Lauren Green | |
---|---|
Born | Lauren Susan Green [1] June 30, 1958 [1] Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
Education | University of Minnesota Northwestern University |
Occupation(s) | Correspondent (Fox News) |
Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) |
Spouse | Ted Nikolis |
Lauren Susan Green (born June 30, 1958) is the Chief Religion Correspondent for Fox News. [2] [3] Previously she was a headline anchor giving weekday updates at the top and bottom of the hour during morning television show Fox & Friends . She has also appeared as a guest panelist on Fox's late-night satire show Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld . She is the first African-American Miss Minnesota.
Green was born to Robert and Bessie Grissam Green in Minneapolis. She has two sisters, Barbara and Lois, and two brothers, Leslie and Kenneth. [1] In an interview with Bill O'Reilly she admitted that when she was in the sixth grade, Prince had a crush on her, called her to say "I like you", and she hung up on him. [4] She later appeared in the music video for Prince's 1992 song My Name Is Prince, playing a news anchor and using her own name of Lauren Green. She won the Miss Minnesota pageant in 1984, and was third runner-up in the Miss America 1985 pageant.
Green earned her Bachelor of Music in piano performance from the University of Minnesota in 1980, then attended graduate school at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. [3] [5]
Green is a practicing Christian and was raised in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. [6]
In 2011, Green asked whether Islam "makes believers more susceptible to radicalization." [6] After a 2013 interview with Iranian-American scholar Reza Aslan (who was then promoting his new book, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth ), she received considerable criticism for her questions. Green questioned why a Muslim would write about Jesus, saying, "You're a Muslim, so why did you write a book about the founder of Christianity?" [7] Aslan defended his credentials several times throughout, and clearly stated that his interest was scholarly. Green continued to press him on the same matters, appearing to some not to take his explanation on face value.
Erik Wemple of The Washington Post disparaged Green's questions as "dumb, loaded, and prejudicial," calling for the Fox News Channel to apologize to Aslan. [8] Daniel Politi of Slate speculated that the interview was possibly "the single most cringe-worthy, embarrassing interview on Fox News [...] in recent memory." [9] Matthew J. Franck criticized Aslan for his claim of a degree in the history of religions, as he teaches creative writing and holds a PhD in Sociology of Religion rather than a degree in history.[ citation needed ] [10] In the interview, Aslan clearly stated that "anyone who thinks this book is an attack on Christianity has not read it yet." [6]
In 2004, Green released an album called Classic Beauty consisting of classical piano music. [11]
Green also played keyboards for Mike Huckabee's band The Little Rockers on the Fox News program Huckabee .
In January 2014 Green performed in the 90th birthday concert for Georg Ratzinger, the brother of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who was also in attendance. She described this in an opinion piece written for Fox News as "the honor of a lifetime." [12]
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Green advocated for churches who defied court orders to stop large gatherings. [13] An editorial written by her, and published by Fox News on March 15 featured a stock photo of people holding hands when CDC guidelines at the time advised against it. The article called washing hands, sanitizing homes, and practicing social distancing a "temporary or flimsy barrier to a raging tsunami" and said "To close the churches where people go for comfort and spiritual strength – as an act of fighting against this biological scourge – seems like a surrender to Satan." [14]
Green interviewed Louisiana pastor Tony Spell for a Fox News piece in which she argued that "The fundamental right to freedom of religion in the United States is sacrosanct." In Green's piece Spell claimed the church closings were politically motivated, and that through faith his church members had been "healed of HIV and cancer -- diseases [that are] bigger than COVID-19." [15]
William Franklin Graham III is an American evangelical evangelist and missionary. He frequently engages in Christian revival tours and political commentary. He is president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and of Samaritan's Purse, an international Christian relief organization. Graham became a "committed Christian" in 1974 and was ordained in 1982, and has since become a public speaker and author. He is a son of the American evangelist Billy Graham.
Christianity and other religions documents Christianity's relationship with other world religions, and the differences and similarities.
In Christianity, a martyr is a person considered to have died because of their testimony for Jesus or faith in Jesus. In years of the early church, stories depict this often occurring through death by sawing, stoning, crucifixion, burning at the stake or other forms of torture and capital punishment. The word martyr comes from the Koine word μάρτυς, mártys, which means "witness" or "testimony".
