Welcome to the Evolving Man Project’s ‘Evolved Man of the Week’ profiles. Each week we will highlight an individual that embodies what it means to be an evolved man, famous and non-famous men alike. The world needs to know their stories and deeds. This week’s honor goes to New York Times best-selling author, professor, public speaker and intellectual, religious studies scholar, producer and television host Reza Aslan. Mr. Aslan is one of the world’s most imminent scholars on Islam and religion studies.
Reza was born in Tehran, Iran and his family fled Iran during the Iranian Revolution in 1979. He spent his childhood growing up in the Bay Area. He has degrees from a variety of institutions including UC Santa Barbara and Havard University. His degrees range from religious studies to divinity to an MFA and a Ph.D. in sociology. He is the author of three best-selling books. He has written for a variety of media and newspaper outlets The Daily Beast, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post to name a few. Aslan is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the Society of Biblical Literature, and the International Qur’anic Studies Association. He is also a professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside. Reza Aslan is an entrepreneur and leads Aslan Media, BoomGen Studies that produced the biblical epic Of Kings and Prophets. He served as the producer The Leftovers, Rough Draft, and the host and producer of his own CNN show Believer. His CNN show was canceled after his harsh criticism of Donald Trump on Twitter in the wake of the Manchester bombings. Here is Reza Aslan in his own words on Trump and religion:
“He is probably the single most irreligious human being I have ever met. The grotesqueness of him passing himself off as a Christian when he has essentially spent his entire life representing everything that Jesus spoke against — he is the living embodiment of everything that Jesus fought against. His greed, his racism and bigotry, his demeaning of individuals, his lack of empathy, the fact that he has never done anything in his entire life for anyone but himself and his own benefit. He is almost demonic in the way that he has so perverted any value that one can find from religion. And the most disgusting thing about his election victory is that 81 percent of white Evangelicals fell for it, which explains why people have such a low opinion of religion and religious people.”
Today we honor Reza Aslan has our Evolved Man of the Week.
Evolving Man Project 