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Reza Aslan
Born	(1972-05-03) 3 May 1972 (age 40) Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran
Occupation	Writer, Islamic thinker
Nationality	American
Spouse(s)	Jessica Jackley

Reza Aslan (Persian رضا اصلان, born May 3, 1972) is an Iranian-American activist, a nationally acclaimed writer of religions. He is on the faculty at the University of California, Riverside, and is a contributing editor for The Daily Beast. His books include 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. He is also editor of Tablet & Pen: Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East, published by W. W. Norton, and co-editor with Aaron Hahn-Tapper of Muslims and Jews in America: Commonalities, Contentions, and Complexities, published by Palgrave Macmillan. Dr. Reza Aslan is CEO of Aslan Media Inc., whose holdings include BoomGen Studios, the first ever motion picture studio entirely focused on entertainment content about the Greater Middle East and its globally dispersed communities. His non-profit organization, Aslan Media Initiatives (AslanMedia.com), uses social-media technology to provide news and information about the Middle East to young people all over the world.

Background[link]

Aslan's family came to the United States from Tehran in 1979, fleeing the Iranian Revolution. He grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. In the early 1990s, Aslan taught courses at De La Salle High School in Concord, California. Iranian singer Leila Forouhar is his aunt.

Aslan holds a Bachelor of Arts' degree in religions from Santa Clara University, a Master of Theological Studies' degree from Harvard Divinity School, a doctorate in the sociology of religions from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Master of Fine Arts' degree from the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop, 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 has served as Legislative Assistant for the Friends Committee on National Legislation in Washington D.C., and was elected President of the World Conference of Religions for Peace, Harvard Chapter. He serves on the board of directors of the Ploughshares Fund, PEN Center USA, and serves on the national advisory board of the Levantine Cultural Center.

As Contributing Editor, Aslan has written numerous articles for The Daily Beast. He has also written for various newspapers and periodicals, including The Christian Science Monitor, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Slate, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The Guardian, the Chicago Tribune, and The Nation. He has made numerous appearances on TV and radio, including National Public Radio (NPR), PBS, The Rachel Maddow Show, Meet the Press, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report, Anderson Cooper 360°, Hardball, Nightline, Real Time with Bill Maher, Fareed Zakaria GPS, and ABC Australia's Big Ideas.^[1]

Currently[link]

Aslan is President and CEO of Aslan Media Inc., whose holdings include BoomGen Studios, a mini-motion picture and media company focused entirely on entertainment about the Greater Middle East and its Diaspora communities. He currently lives in Hollywood, California where he is Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside. In addition, he is a Research Associate at the University of Southern California's Center on Public Diplomacy.

War on Terrorism[link]

Aslan refers to Al Qaeda's jihad against west as "a cosmic war", distinct from holy war, in which rival religious groups are engaged in an earthly battle for material goals. "A cosmic war is like a ritual drama in which participants act out on earth a battle they believe is actually taking place in the heavens." American rhetoric of "war on terrorism", Aslan says, is in precise "cosmic dualism" to Al Qaeda's jihad. Aslan draws a distinction between Islamism and Jihadism. Islamists have legitimate goals and can be negotiated with, unlike Jihadists, who dream of an idealized past of a pan Islamic borderless "religious communalism". Aslan's prescription for winning the cosmic war is to not fight one and engage moderate Islamic political forces in democratic process. "Throughout the Middle East, whenever moderate Islamist parties have been allowed to participate in the political process, popular support for more extremist groups has diminished."^[2]

Other publications[link]

• 'The Struggle for Islam's Soul', essay in With All Our Might: A Progressive Strategy for Defeating Jihadism and Defending Liberty, Will Marshall, ed. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2006.
• 'From Here to Mullahcracy', essay in My Sister, Guard Your Veil; My Brother, Guard Your Eyes: Uncensored Iranian Voices, Lila Azam Zanganeh, ed. Beacon Press, 2006.
• 'Forward', Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions, Catherine Bell, Oxford University Press, 2009.
• 'Losing the War', The New World Reader, Gilbert H Muller, ed., CUNY Press, 2010.
• 'Preface', Reframing 9/11: Film, Popular Culture and the War on Terror, Jeff Birkenstein, Anna Froula, and Karen Randell, eds. Continuum, 2010.
• 'Preface'. Religion and the New Atheism: A Critical Appraisal, Amarnath Amarasingam, ed. Brill, 2010.

Quotations[link]

