I'M HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.

WELCOME TO "FINDING YOUR ROOTS," A JOURNEY INTO THE ANCESTRAL PASTS OF SOME OF AMERICA'S MOST FASCINATING FIGURES.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'RE GOING TO TRACE THE FAMILY HISTORIES OF PASTOR RICK WARREN, RABBI ANGELA BUCHDAHL, AND SHEIKH YASIR QADHI -- THREE PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT FAITHS WHOSE FAMILY HISTORIES HAVE PROFOUNDLY SHAPED THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS.

TO DISCOVER THEIR FAMILIES' ORIGINS, WE'VE USED EVERY TOOL AVAILABLE.

GENEALOGISTS HELPED STITCH TOGETHER THE PAST, USING THE PAPER TRAIL THEIR ANCESTORS LEFT BEHIND, WHILE GENETICISTS UTILIZED THE LATEST ADVANCES IN DNA ANALYSIS TO REVEAL SECRETS THOUSANDS OF YEARS OLD.

THIS, PASTOR RICK, IS YOUR BOOK OF LIFE.

AND WE'VE COMPILED EVERYTHING WE'VE FOUND INTO THEIR VERY OWN BOOK OF LIFE -- A RECORD OF ALL OF OUR DISCOVERIES.

WOW!

INTERESTING.

THIS IS REALLY INTERESTING.

Gates: THAT'S THE ROMANIAN BIRTH CERTIFICATE OF YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

OH!

[ LAUGHS ] THIS IS GREAT!

THIS IS REALLY COOL.

Gates: WHILE RESEARCHING RICK, YASIR, AND ANGELA'S ROOTS, WE UNEARTHED THE STORY ABOUT THE SPIRITUAL FOUNDATIONS OF THIS COUNTRY -- OUR UNRELENTING STRUGGLE FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND TOLERANCE, BUT ALSO THE DIFFICULTIES OF HOLDING ON TO ONE'S FAITH AND STILL FEELING LIKE AN AUTHENTIC AMERICAN.

THE ORIGINS OF OUR RICH AND VARIOUS BELIEFS IN GOD HAVE FASCINATED SCHOLARS AND RELIGIOUS THINKERS FOR MILLENNIA.

YET OUR CHOICE OF RELIGIONS IS PERHAPS MOST OFTEN DECIDED FOR US BY THE BELIEFS THAT OUR ANCESTORS EMBRACED.

WHEN I WAS A CHILD, I WORSHIPPED AT THE WALDEN METHODIST CHURCH SIMPLY BECAUSE MY MOTHER WAS RAISED AS A MEMBER OF HER MOTHER'S CHURCH BACK IN PIEDMONT, WEST VIRGINIA, WHERE I GREW UP.

AND WHEN I SWITCHED CHURCHES AS A TEENAGER, IT WAS TO JOIN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH WHERE MY FATHER WAS A MEMBER.

SUCH WAS THE CASE WITH RICK, ANGELA, AND YASIR.

ALL THREE INHERITED THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS FROM AT LEAST ONE OF THEIR PARENTS.

AND FOR EACH OF THEM, THEIR FAITH TURNED OUT TO BE A CALL TO SERVICE.

[ CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ] Warren: GOOD MORNING, SADDLEBACK.

THIS WEEK, I LEARNED TWO NEW TERMS.

Gates: THE REVEREND RICK WARREN, ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PASTORS IN AMERICA, LEADS THE SADDLEBACK CHURCH IN ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

Warren: WE OFTEN CONFUSE OUR IDENTITY WITH OUR DEFECTS.

Gates: SOME 20,000 PARISHIONERS ATTEND THE SADDLEBACK CHURCH EACH WEEK, MAKING IT ONE OF THE LARGEST CHURCHES IN THE UNITED STATES.

Warren: WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO CHANGE?

NOW, WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT THE CLASSIC PASSAGE IN THE BIBLE ON THIS... Gates: PASTOR WARREN IS THE AUTHOR OF NUMEROUS SELF-HELP BOOKS, INCLUDING "THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE," ONE OF THE BEST-SELLING NONFICTION BOOKS IN THE WORLD.

HE'S ALSO ACTED AS A SPIRITUAL ADVISER TO POWERFUL BUSINESS LEADERS AND EVEN HEADS OF STATE.

AND IN 2009, HE GAVE THE INVOCATION AT PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S HISTORIC INAUGURATION.

FOR RICK WARREN, THE SON OF A BAPTIST PREACHER, THE CALL TO EMBRACE THE RELIGIOUS LIFE CAME WHEN HE WAS VERY YOUNG.

I HAD A SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE -- IT WAS A TURNING POINT.

MY CONVERSION... Gates: WE CAUGHT UP WITH RICK AT HIS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TELEVISION STUDIO.

WHEN I WAS A SOPHOMORE IN HIGH SCHOOL, I GOT A JOB AT A CHRISTIAN CAMP IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

AND THEN AT NIGHTS, I WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR CAMPFIRES.

AH.

AND ONE NIGHT, I WENT INTO A CABIN, AND I GOT DOWN ON MY KNEES, AND I PRAYED REALLY A PRETTY SIMPLE PRAYER.

I GO, "GOD, IF THERE IS A GOD, I WANT TO KNOW YOU."

IT WAS REALLY THAT SIMPLE.

AND I SAID, "I DON'T UNDERSTAND IT ALL.

"I DON'T GET IT ALL, BUT IF YOU'RE REAL, "MAKE YOURSELF REAL TO ME.

JESUS CHRIST, I WANT TO KNOW YOU."

THAT WAS REALLY IT.

AND YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED?

SKIP -- NOTHING.

[ LAUGHS ] I MEAN, NO THUNDER, NO LIGHTNING, NO ANGELS CAME DOWN, MY HAIR DIDN'T TURN WHITE, LIKE CHARLTON HESTON.

I MEAN, I DIDN'T GET EMOTIONAL, I DIDN'T CRY.

IT WAS REALLY PRETTY A MATTER-OF-FACT DECISION, BUT THAT WAS THE TURNING POINT IN MY LIFE.

[ SINGING IN HEBREW ] Gates: RABBI ANGELA BUCHDAHL SERVES AS CANTOR AT NEW YORK'S PRESTIGIOUS CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE.

SHE'S THE FIRST ASIAN AMERICAN TO BE INVESTED AS A CANTOR AND THE FIRST ASIAN AMERICAN TO BE ORDAINED AS A RABBI IN ALL OF NORTH AMERICA.

♪ [ SINGING IN HEBREW ] ANGELA WAS BORN IN SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA, ON JULY 8, 1972, TO A JEWISH AMERICAN ARMY VETERAN AND A KOREAN BUDDHIST MOTHER.

ANGELA TOLD ME THAT, AS SHE GREW UP IN TACOMA, WASHINGTON, WHERE THEY HAD MOVED WHEN SHE WAS 5, SHE OFTEN FELT CONFLICTED ABOUT HER IDENTITIES AS AN AMERICAN, A KOREAN, AND A JEW.

THOUGH RAISED IN THE JEWISH RELIGION, IT WAS DURING A TRIP TO ISRAEL AS A TEENAGER WHEN SHE WAS FORCED TO CONFRONT THE ISSUE OF THE AUTHENTICITY OF HER RELIGIOUS BELIEFS.

HOW COULD A PERSON WHO LOOKED LIKE HER, SOMEONE DEMANDED, BE GENUINELY JEWISH?

Buchdahl: I FELT SO REJECTED BY THE LARGER JEWISH COMMUNITY.

I'D HAD A LOT OF PEOPLE SAY TO ME, "YOU'RE NOT REALLY JEWISH."

I REMEMBER, I CALLED MY MOTHER FROM ISRAEL.

I COULDN'T EVEN SPEAK FOR THE FIRST FEW MINUTES, 'CAUSE I WAS JUST WEEPING SO HARD, AND I SAID, "THAT'S IT, "I THINK I'M JUST GOING TO NOT BE JEWISH ANYMORE.

"I'M GOING TO STOP -- I DON'T HAVE A JEWISH NAME, "LOOK AT ME, I DON'T HAVE A JEWISH FACE, I COULD JUST STOP BEING JEWISH, AND NOBODY WOULD EVER KNOW."

AND MY MOTHER SAID, "IS THAT REALLY POSSIBLE?"

