As A Muslim

This happened Friday July 26th, 2013 on a MAJOR news station.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/27/reza-aslan-fox-zealot_n_3665211.html

The show was Spirited Debate and the host was Lauren Green. This is the level of "debate" that goes on from the conservative right in America. If you like, pick it up at the 8:02 mark where Lauren says; "...you are quoting yourself as a scholar" and winds up (8:18) by declaring he (Reza) is "not being honest."

As the Irish would say: Jaysus, Mary and Joseph! I guess he can quote himself as a scholar. He has BA in Religion from Santa Clara University; a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity; and a Doctorate in Sociology of Religions from UC Santa Barbara. (He also holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University Iowa but what the hell does that have to do with religion, right?) This took me ALL of 10 seconds to google on Wikipedia. It (Wikipedia) also states he is a Muslim (Shia) but looking into this fellow I found he resonates more with Sufism.

I tried with all my might to find the quote(s) attributed to William Craig Lane but could not. Here though, is the Op Ed piece by John Dickerson that Ms. Green referred to.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/07/22/liberal-media-love-new-jesus-book-zealot-fail-to-mention-author-is-muslim/

Both Mr. Dickerson and Ms. Green seem to have a problem that Reza Aslan is being disingenuous and hiding his Islamic background. They keep hammering the point home. Apparently in their mind this invalidates any "scholarly" work done by Mr. Aslan (at least regarding Christianity and Jesus). The next link is from March 26th, 2011; two years and four months before the interview.

http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxConejo-Reza-Aslan-Unity-in

Reza sure goes out of his way to hide his religious affiliation, doesn't he?

Update 7-31

http://www.today.com/books/jesus-book-best-seller-wake-viral-fox-news-interview-6C10805955

Note, beginning at the 2:57 mark, that a "conservative" (unknown) wants to shift the conversation to Reza not being a "historian." An insightful example of cognitive dissonance.