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• "I believe we are living in the time of the Islamic reformation. In fact, I think we are living in the twilight of that reformation. For me, the word reform is defined by its inevitability. This process cannot be stopped; it can be slowed down for a time but reform is inevitable. It's an historic reformation taking place within Islam — it's adapting itself to the realities of the world around it. I think we'll see the same process we saw in the Christian reformation from doctrinal absolutism to doctrinal relativism; toward a truly indigenous Islamic enlightenment. And it's up to us as Muslims in the US to give voice to that for our brothers and sisters who don't have the voice or the same ability to speak out as we do."
• "It is pluralism—the peaceful coexistence and legal equality between different ethnic, religious or political ideologies—that defines democracy, not secularism."
• "The veil is seen as a symbol of Islam but like all symbols, it's meaningless unless interpreted. The veil is as much a symbol of oppression of women as it is an expression of Muslim femininity. The strangeness of this is that if you go to a country where the veil is either mandatory or there is a lot of pressure to wear it, you'll find the vast majority of women are against it. But, if you go to a country like Turkey where the veil is outlawed in much of the public realm — in the latest polls, 70 percent of the Muslim women want to remove that law."
• "Iraq should look to Israel for a model that combines democracy and religious belief."
• "Despite the apartheid state that has resulted from over half a century of bloody territorial conflicts with its neighboring Palestinian territories, few would deny that the state of Israel is a democracy. At the same time, Israel is a country founded upon an exclusivist Jewish moral framework, which offers all the world's Jews — regardless of their nationality — immediate citizenship, providing them with a host of benefits and privileges over its non-Jewish citizens. It is a country in which the Orthodox rabbinical courts have jurisdiction over all matters relating to Judaism (including who is a Jew); where religious schools (yeshivas) are subsidized by the state, and marriages are religious, rather than civil affairs (meaning no official will marry a Jew to a non-Jew); and the government is dominated by religious parties such as the ultra-Orthodox Shas, the Yahadut Hatorah, and of course the ruling Likud."
• "If we don't figure out a way to strip these conflicts of their religious connotations, then we will never figure out a way to put an end to them. Because as long as these remain cosmic conflicts, they will go on for eternity."
• "A lot of scholars, myself included, believe the future of Islam, especially Islamic democracy, rests in the Shia world. It's Iran and Iraq where the most exciting experiments are being carried out."
• "Iraq’s 2,000-year-old Christian community is on the brink of extinction, its members targeted by al Qaeda attacks and fleeing abroad... This silence cannot stand. Americans of all faiths must band together and pressure the State Department to do something about the wanton murder of Iraqi Christians before it's too late and there are no more Christians in Iraq to protect. What is happening in Iraq is genocide, plain and simple. It must be stopped now."
• "The fact of the matter is that Islam, like all religions, has been in a constant state of evolution for 1400 years. It has been constantly adapting to the spiritual, the cultural, the political, the social realities and the landscape in which it finds itself, which is why there is such a wide diversity of belief and practices within the Muslim world."

See also[link]

• No God but God (book)
• List of Islamic scholars
• Extremism
• List of Muslim reformers

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Reza Aslan speaks at Asia Society, November 2010 (w/ video)
• at Levantine Cultural Center
• Interview with Reza Aslan from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Reza Aslan's Intellectual Groupie's on Livejournal
• His biography
• The Islamic reformation Reza Aslan speaks with Madrid11.net
• LA Weekly Interview
• Reza Aslan Interview with Islamica Magazine
• Aslan's articles in the Public Diplomacy Blog

Video and audio[link]

• Reza Aslan is a keynote speaker in the upcoming conference December 4–6, 2009 Los Angeles, USC CA
• Reza Aslan interviewed by Bree Walker March 30, 2008
• Reza Aslan talks about The Future of U.S./Iran Relations (video)
• Reza Aslan in Conversation with Jack Miles (video)
• Reza Aslan vs. Sam Harris Debate
• Video debates featuring Aslan on Bloggingheads.tv
• Raza's talk, "How to Get Out of the Cosmic War in the Middle East."
• Reza talks to Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008)

Aslan, the Great Lion, is the central character of C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia series. He is the eponymous lion of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and his role in Narnia is developed throughout the remaining books. He is also the only character to appear in all seven books of the series.

He is depicted as a talking lion, the King of Beasts, son of the Emperor-Over-the-Sea; a wise, compassionate, magical authority (both temporal and spiritual); mysterious and benevolent guide to the human children who visit; guardian and saviour of Narnia. The author, C. S. Lewis, described Aslan as an alternative version of Christ, that is, as the form in which Christ might have appeared in a fantasy world.

Aslan is Turkish for "lion" ^[2] and was also used as a title by Seljuq and Ottoman rulers.

Throughout the series, it is stated that Aslan is "not a tame lion," since, despite his gentle and loving nature, he is powerful and can be dangerous. He has many followers, which include vast numbers of Talking Beasts, Centaurs, Fauns, Dryads, Dwarfs, Satyrs, Naiads, Hamadryads, Mermaids, Silvans, Unicorns, and Winged Horses. Lewis often capitalises the word lion, since, at least partially, he represents Jesus.^[3]

[edit] Role in The Chronicles of Narnia

[edit] In The Magician's Nephew

(This is the first story in the chronology of Narnia, and of its human visitors, but the sixth tale that Lewis wrote, and for most readers, it is not the first meeting with the character.)

When Digory, Polly, Jadis, Uncle Andrew, the Cabby and Strawberry inadvertently enter a new world using magic rings, they find it an empty void. Aslan appears, and through the power of his singing, calls the world of Narnia into existence.

All the characters immediately feel awe for Aslan. Jadis expresses this as fear and hatred, and before fleeing she assaults Aslan with an iron bar that she tore from a lamp-post in London. Aslan is unperturbed and continues calling plants and animals into existence. The power of his song is so great that even the iron bar, dropped on fertile earth, grows into a functioning lamp post, and toffees sprout into fruit trees. Aslan claims the power of his song will last for a few days.

Aslan then selects several animals that his song has called into existence and gives them the power of speech and reason. He instructs them to look after all the animals. He appoints the cabby to be King Frank of Narnia and brings his wife Nellie from Earth to be Queen Helen.

Aslan explains that Jadis will pose a great threat to the Narnians, and charges Digory and Polly with a quest to acquire a magic fruit to protect the land. He turns the horse Strawberry into a winged horse named Fledge. When the quest is complete, he crowns Frank and Helen, and advises Digory on how to care for his sick mother.

At the end of the novel, he takes Digory, Polly and Uncle Andrew back to the Wood between the Worlds, without the use of magic rings, and warns them that their Earth is in danger of a similar fate to the dead world Charn which is the world that Jadis (the White Witch) is from.

[edit] In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Aslan is first introduced in the book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Narnia is now in the hundredth year of the tyrannical rule of Jadis, the White Witch, who has condemned the land to endless winter – but never Christmas – and has turned hundreds of Aslan's followers to stone.

