Fareed Zakaria

Journalist

Zakaria is an Indian-American journalist and author. From 2000 to 2010, he was a columnist for Newsweek and editor of Newsweek International. In 2010 he became editor-at-large of Time. He is the host of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS. [1]
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In an August 6, 2010 article in Newsweek entitled "Build the Ground Zero Mosque", Zakaria writes, "Rauf often makes his arguments using interpretations of the Quran and other texts. Now, I am not a religious person, and this method strikes me as convoluted and Jesuitical. But for the vast majority of believing Muslims, only an argument that is compatible with their faith is going to sway them." [2]
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In a New York Magazine feature entitled "Man of the World", the author writers:
"Not that Zakaria is eager to trade on his religion with Americans or Arabs. 'By and large, there is a suspicion that I’m betraying my roots, whatever that means,' Zakaria says. 'The only way I can respond is to say I’ve simply never been defined by religious identity, so I can’t be defined by that now just because it has come into the question.'" [3]
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In a Village Voice article from August 9, 2005 with the seemingly misleading title, "The Rise of Fareed Zakaria: Muslim, Heartthrob, Super-Pundit", author Joy Press writes, "On the other hand, his own upbringing was open-minded and secular; he sang Christian hymns at school and celebrated Hindu as well as his own Muslim holidays. 'I do know a lot about the world of Islam in an instinctive way that you can't get through book learning,' he says thoughtfully, but admits he finds the role of token Muslim explainer in the American media slightly uncomfortable. 'I occasionally find myself reluctant to be pulled into a world that's not mine, in the sense that I'm not a religious guy.'" [4]