Reza Aslan is an Iranian-American scholar of sociology of religion, writer, and television host. A convert to evangelical Christianity from Shia Islam as a youth, Aslan eventually reverted to Islam but continued to write about Christianity. He has written four books on religion: No God but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, Beyond Fundamentalism: Confronting Religious Extremism in the Age of Globalization, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, and God: A Human History.
Criticism of Christianity has a long history which stretches back to the initial formation of the religion in the Roman Empire. Critics have challenged Christian beliefs and teachings as well as Christian actions, from the Crusades to modern terrorism. The arguments against Christianity include the suppositions that it is a faith of violence, corruption, superstition, polytheism, homophobia, bigotry, pontification, abuses of women's rights and sectarianism.
No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam is a 2005 non-fiction book written by Iranian-American Muslim scholar Reza Aslan. The book describes the history of Islam and argues for a liberal interpretation of the religion. It blames Western imperialism and self-serving misinterpretations of Islamic law by past scholars for the current controversies within Islam, challenging the "clash of civilizations" thesis.
Dan Kimball is an author and was a leading voice in the beginning years of the Emerging Church movement in the United States.
Kirsten Anne Powers is an American author, liberal columnist, and political analyst. She currently writes for USA Today, and is an on-air political analyst at CNN, where she appears regularly on Anderson Cooper 360°, , and The Lead with Jake Tapper. The Washington Post called her "bright-eyed, sharp-tongued, [and] gamely combative". The New Republic noted Powers "held her own in any debate" at Fox News and quoted columnist Erik Wemple, who called her "a ferocious advocate for her points of view".
Ainsley Earhardt is an American conservative television host and author. She is a co-host of Fox & Friends.
Mohammed Hegazy was the first Egyptian Muslim convert to Christianity to seek official recognition of his conversion from the Egyptian government.
Christianity is the third largest religion in Israel, after Judaism and Islam. At the end of 2022, Christians made up 1.9% of the Israeli population, numbering approximately 185,000. 75.8% of the Christians in Israel are Arab Christians. Christians make up 6.9% of the Arab citizens of Israel.
Donald Fareed is an Iranian-born American Christian televangelist and President of the non-profit organization Persian Ministries International, which was founded by him. Fareed is an ordained minister and founding pastor of the Bay Area Persian Churches of San Mateo and Santa Clara in California. The ministry's objectives include evangelising and spreading Christianity among the Persian-speaking peoples around the world.
Allegations that Barack Obama secretly practices Islam, or that he is the antichrist of Christian eschatology, or covertly holds some other esoteric religious position, have been suggested since he campaigned for the U.S. Senate in 2004 and proliferated after his election as President of the United States in 2008. As with conspiracy theories surrounding his citizenship status, the claims are promoted by various political opponents, with American bloggers and conservative talk radio hosts particularly promoting the theories.
Saeed Abedini is an Iranian American Christian pastor who was imprisoned in Iran in 2012 based on allegations that he compromised national security. During his imprisonment, Abedini became internationally known as a victim of religious persecution. Following international pressure, along with other American prisoners, Abedini was released from prison on 16 January 2016.
Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth is a book by Iranian-American writer and scholar Reza Aslan. It is a historical account of the life of Jesus that analyzes religious perspectives on Jesus as well as the creation of Christianity. It was a New York Times best seller. Aslan argues that Jesus was a political, rebellious and eschatological Jew whose proclamation of the coming kingdom of God was a call for regime change, for ending Roman hegemony over Judea and the corrupt and oppressive aristocratic priesthood. The book has been optioned by Lionsgate and producer David Heyman with a script co-written by Aslan and Oscar- screenwriter, James Schamus.
Killing Jesus: A History is a 2013 book by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard about the life and crucifixion of Jesus, referred to in the book as Jesus of Nazareth. It is the follow-up to Killing Kennedy and Killing Lincoln. Killing Jesus was released September 24, 2013, through Henry Holt and Company.
Nabeel Asif Qureshi was a Pakistani-American Christian apologist. Raised by a devout Ahmadi family, Qureshi converted to Christianity from Ahmadiyya Islam as a university student following several years of debate with a Christian friend.
Grace Semler Baldridge, known by the stage name Semler, is an American host and alt-Christian singer-songwriter.
Sarah Styles Bessey is a Canadian Christian author and blogger. She has written four popular books and is the co-founder and cohost of the progressive Evolving Faith Conference and podcast.