AND I REALIZED THAT I COULDN'T SHED MY JEWISH IDENTITY ANY MORE THAN I COULD SHED BEING A WOMAN OR BEING KOREAN.

IT MIGHT NOT BE AS EVIDENT ON MY FACE, BUT IT WAS NOT JUST A PART OF MY DNA, BUT IT WAS THE WAY I LOOKED AT THE WHOLE WORLD.

IT WAS WHO I WAS, IN EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING.

I CAME BACK FROM THAT SUMMER, AND I SAID, "I WANT TO BE A RABBI."

Gates: LAST YEAR, ANGELA MA DE NEWSWEEK'S LIST OF THE 50 MOST INFLUENTIAL RABBIS IN AMERICA.

AND SHE'S ONE OF THE RISING STARS IN THE REFORM MOVEMENT.

Qadhi: IN OUR RELIGION, THERE'S NO QUESTION THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE WHOM ALLAH HAS BLESSED.

Gates: SHEIKH YASIR QADHI IS ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL CONSERVATIVE CLERICS IN AMERICAN ISLAM.

THE TERM WA LI HAS BEEN LOOSELY TRANSLATED AS "A SAINT."

Gates: DRAWING A TIDE OF YOUNG FOLLOWERS TO ORTHODOX ISLAM, YASIR STRICTLY ADHERES TO TRADITIONAL INTERPRETATIONS OF THE QU'RAN AND ISLAMIC LAW.

AND JUST BECAUSE SOMEBODY IS RIGHTEOUS DOESN'T GIVE HIM DIVINE POWERS OR DIVINE ATTRIBUTES.

Gates: LIKE MOST OF US, YASIR INHERITED HIS FAITH FROM HIS PARENTS.

[ CHANTING IN ARABIC ] BUT LIKE ANGELA BUCHDAHL AND RICK WARREN, IT WAS YASIR HIMSELF WHO MADE THE DECISION TO MAKE HIS RELIGIOUS BELIEFS THE CENTER OF HIS PROFESSIONAL LIFE.

[ CHANTING IN ARABIC ] Gates: YASIR QADHI WAS BORN IN HOUSTON IN 1975 TO DEVOUT MUSLIM PARENTS WHO EMIGRATED TO AMERICA FROM PAKISTAN.

WHEN YASIR WAS 5, HIS FATHER ACCEPTED A JOB IN SAUDI ARABIA.

YASIR SPENT THE NEXT NINE YEARS THERE, ATTENDING A WESTERN SCHOOL.

WHEN IT CAME TIME FOR COLLEGE, YASIR'S FATHER INSISTED THAT HE GO TO AN AMERICAN UNIVERSITY TO STUDY MEDICINE OR CHEMICAL ENGINEERING.

IN HIS SECOND YEAR OF STUDY, HE HAD AN EPIPHANY.

IN MY SOPHOMORE YEAR, I HAD THIS REAWAKENING OF SPIRITUALITY.

AND I DECIDED THAT I WANTED TO BECOME A SCHOLAR, A SHEIKH, AN IMAM.

WAS THIS RIGHT BEFORE A CHEMICAL ENGINEERING EXAM?

PROBABLY, YEAH, I DON'T REMEMBER IT NOW.

AND SO I REMEMBER TALKING TO MY DAD ABOUT THAT, AND WISELY AT THE TIME -- OF COURSE, AT THE TIME, I DIDN'T SEE IT AS BEING VERY WISE -- WISELY, AT THE TIME, HE SAYS, "NO WAY!

YOU MUST BE OUT OF YOUR MIND!"

YOU KNOW, "YOU'RE GOING TO GET YOUR ENGINEERING DEGREE," AND THEN HE SAID SOMETHING THAT I REALLY ADMIRE HIM FOR.

HE SAID, "AND THEN, WHEN YOU'RE ABLE TO STAND UP ON YOUR FEET, "YOU MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND.

BUT IT'S MY JOB TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE INDEPENDENT."

AND THEN MY UNIVERSITY YEARS WERE MY FORMATIVE YEARS IN MAKING ME COMMITTED TO THE FAITH.

I WAS RAISED A PRACTICING MUSLIM BY MY FATHER, BUT I CHOSE TO BE A COMMITTED MUSLIM IN COLLEGE.

WHY?

MOST PEOPLE CHOOSE TO DO DOPE AND SEX IN COLLEGE, AND BECOME, IF NOT ATHEIST, AGNOSTIC.

I NEEDED RELIGION TO SAVE ME FROM THOSE THINGS.

BECAUSE I DON'T VIEW THEM AS BEING...

MORAL OR HEALTHY FOR THE HUMAN SOUL.

AND I FELT AN EMPTINESS THAT ONLY RELIGION WAS ABLE TO FILL.

I FELT A VOID IN MY LIFE THAT ONLY THE WORSHIP OF GOD HELPED ME OVERCOME.

Gates: I WONDERED WHAT WE COULD LEARN ABOUT RICK, ANGELA, AND YASIR'S LIFE CHOICES BY LOOKING INTO THEIR FAMILY TREES.

DID THEIR ANCESTORS' INITIAL JOURNEYS TO AMERICA HELP SHAPE THEIR FAITH IN GOD?

AND COULD THEIR FAMILY STRUGGLES FOR RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE HAVE INFLUENCED THEIR DECISIONS TO BECOME SPIRITUAL LEADERS?

I STARTED WITH PASTOR RICK, BORN RICHARD DUANE WARREN ON JANUARY 28, 1954, IN SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA.

RICK'S FATHER WAS A PREACHER, AND HIS MOTHER WORKED ALONGSIDE HER HUSBAND TO BUILD CHURCHES ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

RICK TOLD ME THAT THE TWO OF THEM HAD A PROFOUND IMPACT ON HIS DECISION TO ESTABLISH HIS OWN CHURCH.

MY DAD WAS AN AVERAGE PREACHER, BUT HE WAS AN OUTSTANDING CARPENTER.

AND JESUS WAS AN AVERAGE CARPENTER AND OUTSTANDING PREACHER.

THAT'S RIGHT.

MY DAD BUILT OVER 150 CHURCHES, LITERALLY, ALL AROUND THE WORLD.

YOU MEAN, HE BUILT, LIKE, WITH NAILS -- HAMMERED NAILS, AND, I MEAN, HE BUILT THEM UP IN ALASKA, HE BUILT THEM IN GUATEMALA, HE BUILT THEM IN CHINA, HE BUILT THEM ALL OVER ASIA, AUSTRALIA.

WHEN SADDAM KICKED THE KURDS UP INTO NORTHERN IRAQ, IT WAS MY FATHER WHO TOOK A CREW OF 18 GUYS IN, INTO THOSE REFUGEE CAMPS, AND DUG THE EIGHT WATER WELLS FOR THE REFUGEES AND BUILT THE CHURCH THERE FOR THEM.

WELL, EVERYWHERE MY DAD BUILT, MY MOM COOKED.

AND SO, IF THERE WAS A KATRINA, THEY WOULD BE THERE.

IF THERE WAS A TSUNAMI, THEY WOULD BE THERE.

Gates: A SELF-DESCRIBED HISTORY BUFF AND BIBLIOPHILE, RICK GAVE ME A TOUR OF HIS EXTRAORDINARY LIBRARY, WHICH HOLDS OVER 20,000 VOLUMES, AS WELL AS HISTORIC MEMORABILA AND RARE MEMENTOS FROM HIS FAMILY'S PAST.

MY DAD -- I HAD THIS LITTLE CHEST MADE AND PUT ALL OF HIS SERMONS -- THESE ARE HIS SERMONS THAT HE WOULD HAND-TYPE OUT.

THAT'S SWEET.

YOU EVER RIP OFF A SERMON FROM ONE OF THESE?

EVERYBODY RIPS OFF EVERYBODY.

Gates: RICK KNEW THAT HE DESCENDED FROM A LONG LINE OF DEEPLY RELIGIOUS ANCESTORS.

HE EVEN GIVES PRIDE OF PLACE IN HIS STUDY TO A PHOTOGRAPH OF HIS GREAT-GRANDFATHER, THE REVEREND EBENEZER ARMSTRONG.

I WAS STRUCK BY HOW MUCH RICK RESEMBLES PASTOR EBENEZER.

EBENEZER WAS A UNION ARMY VETERAN WHO BECAME A CIRCUIT PREACHER TRAVELING ON HORSEBACK BETWEEN RURAL BAPTIST CHURCHES IN THE 19th CENTURY.