He is first mentioned by Mr. Beaver, who tells the Pevensie children (Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy) that "Aslan is on the move". He explains that Aslan is the true king of Narnia and that the children (as Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve) are the chosen ones to help end the tyrannical rule of the White Witch.

Edmund, who has been enchanted by the White Witch on his first visit to Narnia, attempts to betray them; but Mr. and Mrs. Beaver lead the other children to Aslan at the Stone Table at a large gathering of Narnians preparing for war. Peter slays Maugrim, chief of the Witch's secret police, and Aslan makes Peter a knight.

The White Witch comes in parley and demands her right to execute Edmund as a traitor, citing Deep Magic from the Dawn of Time. In private conversation with her, Aslan offers himself in Edmund's place, and she accepts his offer; though none of Aslan's followers know this. On the Stone Table, as Susan and Lucy watch in secret, the White Witch mocks Aslan and slays him with her knife.

The Witch leaves with her army to attack the Narnians. Lucy, Susan, and a number of mice remove the bonds from Aslan's body; but as dawn breaks they find that his body is gone. Aslan reappears alive, thanks to a Deeper Magic from before the Dawn of Time. The Witch, having entered Narnia only at the Dawn of Time, had not known of this. Aslan explains that "when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward."

Aslan goes to the Witch's palace and with his Breath brings the statues of her petrified enemies back to life. He leads them all to aid Peter, Edmund, and the Narnian army, who are fighting the Witch's army. At the conclusion of the battle, Aslan leaps upon the witch and kills her.

Aslan crowns the four children as Kings and Queens of Narnia, and during the celebration he quietly slips away. The children say nothing about it, for Mr. Beaver had warned them, "...one day you'll see him and another you won't", foreshadowing Aslan's role in the books to follow.

[edit] In The Horse and his Boy

The Horse and His Boy is set during the reign of Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy in Narnia, the only extended story told of that period.

This book is about finding one's home. The talking horses Bree and Hwin seek their home in the land of Narnia where they were born. For Shasta and Aravis, the two humans who journey with them, finding home is more a matter of the heart.

Aslan's influence throughout "The Horse and his Boy" is at first hidden from the characters. Secretly, he delivered the infant Prince Cor of Archenland from his enemies, placing him in the hands of a Calormene fisherman (who called him Shasta). When Shasta meets Bree, it is Aslan, disguised as a "witless" lion, who drives them to join Aravis and Hwin. In the form of a cat Aslan comforts Shasta when he feels abandoned at the Tombs of the Ancient Kings (although as a lion, Aslan defends him from predatory jackals). It is Aslan who chases Bree and Hwin so that they will reach Archenland in time to warn the king of the impending attack by the Calormene army, led by Rabadash. Aslan gives Shasta the resolve to help save Archenland and Narnia from the invaders. He slashes Aravis across the back with his claws as punishment for disregarding her servant's safety when she ran away from home: the cuts on her back equal the severity of her servant's whipping.

Eventually Aslan shows himself directly to the travellers, addressing their fears, or their self-pity, or their condescension towards others, or their pomposity. After the victory over the Calormenes, Aslan reveals himself to Rabadash in an effort to free him of his arrogant and violent ways. When kind words and forgiveness fail to soften Rabadash, who calls Aslan the "demon of Narnia", Aslan resorts to an act of severe kindness: he turns Rabadash into a donkey. To cure himself of this "condition", Rabadash must present himself at the temple of the Calormene god Tash in Tashban, where in the sight of his people he would be restored to human form. But if he thereafter leaves Tashban, he would be turned back into a donkey permanently.

[edit] In Prince Caspian

The novel Prince Caspian takes place 1,300 Narnian years after the events in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Aslan and the Pevensie children have become near-forgotten myths, and Narnia is now ruled by Telmarines, humans who have since settled in Narnia.

Aslan serves to guide the Pevensie children to Prince Caspian, but he appears unambiguously to them only when they put their faith in his will and really try to see him.

The loyal Narnians gather at Aslan's How, a mound over the site of the Stone Table. Here Prince Caspian forms his army to fight for Narnia against his uncle. Meanwhile, Aslan re-awakens the spirits of the forest and the river, leading a Bacchanalian revel through the oppressed towns and fomenting a popular revolution.

When the Telmarines are defeated and the Old Order is restored, Aslan creates a door in the air allowing the children to return to Earth – along with any Telmarines who do not wish to remain in the renewed Narnia, where humans and animals are equal. He tells Peter and Susan that they are now too old to return to Narnia, having learned all they can from their experiences there. However, he tells Edmund and Lucy that they may return to Narnia.

[edit] In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Edmund, Lucy and their cousin Eustace arrive into Narnia through a painting of a ship which transforms into Caspian's ship, Dawn Treader. Caspian, having established peace in Narnia as the new King, has set out on a voyage in search of the Seven Lost Lords who had been loyal to his late father and were subsequently banished by the usurper Miraz. The talking mouse Reepicheep accompanies Caspian in hopes that their voyage will lead to Aslan's Country in the uttermost East, for he was told by a dryad that his fate lies in Aslan's country. Lucy and Caspian come to the conclusion that it was Aslan who summoned the three children into Narnia to help Caspian on his quest.

On many of the islands where they stop, a brief glimpse of Aslan or his image is enough to guide Caspian and his crew away from danger and folly. When the recalcitrant Eustace becomes a dragon, Aslan meets him and pulls the dragon-skin away, leaving Eustace a chastened and more pleasant boy.

In a magician's house on another island, Lucy attempts to perform a spell that would make her dazzlingly beautiful, despite being warned of negative consequences. Just as she is about to say the words, however, she sees an image of Aslan snarling at her, frightening her from pronouncing the spell. Aslan also reprimands her for using another spell to see what her friends say about her. She encounters a story-spell that she feels is the best story ever, and Aslan reassures her that she will be able to read it again.

