Video summary
The video centers on a conversation between Tyson Hockley and an interviewer regarding Tyson's evolving stance on Islam and his personal religious exploration. The discussion begins with the interviewer questioning Tyson about a previous statement suggesting that if white people converted to Islam, society would improve. Tyson clarifies that this was not merely a sound bite but a genuine belief that Islam provides a grounding force against the chaos and self-destructive behaviors he observes in his community. He explains that while he does not want every person to convert, he feels that embracing Islamic practices helps keep him grounded, especially given his youth and tendency to make poor decisions. Consequently, he views the potential widespread adoption of these beliefs as objectively beneficial for the planet, provided it comes from a place of sincere spiritual seeking rather than coercion.
Tyson elaborates on his unique position as someone who identifies as spiritually fluid, visiting both churches and mosques without feeling confined by a single label. He describes himself as being too young to make permanent decisions about faith, preferring to explore various traditions including Buddhism in Thailand and Hinduism in Indonesia before settling on one path. The interviewer notes that this genuine personal practice prevents his views from being dismissed as a "grift" or scam, distinguishing his authentic exploration from those who might jump between religions for attention. This openness leads to a deeper comparison of theological concepts, where Tyson expresses confusion over the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and specifically questions why Jesus would pray if he were God incarnate. He admits that while the simplicity of the Islamic view—that Jesus was a prophet sent by God but not God himself—makes logical sense to him, he struggles to fully discard his childhood belief in Jesus's divinity due to the emotional weight of the cross as a symbol.
The dialogue then shifts to the core theological differences between Christianity and Islam, particularly regarding revelation and the nature of prophets. Tyson notes that while Christians often claim the Bible is the word of God, there is no explicit passage within it revealing the Trinity or stating that Jesus is God; these concepts were developed centuries later by the church. In contrast, he points out that the Quran is considered direct revelation from God in Islam. He acknowledges that while prophets like Moses performed miracles such as parting the sea, they are not divine themselves but rather vessels for God's power. Tyson also addresses the criticism sometimes leveled at Muslims for reducing Jesus to a mere man who had biological needs, arguing that this perspective can be disrespectful. He emphasizes that from an Islamic viewpoint, miracles originate from God, not the prophets themselves, and that all prophets possess a certain aura or blessing derived from their connection to the Divine rather than inherent divinity.
Despite his appreciation for the humility required to admit when one does not understand complex theological arguments, Tyson admits that witnessing the mental struggles of someone he admired who converted to Islam caused him to pause and reassess his own journey. He recognizes that while the religion offers structure and truth, the personal experiences of others can be complex and sometimes difficult to interpret. The conversation concludes with a promotional segment for an app called "Just Pray," which gamifies the experience of daily prayers by tracking attendance and even requiring users to scan their mattresses to prove they are awake for Fajr, aiming to help believers maintain their spiritual discipline without falling back into distractions like doom-scrolling. Ultimately, the video portrays Tyson as a young seeker who values truth and grounding but remains cautious about making definitive religious claims until he has thoroughly researched all perspectives.
Read the full video transcript
Anyways, I've been seeing some reals of
you. They've been popping up and what
I've seen, I'm not too familiar with
your content, I have to admit, but what
I've seen is that you've been taking a
stance, a positive stance towards Islam,
to say the very least. The last real
that I saw of you was when you said that
it would be a net positive if white
people would convert to Islam. Is that
your position?
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> Or was it just like a sound bite?
>> No.
>> What do you know about Islam? How do you
think about Islam? I more so meant um if
the option is either like atheist
degenerates because I was in Miami when
I made that clip. You see people
nowadays drinking, smoking, doing
whatever type of drug. I was more so
saying if all these people went and
became a Muslim, we would have a much
better society. So I'm not necessarily
saying, "Oh, I want every white person
become becoming Muslim." I'm just saying
like it would be much better for the
planet if every white person did become
Muslim because what's the alternative?
We have people that are absolutely
losing their minds out here. And I feel
like Islam does ground you in the truth.
Like I'm not going to lie, like I don't
really I keep it pretty private, but
when I do go to the mosque, I feel the
most grounded. I go to the church or go
to the mosque and I feel the most like
grounded. I feel like the least like
crashing out cuz I don't know. I'm like
young. I'm I'm young, not making the
best decisions, and I tend to crash out
a fair bit. like, you know, um I'll go
off the rails every now and then, but I
do feel like I'm kind of like most
grounded when I'm praying. So, I feel
like if every single white person was
doing that, or not, I shouldn't say
white person, if every single just
person in general was a Muslim,
obviously the world would improve. That
wasn't just like a sound bite or a clip.
That's just like objectively the truth.
>> Interesting. Okay. So, first I have to
know then why do you go to the church
and to the mosque? How does this work?
