{"id":23646,"date":"2014-10-03T13:38:42","date_gmt":"2014-10-03T17:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?p=23646"},"modified":"2014-10-03T13:38:42","modified_gmt":"2014-10-03T17:38:42","slug":"reza-aslan-and-bill-maher-on-islam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2014\/10\/reza-aslan-and-bill-maher-on-islam.html","title":{"rendered":"Reza Aslan and Bill Maher on Islam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In light of recent<\/a> conversations<\/a>\u00a0on atheism, Islam, and progressive religion in general, I thought I\u2019d share a\u00a0video I came upon today. In it, Reza Aslan<\/a>, an Iranian-American writer and scholar of religions, responds to comedian Bill Maher\u2019s recent claims about Islam<\/a>. I really appreciated this video, as it expresses a lot of the concerns I\u2019ve had regarding the way Americans view and portray Islam.<\/p>\n

<\/iframe><\/p>\nI\u2019ll give a short summary for those who don\u2019t want to watch the video. Reza Aslan points out that Muslim countries vary greatly, and that it\u2019s silly to make broad brushing statements about \u201cMuslim countries\u201d as though Saudi Arabia and Turkey should be in the\u00a0same category. Aslan also points to the huge diversity in the treatment of women, pointing out that while Muslim women are certainly oppressed in some Muslim countries, in other Muslim countries they have equal rights with men. He points out\u00a0that female genital mutilation is a central African problem<\/em>, not an Islam problem<\/em>.\u00a0Finally, Aslan contends\u00a0that Islam is neither inherently violent nor inherently peaceful\u2014\u201clike every religion in the world, it depends on what you bring to it.\u201d<\/p>\nReza Aslan is the author of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/No-god-but-God-Evolution\/dp\/0385739761\/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1M5V1RSZ4DEGWE715K4K\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">No God but God: The Origins and Evolution of Islam<\/a> and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Zealot-Life-Times-Jesus-Nazareth\/dp\/140006922X\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth.<\/a>\u00a0(You can read Ashley Miller\u2019s\u00a0review of Zealot <a href=\"http:\/\/freethoughtblogs.com\/ashleymiller\/2013\/07\/31\/zealot-by-reza-aslan-a-review\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">here<\/a>.)\u00a0A Muslim, Aslan <a href=\"http:\/\/www.salon.com\/2014\/04\/20\/you_want_people_like_that_to_hate_you_reza_aslan_on_glenn_beck_that_fox_news_interview_and_who_gets_to_speak_for_jesus\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">has taken flack<\/a> for presuming to think he can write a book\u00a0about Jesus. And yes, before you point it out, I know Reza Aslan also wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20120327111607\/http:\/\/newsweek.washingtonpost.com\/onfaith\/guestvoices\/2010\/07\/harris_hitchens_dawkins_dennett_evangelical_atheists.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">a 2010 Washington Post article lambasting New Atheists<\/a>. I wouldn\u2019t write the article the same way, and I disagree with him on a number of points, but I\u2019ve raised <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2014\/08\/in-defense-of-theistic-evolution.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">some of<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2014\/10\/atheism-and-me.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">these same<\/a> criticisms myself.<\/p>\nThe above video reminded me of an old video I came upon recently of Richard Dawkins on Bill Maher. Start the video at 4:50.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/youtu.be\/_BQKjGlqJm0?t=3m47s\">http:\/\/youtu.be\/_BQKjGlqJm0?t=3m47s<\/a>\nFor those without the time to watch, Maher insists that suicide bombers are motivated by guilt over sex<\/em> while\u00a0Dawkins insists that suicide bombers are motivated by religion<\/em>. Meanwhile, panelist\u00a0Janeane Garofalo plays the voice of reason, bringing the discussion of motivations to socio-political grievances<\/em> again, and again, and again while Maher and Dawkins have nothing of it, preferring instead their overly simplistic (and, frankly, incorrect) interpretations. <\/span><\/p>\nWe can do better than this.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In light of recent conversations\u00a0on atheism, Islam, and progressive religion in general, I thought I\u2019d share a\u00a0video I came upon today. In it, Reza Aslan, an Iranian-American writer and scholar of religions, responds to comedian Bill Maher\u2019s recent claims about Islam. I really appreciated this video, as it expresses a lot of the concerns I\u2019ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[445],"class_list":["post-23646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-islam"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Reza Aslan and Bill Maher on Islam<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In light of recent conversations\u00a0on atheism, Islam, and progressive religion in general, I thought I'd share a\u00a0video I came upon today. 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