The Wrath of God: Reza Aslan on Faith, Islam and the Media

Apart from being an exceptionally intelligent writer, religious scholar Reza Aslan is quickly gaining a reputation for being one of the most patient men on television.More than once, he has painstakingly explained to TV hosts that their less-than-sophisticated stands on Islam may be founded on flimsy and dangerous assumptions. He gained international recognition for his Fox News interview that went viral, and more recently, Aslan’s nuanced response to Bill Maher’s rant.Aslan returned to Vancouver to unpack the arguments around religion and violence. Touching on a range of topics from identity to ISIS, Aslan argued that no religion exists in a vacuum. Every faith is rooted in the soil in which it is planted.“Using two or three examples to justify a generalization. That’s actually the definition of bigotry.” – Reza Aslan (response to Bill Maher)Reza Aslan, an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions, is author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. He is the founder of AslanMedia, a social media network for news and entertainment about the Middle East and the world, and co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of BoomGen Studios, the premier entertainment brand for creative content from and about the Greater Middle East. Aslan’s first book is the International Bestseller, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, which has been translated into seventeen languages, and named one of the 100 most important books of the last decade. He is also the author of How to Win a Cosmic War, as well as editor of two volumes: Tablet and Pen: Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East, and Muslims and Jews in America: Commonalities, Contentions, and Complexities. Born in Iran, he lives in Los Angeles with his wife (author and entrepreneur Jessica Jackley). When Aslan is not working on his own writing, he serves as a writing consultant in television on the upcoming show, DIG, with Tim Kring and Gideon Raff.