Reza Aslan will be coming to NKU this fall (November 13, 2:00 pm in Budig Theater). He's the author of the well-received book No god but God: the Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam. I don't know alot about him so I did a quick search for some past articles and found something interesting in a recent edition of The Nation, where he profiles Shirin Ebadi, the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize,

Iranian human rights lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi is one of the most eloquent advocates for liberalism and reform in the Muslim world. Her tireless work on behalf of those left unprotected by Iran's draconian laws--the orphaned, the widowed, the dispossessed--has made her an almost saintly figure in Iran. Her recently published memoir, Iran Awakening, is an inspiring account of her herculean struggle to hold Iran's clerical regime accountable for its gross human rights violations. As a testament to how a single, inspired voice can rise above the cacophony of bigotry and fanaticism, the book should be required reading for any American trying to see through the fog of misinformation about how to bring freedom to Iran.

Not surprisingly her memoir was banned in Iran, but apparently our own Office of Foreign Assets Control enforced a U.S. Treasury department regulation that prohibited translating, editing, marketing, or promoting any work from an embargoed state. She couldn't even promote the book in the U.S. Ebadi initiatied a lawsuit and the Treasury Department eventually backed down. As Ebadi herself wrote in a NY Times editorial

If even people like me?those who advocate peace and dialogue?are denied the right to publish their books in the United States with the assistance of Americans, then people will seriously question the view of the United States as a country that advocates democracy and freedom everywhere.... What is the difference between the censorship in Iran and this censorship in the United States? Is it not better to encourage a dialogue between Iranians and the American public?

Throughout the essay Aslan makes pointed references to the current geo-political environment--particularly our relationship with Iran:

Ebadi's words are a timely reminder, particularly as the United States contemplates another pre-emptive military attack in the region, that the history of revolution and war in Iran is intertwined. It was the war with Iraq that ultimately created the Islamic Republic as we know it, not the revolution itself. It was the war that brought all of Iran, including the military, under the yoke of clerical rule, allowing Khomeini to make sweeping changes in the Constitution in the name of national security (a tactic with which Americans have become familiar under the Bush Administration). More than anything else, it was the war that convinced even the most pro-American Iranians that the United States could never be trusted.

To be sure, Ebadi is a courageous and inspring individual. And I'm reminded, one day after our own Independence Day--during which our own patriots are highly celebrated with bombs bursting in air--, how much of a patriot Shirin Ebadi is. I'm also reminded, while comparing the two countries, how similar the strategies are for winning allegience and controlling criticism and rebellion.

Woman Warrior

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