Scott Carrier is a writer, photographer, and radio producer. He was born, raised, and still lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. He will be reading from, and signing copies of his new paperback book - 'Prisoner of Zion'
Not long after the World Trade Center towers fell on 9/11 it became clear that the United States would invade Afghanistan. Scott Carrier decided to travel through Afghanistan, too. He wanted to see for himself: who were the fanatics, the fundamentalists, and the Taliban? What was their motivation? What did they want?
In the resulting memoir, Prisoner of Zion, Carrier writes about his journey, but also zeros in on the larger problem: how the faithful thrive on persecution. How attacking a group of people whose beliefs we cannot hope to change will only strengthen their convictions against us and breed more fear and hatred between us.
Weaving together his life in Salt Lake City among Mormons, and his fascinating experience in Afghanistan, Carrier argues that it will never work to attack true believers head-on. Somehow, he thinks, we must reconsider our methods of communication, and find a way to rise above fear and anger.