi

i never said that they were muslims. said that but to in to profile people that look suspicious. i didn't say they are muslims. >> how do they look suspicious? >> i don't know. these are experts. that's what they do. they profile. you go to israel and they should study it because israel has done a phenomenal job about this. they profile. they are not happy about it but they do it. people aren't complaining about it but we have to profile. >> almost 100 percent of the terrorism now is muslim fanatics, almost 100 percent. you are not going to be profiling leather jackets with blue eyes at this point honestly whatever it is. i'm not using the term profiling. we will have to start profiling. i don't know if it's that bad. but certainly it's not a wonderful thing. but, we have a country to keep safe. and we're not going to keep our country safe. you see this happening. and you know and i know it's going to get worse. >> all right. we're going to hold mr. trump over against his will. >> >> it's i'm president. >> we'll hold him

the muslim brotherhood. here she is committing, telling americans on a brotherhood dais if you do anything about what she saw she's going to come after you. this does not scare people? how many people think it's important to understand what advocates promoting freedom and justice for all really means and how many thing think to the extt they saw it think it means that schools must be freedom, liberty and justice for all? and then of course i just have the muslim brotherhood thing basically saying that they are. another of the killer was the circle in north america. and then towards the end of the event, you had the head of the dhs basically saying what? he said he went to there for h him. who runs the society, he's the area muslim center. so here you have from the beginning to the end or national leaders deciding that they were going to be associated in the muslim brotherhood could include to allow them to set the debate and the attorney general to stand the muslim brotherhood african-americans and have the

family, you each muslim family, will be accepted by the community, by the muslims.the example of the little town that we live in. comes,igrant family that we adopt them as our family. we go to school with their children to register them. we are there caretakers. we go to grocery stores with them, we go to medical services. i of appeal to all people in attendance, all muslims in attendance and through you to all community in the united states, that adopt a new immigrant family. be there mentor, be their caretaker, and be their brother and sister in time of need. may allah bless you. [applause] >> brothers and sisters, as you all know, we are celebrating the 53 years of islamic work in north america through nsa and through isna. these last five decades, every single day we strived to get the message across to tell our fellow americans what we are doing. in seven minutes, what we work -- were able to do in 50 years, they were able to get that message across in seven minutes. these amazing individuals have been a blessing to the american muslim community. while she stoo

i know many muslims faced a lot of hate crimes.oday, the rhetoric against islam and muslims is horrifying. even though we have nothing to do with the terrorists, they have hijacked our religion. and we hope to take it back from them. you can't blame 1.7 billion muslims for the acts of a few terrorists. we strongly condemn it and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. >> there was a woman arrested in new york for allegedly attacking two women pushing baby strollers. she hit the women and yelled get the blank out of america, you don't belong here. a spike in anti-muslim discrimination and hate crimes in recent months, which that group attributes to islamophobic rhetoric used by public figures. when you hear that, what runs through your mind? >> obviously donald trump called for a muslim ban. the rhetoric against islam continues to date. we're missing the point. we've been in wars for the last 15 years and we haven't gotten anymore safer. america is less safe today even than it was on 9/11. we have huge prob

the overwhelming majority, the 99.9% of muslims do not support that type of violent agenda. yes there may be some individuals who are considered to be radical within their islamist faith or even extremist, but the use of this horrific violence, type of violence being perpetrated is something that we have not seen previously. there's even a distinction between isil and al qaeda. they were concerned about the large number of muslims being killed by the terrorist attack and he was trying to redirect al qaeda to be much more surgical. >> he thought they were actually going overboard. >> that's right. exactly. >> he was seeing the detrimental effects of that agenda. isil makes no distinction and they slaughter innocents, they have a very strong anti- shiism and their philosophy is even if the innocent is killed, god will sort them out. >> i just want to cover, iran, iraq, the south china sea, iran-iraq and the south china sea. i have seven minutes. [laughter] let me start with syria which is the epicenter. i want to read you something that hillary clinton told me in an interview

are you worried if he were to implement his always shifting and varying ban on muslims or some muslimsall, you wouldn't be able to get here in a few months. >> well, i'm looking forward to my visit to america. the election is a long way off. wait and see what happens in november. all i would say is, i'm a firm believer in building bridges rather than walls. a firm believer it's okay to be liberal and practice a faith of islam. the great thing about america is your history tells the rest of the world it is possible for people from italy or ireland or pakistan or syria or from mexico to simply get on with each other, but fall in love with each other, work for each other and work for the common good. i'm looking forward to my visit to america. i love americans. i have a family in america. america is a great, great country. in november, the best candidate a woman. i hope she does. >> a pleasure to have you on. >> pleasure. >> when we come back, more with our all-star panel. is the mood of 9/11 really over? are we on to something different? when we come back. what powers the digital world.

