Lauren Green

For the actor featured in Bonanza and Battlestar Galactica, see Lorne Greene.
Lauren Green
Born Lauren Susan Green[1]
June 30, 1958[1]
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Education University of Minnesota
Northwestern University
Occupation Correspondent
(Fox News Channel)
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Religion Methodist Christian[2]
Website
Biography on FoxNews.com

Lauren Susan Green (born June 30, 1958) is the Chief Religion Correspondent for the Fox News Channel.[3][4] Previous to holding this position 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.

Early life and education

Green was born to Robert and Bessie Grissam Green in Minneapolis. She has two sisters named Barbara and Lois and two brothers named 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.[5] 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, then attended graduate school at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.[4][6]

Green is a practicing Christian and member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.[2]

Interview with Reza Aslan

After a 2013 interview with Iranian-American scholar Reza Aslan, Green received criticism from Daniel Politi of Slate for her line of questions. Aslan was promoting his new scholarly book, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, on television. Green questioned the idea of a Muslim writing on the historical figure of Jesus Christ and implied that Aslan could not be objective on this subject because he is not a Christian, and because he is a Muslim. Green's first question to Aslan was "You're a Muslim, so why did you write a book about the founder of Christianity?"[7] Aslan defended his credentials, including a doctorate in the subject matter, and argued that his interest was scholarly.[8] Further defense of Green came from those who discredited Aslan's 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.[9] However, not only does Aslan have those credentials, he also has a master's degree in theological studies from Harvard University.[2] Green was criticized for apparently not having read the book before conducting the interview, which implicated the reputations of Fox News and Green as objective news reporters.[7] Green has also displayed her own bias on the subject of Islam. In 2011 she asked whether Islam "makes believers more susceptible to radicalization."[2] Aslan, in the interview, stated "anyone who thinks this book is an attack on Christianity has not read it yet."[2]

Music

In 2004, Green released an album called Classic Beauty consisting of classical piano music.[10]

Green also plays keyboards for the Mike Huckabee's band "The Little Rockers" on the Fox News Channel program Huckabee.

In January 2014 Green performed in the 90th birthday concert for Monsignor 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."[11]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Minnesota Birth Index, 1935-2002". Ancestry.com. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Murphy, Dan. "Can Muslims write about Christianity?". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  3. ↑ "Opinion - Commentary from Lauren Green". Fox News. April 22, 2011.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lauren Green bio, FOX News Network, accessed November 8, 2013.
  5. ↑ http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/index.html#/v/4178198066001
  6. ↑ Distinguished Visitor Series: Lauren Green on YouTube, The King's College (New York), October 27, 2009, accessed July 28, 2013.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Paul Waldman (July 29, 2013). "Christian Identity Politics on Fox". The American Prospect. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  8. ↑ Politi, D. (July 28, 2013). "Fox News to Scholar: Why Would a Muslim Write a Book About Jesus?". Slate. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
  9. ↑ Graham, David A. (July 29, 2013). "Is Muslim Academic Reza Aslan More Biased Than a Christian Scholar?". Atlantic. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  10. ↑ David Freedlander (2013-07-30). "Lauren Green, the Woman Behind Fox News’ Reza Aslan Interview Debacle". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
  11. ↑ Lauren Green (2014-01-17). "Honor of a lifetime -- performing at the Vatican for Pope Benedict, his brother". Fox News. Retrieved 2014-01-19.