Warren: THE FAMILY LORE ABOUT THIS MAN WAS THAT HE WAS A GREAT MAN, HE WAS A GODLY MAN, HE WAS A KIND MAN, AND I STILL HAVE SOME OF HIS COMMENTARIES IN MY LIBRARY.

THOSE ARE ALL EBENEZER ARMSTRONG'S BOOKS.

THAT MEANS YOU HAD A GREAT DEAL OF STABILITY IN YOUR FAMILY.

Gates: BUT WHAT RICK DIDN'T KNOW WAS THAT HIS FAMILY'S COMMITMENT TO THE CHURCH ACTUALLY STRETCHES ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE FOUNDING OF THIS COUNTRY.

WE DISCOVERED THAT HIS NINTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER, A MAN NAMED WILLIAM PARKE, WAS STRUGGLING TO WORSHIP AS A PURITAN IN SEMER, ENGLAND, IN THE EARLY 17th CENTURY WHEN HE DECIDED TO ESCAPE PERSECUTION BY SAILING TO AMERICA IN SEARCH OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.

WILLIAM WOULD EVENTUALLY BOOK PASSAGE ON A SHIP CALLED THE LYON IN THE YEAR 1630.

LESS THAN A YEAR LATER, CHARISMATIC MINISTER JOHN ELIOT WOULD ARRIVE ON A SUBSEQUENT VOYAGE OF THE SAME SHIP.

ELIOT, ONE OF THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF THE FIRST CHURCH OF ROXBURY IN NEW ENGLAND, IS CREDITED WITH PRINTING THE FIRST BIBLE IN THE NEW WORLD.

WOULD YOU TURN THE PAGE?

THIS IS THE MEMBERSHIP RECORD FOR THE CHURCH OF ROXBURY, WHICH WAS STARTED IN THE YEAR 1632.

AND IT DESCRIBES THE ARRIVAL OF YOUR NINTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

WOULD YOU READ WHAT IT SAYS UP THERE, BROTHER?

OH, YOU'RE KIDDING ME.

"THE FIRST CHURCH OF ROXBURY "MEMBERSHIP RECORDS -- WILLIAM PARKE.

HE CAME TO NEW ENGLAND IN THE 12th MONTH, 1630."

[Laughs] WE'VE HAD FAMILY HERE SINCE 1630!

1630.

CAN I GET A SCHOLARSHIP SOMEWHERE ON THIS OR ANYTHING?

CAN I GO BACK TO SCHOOL AND BE, LIKE, AN ORIGINAL GUY?

RICK, WE DON'T HAVE WHITE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION ANYMORE.

OH, OKAY, WELL, WHAT CAN I SAY?

[ LAUGHS ] RICK, COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

ALL RIGHT.

NOW, THIS, MY FRIEND, IS THE HISTORY OF THE FIRST CHURCH IN ROXBURY, LISTING THE MEMBERS OF THE FIRST MEETING HOUSE ESTABLISHED IN THE YEAR 1632.

DO YOU RECOGNIZE ANY NAMES?

YES, I SURE DO.

OF COURSE, THE TEACHER IS PASTOR JOHN ELIOT, REVEREND JOHN ELIOT.

BUT DOWN HERE IN THE LIST OF DEACONS, THERE'S MY NINTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

HE'S A DEACON IN A CHURCH IN AMERICA IN THE 1600s.

YOUR NINTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER, WILLIAM PARKE, SERVED AS THE DEACON OF THE CHURCH OF ROXBURY.

[ LAUGHS ] THIS IS GREAT!

THIS IS REALLY COOL.

AND, RICK, HE SERVED AS DEACON UNDER JOHN ELIOT FROM ITS FOUNDING IN 1632 UNTIL AT LEAST 1674!

WOW.

HOW MANY YEARS IS THAT, RICK?

WOW.

1632, 1674?

THAT IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.

HOW MANY YEARS HAVE YOU BEEN AT SADDLEBACK, BROTHER?

WELL, YEAH, I'VE BEEN HERE 31.

THAT'S 41.

42.

SO YOU GOT TO KEEP WORKING ON IT.

[ LAUGHS ] AND YOUR ANCESTORS WERE RIGHT THERE.

THEY WERE BUDDIES.

THEY WERE BUDDIES, MAN.

THEY BROKE BREAD, THEY GOT ON THEIR KNEES TOGETHER, AND THEY BELIEVED IN THE DREAM OF AMERICA.

UNBELIEVABLE.

DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU HAD SUCH DEEP PROTESTANT ROOTS?

NO, I DID NOT.

I HAD NO IDEA.

THIS IS WHAT YOU CALL HAVING CALVINIST PROPS.

[ LAUGHS ] IT'S TRUE, IT'S TRUE.

PURITAN PROPS.

Gates: 270 YEARS AFTER PASTOR RICK'S PROTESTANT RELATIVES ARRIVED IN THIS COUNTRY IN SEARCH OF RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE, ANGELA BUCHDAHL'S ANCESTORS WERE THINKING ABOUT MAKING THE SAME DECISION.

ANGELA HAS LONG KNOWN THAT HER FAMILY ON HER FATHER'S SIDE HAILED FROM ROMANIA.

BUT SHE NEVER KNEW HOW OR WHY THEY MIGRATED TO AMERICA.

LET'S FIND OUT ABOUT THESE PEOPLE, YOUR GREAT-GRANDPARENTS, WHO CAME HERE AS IMMIGRANTS.

COULD YOU TURN THE PAGE?

YEAH.

BIRTH CERTIFICATE OF SHRUL HIRSCH, BORN ON THE 21ST OF OCTOBER IN MOINESTI IN HIS PARENTS' HOUSE.

OH!

THAT'S THE ROMANIAN BIRTH CERTIFICATE OF YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER, SHRUL HIRSCH SOSS.

BORN AT MOINESTI, ROMANIA, IN 1871.

WOW.

Gates: ANGELA'S GREAT-GRANDFATHER, SHRUL, WAS BORN DURING A TIME OF GREAT TRIAL AND TRIBULATION FOR JEWS IN ROMANIA.

WHEN IT BECAME INDEPENDENT FROM THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE IN 1878, ROMANIA INITIALLY PROMISED CITIZENSHIP TO ITS JEWISH POPULATION.

BUT BETWEEN 1879 AND 1913, ONLY ABOUT 2,000 JEWS OUT OF A TOTAL OF SOME 250,000 COULD ACTUALLY CALL THEMSELVES ROMANIAN CITIZENS.

THE GOVERNMENT SEEMED SET ON DOING ALL IT COULD TO MAKE LIFE AS DIFFICULT AS POSSIBLE FOR THE JEWS.

WE COULD TELL BY THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE OF ANGELA'S GREAT-UNCLE, ITSAK, WHICH LISTED HIM AS "ISRAELITE," THAT ANGELA'S FAMILY WAS NOT AMONG THE 2,000 JEWISH PEOPLE GRANTED THEIR CITIZENSHIP.

AS THE 19th CENTURY DREW TO A CLOSE AND BIGOTS STOKED ANTI-SEMITIC FERVOR ACROSS EASTERN EUROPE, JEWS IN ROMANIA REMAINED WITHOUT A HOMELAND AND IN GRAVE DANGER.

IN 1882, A NEW LAW FORCED JEWS TO SERVE IN THE MILITARY, EVEN THOUGH THEY WEREN'T CITIZENS.

ANOTHER LAW PROHIBITED THEM FROM PEDDLING, WHICH, OF COURSE, DEPRIVED THOUSANDS OF JEWISH FAMILIES OF THEIR LIVELIHOOD.

AND, ANGELA, THAT'S NOT ALL.

COULD YOU TURN THE PAGE?

OH, MY GOODNESS.

OH!

THESE ARE NEWSPAPERS OF AN ANTI-SEMITIC LEAGUE.

AND THEY GIVE YOU A SENSE OF THE POPULAR SENTIMENT AFOOT IN ROMANIA AROUND THE TURN OF THE CENTURY.

COULD YOU READ THE TRANSLATIONS?

HERE, "REBELLIOUS KIKES."

"KIKE'S LAMENTATION."

AND "ROMANIANS BUY NOTHING FROM KIKES."

WOW.

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT?

NO.

IT'S UNBELIEVABLE.