is also muslim.e be like the terrorism is et going crazy, it's getting crazy. i know, these sunnies, what are you going to do about it, you can't fix racial bias overnight. you genuinely can't, all right. the one thing you can do is not think black people are crazy for feeling oppressed when every time they see a video of themselves being engaged by the police, it ends with them getting shot. (cheers and app some ask, why would you do this? she asks, why wouldn't you? coors light. whatever your mountain, climb on. at pizza hut, our original pan dough rises fresh everyday. making it crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. and now you can get our original pan as part of the 6.99 any deal. that's 2 medium pizzas with any toppings, any crust, any specialty. for just $6.99 each. only at pizza hut. -i used to ask if you could hear me now, but i switched to sprint! i switched too! all these networks are great now, and people are tired of overpaying. sprint cut my rates by 50%! can you hear that

you don't really start the day thinking, "how am i living this day as a good muslim?" at least i start the day with... i mean, infused with a faith and a set of responsibilities that i believe are entirely consistent with the judeo-christian values that i grew up with in this country. and the same values that are so fundamental to christianity and judaism are the values of islam-- tolerance, and the emphasis on charity, on accountability before god, on living a life that is of service to others. >> hinojosa: that's not... >> that's not the perception that people have. >> hinojosa: that's not the image. >> many muslims, as many christians and many jews, have many different ways of expressing their faith that can have to do with their dress, that can have to do with the times of day that we pray, or the way that we pray, or the feast days that we celebrate, many of which are related. and so what appears in the american media, for the most part... a little less so in the rest of the world, where the media is more nuanced, there is not such a sound bite and narrow... and i

is also muslim.e be like the terrorism is et going crazy, it's getting crazy. i know, these sunnies, what are you going to do about it, you can't fix racial bias overnight. you genuinely can't, all right. the one thing you can do is not think black people are crazy for feeling oppressed when every time they see a video of themselves being engaged by the police, it ends with them getting shot. (cheers and app upgrade season's here. i got my new iphone 7 from sprint. pete's smart. he upgraded his carrier too. sprint is perfect for the new iphone 7. you can stream, watch, post, chat, tweet, snap. copy that! switch to sprint. get the iphone 7 for zero dollars with eligible trade in. for people with hearing loss, visit sprintrelay.com. ♪ you say crazy. i say crafted. you say savage. i say practiced. crazy. crafted. savage. practiced. let's run the whole thing back. you say unbelievable. i say achievable. you say incredible. i say inevitable. unbelievable. achievable. incredible. inevitable. let's run the

people who were muslim, people who were not. all this stuff.wer really is to come together as a community, to be vigilant, to share information and to never let them forget who we are and what we're about. and that -- and so america's a pluralistic, inclusive society. we're not going to stop being that because some horrible person decided to commit an atrocious act. >> congressman ellison, thank you for joining us on "new day." please keep us apprised of the situation there in minnesota. >> yes, sir, chris. thank you. >> be well. al list s alisyn? >>> new information cnn has learned that could affect the investigation of the bombing next. prepare for challenges specific to your business by working with trusted advisors who help turn obstacles into opportunities. experience the power of being understood. rsm. audit, tax and consulting for the middle market. of being there for my son's winning shot. that was it for me. that's why i'm quitting with nicorette. only nicorette mini has a patented fast dissolving formula. it starts to relieve sudden c

everybody knows most muslims are not violent people however, many muslim nations contribute heavily tosm. iran, for example is, a rogue country that actually helps terrorists kill people. pakistan allows the worst jihadists to live on soil and plot their murderous scenarios. saudi arabia allows torn indoctrinate. and in africa a number of governments that allow muslim killers free reign. so the juwaad is not an aberration. it is a well-financed, well-organized movement that has gained support among a significant number of muslims worldwide. that's the truth. by being soft on the juwaad. by failing to confront the worldwide evil. president obama has allowed other groups to gain strength it is a fact that some believe the jihad is winning because it has not been crushed the way it should have been. there is no question that barack obama is sympathetic to the peaceful muslim world. and that's not a bad thing. we need allies like jordan, egypt and morocco. those countries help us and we should not alienate them. any rational muslim is not going to take offense at the words islamic terroris

the council on american-islamic relations we're the nation's largest american-muslim civil rights group. and have offices across the country, including in florida where the unfortunate tragedy happened. fortunately, or unfortunately, our staff were able to mobilize quickly to be there to support the victims and stand in solidarity with the lgbtq community my name is father john pedigo i'm the director for projects for peace and justice in the diocese of san jose and the former pastor of our lady of guadalupe parish on the east side san jose. and former pastor at st. julie billiart parish, where i started the lgbtq ministry and community. i want to thank you all for being here and i'm sure our audience is hoping we'll get to get to some really good substance. but i thought we should start by sharing our personal reactions to what happened in orlando, and i'll get you started. as a person of color who grew up on the south side of chicago, african-american but also gay. i've often wondered why we can't come to grips with the notion that this god that i believe in and the way i live my life