Lesley Hazleton (born 1945) is a

British-American British American usually refers to Americans whose ancestral origin originates wholly or partly in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Cornwall, Orkney, and the Isle of Man). It is primarily a demographic or histor ...

author whose work focuses on the intersection and interactions between politics and religion.

Biography and career

Hazleton has reported from

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

for ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'', and has written on the Middle East for numerous publications including ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

'', '' Harper's'', ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...

'', and ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...

''. Born in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, she was based in Jerusalem from 1966 to 1979 and in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

from 1979 to 1992, when she moved to a floating home in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, originally to get her pilot's license, and became a U.S. citizen. She has two degrees in psychology (B.A.

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, M.A. Hebrew University of Jerusalem). Hazleton has described herself as "a Jew who once seriously considered becoming a rabbi, a former convent schoolgirl who daydreamed about being a nun, an agnostic with a deep sense of religious mystery though no affinity for organized religion". "Everything is paradox," she has said. "The danger is one-dimensional thinking". In April 2010, she launched The Accidental Theologist, a blog casting "an agnostic eye on religion, politics, and existence." In September 2011, she received '' The Strangers Genius Award in Literature and in fall 2012, she was the Inaugural Scholar-in-Residence at Town Hall Seattle. Her latest book, ''Agnostic: A Spirited Manifesto,'' a ''Publishers Weekly'' most-anticipated book of spring 2016, was praised by ''The New York Times'' as "vital and mischievous" and as "wide-ranging... yet intimately grounded in our human, day-to-day life."

TED talks

TEDGlobal 2013: The Doubt Essential to Faith. Thumbnail: "When Lesley Hazleton was writing a biography of Prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

, she was struck by something: The night he received the revelation of the

Koran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...

, according to early accounts, his first reaction was doubt, awe, even fear. And yet this experience became the bedrock of his belief. Hazleton calls for a new appreciation of doubt and questioning as the foundation of faith — and an end to fundamentalism of all kinds." TEDxRainier 2010: On Reading the Koran. Thumbnail: "Lesley Hazleton sat down one day to read the Qur'an. And what she found — as a non- Muslim, a self-identified "tourist" in the Islamic holy book — wasn't what she expected. With serious scholarship and warm humor, Hazleton shares the grace, flexibility and mystery she found, in this myth-debunking talk." TEDSummit 2016: "What we talk about when we talk about soul." TEDxSeattle: "What's wrong with dying?"

Books

On religion and politics: * ''Agnostic: A Spirited Manifesto'' 2016 (New York Times Editors' Choice) * ''The First Muslim: The Story of

'' (2013) (New York Times Editors' Choice) * ''After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Hero Split'' (2009) (Finalist: 2010 PEN-USA book award.) * ''Jezebel: The Untold Story of the Bible's Harlot Queen'' (2007) (Finalist: 2008 Washington Book Award.) * ''Mary: A Flesh-and-Blood Biography''(2008) (Winner: 2005 Washington Book Award.) * ''Jerusalem, Jerusalem: A Memoir of War and Peace, Passion and Politics'' (Winner: 1987 American Jewish Committee/Present Tense Book Award). * ''Where Mountains Roar: a Personal Report from the Sinai'' * ''Israeli Women: The Reality Behind the Myths'' Her other books include: * ''England, Bloody England: An Expatriate's Return'' * ''Confessions of a Fast Woman'' (1986) * ''Driving to Detroit: An Automotive Odyssey''

References

External links

Who is the AT? The Accidental Theologist
*
"The doubt essential to faith" (TEDGlobal 2013)

"On reading the Koran" (TEDxRainier 2010)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hazleton, Lesley 1945 births Living people American people of English-Jewish descent English agnostics Jewish scholars of Islam Jewish agnostics American women writers English Jewish writers Women scholars of Islam Non-Muslim scholars of Islam American scholars of Islam