So, what is your stance? I guess you can
say for me I used to go I used to go to
the church when I used to be an Orthodox
Christian then I converted and I stopped
going to the church right so what is the
thought pattern there why do you go to
both
>> I guess you could say I'm kind of like a
spiritual transgender or something I
don't know like I haven't like
[laughter] really I haven't really
decided on a religion I feel great in
the mosque I feel great in the church
and I feel great when I'm following both
faiths so it's kind of like hard for me
to really choose one and I feel like I'm
kind of young too to make like a
permanent decision about my faith right
now I feel like it's not a bad idea to
do research into both faiths and um I
don't know like do whatever kind of
feels best cuz like I said I feel very
grounded in the mosque and also very
grounded in the church. So I don't know
a lot of people be like oh that makes
you the grifter. I don't think it's a
grifter. I think I'm exploring religions
and I feel like I shouldn't be so like
boxed in. I don't believe in putting
myself in a box especially when I'm
young. My mind's still developing. It'd
be kind of crazy to make a major life
decision like that without even fully
doing my due diligence first. How old
are you right now?
>> 18 years old.
>> Ah, okay. Super young, man.
>> Yeah. Now, I have to say that this
cannot be a grift if you in your private
life go to the mosque and to the church.
That is that's man. So, if
you, for example, would say, "Okay, now
I'm a Christian." And then a few months
later, now I'm a Muslim and you're just
jumping on the bandwagon. That would be
a grift what you do in your private
life.
>> Yeah, that is definitely not a grift. I
can speak about myself when I explored
different religions. I went as well to
the Buddhist temples in Thailand. I went
to the Hindu temples in Indonesia. uh I
went to the Orthodox churches in Greece
etc etc. So I was exploring myself so I
can understand that to label this agri
doesn't make sense. However we have to
tie it together. So you say that it
would be a net positive for the white
population if they would rather be
Muslims than atheists. Obviously d I
think everybody would agree or most
people would agree actually if they know
what Islam is halfway about but you say
that you cannot really put your mind on
one religion. So you are exploring both
of them. What in a nutshell do you know
about Islam and what do you know about
Christianity just comparatively?
>> Well, Islam believes that Jesus was sent
by God to like kind of teach people,
right? But Jesus himself isn't God. And
when Sunny first explained that to me,
that made a lot of sense. Like Jesus on
the cross, like father forgive them for
they don't know who they're doing. Jesus
would pray all the time and it doesn't
make sense that he would be praying to
himself. And that's something that I'm
still hung up on a lot. But I talked to
Nick about that and Nick had a very high
IQ answer to that that kind of like went
over my head and I kind of got to watch
that podcast back cuz I remember I was
sitting
>> Quintis.
>> Yeah. Yeah. I was sitting with Nick and
I asked [clears throat] him that
question and for some reason I'm
blanking on his answer right now. I'd
have to go back and uh watch it but like
I don't know he gave like a he gave a
very wellthoughtout answer to it where
I'm just like dude okay I'd be kind of
like stupid just to assume that the more
simple religion is just the truth
because it's more simple. You know what
I'm saying? I'm like, I'd be kind of
ignorant. Like, obviously that makes
more sense. Why would Jesus pray to
himself? But then there's so many
different like explanations and
breakdowns for that where I'm like, I'd
be kind of just ignorant just like jump
right into this just cuz it makes more
sense to me in the moment. You know what
I'm saying? Like it's something that I
definitely do need to watch back. And we
could even bring that play that clip. I
don't know. Hard to find it, but uh
>> yeah, if we had the clip, it'd be kind
of nice to watch because Nick gave a
very very good answer to that that uh
>> Sure. I think that would be interesting.
Was it the one that I reacted to? Maybe
even. I'm not sure.
>> Yeah. Yeah. I'm not sure the exact time
stamp, so maybe for the sake of the
stream, it might be kind of annoying
trying to find the clip, but
>> it's okay. I can do it in the
background. One second. Nick for Tyson.
Hopefully, we have the time for that.
Would be interesting though to hear his
answer.
>> Yeah, I think I asked him I Yeah, I
asked him. I'm like, who would Jesus
pray to if Jesus himself was God?
>> And he gave a very very good answer.
Listen, Tyson, I appreciate the humility
in a sense, you know, when you say,
"Okay, just because it flies over my
head doesn't mean that therefore it's
not true." You know, I cannot say if
it's right, just because it appears more
simplistic to me personally. I get that.
However, when we get into Christianity
and the claim that Jesus prayed and
therefore did he pray to himself, who
did he pray to? We have to ask ourself
when Jesus came to this world according
to Christian doctrine, he comes as God
incarnate. All right? So therefore if he
comes as God incarnate I believe that he
should come with a full revelation or at
least he should come with a specific
update that he comes towards the people
too right so meaning that the children
of Israel where he is being sent towards
they are praying to Yahweh and their
schma their declaration of faith is here
oh Israel your lord your lord is one so
the people are completely oblivious to a
trinity the people are completely
oblivious to a man, God, somebody that's
fully man, fully God. They never heard
of that concept, right? They're
believing in the God of Israel. Okay?