Eventually Edmund, Lucy, Eustace, and Reepicheep reach the world's end, where Aslan appears as a lamb before transforming into a lion (a scene that refers to John 21:12, where Jesus appears after his resurrection and makes a breakfast of fish for the disciples). He shows Reepicheep the way to his country and helps the children return home. He tells Edmund and Lucy that, like Peter and Susan, they have become too old to return to Narnia, and that they must instead come to know him in their world — a relatively direct reference to the Christian theme of the series. He does not say whether Eustace will return to Narnia.

[edit] In The Silver Chair

The story begins with Eustace Scrubb, who was introduced in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and his classmate Jill. They are unhappy at their school, where bullying is left uncorrected. One day they are beset by bullies, and Eustace suggests that they ask for Aslan's help. They blunder through a temporary gate and find themselves in Aslan's Country, atop an immense cliff. Jill, showing off, moves too close to the edge, and Eustace falls off trying to pull her back.

Aslan appears and saves Eustace by blowing him into Narnia; then he explains to Jill that she and Eustace are charged with the quest of finding Prince Rilian, Caspian's son, who disappeared years before. He tells her that their task has become more difficult because of what she did, but gives her four Signs to guide them on their quest. The fourth and final Sign is that at a key moment they will be asked to do something "in Aslan's name."

According to the Narnian timeline, fifty years have elapsed since The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Aslan then blows Jill into Narnia, where she arrives a few moments after Eustace. They see a very old King Caspian setting sail to search for Aslan one last time, but fail to realise who he is until it is too late, and are unable to speak to him. However, the elderly Lord Regent, Trumpkin the Dwarf, takes them to Cair Paravel. There they are aided by Master Glimfeather the Owl and a Parliament of his fellow talking owls (a pun on Chaucer's Parlement of Foules, and a nod toward "parliament" as a collective noun for owls, as "exaltation" is for larks). The owls explain that Rilian disappeared while searching for the green serpent that killed his mother; they believe that he is now under the spell of an enchantress he had seen in the forest while searching for the serpent. As Jill and Eustace journey toward the far north of Narnia, they acquire a companion and guide, a gloomy but stalwart Marsh-wiggle, fittingly named Puddleglum.

Aslan makes no further appearance until the end of the story, but his Signs prove central to the quest, and belief in Aslan plays a crucial part in defeating the Lady of the Green Kirtle, who tries to destroy the children's belief in the reality of Narnia. The children manage to rescue Rilian, and they return him to Narnia just in time to meet his father who dies shortly afterwards.

In the end, Aslan sends Jill and Eustace back to our world, and aided by a rejuvenated Caspian, helps them repay the school bullies — and make the school better in the process. Aslan shows himself to the bullies, who, seeing only what they take to be a wild lion, are severely shaken. But no one believes their story, as the only other witnesses are Jill, Eustace and Caspian.

[edit] In The Last Battle

The ape Shift disguises the reluctant donkey Puzzle as Aslan and fools the Narnians into thinking that Aslan has returned. Shift issues commands in "Aslan's" name and takes advantage of the credulous Narnians.

Shift and the unbelieving Calormene leader Rishda Tarkaan encourage the invading Calormenes and the dispirited Narnians to treat Aslan and the Calormene god Tash as a single, combined being — "Tashlan." Dissenters are thrown into Puzzle's stable, supposedly to meet "Tashlan," where they are murdered by Calormene soldiers.

King Tirian of Narnia calls on Aslan for help, and Jill and Eustace arrive in Narnia. They help Tirian and the remaining loyal Narnians battle the Calormenes and their allies, but are all forced through the stable door along with several Black Dwarfs. They find themselves not within the confines of a stable, but in a paradise: Aslan's Country. Aslan is there, with King Peter and other characters from previous books, and they watch through the stable door as the world of Narnia is destroyed. But the Black Dwarfs (who, unlike the Red Dwarfs, have lost faith in Aslan) are unable to see Aslan's Country, certain that they are still inside an ordinary stable. When Lucy asks Aslan to help them, he tells her that he will show her what he can and what he cannot do. He then growls at the Black Dwarfs, and makes food magically appear in their hands. This fails to convince them: they think that the growling is a machine and that the food is only what would normally be found in a stable. Aslan tells the children that the Black Dwarfs shut themselves out from him, and therefore cannot be reached much like Uncle Andrew in The Magician's Nephew.

Aslan then commands Peter to shut the door on Narnia, and he leads them into his country, a platonic ideal of Narnia. He greets Emeth, a devout yet kind Tash-worshipping Calormene, telling him that "I and Tash are of such different kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him." As they get "further up and further in," the Narnians find Aslan's country getting bigger and better, eventually encompassing Earth as well. Digory, Polly, Peter, Edmund, Lucy, Eustace, and Jill learn that they have died, or rather, passed into Aslan's country, which is more real than the "Shadowlands" (to use Lewis's own word) from which they have come.

