Tag: religion

While some consider religion a pillar of morality and community, others believe it to be the root cause of wars, political strife, and ideological dust-ups. With compassion, honesty, and humor, Lavin’s Top Religion Speakers shine a light on the pivotal role faith continues to play in modern-day life.  

Megan Phelps-Roper
Meghan Phelps-Roper grew up in the Westboro-Baptist Church: a notoriously hostile religious group famous for picketing against the LGBTQ community and funeral services for fallen soldiers. In her new memoir Unfollow,  as well as in her viral TED Talk, Phelps-Roper not only shares how she escaped her toxic faith—but how empathy and compassion can overcome even the widest of ideological gulfs.

Reza Aslan
“Whether we are aware of it or not, and regardless if we are believers or not, what the vast majority of us think about when we think about God is a divine version of ourselves.” In his New York Times bestseller God: A Human History, Reza Aslan—one of America’s most prominent voices on religion—transforms the way we think about the divine and its role in our everyday lives.

Karen Armstrong
As a former Catholic nun and bestselling religious scholar, Karen Armstrong considers faith in the context of modern life. Her latest book The Lost Art of Scripture offers a new way to read religious texts—and apply their teachings practically. A sought-after religion speaker, she says, “we must plumb our religious insights from our scriptures and let them speak to us today in new and innovative ways.”

Wajahat Ali
Wajahat Ali wrote the first major play about Muslim-Americans post-9/11, produced the critically acclaimed docu-series The Secret Life of Muslims, and was the lead author of the seminal report ‘Fear Inc., Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America.’ Today, the public intellectual speaks on the multifaceted nature of the American experience, and the growing need for religious and cultural unity.

Negin Farsad
Negin Farsad reframes persistent social issues through the lens of comedy. The author of How to Make White People Laugh, and producer of The Muslims Are Coming!, Farsad is one of a handful of Iranian-American Muslim filmmakers using humour to bridge our racial, religious, and social divides.  

Matthew Vines
The author of God and The Gay Christian, Matthew Vines hopes to shatter biblical misconceptions that fuel hate and misunderstanding in his rousing religion talks. He has been called  “an unlikely advocate (and lightning rod) for those straddling one of the most volatile fault lines in America’s culture war: homosexual Christians.” 

Bassam Tariq
Acclaimed filmmaker Bassam Tarique explores the life of American-Muslims in his work, including the Sundance Jury Prize-Winning Ghosts of Sugarland. Intelligent, thoughtful, and brave, Tariq’s religion talks not only question the religious and social differences that divide us—but consider how to transcend them.

Interested in booking one of Lavin's Top Religion Speakers for your next event? Contact one of our knowledagable sales agents today. 

Religious scholar and New York Times bestselling author Reza Aslan shares the details of his new book in an Entertainment Weekly Exclusive. The upcoming Baskerville will tell the story of the American citizen who gave his life fighting for Iranian freedom.

Reza Aslan’s latest book centers around Howard Conklin Baskerville, the only American citizen to have died fighting for democracy in Iran. While he is an incredibly well-known figure in Iran, recognized as a martyr for freedom, Baskerville and his story remain virtually unknown in America.

The Nebraska-born, Princeton-educated Baskerville was a Prebyterian missionary who traveled to Iran in 1907, where he taught English at the American Memorial School in Tabriz. During the Constitutional Revolution of Iran, he organized a volunteer force to defend the country’s democracy. He was shot and killed.

“This argument about what it means to be American, what it means to be Christian—I think the model that Baskerville [gave] us more than 100 years ago is as relevant today as it’s ever been,” Aslan told Entertainment Weekly. “And here we are, in the midst of an escalating conflict between Iran and the United States. As an Iranian American, I know, better than most, how devastating such a conflict could be—how much Iran and America have in common with each other. To see that from the perspective of this young American Christian, who was seen as a hero in Iran, once again, I think gives us a different perspective on this long and complicated relationship between these two countries, and maybe even an alternative model for a future relationship, one based not on violence and conflict and angry rhetoric, but on sort of a mutual understanding of each other’s humanity.” 

 
Entertainment Weekly  reports that the book, which will be published by W.W. Norton & Company, has also been optioned by Lionsgate for a film adaptation.

To book Reza Aslan for your next speaking event, contact The Lavin Agency for more information.

CNN spent a year interviewing more than 100 American Muslims, asking who they believed were the most influential Muslims in their fields. Though no one can speak for the nearly 3.5 million Muslims in America, Reza Aslan and Wajahat Ali were among the most influential to be named, alongside an Olympic hero, a nationally televised comedian, the leader of the Women’s March, and the first Muslim in congress.  

“Seeing my Mom and Dad every day, immigrants who came to this country, wearing a sari, making chai in the kitchen, but then watching the Warriors game, I’m like yeah, that’s America.” Wajahat Ali is a journalist, a writer, a lawyer, an award-winning playwright, and was consultant for the U.S. State Department. His keynotes are funny, insightful, brave, and audiences leave warmed by his clear-eyed take on what it means to be a Muslim in America today.    

“To me being an American Muslim is simply being a part of the cultural and religious fabric, the mosaic that has made this such an extraordinary country,” says Reza Aslan, bestselling author, religious scholar, professor and consultant on HBO’s The Leftovers. His keynotes are deeply personal, funny, informative and challenge audiences to see the world differently.  

To book Wajahat Ali or Reza Aslan as keynote speakers for your next event, or another speaker on religion, politics or society, contact The Lavin Agency, home to some of the most influential thinkers in the world.