SO, IN 1899, SOMETHING CALLED "THE ROMANIAN EXODUS" BEGAN.

'CAUSE JEWS COULD READ THE PAPER, LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE.

THEY SAY, "SPLIT TIME."

"IT'S TIME TO GET OUT OF HERE."

SO A WAVE OF EMIGRATION, UNPARALLELED, ACTUALLY, IN JEWISH HISTORY, BEGAN THAT YEAR, 1899.

Gates: MANY JEWS IN ROMANIA ACTUALLY FLED THE COUNTRY ON FOOT TO FIND FREEDOM, SOMETIMES WALKING HUNDREDS OF MILES.

THESE PEOPLE WERE KNOWN IN YIDDISH AS FUSKAYERS.

WE DON'T KNOW WHETHER OR NOT ANGELA'S GREAT-GRANDFATHER AND HIS FAMILY WERE AMONG T HE FUSKAYERS, BUT WE DO KNOW THAT THEY WERE PART OF THIS DESPERATE TIDE OF MIGRATION.

AND, AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, THEY WERE ABLE TO BOOK PASSAGE ON A SHIP HEADED STRAIGHT TO THE UNITED STATES.

I COULDN'T WAIT TO SHOW ANGELA WHERE THEY ARRIVED.

OH!

[ Gasps ] OH, MY GOD!

THEY CAME TO 225 EAST 40th STREET.

15 BLOCKS AWAY FROM HERE.

[ CHUCKLES ] THAT'S INCREDIBLE.

THAT IS SO FUNNY.

I KNOW EXACTLY WHERE THAT IS.

AND YOU KNOW WHY THEY WERE GOING THERE?

BECAUSE YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER'S OLDER BROTHER, JOSEPH, HAD COME TO AMERICA ALREADY IN THE LATE 1880s -- PROBABLY TO AVOID SERVING IN THE ROMANIAN ARMY.

WOW.

RIGHT.

ALL OF US KNOW ABOUT THE PERSECUTION OF THE JEWS.

BUT DOES KNOWING ABOUT HOW YOUR FAMILY WAS PERSECUTED AFFECT YOU IN YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF YOUR OWN COMMITMENT TO RELIGION?

I'VE ALWAYS FELT THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR JUDAISM TO SURVIVE, NOT JUST BECAUSE JEWS HAVE BEEN PERSECUTED, BUT BECAUSE IT HAS SO MUCH TO OFFER AND IS SO MEANINGFUL AND BEAUTIFUL.

BUT I DO HAVE TO SAY, LEARNING ABOUT THE PERSECUTION PERSONALLY IN MY OWN FAMILY IN THIS DIRECT WAY REALLY DOES GIVE ME MY OWN SENSE OF NEEDING TO CARRY THIS ON FOR WHAT THEY ENDURED FOR IT TO SURVIVE, FOR IT TO BE PASSED ON TO ME.

IT'S REALLY...

VERY POWERFUL TO HEAR ABOUT IT IN THIS VERY PERSONAL WAY.

Qadhi: IT IS HUMAN NATURE TO BE SUSPICIOUS OF THAT WHICH YOU DON'T KNOW.

IT'S HUMAN NATURE TO BE SUSPICIOUS AND STEREOTYPICAL OF A COMMUNITY THAT IS EXOTIC AND DIFFERENT, RIGHT?

Gates: RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE KNOWS NO BOUNDARIES.

IT IS, UNFORTUNATELY, ALL TOO UNIVERSAL, CUTTING ACROSS ALL NATIONS, ALL TIME PERIODS, AND ALL FAITHS.

YOUR RELIGION IS A PART OF YOUR IDENTITY.

Gates: LIKE RICK AND ANGELA, YASIR QADHI'S FAMILY TREE CARRIES WITH IT PAINFUL STORIES OF HIS ANCESTORS' PERSECUTION FO R THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS.

IN 1947, YASIR'S FATHER, MAZHAR KAZI, WAS JUST TEN YEARS OLD AND LIVING IN JABALPUR, INDIA.

HE WAS THE SON OF ISAK KAZI, A MEMBER OF A PROMINENT FAMILY THAT OWNED A LARGE, COMFORTABLE HOUSE.

BUT IN 1948, ISAK WAS FORCED TO PACK UP HIS FAMILY, INCLUDING YASIR'S DAD, AND ABRUPTLY EMBARK UPON A PERILOUS JOURNEY.

THEY FLED FIRST TO BOMBAY -- NOW MUMBAI -- AND THEN ON TO KARACHI, HEADING TO THE NEWLY PARTITIONED MUSLIM NATION OF PAKISTAN, WHERE THEY HOPED TO FIND THE FREEDOM TO PRACTICE THEIR ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND START A NEW LIFE.

THIS IS AN INTERESTING FACT.

THE LARGEST MASS MIGRATION OF HUMANS IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY OCCURRED IN 1947.

OVER 15 MILLION PEOPLE MIGRATED ACROSS BORDERS.

HINDUS, SIKHS, MUSLIMS, THEY'RE ALL CROSSING ALL OVER.

A LOT OF CHAOS, A LOT OF TERROR, A LOT OF RIOTS TOOK PLACE.

IT WAS A VERY DIFFICULT JOURNEY, AND MY FATHER REMEMBERS SOME OF THE HARDSHIPS THAT HE HAD, COMING TO KARACHI.

Gates: THE PERIOD IN INDIAN HISTORY KNOWN AS "PARTITION" WAS MARRED BY WIDESPREAD VIOLENCE AND MAYHEM, THE BRUTALITY OF NEIGHBOR AGAINST NEIGHBOR.

THE END OF CENTURIES OF BRITISH COLONIALISM IN 1947 LED TO MURDEROUS SECTARIAN VIOLENCE PERPETRATED IN THE NAME OF RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES.

HINDUS AND MUSLIMS ROUTINELY SLAUGHTERED EACH OTHER IN THE STREETS.

SOMETIMES ENTIRE VILLAGES AND NEIGHBORHOODS WERE WIPED OUT.

Qadhi: THEY CHOSE TO LEAVE BECAUSE THEY FELT THAT A NEW LAND WAS BEING CREATED FOR THEM.

AND THEY FELT A SENSE OF HOPE, A SENSE OF ASPIRATIONS, THAT THERE WOULD BE A BETTER FUTURE FOR THEM IN THAT LAND.

AND THE SAD TRUTH IS, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT DREAM BECAME A REALITY FOR THEM OR NOT.

I DON'T KNOW.

I KNOW FOR MY FATHER IT DIDN'T.

EVEN THOUGH HE CONSIDERS HIMSELF FULLY PAKISTANI, BUT FOR SURE FOR HIM, THAT DREAM THAT MY GRANDFATHER AND GRANDMOTHER HAD WAS NOT MATERIALIZED.

Gates: DESPITE THE FACT THAT HE WAS LIVING IN PAKISTAN, A MUSLIM COUNTRY, YASIR'S FATHER DID NOT SEE A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR HIMSELF OR HIS FAMILY.

SO, IN 1963, LIKE ANGELA BUCHDAHL AND RICK WARREN'S ANCESTORS, MAZHAR DECIDED TO MIGRATE TO AMERICA.

HE ENROLLED AS A BIOLOGY STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON AND DISCOVERED THAT HE COULD PRACTICE HIS FAITH FREELY, EVEN AS ONE OF ONLY A TINY MINORITY OF MUSLIMS LIVING THERE.

Qadhi: IT WAS A LAND OF OPPORTUNITY.

IT WAS A LAND OF DREAMS, AND MY FATHER CAME HERE AS A SINGLE MAN -- HE WAS A BACHELOR AT THE TIME -- AND HE LIKED IT SO MUCH THAT HE DECIDED TO MAKE IT HIS PERMANENT RESIDENCE.

YOU KNOW, THE QUESTION THAT I ALWAYS ASK HIM IS, HOW DID HE PRACTICE THE FAITH, AS PRETTY MUCH THE ONLY, YOU KNOW, MUSLIM, OR ONE OF TWO OR THREE PEOPLE?

AND HE TELLS ME THE FIRST EID PRAYER THAT THEY EVER PRAYED, THERE WAS A GRAND TOTAL OF THREE PEOPLE IN HOUSTON PRAYING EID.

WHAT'S EID?

EID IS THE ANNUAL FESTIVAL.