Then Jesus comes about and he doesn't
speak about the Trinity. He doesn't
declare that he himself is the second
person of the Godhead. He never makes
those declarations. Matter of fact,
those things are essentially
manufactured hundreds and hundreds of
years later by the church. So my counter
question to the Christians was always if
your God truly came into this world
wouldn't he then tell you about it right
in one way or another would you then
really need further development hundreds
and hundreds of years later where they
tell you well actually Jesus prayed to
himself here if Jesus himself didn't say
it when I used to be a Christian I said
I'm going to take the trinity 100% as
truth if I can find it as revelation
meaning
>> the truth claim in Islam is that the
Quran itself is revelation from God. In
Christianity, they tell you that the the
Bible is not really the word of God. It
depends who you ask. Certain Protestants
will say it is the word of God. Orthodox
will say it is inspired by God, led by
the Holy Spirit, etc. Right?
>> However, when it comes down to parts of
the Bible that are seen as revelation,
purely coming from God, we can read in
the Bible that it says the Lord speaks.
There is no revelation telling you that
there is a trinity. There is no
revelation telling you that Jesus is
God. All of this is later conceptualized
by people external to the Bible. You see
what I'm saying?
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> So you can simplify it or you can make
it appear very very complex. But there
is not one passage where anybody tells
you that God revealed that Jesus Christ
is God.
>> Yeah. Yeah. I remember looking into that
too cuz like Sunny like I said it was
the first person to make me kind of
think about Islam. I was on chat GBT.
I'm like does Jesus ever say that he is
God and it's like no nowhere in the
Bible does Jesus ever claim to be God
and that like threw my mind for an
absolute world. But at the same time
though like I don't think that Jesus was
just a man. Like Jesus undeniably holds
uh a role in every single person's
psyche. Like that cross is like an
emotionally charged symbol in every
single all 8 million people or 8 billion
people on the planet. Um I don't I I
don't know if I'd go as far to say Jesus
is God, but I don't think I just like
reduce him to like just a man or just a
prophet either. I feel like there is
something very divine about Jesus. I
don't know if you'd agree with that.
>> I know personally I wouldn't agree. Of
course. What does it mean to be divine?
>> Like very um not just like another man.
You know what I'm saying? like powers in
a sense like walked on water did all
these things um resurrected like that's
not something that a man does
>> okay if we believe in the resurrection
that is of course
>> yeah fair enough
>> if you look it into the stories of the
prophets for example let's take as a
Christian you can take Moses right he
parted the sea is he therefore not just
a man
>> well he's a he's not God but he's also
not just a man because like a man can't
the sea yeah
>> he's He's not a man. He's a prophet
though.
>> Yeah. But he's got to have some sort of
like blessing from God or some sort of
like power. Like some sort of aura. Like
Jesus has aura, you know?
>> Yeah. Sure. Sure he does. Yeah. All the
prophets have aura obviously.
>> Okay. [laughter] Okay. Valid. Valid. Cuz
a I don't know. I just don't want to
like put I just don't like agree with
like putting Jesus down. I feel like
I've seen Muslims do this before where
they kind of like not all but some of
them kind of like mock Jesus in a sense.
I've seen that. I know that's like not
what Muslims really do, but they're
like, "Oh, he's just a man." and like
you worship just a man. Um, it kind of
feels disrespectful in a sense.
>> I understand what you mean. Listen, I
heard some Muslims as well that I'm not
going to name. When they are talking
about Jesus, they want to hammer the
point down and they're going to tell
you, "Well, you're worshiping somebody
that pooped, somebody that had to poop,
had to suck milk from a breast." I find
that disrespectful as well, and I'm not
going to talk like that. And we're not
called to talk like that as Muslims,
first and foremost. Right.
>> Yeah. Yeah. The point simply is yes from
the Islamic perspective the prophets are
human but at the same time of course
they have divine miracles. However the
point that we want to display is that
the miracles themselves do not come from
them but they come from God the
manifestation so to speak right from the
power of God. So by themselves the
prophets cannot do anything because the
origin the source of those miracles is
God himself.
>> Yeah.
>> You understand? Yeah,
>> I'm not going to lie. One of the things
that kind of made me like iffy about
Islam and kind of want to take a step
back was like seeing what it did to the
mind of Sneo. You know what I'm saying?
Like I feel like that guy went like
mentally insane. And it seems like it
was a good correlation with like when he
went really triple down into Islam. He
kind of like lost his mind. I was that
for me it was like whoa. Like let's like
take a back pedal. Maybe like reassess
what I'm doing. maybe not jump right
into this thing cuz this guy that I used
to look up to so much is now having a
mental breakdown in front of my eyes.
And I know that's not a very great
argument against Islam. I'm just saying
for me that's kind of what made me pump
the brakes a little bit and be like,
"Oh, hold up." You know what I'm saying?
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>> [singing]