TEDxConejo - Reza Aslan - Unity in Diversity
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- čas přidán 28. 07. 2024
- Dr. Reza Aslan, an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions, tells his own story of growing up as an Iranian-born emigre and explores the common narrative of what it means to be an American, the unity that we find in our diversity. At a time of unparalleled anti-Muslim sentiment in America, Aslan explores the current climate in the context of the history of fear and prejudice in America.
Dr. Aslan is the founder of AslanMedia.com, an online journal for news and entertainment about the Middle East and the world. Reza Aslan has degrees in Religions from Santa Clara University, Harvard University, and the University of California, Santa Barbara, as well as a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa, where he was named the Truman Capote Fellow in Fiction. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, and the Pacific Council on International Policy. He serves on the board of directors of the Ploughshares Fund, which gives grants for peace and security issues; Abraham's Vision, an educational, conflict transformation organization for Israeli and Palestinian youths; PEN USA, which champions the rights of writers under siege around the world; and the Levantine Cultural Center, which builds bridges between Americans and the Arab/Muslim world through the arts.
Aslan's first book is the International Bestseller, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, which has been translated into thirteen 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 (published in paperback as Beyond Fundamentalism: Confronting Religious Extremism in a Globalized Age), as well as editor of two volumes: Tablet and Pen: Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East, and Muslims and Jews in America: Commonalties, Contentions, and Complexities.
Reza Aslan is Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of BoomGen Studios, the premier entertainment brand for creative content from and about the Greater Middle East and President of AppOvation Labs, a mobile applications company. Born in Iran, he lives in Los Angeles with his wife (author and entrepreneur Jessica Jackley) where he is Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside.
TEDxCONEJO
TEDxConejo, an independently organized TED event, was held in Thousand Oaks, Ca on March 26, 2011. The conference theme was Energy, using that word very broadly to go beyond what powers our homes and transportation but really what fuels life. What energizes business, education, health, and ideas? What energizes you? A broad mix of thinkers and doers characterizes the TEDx experience both on the stage and in the audience. TEDxConejo is open to the general public and produced in association with the Conejo Valley Unified School District. For more information visit www.tedxconejo.com
About TEDx
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)
"relationships change minds"
This is absolutely correct; relations make you look beyond someone's religion or background. Relations get you to judge people for who they are.
The new age soldier--taking on the fight with words.
Islam and Christianity are so similar its crazy. Funny how they seem to fight the most.
I found this helpful. This message says what I may not be able to convey.
I had the incredible opportunity to hear Aslan speak at NCORE years ago. I enjoyed both his presence and his points, his depth and his ability to help us all understand the cycles of American history.
Thanks Reza for the great work....
Well done Reza Aslan. I love the speech, Unity in Diversity.
Thanx Reza, you're a part of the solution!
@Brody Hill Elaborate, please!
great talk!
This excellent talk reminds of the excellent special document Soledad O'Brien did on CNN called "Unwelcome. The Muslims Next Door." Search for it here on CZcams. It's here.
Watch both and see if the what's at the ugly underbelly of that "rapture" non-sense doesn't scare you. I hope Reza is right and these people end up on the wrong side of history and the diversity of America "Wins"!
Let me correct myself, going into the stories of individual ethnic groups does make sense, but Native Americans and Africans have an extraordinary story.
I understand ur point. Dr. Azlan, speaks as an immigrant from Iran with expertise on history & Islam, Judaism & Christianity. This is his mindset. One has to draw on specifics to get a point across & if one speaks for 4 mins. about diversity in, this, the most ethnically divers country in the World; than one has to leave stuff out. In the end, however, we are all included in the ideal diverse reality he presents in this talk. That is the takeaway. Every American is implicitly included.
I love reza
Amazing
Brief, yet astoundingly remarkable message.
Haha loved this, great speech! Let the haters be full of hate, its affecting them more than us!
He is handsome :)
before people commenting on reza they should realise he is a professor of religon so he oviously knows more about the subject then anybody on the comment section. so keep quite and listen and you mught actually learn something from a man of knowledge.
ThUrT EilNo He's a terror apologist. So YOU sit back and watch some video of Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Atheism-is-unstoppable.Reza is a well spoken and intelligent snake.
Michael Hutchison
dawkins is only a puppet he does no research of his own except what he's told from hear say, as for sam harris, he gets all his sources through the internet, and as for hitchens he got smoked against george gallaway. so no contest.
