Professor Reza Aslan went on CNN in 2014 to discuss the now sadly resurrected question of whether or not Islam is an inherently violent religion. CNN hosts proceeded to ask ignorantly bigoted questions that Aslan destroyed with that magical thing bigots hate: facts.
Reza Aslan immediately starts using facts to decimate the anti-Muslim arguments that Bill Maher and others have used. Maher and other anti-Muslim bigots seem to think that female genital mutilation is a Muslim problem, but Aslan didn’t let this lack of information slide.
By looking at the religious populations of countries like Ethiopia, a Christian majority country with a high rate of female genital mutilation, you can see that female genital mutilation is actually an African problem, not an Islamic problem. So Aslan makes sure to inform the hosts of the real facts, which they continue to blatantly ignore.
Don Lemon honestly can’t seem to retain any of the facts Aslan gives him throughout the series of questions. Lemon basically says a majority of Muslims treat women poorly countless times, in just the first few minutes of the interview alone. Even after Aslan informs Lemon that Muslim majority countries have elected 7 women heads of state compared to the 0 in America, Lemon’s bigotry persists.
The bigoted questions basically go in circles. Aslan tries to tell them that the problem of human rights abuses in Muslim majority countries doesn’t come from Islam, but rather from the country and its abuses. However, Lemon and his co-host, Alisyn Camerota, continue to paint Islam with the broadest brush possible. At this point Aslan says her broad brush usage is “stupid.” Most people, at this point in the video, will be rolling on the floor laughing. It’s not every day that you hear that level of ownage!
The problem with bigots is that they fundamentally can’t accept facts. They paint a picture and if you show them that there is a factual inconsistency they just deny it. Aslan has done a perfect job, countless times, of showing that all religions have violent people. This is because a person gets what a person wants from a religion. Islam is no more violent than Buddhism. If you think otherwise please tell that to the people being beheaded by Buddhist monks. All too often people don’t understand that a variety of factors impact a person that then reads a religious text. Religion can be a weapon but it can also be used for beautiful acts of kindness.
But that’s the point, people get what they want out of religion.
In order to fully appreciate Aslan’s fact style ownage, you need to check out the video below.
Featured Image is a Screen Capture from the video above.