Influences[link]

The theory that the figure of Aslan may have been inspired by a mysterious lion which appears and disappears suddenly at key moments in the novel The Place of the Lion, written by Lewis' close friend Charles Williams, was specifically denied by Lewis in a paper published later in his life.^{[citation needed]}

Christian interpretation[link]

Although Aslan can be read as an original character, parallels exist with Christ. In particular, Aslan's sacrifice and subsequent resurrection parallel Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. Aslan also has God-like powers; he created Narnia with a song (The Magician’s Nephew). The Emperor-Over-the-Sea then refers to God the Father, and Aslan’s country (The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) to heaven. In The Last Battle a new Narnia is made and also a new Earth, as in the Book of Revelation. Furthermore, there are biblical references of Christ being called a lion, as in Revelation 5:5 "And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof" (KJV). When he first appeared at the end of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, he looked like a lamb, which is also a symbol of Christ, who is frequently described throughout the New Testament as being like "a lamb"

According to the author, Aslan is not an allegorical portrayal of Christ, but rather a suppositional incarnation of Christ Himself:

If Aslan represented the immaterial Deity, he would be an allegorical figure. In reality however, he is an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question, 'What might Christ become like if there really were a world like Narnia and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?' This is not allegory at all.

This interpretation is related to J. R. R. Tolkien's concept of "secondary creation" expounded in his 1947 essay "On Fairy-Stories," reflecting discussions Lewis and Tolkien had in the Inklings group.

Aslan's words to the Calormene in The Last Battle (I take to me the services which thou hast done to [the false god]... if any man swear by [him] and keep his oath for the oath's sake, it is by [Christ] that he has truly sworn, though he know it not, and it is I who reward him"), ratifying the good deeds the latter did even under the name of Tash, have been the subject of controversy in some Christian circles. See Emeth for details.

Portrayals[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

The first visual dramatization of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, broadcast on British television in 1967, presented a bipedal Aslan played by Bernard Kay. In the animated adaptation of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe distributed by the Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop), Aslan is voiced by Stephen Thorne. Thorne also makes appearances as the Great Lion in the adaptations made in the mid-1990s by BBC Radio.

In all four of the BBC television serial adaptations of the late 1980s and early 1990s (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader [two tales told in one package], The Silver Chair), Aslan is voiced by Ronald Pickup and the elaborate costume/puppet is operated by Alisa Berk, Tim Rose, and William Todd-Jones. In the Focus on the Family radio adaptations, he is portrayed by David Suchet.

In the 2005 film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the CGI Aslan is voiced by Liam Neeson. Neeson returned to voice the character in the sequel, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian in 2008, and the third film in the series, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.^[1]

References[link]

Narnia portal

External links[link]

• SparkNotes reference to the meaning of Aslan's death
• "Aslan is still on the move" Christianity Today editorial, 6 August 2001.

v t e The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Prince Caspian The Voyage of the Dawn Treader The Silver Chair The Horse and His Boy The Magician's Nephew The Last Battle Film · Soundtrack · Game Film · Soundtrack · Game Film · Soundtrack · Game Characters and creatures Aravis • Aslan • Mr. and Mrs. Beaver • Bree • Caspian • Centaurs • Coriakin • Digory • Drinian • Edmund • Emeth • Eustace • Frank and Helen • Hwin • Jill • Lady of the Green Kirtle • Lucy • Maugrim • Miraz • Peter • Polly • Puddleglum • Rabadash • Ramandu • Ramandu's Daughter • Reepicheep • Rilian • Seven Great Lords of Narnia • Shasta/Cor • Shift • Susan • Tash • Tirian • Trumpkin • Mr. Tumnus • White Witch Universe Narnia (world) • Anvard • Archenland • Aslan's Country • Aslan's How • Cair Paravel • Calormen • Charn • Lantern Waste • Miraz's Castle • Narnia (country) • Telmar • Underland • Wood between the Worlds Adaptations ITV TV serial • Animated TV film • BBC TV serial (Season 1 • 2 • 3) Film series Cast list • Critical response • Music • Character Portrayals • Accolades Related Dawn Treader • Deplorable Word • First Battle of Beruna • Second Battle of Beruna • Hundred-Year Winter • Religion • Tisroc Category • Portal

Jack Miles (born 1942) is an American author and winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the MacArthur Fellowship. His work on religion, politics, and culture has appeared in numerous national publications, including The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times.

Miles treats his biblical subjects neither as transcendent deities or historical figures, but as literary protagonists. His first book, God: A Biography, won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1996 and has been translated into sixteen languages. His second book, Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God, was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2002. Miles was named a MacArthur Fellow for the period 2003–07.

Career[link]

Born in Chicago, Jack Miles was a Jesuit seminarian from 1960 to 1970, studying at Xavier University in Cincinnati, the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem before completing a doctorate in the department of Near Eastern Languages at Harvard.^[1] He is fluent in several languages.

Over a period of nearly twenty years (1975–95), Jack Miles was an editor at Doubleday, the executive editor at the University of California Press, the literary editor at The Los Angeles Times, and a member of the Times editorial board, writing on politics and culture.

Jack Miles has been a Mellon visiting professor of humanities at Caltech, the director of the Humanities Center at the Claremont Graduate University, a Regents' Lecturer at the University of California, Irvine, a visiting fellow with the Committee on the Conceptual Foundations of Science at the University of Chicago, and scholar in residence at the Getty Research Institute.

Currently senior fellow for religious affairs with the Pacific Council on International Policy and general editor of the forthcoming Norton Anthology of World Religions, Jack Miles became, in 2008, Distinguished Professor of English and Religious Studies at the University of California, Irvine. He lives in Irvine, California. He and his ex-wife have a daughter, Kathleen,^[2] who graduated from Berkeley. He is a practicing Episcopalian.