Michael Hutchison
if you talk of terrorist then who are the real terrorist those who bomb with drones on a daily baises in the middle east killing hundreds of civilians including children. so that also makes the western world a terrorist.
you need two to tango!
He's a Muslim apologist who lays the blame for Charlie Hebdo on the French and their inability to except multi-culture. Just wow. The man disgusts me.
ThUrT EilNo. A professor of religion?! A professor of faity-tales you mean.
Obviously you haven't got the idea of this video. Hundreds of Muslims in the US are doctors, lawyers, dentists, school teachers, police officers. Mosques also do a lot for local communities and promoting inter-faith dialogue. I would say that this is a contribution to society, and a large one at that.
Reza for president
Middle East is going through a period similar to the Dark Ages of Europe from which the West was liberated within five centuries after Renaissance, Reformation, the Age of Enlightenment, etc.The liberation of the Middle East from dictatorship and religious fanaticism and fundamentalism has begun, and it may take a century until we reach that balance. Reza is quite eloquent, but misses the mark as many of you have pointed out in your comments. Islamic reformation has not yet begun....
such a Hippocratic title. i waited 15 mins for him to say something useful
moonoo000 The gullible will believe pork is beef if you tell them that pork is beef. Wow!!
You are awesome! Great talk
Hands ( of Fatima) off me. I said "pillars of FAITH=Iman" I meant the 6 articles of faith. Believe in the prophets is one of them, and he disaproved the prophethood of Jesus/Issa in his last book.
The Hagia Sophia was the centeral cathedral of the Greek Orthodox church and was then transformed in a Mosque and is now a museum in Istanbul.
Raza is great
I think that the NY Cathedral is different than "the ground zero Mosque". I get that they are both protested/controversial religious buildings built by groups, perceived as Un-American but the major difference is in the context of 9/11 & historically, conquers building over the conquered or simply changing a Mosque to a Church, a synagogue to a Mosque... a Cathedral on top of an Aztec Temple. In context to 9/11 I believe that it was insensitive in time & placement.
If someone comes from a Muslim background, why is that person identified only as a MUSLIM? It does not happen in the case of other faiths. If we meet people of other faiths, we simply say, "I saw a man standing as the bus stop." Or, "I met a woman at the airport." We do not care about their faith, neither do they. But if we ever come across someone from a Muslim background, the whole statement changes. We say, "I met a Muslim today." Even Reza is saying the same in the video. He is identifying a man or a woman as being only MUSLIM. If you are a Muslim, you are first a Muslim, secondly, a Muslim, thirdly a Muslim, and all 99 times, a Muslim. Then maybe, on the 100th time, you could be identified by your other identity, which could be a man or a woman or whatever you are.
I somewhat agree with you, but we must keep in mind that they are actually PhD's in the HISTORY and GEOGRAPHY of various religions.
Kinda like people that analyze sports statistics lol.
So drinking alcohol and having premarital sex defines who is good vs bad now? wow what a time to be alive
Oh that's sweet of you pumpkin, I actualy did it without you asking, and his sophisticated definition of religion and the fact that he is a scholar made him write a book about Jesus and take position against the "prophethood" and the "virgin birth" and for the "crucifixion". Now correct me if I'm wrong but one of the pillars of faith in sunni Islam is the prophets. But maybe that's the EXACT vision of a billion muslims, what is your take on this ?
It's beautiful talk...About geopolitics and values of religions...but ... Where did you hear something about Islam or the Qur'an in this video ? nowhere ! Where did you hear about God even ? (ok for the roman catholic there's Jesus Christ that he calls a jew). He's got a perfectly secular discours, trying to say : muslims are just people, and trying to put them at the same level of persecution as jews. But he is not muslim and does not represent the view of most muslims, he's deist at best !
This will be my last comment about this talk. Preface: I love & respect diversity & I admire religious faiths/buildings of all kinds. If it would have been proposed; I think Americans would have been justified in rejecting the building of a Shinto shrine about 2 blocks from Pearl Harbor. No matter how peaceful the intention might have been by of the Cordoba House. The proposal was in insensitive & the reaction to it predicable & I believe justified. How can you ignore the context if 9/11?
EXACTLY. It’s not like Islam was not responsible
oh, I got the idea of the video all right.
The idea of the video is to promote a feeling of victimhood within the Muslim community, and to intimidate the rest of American society from expressing any kind of criticism towards Muslims.
As I said, there is nothing remotely original or intellectually intriguing about this talk. All he's basically saying is "society is mistreating us, you should all feel ashamed".
So true! You saved me! I didn't get it first! Thank you!
