Blog


About


Books

 Latest Post: Flash!

Agnostic
A Spirited Manifesto
Available April 4, 2016

   Who is the AT?   Books by LH
  • Agnostic

  • The First Muslim

  • After The Prophet

  • Jezebel

  • Mary

  • More from LH

     

Anti-Sleaze

Posted May 29th, 2011 by Lesley Hazleton

Is Reza Aslan considering a run for political office?  This recent TEDx talk sure sounds like it.

Aslan wrote the best-selling ‘No God But God,‘ by far the most readable introduction to the history of Islam, and his recent anthology of 20th-century Middle East literature, ‘Tablet & Pen,’ is a fixture on my bedside table.

Like any good politico, he starts out all rosy-eyed.  Bear with him.  He draws clear parallels between prejudice in the U.S. against Jews and against Catholics — both groups seen at one time as un-American, foreign, “other” — and the current politically manipulated wave of Islamophobia.  And he draws the clear conclusion:  anti-Muslim zealots are so angry because they know they’re on the losing side of American history.

As they say in the Middle East, “from your lips to God’s ears.”

See what you think:

[youtube=http://youtu.be/VgLAzwgizdk]

Share this post:  Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail
File under: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, US politics | Tagged: Tags: American Muslims, Catholics, diversity, Islamophobia, Jews, No God But God, Reza Aslan, Tablet & Pen, TEDxConejo | 1 Comment
  1. Philip says:
    June 5, 2011 at 8:56 am

    Canada has a similar “story” and yet we do not have the extreme anti immigrant attitudes in the mainstream culture. Canada was more like the United States before we became officially bilingual and multicultural. This changed the narative somewhat such that we believe multi-culturalism and multi-linguistic skills are positive values. We are eager to embrace them so they can enrich the Canadian story, Of course, such “stories” are also cultural myths. We know that the newcomers which we accept as adding to the cultural mix will in the end have children that will embrace the Canadian culture more than than their parents culture. They will speak English or French, learn to love hockey and maybe even learn to appreciate the Queen. They will also accept abortion as a necessary medical procedure, same sex marriage as a right, and oppose the death penalty, etc. The wider Canadian culture will come to enjoy the rich variety of ethnic celebrations and even embrace them. Such as this year the Bollywood awards are being held in Toronto and not India. The parliament of Canada allows the carrying of the kirpan in its chambers. Slowly visible minorities appear “normal” on radio and TV news shows They are increasingly becoming members of parliament. Sikhs and Muslims and those of African and Asian origin are achieving positions of influence. There is little or no comment or concern over this. In fact the current Conservative government won a majority because it sought out the “ethnic vote”. They were criticized for being so blatant about it.

    Canada is moving quicker and with more grace to be transformed by the current wave of immigrants, which we know we need economically, than the United States. The result is a more liberal culture with less strife.

The Books She Carried

Posted November 13th, 2010 by Lesley Hazleton

Am off Monday to the hills outside Guadalajara, back December 1.   No phone, no computer, no electronics of any kind or size means I’ll be offline for two weeks.  I’ll be hiking like a mountain goat, eating like a pig, and frolicking like a five-year-old.  But that doesn’t mean I’m leaving my mind behind in Seattle.   With my newly enhanced vision, I’ll be reading like crazy.

So what does an accidental theologist pack for such a trip?  Here’s the list:

— Reza Aslan’s new anthology of Mideastern 20th-century literature, Tablet & Pen.  A big, solid, juicy collection translated from Arabic, Turkish, Urdu, and Farsi.  Some of the writers I already know, but many I do not.   I’ve dipped into it already and know it’ll be a wonderful travel companion, equal parts exploration and pleasure.

— Two novels by the newly crowned Nobelist Maria Vargas Llosa:  The Storyteller and (for the plane) Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter.

— Four volumes of The History of al-Tabari (from a forty-volume translation of the great early Islamic historian) which I will re-read very closely, pen and notebook in hand, in the clear early-morning hours before breakfast.