Books[link]

• God: A Biography (1995) Alfred A. Knopf, 1996.
• Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God (2001) Alfred A. Knopf, 2001, ISBN 0-375-40014-1

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jack Miles Online
• Biography and index of columns written for Beliefnet

Bill Maher
Maher at a ceremony to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in September 2010
Birth name	William Maher, Jr.
Born	(1956-01-20) January 20, 1956 (age 56) New York, New York, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film, books
Nationality	American
Years active	1979–present
Genres	Satire, Political satire, News satire, Observational comedy
Subject(s)	American politics, current events, American culture, pop culture, freedom of speech, environmentalism, religion, human sexuality, recreational drug use, libertarianism, American liberalism, American conservatism
Influences	Steve Allen, George Carlin, Johnny Carson, David Frost, Robert Klein, Don Rickles, Gore Vidal, Lenny Bruce
Notable works and roles	Elliot on Charlie Hoover Host of Politically Incorrect Host of Real Time with Bill Maher Religulous
Website	BillMaher.com

William "Bill" Maher, Jr. ( /ˈmɑːr/; born January 20, 1956) is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author, and actor. Before his current role as the host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher hosted a similar late-night talk show called Politically Incorrect originally on Comedy Central and later on ABC.

Maher is known for his political satire and sociopolitical commentary, which targets a wide swath of topics including religion, politics, bureaucracies of many kinds, political correctness, the mass media, greed among people and persons in positions of high political and social power, and the lack of intellectual curiosity in the electorate.^[1] He supports the legalization of marijuana and same-sex marriage, and serves on the board of PETA.^[2] He is also a critic of religion and is an advisory board member of Project Reason, a foundation to promote scientific knowledge and secular values within society.^[3] In 2005, Maher ranked at number 38 on Comedy Central's 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time.^[4] Bill Maher received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star on September 14, 2010.^[5]

Early life and education[link]

Maher was born in New York City, the son of Julie (née Berman), a nurse, and William Maher, Sr., a network news editor and radio announcer.^[6] He was raised in his Irish American father's Catholic religion, remaining unaware that his mother was Jewish until his early teenage years.^{[7][8][9][10]} Due to Maher's father's disagreement with the Catholic Church's position on birth control, he stopped taking Maher and his sister to Catholic church services when Maher was thirteen.^[11]

Maher was raised in River Vale, New Jersey, and graduated from Pascack Hills High School in Montvale in 1974. He received a B.A. in English and history from Cornell University in 1978.^[12]

Early career[link]

Maher began his career as a stand-up comedian and actor. He was host of the New York City comedy club Catch a Rising Star in 1979. Thanks to Steve Allen, he began appearing on Johnny Carson's and David Letterman's shows in 1982. He made limited television appearances including a recurring role in Sara (1985), appeared in Max Headroom (1987), two separate appearances on Murder, She Wrote (1989, 1990), a recurring role in Charlie Hoover (1991) and other productions. He has also appeared in several films, usually in a comic role. His feature film debut was in D.C. Cab (1983), and he also appeared in Ratboy (1986) Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death (1988) and Pizza Man (1991), among others.

Television career[link]

[edit] Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher

Maher assumed the host role Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, a late-night political talk show that ran on Comedy Central from 1993 to 1997 and on ABC from 1997 to 2002. The show regularly began with a topical monologue by Maher preceding the introduction of four guests, usually a diverse group of individuals from show business, popular culture, political pundits, political consultants, authors, and occasionally news figures. The group would discuss topical issues selected by Maher, who also participated in the discussions.^[13] Jerry Seinfeld, a regular guest on the show, stated that Politically Incorrect reminded him of talk shows from the 1950s and 60s "when guests interacted with each other as much as with the host."^[14]

Politically Incorrect won an array of awards, including an Emmy Award for Outstanding Technical Direction, two CableACE awards for Best Talk Show Series, and a Genesis Award for Best Television Talk Show. Maher earned numerous award nominations for his producing, writing and hosting of Politically Incorrect, including ten Emmy nominations, two TV Guide nominations, and two Writers Guild nominations. ABC decided against renewing Maher's contract for Politically Incorrect in 2002, after he made a controversial on-air remark shortly after the September 11 attacks.^[15] He agreed with his guest, conservative pundit Dinesh D'Souza, that the 9/11 terrorists did not act in a cowardly manner (in rebuttal to President Bush's statement calling 9/11 hijackers cowards). Maher said, "We have been the cowards. Lobbing cruise missiles from two thousand miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building. Say what you want about it. Not cowardly. You're right." Maher later clarified that his comment was not anti-military in any way whatsoever, referencing his well-documented longstanding support for the American military.^[16][17][18]

In the context of the attacks, some corporate advertisers found the comment too insensitive and controversial. Several companies, including FedEx and Sears Roebuck, pulled their advertisements from the show, costing the show more than it returned.

The show was cancelled on June 16, 2002, and the Sinclair Broadcast Group had dropped the show from its ABC-affiliated stations months prior. On June 22, 2002, just six days after the cancellation of Politically Incorrect, Maher received the Los Angeles Press Club president's award (for "championing free speech"). Maher was on the board of judges one year for the PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award.

Maher's remarks after 9/11 were not the first time he had sparked controversy on Politically Incorrect. In the same year, Maher was widely criticized for comparing dogs to retarded children. He apologized for his comments.^[19]

[edit] Real Time with Bill Maher

In 2003, Maher became the host, co-producer and co-writer of Real Time with Bill Maher, a weekly hour-long political comedy talk show on the cable television network HBO. During an interview, Maher told Terry Gross (on NPR's Fresh Air) that he much prefers having serious and well-informed guests on his program, as opposed to the random celebrities that fleshed out his roundtable discussions on Politically Incorrect.^[20]

As with his previous show, Politically Incorrect, Maher begins Real Time with a comic opening monologue based upon current events and other topical issues. He proceeds to a one-on-one interview with a guest, either in-studio or via satellite. Following the interview, Maher sits with three panelists, usually consisting of pundits, authors, activists and journalists, for a discussion of the week's events. In the segment "New Rules" at the end of each show, Maher delivers a humorous editorial on popular culture and American politics.