IT'S THE LARGEST CONGREGATION OF MUSLIMS THAT COME TOGETHER -- THIS IS CHRISTMAS AND EASTER.

BASICALLY, THESE ARE CHRISTMAS AND EASTER AND THANKSGIVING, AND SO EVERYBODY COMES TOGETHER.

MY FATHER HAD NEVER -- HE'D NEVER LED THE PRAYER IN HIS LIFE, HE TOLD ME.

BUT WHEN THEY SHOWED UP, AND THEY DIDN'T HAVE AN IMAM, OBVIOUSLY, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?

WELL, YOU JUST BECOME AN IMAM.

THAT'S WHAT AMERICA DOES TO YOU, YOU KNOW?

Gates: 44 YEARS AFTER HIS FATHER HAD ARRIVED IN HOUSTON AS ONLY ONE OF A HANDFUL OF MUSLIMS IN THE ENTIRE AREA, YASIR RETURNED TO HOUSTON TO LEAD THE CONGREGATION IN EID PRAYER.

Qadhi: NOW HERE I AM -- AND THIS IS THE GROWTH OF ISLAM IN AMERICA -- HERE I AM, AND MY FATHER'S IN THE AUDIENCE -- HE'S AN ELDERLY MAN NOW -- HERE IS HIS SON, WHO IS TRAINED AS A PROFESSIONAL, WHO HAS BECOME A SCHOLAR IN THE RELIGION -- AND INSTEAD OF THREE PEOPLE, THERE IS A GRAND TOTAL OF 30,000.

OH, MY GOD, IT HAD TO BE ONE OF THE PROUDEST DAYS IN YOUR FATHER'S LIFE, TO HEAR YOU -- I COULD TELL.

I WAS HUMBLED, TOO.

I WAS VERY HUMBLED, AS WELL.

[ CHANTING IN ARABIC ] Gates: TODAY, THERE ARE OVER 2.5 MILLION PRACTICING MUSLIMS IN AMERICA, A ROUGHLY 20-FOLD INCREASE SINCE YASIR'S FATHER ARRIVED HERE IN 1963.

[ CHANTING IN ARABIC ] Gates: BUT MUSLIMS LIKE YASIR AND MANY OTHER PEOPLE PRACTICING THEIR RELIGIOUS FAITH IN THIS COUNTRY OFTEN FACE A FAMILIAR CONUNDRUM -- HOW DO THEY HOLD ON TO THEIR RELIGION, WITH ALL OF ITS CUSTOMS, TRADITIONS, AND LAWS, AND STILL BE, AS IT WERE, AN AMERICAN?

Man: WILL THE NEW CITIZENS PLEASE RAISE YOUR RIGHT HAND?

PLEASE REPEAT AFTER ME -- I HEREBY DECLARE -- All: I HEREBY DECLARE... Gates: TWO YEARS AGO, I ATTENDED A NATURALIZATION CEREMONY IN LOWER MANHATTAN.

IT'S A SECULAR BAPTISM OF SORTS, WHEN IMMIGRANTS OF EVERY FAITH PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THEIR NEW HOME, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Man: I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE... All: I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE... Man: TO THE FLAG... All: TO THE FLAG... Gates: AT THIS PIVOTAL MOMENT, ALL RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES ARE PUT ASIDE IN THE NAME OF MEMBERSHIP IN A BROADER, SECULAR COMMUNITY.

Woman: FOUNDED UPON A CONSTITUTION... Gates: REGARDLESS OF NATIONAL ORIGIN OR RELIGION, MUSLIM, HINDU, OR BUDDHIST, CHRISTIAN OR JEW, BECOMING AN AMERICAN IS A POWERFUL PERSONAL MOMENT.

Woman: I WELCOME YOU AS FELLOW CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

[ APPLAUSE ] Gates: WE DISCOVERED THE NATURALIZATION RECORD FOR ANGELA'S GREAT-GRANDFATHER, SHRUL SOSS, WHO FELT FORCED TO LEAVE ROMANIA BECAUSE HE WAS JEWISH.

THIS FRAYED PIECE OF PAPER IS HIS MOVING WRITTEN OATH OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE REPUBLIC OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Buchdahl: "IT IS MY INTENTION "TO BECOME A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES "AND TO RENOUNCE ABSOLUTELY AND FOREVER "ALL ALLEGIANCE AND FIDELITY TO ANY FOREIGN PRINCE, "STATE, OR SOVEREIGNTY, AND PARTICULARLY TO CHARLES, KING OF ROMANIA, OF WHOM AT THIS TIME I AM SUBJECT."

Gates: "AND WHOM I HATE."

THAT'S RIGHT!

"WHO WOULDN'T HAVE ME."

OH, MY GOODNESS.

NOW, LOOK AT WHEN THIS IS DECLARED.

THIS IS HIS INTENTION TO NATURALIZE, WHICH HE HAD TO FILE, AND IT'S IN 1903, REMEMBER, JUST A FEW MONTHS AFTER HE ARRIVED IN AMERICA FROM ROMANIA.

WOW.

HE FILED, ACTUALLY, FOR CITIZENSHIP IN 1912, NINE YEARS AFTER HE FIRST APPLIED.

WOW.

THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE, THAT WE HAVE THIS, THAT YOU FOUND IT FOR US.

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR ANCESTORS HOPED FOR WHEN THEY SHOWED UP?

I THINK THEY HOPED THEY COULD BE IN A PLACE IN WHICH THEY COULD BE...

FREELY WHO THEY WANTED TO BE.

BOTH THEIR RELIGION, AS WELL AS THEIR ABILITY TO HAVE A LIVELIHOOD, AND JUST THE ABILITY TO RAISE A FAMILY AND HAVE A GOOD LIFE.

BUT I THINK MAYBE EVEN MORE THAN THAT, AN ABILITY TO DREAM TO BE ABLE TO DO SOMETHING EVEN MORE.

Gates: THAT DREAM BROUGHT MEN LIKE RICK WARREN'S ANCESTORS HERE OVER 300 YEARS AGO.

WE DISCOVERED A DOCUMENT FROM 1629 WRITTEN BY JOHN WINTHROP, THE FAMOUS FOUNDER OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY.

WINTHROP EXPLAINS WHY HE AND HIS FELLOW PURITANS, INCLUDING RICK'S NINTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER, WILLIAM PARKE, SHOULD LEAVE CIVILIZED ENGLAND TO MOVE TO THE WILDERNESS OF THE NEW WORLD.

ONE OF THEM WAS, "TO RAISE A BULWARK "AGAINST THE KINGDOM OF ANTICHRIST, "WHICH THE JESUITS LABOR TO RAISE IN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD."

[Laughs] THAT'S HILARIOUS!

THAT IS REALLY FUNNY.

"ALL OTHER CHURCHES OF EUROPE ARE BROUGHT TO DESOLATION "AND OUR SINS, FOR WHICH THE LORD "BEGINS ALREADY TO FROWN UPON US... "AND WHO KNOWS, BUT THAT GOD HATH PROVIDED OF THIS PLACE TO BE A REFUGE FOR MANY WHOM HE MEANS TO SAVE."

ISN'T THAT AMAZING?

IT'S AMAZING.

THAT IS AMAZING.

WOW.

DO YOU THINK THAT YOUR ANCESTORS' DREAM, AS WINTHROP EXPRESSED IT IN WHAT YOU JUST READ, HAS COME TRUE?

WELL, I THINK THAT THEIR DESIRE TO BUILD A "CHRISTIAN UTOPIA" HAS NOT COME TRUE.

AND I THINK THAT'S UNREALISTIC.

I THINK GOD -- AS I READ SCRIPTURE, GOD DOESN'T INTEND FOR US TO HAVE HEAVEN ON EARTH.

HEAVEN IS HEAVEN, AND EARTH IS EARTH.

BUT THE BENEFIT AND THE BLESSING OF HAVING THAT KIND OF FOUNDATION CREATED A NATION THAT IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER IN THE WORLD, IN TERMS OF THE COMMITMENT TO JUSTICE, THE COMMITMENT TO TRUTH, THE COMMITMENT TO LOVE.

NO NATION IS AS GENEROUS AS AMERICA.

NONE -- NOBODY EVEN COMES CLOSE.

