Reza Aslan

[Nirvana]

I`m currently reading No God but God by Aslan. I was just wondering what ya` all think about this guy He recently tweeted ``trump is a piece of ****`` for which CNN cut their ties with his show. He`s also been in controversy for his Believer series. He argues for a moderate and liberal view of Islam. He has also written a book about Jesus called Zealot.

 

[RedDragon94]

I`m currently reading No God but God by Aslan. I was just wondering what ya` all think about this guy He recently tweeted ``trump is a piece of ****`` for which CNN cut their ties with his show. He`s also been in controversy for his Believer series. He argues for a moderate and liberal view of Islam. He has also written a book about Jesus called Zealot.

I wish more Muslims were as moderate as he is.

 

[icehorse]

He's an egotistical apologist. I find his arguments and debates to be filled with fallacies.

 

[YmirGF]

He's an egotistical apologist. I find his arguments and debates to be filled with fallacies.

Agreed. Aslan is far from one of my "go to" people on anything Islam. In fact, I wouldn't bother taking anything he said seriously.

 

[SpaceAgeLove]

I don't like him in the least bit. I much prefer Imam Tawhidi, but sadly he probably won't live a long life due to other muslims hating him. Gets lots of death threats aimed at him and his family. Religion of peace for ya.

 

[Nirvana]

I wish more Muslims were as moderate as he is.

Indeed! I wish Islam was what he claims it to be. Maybe it is, maybe its just that its been perverted...

 

[Nirvana]

He's an egotistical apologist. I find his arguments and debates to be filled with fallacies.

He`s a great writer, though. I find his talks interesting, maybe they`re contradictory but it`s interesting nevertheless. For instance, this one-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_ikXZL7Tz4

 

[Nirvana]

Agreed. Aslan is far from one of my "go to" people on anything Islam. In fact, I wouldn't bother taking anything he said seriously.

It doesn`t matter. Give him a shot. I mean he`s a good writer and you dont wanna miss that.

 

[LuisDantas]

Indeed! I wish Islam was what he claims it to be. Maybe it is, maybe its just that its been perverted...

It isn't. The Qur'an is what it is.

Much as I sympathise with effort for moderation within Islaam, there is only so much that can be done with a doctrine that insists that there must ever be a clear distinction of treatment between those who submit to it and those that do not, and that scripture and deity are things to surrender to.

I fully suspect that attempting to gloss over those serious, inherent flaws of the doctrine exposes perhaps originally well-meaning people to ambiguity of discourse that may corrupt them. I can't say that happened to Reza Aslan, but that may well be.

 

[YmirGF]

It doesn`t matter. Give him a shot. I mean he`s a good writer and you dont wanna miss that.

I've tried. Azlan is too adept at twisting Islam into some weird caricature of itself. His distortions are not mitigated by so-called "good writing". That is called disingenuous and sometimes outright deceptive.

 

[icehorse]

He`s a great writer, though. I find his talks interesting, maybe they`re contradictory but it`s interesting nevertheless. For instance, this one-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_ikXZL7Tz4

I agree that he's fairly eloquent, but his messages are not honest - imo.

 

[The Emperor of Mankind]

Apparently Aslan doesn't think religions should be blamed for religiously-motivated violence.

And he was also stupid enough to fall for some disingenuous turd quote-mining Sam Harris so he sounded like he was calling for Muslims to be killed.

 

[Rival]

He's not worth the thread taking bandwidth on this forum.

 

[Nirvana]

Apparently Aslan doesn't think religions should be blamed for religiously-motivated violence.

And he was also stupid enough to fall for some disingenuous turd quote-mining Sam Harris so he sounded like he was calling for Muslims to be killed.

Sam Harris uses repetitive arguments. No matter the topic, he always brings on Islam. He was talking with Scott Attran who has actually done research in this subject and Attran showed him statistics and presented him with arguments. Harris remained adamant that Islam was the main problem. He said this, once- ``Take the personalities of the people on the right out of the equation. Is it crazy to express, as Ted Cruz did, a preference for Christians over Muslims in this process? Of course not. What percentage of Christians will be jihadists or want to live under Sharia law? Zero. And this is a massive, in fact the only, concern when talking about security. We know that some percentage of Muslims will be jihadists inevitably. [....] So it is not mere bigotry or mere xenophobia to express that preference. I hope you understand that I am expressing no sympathy at all with Ted Cruz’s politics or with Ted Cruz. But it is totally unhelpful to treat him — though he actually is a religious maniac — like a bigot on this point. This is a quite reasonable concern to voice.``

 

[Nirvana]

He's not worth the thread taking bandwidth on this forum.

Why would you think so?

 

[Rival]

Why would you think so?

He has no credentials and he's just, well, crap. His book 'Zealot' contains numerous errors and fallacies also.

 

[icehorse]

Sam Harris uses repetitive arguments. No matter the topic, he always brings on Islam. He was talking with Scott Attran who has actually done research in this subject and Attran showed him statistics and presented him with arguments. Harris remained adamant that Islam was the main problem. He said this, once- ``Take the personalities of the people on the right out of the equation. Is it crazy to express, as Ted Cruz did, a preference for Christians over Muslims in this process? Of course not. What percentage of Christians will be jihadists or want to live under Sharia law? Zero. And this is a massive, in fact the only, concern when talking about security. We know that some percentage of Muslims will be jihadists inevitably. [....] So it is not mere bigotry or mere xenophobia to express that preference. I hope you understand that I am expressing no sympathy at all with Ted Cruz’s politics or with Ted Cruz. But it is totally unhelpful to treat him — though he actually is a religious maniac — like a bigot on this point. This is a quite reasonable concern to voice.``

I feel like in a PC world, it's often the usually-wrong-zealot who's right on a controversial point. Independent of that point on zealots, what about the Harris quote from above do you find concerning?

 

[Nirvana]

He has no credentials and he's just, well, crap. His book 'Zealot' contains numerous errors and fallacies also.

Yeah, I concede that. I just like the way he writes though. Credentials? Well, he has a Phd in the sociology of religions. He has also been visiting professors in UC Santa Barbara on Islamic studies....

 

[Nirvana]

I feel like in a PC world, it's often the usually-wrong-zealot who's right on a controversial point. Independent of that point on zealots, what about the Harris quote from above do you find concerning?

The only problem I have with Harris is that he`s treating Islam as if its a special religion. He sounds the same as right wingers. Donald trump thinks there is something wrong with Islam! Just Islam, no, not every religion, just Islam. I find that disconcerting.

 

[icehorse]

The only problem I have with Harris is that he`s treating Islam as if its a special religion. He sounds the same as right wingers. Donald trump thinks there is something wrong with Islam! Just Islam, no, not every religion, just Islam. I find that disconcerting.

As I've listened to Harris he makes distinctions between religions. For the most part he's not a fan of religion, and you are correct, he is especially concerned with Islam. But so I am, and so are lots of folks. Personally, I think it's a totalitarian ideology with a small religious component, and I think we should be more critical of the Islamic worldview than we are of most other religions.