— A novel by Luis Alberto Urrea called The Hummingbird’s Daughter, recommended by a friend.  Might be a bit too magical-realist for me right now, but it’s set during the Mexican Revolution so into my suitcase it goes.

— A Teach Yourself Spanish book (file this one under good intentions that will probably come to naught).

— And then a toss-up as to the last selection:  one of two classics — either Montaigne’s Essays, whose wit and elegance I dip into occasionally and have been telling myself for years I should read all the way through, or Anthony Trollope’s The Way We Live Now, the Victorian blockbuster satire of greed and concupiscence that is as contemporary now as it was 140 years ago.  Maybe the Trollope’s the book to read on the plane trip back…

Until December — Lesley

Share this post:  Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail
File under: art, Islam, Middle East | Tagged: Tags: accidental theologist reading list, History of al-Tabari, Maria Vargas Llosa, Montaigne, Reza Aslan, Tablet & Pen, Trollope | 6 Comments
  1. charlotte gerlings says:
    November 13, 2010 at 4:59 pm

    I took Montaigne on a stay in an isolated Tibetan mediation centre once – and Montaigne won! Never without him now, in the shape of a fat, battered Penguin on my desk. But off you go with your Trollope if you must – have a great break anyway. Does your electronic cold turkey include digital cameras, or can we expect some photos when you get back? PS Loved your account of the ‘found’ photograph, there’s a short story in there somewhere…

    • charlotte gerlings says:
      November 13, 2010 at 5:02 pm

      Oops, now there’s a significant slip – I meant meditation centre of course.

      • Lesley Hazleton says:
        November 13, 2010 at 10:45 pm

        Thanks C — That resolves my dilemma — Montaigne and Trollope are both coming with.

  2. Lynn Rosen says:
    November 14, 2010 at 10:21 pm

    Darling, you surpass all my intellectual expectations! Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.

  3. Kathleen Kelley says:
    November 23, 2010 at 3:47 am

    Upon your return, twill be interesting to hear
    which books were reached for but not started cause the scenery, sun, smells got to you first….
    which books were started but languished early on cause they appealed in the rain of Seattle but drooped uder the suns of Mexico…
    and which book(s) reached the “finished” line.
    Hope you get sooooome time to just sit 

    Am reaching for Llosa here in the gray of England…

  4. randomdue says:
    December 20, 2010 at 8:57 am

    Sachiko Murata has an interesting book, titled “The Tao of Islam: A Sourcebook of Gender Relationships in Islamic Thought,” which I have only partly read, but hope to complete sometime in the future.

    I also hope to read “Chinese Gleams of Sufi Light” by the same author. From what little I’ve read Professor Murata’s work, I find the approach enlightening and interesting.

Order the Book

Available online from:
  • Amazon.com
  • Barnes & Noble
  • IndieBound
  • Powell's
Or from your favorite bookseller.

Tag Cloud

absurd agnosticism art atheism Christianity ecology existence feminism fundamentalism Islam Judaism light Middle East sanity science technology ugliness US politics war women

Recent Posts

  • Flash! September 1, 2019
  • “What’s Wrong With Dying?” February 9, 2017
  • The Poem That Stopped Me Crying December 30, 2016
  • Talking About Soul at TED December 5, 2016
  • ‘Healing’? No Way. November 10, 2016
  • Psychopath, Defined August 2, 2016
  • Lovely NYT Review of ‘Agnostic’! July 14, 2016
  • Playing With Stillness June 22, 2016
  • Inside Palestine June 20, 2016
  • Virtual Unreality June 6, 2016
  • The Free-Speech Challenge May 23, 2016
  • Category-Free April 20, 2016
  • Staring At The Void April 13, 2016
  • Sherlock And Me April 3, 2016
  • Hard-Wired? Really? March 22, 2016
  • A Quantum Novel March 9, 2016
  • This Pre-Order Thing March 4, 2016
  • The Agnostic Celebration February 29, 2016
  • The First Two Pages February 23, 2016
  • Two Thumbs-Up For “Agnostic” February 10, 2016
Skip to toolbar
  • About WordPress
    • WordPress.org
    • Documentation
    • Support Forums
    • Feedback