Gates: BUT DESPITE THE HIGH-MINDED IDEALS OF OUR FOUNDING FATHERS AND MOTHERS, THERE HAVE BEEN ALL TOO MANY DARK HOURS IN OUR NATION'S HISTORY, WHEN WE AS AMERICANS HAVE FAILED TO LIVE UP TO OUR ORIGINAL CHRISTIAN VALUES OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND TOLERANCE.

RICK WARREN'S PATERNAL THIRD GREAT-GRANDFATHER WAS A BAPTIST NAMED BYRD GRIFFIN.

BORN IN WILKES COUNTY, GEORGIA, IN 1803, BYRD WAS A JUSTICE OF THE PEACE.

AND, ACCORDING TO THE 1860 CENSUS, HE WAS A FARMER.

BUT UPON CLOSER INSPECTION, WE DISCOVERED SOMETHING ELSE.

BYRD WAS ALSO A RATHER PROMINENT SLAVE HOLDER.

HE HAD A 45-YEAR-OLD FEMALE SLAVE, A 35-YEAR-OLD AND A 30-YEAR-OLD MALE SLAVE.

A 30-YEAR-OLD FEMALE SLAVE, A 27-YEAR-OLD MALE, A 14-YEAR-OLD MALE, A 12-YEAR-OLD FEMALE, 10-YEAR-OLD MALE, 9-YEAR-OLD FEMALE, 6, 3, AND 1-MONTH-OLD MALE.

HE HAD A LOT OF SLAVES.

IF YOU COUNT THEM, 12 SLAVES.

12 SLAVES -- AND THEIR COLOR -- DOES THAT MEAN HE WAS RICH, OR HE -- THAT'S A GOODLY NUMBER OF SLAVES.

REMEMBER, MOST PEOPLE IN THE SOUTH DIDN'T OWN SLAVES AT ALL.

WELL, THIS OBVIOUSLY SHOWS WHY HE COULD BE A JUDGE AND A PLANTER, BECAUSE HE WASN'T DOING ANY OF THE PLANTING.

[ CHUCKLES ] SO HE REALLY WAS JUST A JUDGE.

HE HAD OTHER PEOPLE DOING ALL THE PLANTING.

Gates: DURING THE CIVIL WAR, MEN AND WOMEN ACROSS THE SOUTH USED THE BIBLE AND THEIR VERSIONS OF CHRISTIANITY TO SUPPORT THEIR RIGHT TO OWN SLAVES.

THEY OFTEN BOLSTERED THEIR ARGUMENTS BY QUOTING BIBLICAL PASSAGES F ROM LEVITICUS, CORINTHIANS, OR EPHESIANS.

CONFEDERATE PRESIDENT JEFFERSON DAVIS EVEN WENT SO FAR AS TO SUGGEST THAT SLAVERY WAS DECREED AS A RIGHT BY GOD ALMIGHTY HIMSELF.

DO YOU THINK THERE WAS A VALID CHRISTIAN JUSTIFICATION OF SLAVERY BEFORE OR DURING THE CIVIL WAR?

THERE IS ZERO BIBLICAL JUSTIFICATION FOR SLAVERY.

ZERO.

FROM THE VERY BEGINNING OF TIME, GOD SAYS, "I HAVE CREATED EVERY MAN IN MY IMAGE."

AND I'VE READ THOSE ARGUMENTS, AND THEY'RE SPURIOUS.

THEY ARE FALSE EXEGESIS.

THEY'RE ISOGESIS -- YOU'RE READING INTO IT, INSTEAD OF EXEGESIS, READING OUT OF IT WHAT IT ACTUALLY SAYS.

AND THE BIBLE, LIKE ANY OTHER BOOK -- AND PEOPLE DO IT WITH THE CONSTITUTION -- MAKE IT MEAN WHAT THEY WANT IT TO MEAN.

I MEAN, THE SUPREME COURT NOW FINDS ALL KINDS OF THINGS IN THE CONSTITUTION THAT ISN'T THERE.

BUT THEY TRY TO CREATE SOMETHING OUT OF IT.

AND SO EVERYTHING WE LOOK AT, WE READ WITH OUR LENSES.

AND IF YOU WERE RAISED WITH A PREJUDICIAL LENS, YOU'RE GOING TO READ SCRIPTURE WRONG.

IN FACT, THE DENOMINATION THAT MY PARENTS GREW UP IN, THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION, EVENTUALLY APOLOGIZED FOR THEIR MISREADING OF SCRIPTURE.

YEAH, THAT WAS ABOUT TWO WEEKS AGO, WASN'T IT?

YEAH, ABOUT TEN YEARS AGO, BUT IT'S LIKE 100 YEARS LATE, OKAY, AND SO SOMETIMES, IT, PEOPLE PUT OFF WHAT THEY SHOULD HAVE DONE A LONG TIME AGO.

BUT I THINK THE VALUE OF THAT IS TO SAY, "WE RECOGNIZE SIN AS SIN, AND WE'RE NOT GOING TO -- THERE'S NO JUSTIFICATION FOR IT."

Qadhi: WE DON'T BELIEVE IN ANY MAN WITH SUPERHUMAN POWERS.

A RIGHTEOUS MAN IS NOT GOING TO SNAP HIS FINGERS AND SAY, "THIS HAPPENS," AND IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN.

Gates: RELIGIOUS TEXTS, LIKE HISTORICAL EVENTS, ARE CONSTANTLY BEING REINTERPRETED.

AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FUNCTIONS OF OUR RELIGIOUS LEADERS IS TO ACT AS OUR GUIDE.

BUT ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, A GROUP OF MEN WITH THEIR OWN PERVERSE, RADICAL INTERPRETATION OF THEIR VERSION OF THEIR RELIGION PERPETRATED THE LARGEST ACT OF TERROR ON AMERICAN SOIL.

FOR AMERICANS OF EVERY FAITH, IT WAS A DAY THAT WOULD TEST OUR PRINCIPLES OF DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS AND RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE.

ACROSS THE COUNTRY, MANY PEOPLE TURNED TO GOD IN AN ATTEMPT TO UNDERSTAND THIS HORRIBLE EVENT, WHILE OTHERS, UNFORTUNATELY, SOUGHT TO LAY BLAME UPON AN ENTIRE FAITH.

FOR YASIR QADHI, HIS UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A MUSLIM IN AMERICA WOULD BE ALTERED FOREVER AFTER HE HEARD THE DEVASTATING NEWS WHILE STUDYING ISLAMIC THEOLOGY AS A GRADUATE STUDENT IN SAUDI ARABIA.

Qadhi: I WAS GOING TO THE MOSQUE ON 9/11, AND AN AMERICAN FRIEND WHO LIVES A LITTLE BIT FAR AWAY WAS RUNNING DOWN TOWARDS MY MOSQUE, AND HE'S LIKE, "YASIR, YASIR, DID YOU HEAR WHAT HAPPENED?"

I WAS LIKE, "WHAT?

WHAT HAPPENED?"

HE SAID THAT THERE'S BEEN AN ATTACK ON THE WORLD TRADE CENTER, AND THEY THINK IT'S MUSLIMS WHO DID IT.

AND I REMEMBER, I JUST, LIKE, FROZE OUTSIDE THE MOSQUE.

I HAD A PREMONITION THAT THIS WOULD BE BAD.

BUT I DIDN'T KNOW HOW BAD IT WOULD BE.

AND I HAD PLANNED TO COME BACK TO AMERICA IN THE WINTER BREAK, IN JANUARY.

AND AS THE WEEKS GO BY, MY FATHER KEEPS ON GETTING MORE AND MORE INSISTENT, "DO NOT COME BACK TO AMERICA RIGHT NOW.

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON.

THE PARANOIA --" I'M LIKE, "I JUST WANT TO COME VISIT.

"I JUST HAVEN'T BEEN BACK FOR HALF A YEAR.

WE HAVE A NEWBORN --" MY OLDEST SON, AMMAR, WAS BORN.

AND YOU'RE AN AMERICAN, YOU HAVE AN AMERICAN PASSPORT.

I WAS BORN IN AMERICA, MY WIFE IS AMERICAN, MY KIDS ARE AMERICAN, WE'RE ALL AMERICAN, YEAH.

AND MY FATHER WAS LIKE, "NO, IT'S NOT THE TIME RIGHT NOW.

YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE PARANOIA."

AND I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THE PARANOIA.

'CAUSE I'M STILL IN MEDINA.