I think we could have have American Interfaith camps where people of all communities can send their kids to this summer camp for 3rd, 6th & 10th grade (or something like this) & these children then learn the American story together & form lifelong relationships but we should also have extended interfaith activities for our clergy & other leaders. Chances are leaders & children can lead us to more unity as we are becoming more diverse.
wonderful speech.... people being upset that america is removing "GOD" from the pledge... but what we should remove is the part that says ONE NATION... and the INDIVISIBLE part too... because we haven't acted as a nation.
as well as the fact that lobby groups tend to cause more harms than benefits anyway- i'd support the removal of all special interest groups- but id say that if you are worried about any PAC, the NIAC is the last you should really be concerned about.
I agree about the melting pot of soup. It’s great, but it’s not so much to the point where all the ingredients are too blended.
Also a strong flavor of one kind in the soup is definitely not good thing such as over salting, over spicing.
Also I do believe Islam has an agenda to take over… there have been genocides in areas sometimes where Islam was a dominant religion. Not everywhere but many times in history.
I still don’t believe that hurting others due to their beliefs or their ethnicity is right. But it’s important to make sure the ethnic group entering isn’t causing harm to the people living there already.
Boundaries help society function better.
yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!
I have always enjoyed Reza, he is just stupendous.
Very powerful! Makes me want to share my story
@iranian81
Ok I believe in this what you say:
MY POINT IS ALL RELIGIOUS GROUPS are tolerant when they are a minority, and INTOLERANT when they are a majority.
But dont change the subject by bringing the other religions in this, BECAUSE afterall you are advertising and defending Islam in this video. So stay on this subject.
I see that people don't know how the reply button works. Heh.
ALLAH IS LOVE....CREATOR OF UNIVERSE....CREATED US OUT OF LOVE....THIS LIFE IS
TEST IF WE PASS ALLAH WILL GIVE US ETERNAL LIFE..
Sabir Sindhu. So you want to live forever?! I call that arrogance and not humility. And to get to heaven one has to be humble and submissive. Asking no questions. Humility. Faith. Acceptance. It doesn't work like that.
I’ll drink to that🥃
as for majority minority another country beat us to the punch, Brazil
Unity in diversity? You should google "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika"
I have heard you on Fox News & NPR. I find you both knowledgeable & engaging but in this talk you seem to have skirted around something. You talked about education, relationships & stories. Internet, books and movies are great but it does not get people & clergy meeting & accepting each other like interfaith programs. I think that is key to building actual relationships.
Great speech but the pube looking art in the background is a lil distracting
he makes it seem like only america has a intolerance to anything forign but if you look at most muslim countires there is very very little tolerance to non muslims. I am not hating on him just saying..
On a talk about Islamopobia going into the stories of individual ethnic groups wouldn't make sense. It isn't actively relevant to the subject of the speech. (at least not in a way where it would fit into a 18 minute talk)
reza aslan is brilliant. not like self-enlightened atheists and the sort.
Unbelievers: smite ye above their necks [beheading with knife/sword] and smite all their finger-tips off them
[finger-tips amputating].”
5:33 unbelievers (who reject pay jizayah 9:29) “execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from
opposite sides”
5:51 “O you who believe! take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors”
24:4 “(rape victims) flog them with 80 stripes”
Christianity and Islam quarrel over mundane, simplistic, childish issues. They do not talk about exploring the existence as a puzzle. It is so sad !
dandipadi sainam. You forgot to mention atheism. That works best when trying to unravel anything.
Bhinneka Tunggal Ika
Unity in Diversity
He is so cool!
New Atheists be like "take a seat and let me teach you about your religion, I'm a scholar. I got my degree in religious studies from CZcams University, I was taught by Professor Bigot."
hahahah :D
😂😂
And in the comments I can notice an other fact that doesn´t change people: Even storytelling won´t change some obviously.
xD apologist... but wait he said that this will happen! Sad People.
And we know who to look at for economic stress. That would be Obama. Now there is less economic stress. So if he is right, then anti Muslim feelings will be gone.
Oh well. Now it's China?
The only muslims i know are some of the most unique, most amusing, most nice people i have ever met.
a muslim and a jew
rofl
so true
why is every debate in usa so polarized either you are a zealot or a extreme atheist im an atheist but i recoginze that people like harris are deluting themselves if they think they can erase religion
This has nothing to do with Atheism vs Religion. This is the world versus jut one intolerant, violent ideology dressed up as religion...although now they are trying to be considered a race, because they want to stop anyone that objects with the spectre of racism.