In late May 2005, Alabama Congressman Spencer Bachus sent a letter to Time Warner's board of directors requesting Real Time be cancelled after remarks Maher made after noting the military had missed its recruiting goals by 42 percent. Bachus said he felt the comments were demeaning to the military and treasonous. Maher stated his highest regard and support for the troops and asked why the congressman criticized him instead of doing something about the recruitment problem.^[21]

Real Time has earned widespread praise. It has been nominated for more than ten Primetime Emmy Awards and six Writer's Guild awards. In 2007, Maher and his co-producers were awarded the Television Producer of the Year Award in Variety Television by the Producers Guild of America.^[22] Maher holds the record for the most Emmy nominations without a win, having been nominated on 22 occasions and not winning once. Eleven of the nominations were for Politically Incorrect, while nine were for Real Time. The other two were nominations for two of his HBO comedy specials: Bill Maher: I'm Swiss and Bill Maher: The Decider.^[23]

HBO announced in July 2011 the show was renewed for a tenth season.^[24]

Christine O'Donnell[link]

On September 17, 2010, Maher aired a clip of Delaware Republican Senatorial candidate Christine O'Donnell from the October 29, 1999 episode of his old show Politically Incorrect on his current show Real Time with Bill Maher,^[25][26] where she discussed that she had "dabbled in witchcraft." This was one of the most notable of numerous controversial statements by O'Donnell that made her the most covered candidate in the 2010 mid-term election cycle.^[27][28]

Political commentator[link]

Maher is a frequent commentator on various cable news networks, namely CNN, MSNBC, and HLN. Maher has regularly appeared on CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer^[29] and has also been a frequent guest on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews,^[30] The Rachel Maddow Show^[31] and Countdown with Keith Olbermann.^[32] Maher has also appeared as a guest on HLN's The Joy Behar Show.^[33]

Maher hosted the January 13, 2006 edition of Larry King Live, on which he was a frequent guest. Maher appeared as a special guest on the June 29, 2010 edition of the show, on which CNN anchor Larry King announced his retirement.^[34] Maher co-emceed the final show of Larry King Live on December 16, 2010 with Ryan Seacrest.^[35]

Since May 2005, he has been a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post.

Views and beliefs[link]

Politics[link]

Maher and Ingrid Newkirk, founder of PETA. Maher is on the board of directors of the animal rights group.

Maher eschews political labels, referring to himself as "practical".^[36] In the past, he has described himself as a libertarian and has also referred to himself "as a progressive, as a sane person".^[37][38]

Maher favors a partial privatization of Social Security, ending corporate welfare and federal funding of non-profits, and legalization of gambling, prostitution, and marijuana. Maher is a member of the advisory boards for both the NORML and Marijuana Policy Project, organizations which support regulated legalization of marijuana.^[39][40] He describes himself as an environmentalist, and he has spoken in favor of the Kyoto treaty on global warming on his show Real Time. He often criticizes industry figures involved in environmental pollution.^[41]

Maher is a board member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Before the 2004 U.S. presidential election, Maher became candid in his stated opposition to the re-election of George W. Bush and in his support for John Kerry.^[42]

Known for protesting against the demonization of the word "liberal", during the campaign Maher criticized Kerry for being ashamed of the word. On his show, the comedian has noted the paradox of people claiming they distrusted "elite" politicians while at the same time wanting elite doctors to treat them and elite lawyers to represent them in court.^[43] Maher supports the death penalty. Since the 9/11 attacks, he has endorsed the use of racial profiling at airports.^[44]

He was originally against the Iraq War, and has summarized his opinion by saying that the United States and the world have had to pay too high a price for the war. He is skeptical of Iraq surviving without civil war.^[45]

In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Maher announced his support for Barack Obama.^[46] Although Maher welcomed Obama's electoral victory, he has subjected him to criticism once in office for not acting boldly on health care reform and other progressive issues.^[47]

On February 23, 2012, after his 'Crazy Stupid Politics' special streamed on Yahoo! Screen, Maher announced that he was contributing $1 million to Priorities USA, the Obama SuperPAC.^[48][49]

Religion[link]

Maher is highly critical of religion, and views it as not worth the bother. He has referred to himself as an apatheist - a pragmatic atheist - on Scarborough Country on April 24, 2007, and again in July 2011.^[50][51] He has reiterated this stance in subsequent interviews, rejecting both the certitude of the existence, as well as the certitude of nonexistence of deities, concluding, "I'm saying that doubt is the only appropriate response for human beings."^[52] He is an advisory board member of author Sam Harris's Project Reason, a foundation that promotes scientific knowledge and secular values within society.

Maher and director Larry Charles teamed up to make the feature film Religulous (2008), described by trade publication Variety as a documentary "that spoofs religious extremism across the world." It was released on October 3, 2008.^[53][54]

While Maher is critical towards Christianity, he is an outspoken critic of religion as a whole, including Islam. On October 29, 2010, during a Real Time segment, Maher commented on a news story saying that the name Mohammed had become the most popular baby name in the United Kingdom. He asked, "Am I a racist to feel alarmed by that? Because I am. And it’s not because of the race, it’s because of the religion. I don’t have to apologize, do I, for not wanting the Western world to be taken over by Islam in 300 years? Sharia law is being institutionalized in England? Well, then I am right, I should be alarmed."^[55] He later defended his comments on CNN, saying, "And when I say Westerner, I mean someone who believes in the values that Western people believe in that a lot of the Muslim world does not. Like separation of church and state. Like equality of the sexes. Like respect for minorities, free elections, free speech, freedom to gather. These things are not just different from cultures that don’t have them. ... It’s better. ... I would like to keep those values here." ^[56]

Maher received the Richard Dawkins Award for 2009 from Atheist Alliance International "for his efforts to further the values science and reason in the world."^[57]