YOU KNOW, I UNDERSTAND THE WORLD IS CHANGING, BUT NOT -- I DID NOT UNDERSTAND THE PARANOIA, AND SO WE ACTUALLY ENDED UP NOT RETURNING TO VISIT THE FAMILY FOR THAT PERIOD OF TIME.

Gates: WHEN YASIR DID RETURN TO AMERICA THE FOLLOWING YEAR, HIS RECEPTION WAS QUITE UNCOMFORTABLE.

AMERICAN ATTITUDES TOWARD MUSLIMS HAD CHANGED, AND CHANGED DRAMATICALLY.

Qadhi: MULTIPLE TIMES, PEOPLE CALLED ME "BIN LADEN."

Gates: THEY DID?

OH, YEAH.

AND I REMEMBER, WE WERE IN A SHOPPING CENTER ONCE, AND SOMEBODY JUST WALKED STRAIGHT UP TO ME, LIKE, LITERALLY, FACE TO FACE, AND MY WIFE WAS NEXT TO ME, AND SHE WAS CARRYING AMMAR, AND HE SAID, "YOU GUYS DON'T BELONG HERE."

AND THEN HE WALKED AWAY.

THIS WAS NOT THE AMERICA THAT I REMEMBERED.

THIS WAS NOT THE AMERICA THE WAY THAT IT SHOULD BE.

IT'S JUST -- IT'S SAD.

IT REALLY IS.

Gates: TOGETHER, YASIR AND I MADE A PILGRIMAGE TO THE 9/11 MEMORIAL IN LOWER MANHATTAN.

IT WAS A HAUNTING EXPERIENCE TO WALK THROUGH THE MEMORIAL WITH HIM, READING THE NAMES OF THE PEOPLE WHO PERISHED ON THAT TERRIBLE DAY.

Qadhi: THIS IS AN AFRICAN MUSLIM NAME.

YASIR TOLD ME THAT THE DIFFICULTY HE EXPERIENCED AFTER 9/11 PROFOUNDLY RESHAPED HIS SENSE OF TOLERANCE FOR THE BELIEFS OF PEOPLE OF OTHER FAITHS, AND ESPECIALLY THE PERSECUTION THEY'VE EXPERIENCED FOR THOSE BELIEFS.

NOW, YASIR, YOU MADE A STATEMENT IN 2001, QUESTIONING WHETHER THE HOLOCAUST ACTUALLY OCCURRED.

AND PEOPLE, UNDERSTANDABLY, ARE STILL DISTURBED BY THIS.

I FOUND IT A VERY OFFENSIVE STATEMENT, ACTUALLY, MYSELF.

HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THOSE REMARKS TODAY?

UM, I, OF COURSE, MADE A MISTAKE.

THERE'S NO AMBIGUITY ABOUT THAT.

I MADE A CLEAR MISTAKE THAT ONLY AN UNEDUCATED NOVICE WOULD MAKE.

AND I BELIEVED PROPAGANDA THAT WAS GIVEN TO ME.

UNFORTUNATELY, THE CLIMATE THAT I WAS IN AT THE TIME WAS A DIFFERENT CLIMATE, AND THE PLACE I WAS IN FACILITATED SUCH STEREOTYPING, AND POST-9/11, I'VE LEARNED FIRST-HAND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN GROUPS STEREOTYPE YOU, AND I THINK THAT THAT'S ALSO MADE ME MORE CULTURALLY SENSITIVE.

Gates: AMERICA IS ONE OF THE MOST RELIGIOUSLY DIVERSE SOCIETIES IN THE WORLD.

SOMETIMES, INTERFAITH AND INTERCULTURAL MARRIAGES FORCE FAMILIES TO CHOOSE RELIGIOUS OR ETHNIC IDENTITY.

AND SOMETIMES, ONE CULTURAL HERITAGE IS SACRIFICED.

[ PRAYING IN HEBREW ] ANGELA BUCHDAHL KNOWS THIS DILEMMA ALL TOO WELL.

SHE TOLD ME SHE FELT THAT THE RICH LEGACIES OF HER KOREAN CULTURAL HERITAGE WERE SLIPPING AWAY FROM HER CHILDREN.

Buchdahl: I FEEL LIKE WE KNOW A LOT ABOUT OUR JEWISH PAST AND OUR JEWISH HISTORY AND OUR JEWISH FAMILY, BUT I'VE DONE A VERY, VERY BAD JOB OF TEACHING YOU ABOUT KOREAN HISTORY OR KOREAN FAMILY, AND WE HAVE TO DO A BETTER JOB.

MY CHILDREN DON'T REALLY THINK OF THEMSELVES AS KOREAN.

I REMEMBER WATCHING THE OLYMPICS, AND A KOREAN HAD WON A MEDAL, AND MY SON ELI SAID, "LOOK, MOM, A KOREAN WON A MEDAL.

YOU 'RE KOREAN."

AND I REMEMBER THINKING, "SO ARE YOU."

BUT THEY DON'T SEE THEMSELVES THAT WAY.

NO SEOUL POWER, S-E-O-U-L?

NOT HAPPENING?

IS THIS A PROBLEM FOR YOU?

OR FOR YOUR MOM?

IT'S INTERESTING -- I ASKED MY MOM THAT.

I SAID, "I FEEL LIKE I NEED TO TEACH THEM MORE ABOUT BEING KOREAN."

SHE SAID, "YOU DO EVERY DAY, WHEN YOU ARE "SHOWING THEM THE WAY THAT YOU RESPECT SOMEONE WHO IS ELDERLY, "WHEN YOU TEACH THEM THAT STRIVING FOR THE VERY, VERY BEST IN EVERYTHING THEY DO."

SHE SAID, "THOSE ARE KOREAN VALUES.

"THAT'S PART OF WHO YOU ARE AS A KOREAN.

IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THAT IT'S --" YOU KNOW, I FEED THEM KOREAN FOOD ALSO, AND I TEACH THEM STORIES, BUT REALLY, SHE SAID IT'S REALLY ABOUT THE WAY YOU APPROACH HOW YOU LIVE YOUR LIFE.

WHEN YOU TEACH THEM THAT LIFE IS NOT JUST ABOUT BEING COMFORTABLE, BUT ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN GIVE BACK, AND REALIZING YOUR POTENTIAL ON EARTH.

SHE SAID, "THAT'S A KOREAN WAY OF LOOKING AT THE WORLD."

YOUR MOTHER IS A MULTICULTURAL SAINT.

MY MOM, SHE'D BE BRINGING BLACK DOLLS, KWANZAA FLAGS, YOU KNOW -- [ LAUGHS ] Gates: ANGELA HAD ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA THAT HER KOREAN ROOTS RAN SO EXTRAORDINARILY DEEP.

I WAS EXCITED TO SHARE WITH HER AND HER FAMILY HER EXTENSIVE KOREAN FAMILY TREE, STRETCHING BACK NEARLY SEVEN CENTURIES ALL THE WAY TO THE KING OF ONE OF THE LONGEST CONFUCIAN DYNASTIES IN KOREAN HISTORY.

WELL, ANGELA, YOUR GRANDFATHER, AS IT TURNS OUT, CAME FROM AN IMPRESSIVE LINEAGE.

COULD YOU TAKE A LOOK AT THIS?

WOULD YOU UNROLL THAT?

WOW.

WOW!

DO YOU SEE WHAT IT SAYS THERE?

YES, YI SEONG-GYE (KING TAEJO).

COULD YOU TURN THE PAGE?

WOW.

THAT'S KING TAEJO?

THAT IS NOT ONLY KING TAEJO, THAT IS YOUR 20th GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

OH, MY GOD!

[ LAUGHS ] WE REALLY ARE DESCENDED FROM THAT KING?

I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT'S ACTUALLY TRUE.

[ LAUGHS ] KING TAEJO LIVED BETWEEN 1335 AND 1408.

HE WAS THE FOUNDER OF THE CHOSUN DYNASTY, WHICH IS THE LONGEST CONFUCIAN DYNASTY IN KOREA, WHICH LASTED FOR FIVE CENTURIES.

WOW.

AND THAT IS YOUR 20th GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

WOW.

YOU'RE A PRINCESS.

[ LAUGHS ] YOU ARE A KOREAN JEWISH PRINCESS.

OH, MY GOODNESS.

THAT'S CRAZY.