Are you serioius, really?
The fact is that there is a lot of anti-muslim sentiment in the US, particularly by the Christian right, and people who are fueled by fear. The point of the talk is to illustrate how both technology and academia can be used to illustrate how Muslims can still be Americans and vice versa- something that a lot of people in America often forget.
America is a very conservative Christian country, and Islam and Christianity have been at war for centuries. So, it's understandable that there is a lot of anti-Islamic sentiment in America. It's probably not a good idea to mix the two.
Im just highlighting a double standard. And considering I am not religious, why on earth would you assume i 'support' the mullahs? Im just saying how ridiculous it is to have such standards.
Reza, consider this :
1.7 billion muslims and 12 nobel prizes, 7 of which ironically is for peace ;-) 2 in literature, 2 in chemistry and 1 in Physics... Do you think Islam is undermining its followers?
Hmm, 15 million Jews and 192 nobel prizes. Wish there were 1.7 billion Jews instead ;-)
Most of the 1.6 billion Muslims live in Africa, Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia. All these countries were colonized and their natural resources plundered for three hundred years by the British, the people there were enslaved till the British were forced to leave by the 1960s. For example, India where 400 million Muslims live had the largest GDP of the world in 1600 was 25% of the world and it was richer than the US and the Europe combined. By the time the British left, GDP of India was 4% and it had millions of people dying from famine because Churchill had diverted all the food grains for soldiers fighting the World War Second.
a lot of BS and blocked my other post =(((((((
What a shallow conversation!
Is this the most original idea Mr. Aslan could possibly come up with for a TED talk?
"Ohh! we are discriminated, You all must treat us better!".
A century ago, when Jews were suffering from discrimination in the US (Mind you, without any of them flying 747's into buildings), they started reaching out for the community.
They didn't build mega-synagogues, they built hospitals, something that is actually valuable for the rest of society.
So true! They are chosen people doing good things! Thanks!
How often do you have to lie to save the face of your beloved islam? The
Once more i should call you a charlatan because all the evidence of your women rights
is in quran, Are you trying to build a new religion based on islam? Because by quran we know how much rights women have under islamic rules which is none.
Thank you! I didn't know it before! This was an eye opener! Thank you!
How does it feel to have multiple PhD's in nonsense?
Nice pants Professor Aslan, damn. I want a pair
This is stupid you left out the first half of the American story Natives and Africans yes the were her to. Don't want to speak about that story do you.
The five pillars of Sunni Islam are Faith, Prayer, Fasting during Ramadan, Charity and a Pilgrimage to Mecca.
Jesus is a Muslim Prophet too. There are many Muslims who are named Jesus (Issa in Arabic) or Moses (Moosa) or Joshua (Yusha) or Abraham (Ibrahim) or Mary (Mariam). The Portuguese town of Fatima got its name from the Fatima the daughter of Muhammad and is now a popular Catholic name.
'Knowledge doesn't change minds' ...
'Story telling changes minds'
Reza Aslan.
Is this not part of the problem Reza? Having listened to you bad mouth and lie about people, your disrespect of facts and your emphasis on 'story telling' now sounds more sinister.
newbluesky Story-telling, yes. And playing Chinese Whispers.
How does it feel to be cleaning his toilet?
This guy is basically like: "I'm Iranian, I kiss USA ass, please accept me, I'm not a Muslim"
@iranian81
Explain, how i abused the persian language when i (in my only persian comment) simpley asked: WHY YOU AND OTHER LOBBIES HAVE NEVER CONDEMNED the barbaric acts of the pisslamic regime of Iran?
By every single comment of yours i learn more of your personality and integrity about the truth and reality.
That you dared to translate my persian comment into something else and changed the subject instead of an answer, should tell enough about your real intentions and agenda.
@iranian81
Wait wait, You mean Stop the war ONLY WHEN they become a moslim or you have humiliated them to pay you money (JAZIAH).
Come again!
20 minutes of false equivalence.
You so sad, and scared.
Scared of what? The exploding Mexican underclass of America is only a threat to poor white people. Everyone with money can live where ever they want so changing demographics don't matter to rich northerners.
Is there a relevant point to your comment?
Why are they giving this quack a platform?
another muslim poppet
Unity is diversity, only in non muslim country😛
Complete nonsense. Go to Malaysia. So much diversity. And the largest rate of crimes is committed by indians. Probably non-Muslims.
Come back once you've met an dealt with a muslim.