Maher was ranked first by MormonVoices, a group associated with Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research, on its Top Ten Anti-Mormon Statements of 2011 list for saying "By any standard, Mormonism is more ridiculous than any other religion".^[58]

Health care[link]

Maher has stated that the AMA is a powerful lobbying group and one of the primary reasons why the United States had failed to enact health care reform.^{[59][dead link][60]}

On August 24, 2009, Maher was a guest on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. On the topic of getting health care reform legislation passed, Maher stated that Obama should forget about trying to get 60 votes for it, "he only needs 51." "Forget getting the sixty votes or sixty percent — sixty percent of people don't believe in evolution in this country — he just needs to drag them to it, like I said, they're stupid; get health care done, with or without them."^[61]

Maher has expressed the view that most illness is generally the result of poor diet and lack of exercise, and that medicine is often not the best way of addressing illness. In an episode of his show about the 2008 presidential candidates' health plans, Maher stated that poor nutrition is a primary cause of illness, and that "the answer isn't another pill."^[62] He also has said:" If you believe you need to take all the pills the pharmaceutical industry says you do, then you're already on drugs!"^[63]

He has expressed his distaste for the pharmaceutical and health care industries in general, on the grounds that they make their money out of curing people who are made sick by consuming unhealthy food that corporations urge upon the public. He maintains that mass consumption of high-fructose corn syrup is a contributor to the rise in frequency of obesity in the United States.^[64]

In a discussion with Michael Moore about the film Sicko, Maher said, "The human body is pretty amazing; it doesn't get sick, usually, for no reason. I mean, there's some genetic stuff that can get to you, but, basically, people are sick in this country because they're poisoned. The environment is a poisoning factor, but also, we gotta say, they poison themselves. They eat shit. People eat shit, and that's, to my way of thinking, about 90 percent of why people are sick, is because they eat shit. Would you agree?"^[65]

On October 9, 2009, on his HBO show, Maher debated the effectiveness of flu vaccinations with Bill Frist and stated, "Why would you let them be the ones to stick a disease into your arm? I would never get a swine flu vaccine or any vaccine. I don’t trust the government, especially with my health." Maher also expressed skepticism about the seriousness of the swine flu and whether completely healthy people could die from it. His comments have generated criticism, and his remarks have been called unscientific and even harmful.^[66]

Maher responded to the criticism, noting, "What I've read about what they think I'm saying is not what I've said. I'm not a germ theory denier. I believe vaccinations can work. Polio is a good example. Do I think in certain situations that inoculating Third World children against malaria or diphtheria, or whatever, is right? Of course. In a situation like that, the benefits outweigh costs. But to me living in Los Angeles? To get a flu shot? No."^[67]

He supports the current abortion laws and giving the terminally ill the right to assisted suicide.

Criticism of 9/11 conspiracy theories[link]

Maher has been a critic of 9/11 conspiracy theories. On October 19, 2007, Maher confronted several 9/11 truthers and had them ejected from his show audience after they interrupted the live show numerous times by calling out from the audience. The incident drew significant media attention and praise from Fox News talk show host and frequent critic John Gibson.^[68]

Personal life[link]

Maher has never married. In 2003, he began dating former Playboy Cyber Girl Coco Johnsen. In November 2004, at the end of their 17-month relationship, she sued him for USD $9 million for "pain and suffering" for alleged "insulting, humiliating and degrading racial comments." Her suit^[69] stated that Maher promised to marry her and father her children, support her financially, and purchase a Beverly Hills home. Her suit also alleged that she quit her job as a flight attendant and occasional model to be with him. Maher's lawyers in their response filed on November 23, 2004, in Los Angeles Superior Court said Maher is a "confirmed bachelor, and a very public one at that" who "never promised to marry [Johnsen] or to have children with her."^[70]

Maher's filing stated that, after the relationship had ended, Johnsen "launched a campaign to embarrass, humiliate, and extort ridiculous sums of money from Bill Maher." Johnsen accused another former boyfriend of rape and kidnapping in 1997, and the charges were later dismissed for lack of evidence.^[71] Her lawsuit against Maher was dismissed on May 2, 2005.

Maher next to his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in September 2010

Maher enjoys his bachelor status and states that he does not want to get married. On his website, he is quoted as saying, "I'm the last of my guy friends to have never gotten married, and their wives — they don't want them playing with me. I'm like the escaped slave — I bring news of freedom."^[72]

In 2005, he began dating Karrine Steffans, best-selling author and former hip hop model.^[73][74][75] When commentators suggested there was a pattern to his dating because both his girlfriend and former girlfriend were black, Maher said, "People say I'm into black women. Robert De Niro is into black women. I'm just into women who are real, and they happen to be black."^[74]

From 2009 to 2011, Maher dated the neuroscientist and science educator Cara Santa Maria.^[76]

Credits[link]

Bibliography[link]

• True Story : A Novel, 1994 (ISBN 0-7432-4251-3)
• Does Anybody Have a Problem With That? Politically Incorrect's Greatest Hits, 1996 (ISBN 0-679-45627-9)
• Does Anybody Have a Problem with That? The Best of Politically Incorrect, 1997 (ISBN 0-345-41281-8)
• When You Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Laden: What the Government Should Be Telling Us to Help Fight the War on Terrorism, 2003 (ISBN 1-893224-90-2)
• Keep the Statue of Liberty Closed: The New Rules, 2004 (ISBN 1-932407-47-2)
• New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer, 2005 (ISBN 1-59486-295-8)
• The New New Rules: A Funny Look at How Everybody but Me Has Their Head Up Their Ass, 2011 (ISBN 0-39915-841-3)

Filmography[link]

References[link]