Gates: AS WE DISCOVERED THROUGH THE GENEALOGICAL PAPER TRAIL, DESPITE THEIR DIFFERENCES OF RELIGIOUS FAITH AND NATIONAL ORIGINS, THE FAMILY HISTORIES OF ALL THREE OF THESE RELIGIOUS LEADERS REFLECTED DEEP AND ABIDING COMMITMENT TO SPIRITUALITY, A COURAGEOUS DETERMINATION TO PRACTICE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, AND A STEADFAST, UNSHAKABLE FAITH IN GOD.

BUT WHAT COULD WE LEARN IF WE LOOKED EVEN DEEPER -- AT THEIR GENETIC ANCESTRY?

HOW DIFFERENT WOULD THESE THREE PEOPLE ACTUALLY BE?

I ASKED RICK, YASIR, AND ANGELA TO TAKE A DNA TEST TO FIND OUT.

THEY WERE AS CURIOUS AS I TO LEARN WHAT SCIENCE COULD TELL US ABOUT WHO THEY ARE AND WHERE THEIR ANCESTORS CAME FROM.

WHAT DO YOU THINK SCIENCE CAN TELL US ABOUT THE NATURE AND ORIGINS OF MAN AND LIFE?

THE MORE SCIENCE WE UNDERSTAND, THE MORE I'M AMAZED AT GOD'S CREATION.

THE MORE WE UNDERSTAND SCIENCE, THE MORE WE REALIZE HOW EVERYTHING IS FINELY TUNED.

IT COULD NOT BE AN ACCIDENT.

I THINK THAT, AS WE STUDY DNA, THE CHROMOSOME STRUCTURE, MORE, I THINK THAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO TELL MORE ABOUT OUR ANCESTORS, WHERE THEY CAME FROM, ETHNICITIES.

I THINK THAT THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE CAN BENEFIT FROM SCIENCE.

I MEAN, I THINK ULTIMATELY, MY SENSE OF FAITH LEADS ME TO FEELING THAT WE'RE ALL, IN SOME WAYS, REALLY CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER, THAT WE'RE ALL ONE PEOPLE.

AND WE MIGHT HAVE ENDED UP IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD, DIFFERENT COLORS AND WITH DIFFERENT FOODS, BUT IN SOME WAYS, THAT WE'RE ALL UNITED IN SENSE OF HUMANITY.

Gates: DNA ANALYSIS CAN TELL US MANY THINGS -- WHERE OUR EARLIEST ANCESTORS ORIGINATED THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO, TO WHOM WE MIGHT BE RELATED TODAY, AND THE PERCENTAGES OF OUR AFRICAN, EUROPEAN, AND ASIAN ANCESTRY OVER THE PAST 500 YEARS.

COULD YOU TURN THE PAGE, PLEASE?

ALL RIGHT.

THE RESULTS OF PASTOR RICK'S DNA YIELDED FEW SURPRISES.

100% EUROPEAN.

YOU'RE A WHITE MAN, MAN.

[Laughs] DO YOU STILL LOVE ME?

[ LAUGHS ] YOU WON'T HAVE TO TAKE A PAY CUT.

[ LAUGHS ] 100% EUROPEAN.

YOU'RE THE WHITEST MAN WE EVER -- NO.

[ LAUGHS ] COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

BUT THE RESULTS OF YASIR'S DNA SPOKE VOLUMES ABOUT HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO MAKE DISTINCTIONS ABOUT PEOPLE ETHNICALLY BASED SOLELY ON THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS.

BY ANALYZING TINY MUTATIONS THAT OCCUR IN OUR GENOMES, SCIENTISTS CAN CATEGORIZE GROUPS OF PEOPLE BY THE PATTERNS OF THEIR ANCESTORS' MIGRATIONS, FIRST OUT OF AFRICA, AND THEN THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, OVER THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

THEY CALL THEM HAPLOGROUPS.

YOU'RE SUBGROUP J2... YASIR'S PATERNAL HAPLOGROUP IS KNOWN AS J2, WHICH IS COMMON AMONG PEOPLE FROM INDIA.

BUT HAPLOGROUP J2 ALSO HAPPENS TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH ANOTHER ETHNIC GROUP KNOWN FOR THEIR PROPENSITY TO MIGRATE.

AND, YASIR, J2 REACHES LEVELS OF ABOUT 20% IN ASHKENAZI JEWS.

WOW.

INTERESTING.

WOW.

ARE YOU SURPRISED TO LEARN ABOUT THIS SHARED ANCESTRY BETWEEN MUSLIMS AND JEWS?

WELL, IN A WAY, NO, BECAUSE, OF COURSE, MUSLIMS AND JEWS CONSIDER THEMSELVES COUSINS BIOLOGICALLY.

ARABS AND JEWS ARE COUSINS, 'CAUSE THEY CONSIDER THEMSELVES TO BE DESCENDANTS OF ABRAHAM.

BUT I FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT ALL OF HUMANITY, INDEED, GOES BACK, AND THEREFORE, WE ARE RELATED TO EVERYBODY SOMEHOW.

WE'RE ALL THE CHILDREN, YOU KNOW, OF, YOU KNOW, ONE SPECIES, ONE GROUP OF PEOPLE.

AND THE PROOF IS IN YOUR GENES.

THE PROOF IS IN THE GENES, YES.

TO UNDERSCORE THIS POINT, OUR DNA RESULTS REVEAL TO YASIR A VERY UNEXPECTED DISTANT JEWISH COUSIN -- SOMEONE WITH WHOM HE SHARED A COMMON ANCESTOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO.

IT TURNS OUT THAT YOU SHARE THIS MATERNAL HAPLOGROUP WITH ONE OF OUR OTHER GUESTS IN "FINDING YOUR ROOTS."

SO WOULD YOU TURN THE PAGE AND SEE WHO IT IS?

BARBARA WALTERS?

[ LAUGHS ] OF ALL THE PEOPLE ON EARTH, I WOULD NEVER HAVE ASSUMED.

YOU ARE MATRILINEAL COUSINS.

GREAT, I HOPE SHE INVITES ME ON HER SHOW.

YASIR IS NOT THE ONLY ONE OF OUR THREE RELIGIOUS LEADERS WHO CAN CALL BARBARA WALTERS A COUSIN.

OH, MY GOODNESS.

OH, MY GOD.

YOU ACTUALLY SHARE LONG BANDS OF IDENTICAL DNA WITH BARBARA WALTERS.

ON THREE OF YOUR CHROMOSOMES, FOR EACH PAIR, THAT SEGMENT WAS HANDED DOWN INTACT GENERATION AFTER GENERATION.

AND THAT MEANS THAT YOU PROBABLY SHARE A COMMON ANCESTOR ON YOUR FATHER'S SIDE WITH BARBARA WALTERS, GOING BACK ABOUT 300 YEARS.

WOW, SHE'S MY MISHPOKHE.

MY FAMILY.

[ BUCHDAHL SINGING IN HEBREW ] AS WE CAN SEE, DNA CAN TEACH US JUST HOW VERY SMALL THE WORLD IS.

NO MATTER WHAT WE LOOK LIKE, NO MATTER THE NAME OF THE GOD WE WORSHIP, DNA SHOWS HOW FUNDAMENTALLY CONNECTED AND SIMILAR ALL HUMAN BEINGS ACTUALLY ARE.

[ SINGING IN HEBREW ] BUT IN THE END, PERHAPS WE ARE MOST SHAPED BY THE SHARED EXPERIENCES OF OUR IMMEDIATE FAMILIES AND BY OUR COMMUNITY.

A LOT OF THINGS MAKE US WHO WE ARE -- EXPERIENCES, OUR FAMILIES, OUR GENES.

WHAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT?

I THINK OUR FAMILIES CHOOSE THE STORIES THAT WE WANT TO TELL ABOUT OURSELVES.

BECAUSE THAT IS WHO WE WANT TO BE.

BUT THOSE STORIES THAT WE SHARE, I THINK, MORE THAN ANY DNA OR ANYTHING ELSE, SHAPE WHO WE ARE AND SHAPE THE STORIES THAT WE WANT TO PASS ON TO OUR CHILDREN.

I THINK THAT'S WHAT SHAPES US.

Gates: JOIN US NEXT TIME AS WE INTRODUCE NEW GUESTS TO LONG-LOST ANCESTORS ON THEIR FAMILY TREES, IN THE NEXT EPISODE OF "FINDING YOUR ROOTS."