Lauren Green was hardly a worthy adversary, but well played Reza Aslan. By now most of you have probably seen this takedown of the Fox News anchor who made a complete ass of herself - nudged along by the very bright Reza Aslan who bears an uncanny resemblance to doe-eyed Rahul Kanwal.
Aslan was brilliant in effectively laying bare the acknowledged conservative slant of Fox News - almost Tea Party-esque on most issues (race, abortion, immigration, church, guns etc).
Aslan has managed to present himself as a wonderfully bright mind whose book sales have no doubt jumped and whose charming face most of us are now familiar with (the clip has been viewed almost 4 million times on buzzfeed and was right up there in the Amazon and Barnes & Noble bestsellers list according to www.slate.com). What he has also managed to do is to position himself as, and I quote the overachiever himself from the Fox interview – “I am a scholar of religions with four degrees, including one in the New Testament, and fluency in biblical Greek, who has been studying the origins of Christianity for two decades, who also just happens to be a Muslim”.
Who just happens to be Muslim did you say? This is where I’m afraid he loses me, in this particular context of the book on Christ. Here’s why. Reza Aslan was born a Muslim. At the age of 15, he converted to Christianity. His mother and sister too converted to Christianity. Here I quote from his interview on NPR (National Public Radio) - “I had accepted Jesus into my heart, and I began to aggressively evangelise to them. My father, of course, wanted nothing to do with it. My mother actually a few years later converted to Christianity herself. She is still a Christian to this day”. Not only did the convincing young Reza convert, his mother too came around. His sister also converted according to an article in TIME. He obviously made an impression at home, his enthusiasm spilled out too. I quote the just-another-scholar of religion - “I began eagerly to share the good news of Jesus Christ with my friends and family, my neighbours and classmates, with people I’d just met and with strangers on the street”. And then what happened? What made this soldier of Christ skip the ark and jump back into the arms of Islam? Seventy two virgins ka promise? Do you still think his book is just another scholarly work by someone who “just happens to be Muslim”? Possibly. But as a journalist it’s worth exploring the counterview.
No! I am not in agreement with Fox and their line of questioning which was sloppy and predictable and which I suspect they’re unselfconscious about. But I also don’t buy Aslan’s following comments in the context of the book and the interview where he says –
- “My job as a scholar of religions is to write about religions...and one of the religions that I’ve written about is the one that was launched by Jesus”.
- “I think it’s unfair to just simply assume that because of my particular faith background that there’s some type of faith agenda with this book”.
Taken in isolation, those lines are accurate. But the accuracy of a statement can be consistent with its dishonesty in a particular context (and context is everything). It’s a reporters job to find out if can be in fact is.
The second of Aslan’s quotes which I’ve mentioned above is the starting point of where I think a good reporter could have credibly planted a seed of doubt in the mind of a viewer that this book isn’t just any book on religion by any scholar. This is a book on Jesus Christ after whom a religion arose, by Reza Aslan who has been a Christian for 7 years before re-converting to Islam. It is not at all “unfair to just simply assume” that Aslan’s background has anything to do with his interpretation. I have not read the book. I haven’t even read Page 2 of it, which is where he claims he has made full disclosure of his faith. Merely going by the facts and background of the author, an agenda can very well be a possibility.
As a journalist Lauren Green could have, and I dare say rather effectively, gone down this line of questioning - Reza does not just “happen to be” a Muslim who has written a book on Jesus as an academic. He is a Muslim who abandoned Islam for Christianity. Why Reza? Did you take a liking to ham? Were they forcing you to go to a madrasa (not like Harvard is it)? Or does a goatee not suit you? You embraced Christianity, possibly convinced your mother to do so as well (that we know of). Did your sister follow your mother’s footsteps or did you convince her? Who evangelised her? Did you convince others to convert to Christianity too Reza? Did you try to convince others even though that was not your job, unlike writing about religion - “it’s my job as an academic”, and “I am a professor of religion, including the New Testament. That’s what I do for a living, actually”. How do you get someone to abandon a faith and embrace another Reza? Is trash-talking effective? Do you have to convince someone their faith is bad before you convince them that yours is good? How does life change?
Then, 7 years later, you abandoned Christianity and embraced Islam. Why Reza? Were you disillusioned? Did you have a traumatic experience in Church? Was it the priest? Did you eat a ham sandwich as a Christian before coming back to Islam which means fewer virgins for you after death, or are you wait-listed for jannat? You then went back to Islam, so religion for Reza isn’t merely an area of academic interest but an extremely important part of life and will naturally shape his worldview. Aren’t you Reza, very conscious of which lord you bow before? Which would explain why you’ve changed your mind twice and you’re only 41. Attended the Kumbh yet? You might consider Hinduism. But bad luck, you can’t convert to Hindusim – don’t believe what Dilip Singh Judeo of the BJP tells you just because he did a shuddhi karan of the tribals in his constituency who had taken Christ as their saviour. Not just you, aren’t you also conscious of which lord your loved ones bow before - sister and mother being case in point? When you abandoned Christianity and reconverted to Islam did you try to convince your mother and sister and neighbours on the street to follow suit like you did earlier on? Thus your faith and especially experience with the Church during your 7 year flirtation with Christianity and subsequent return to Islam is relevant in this context.
So no Reza, I don’t think it would be unfair for someone to question your motive since you don’t just happen to be of the Islamic faith - but converted and reconverted. It was an active and considered choice rather than passively accepting what you were born into.
That is even if not completely polite, a fair line of questioning that I think could be justified.
All I’m saying is it’s not an unfair question if one is provided the context and background. Since every neta or wannabe neta is a Political Science or Public Policy graduate, suppose one of them writes a book on Keshav Baliram Hegdewar or Guru Golwalkar or Jawaharlal Nehru. This after being a part of both the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress at some point, and the person says I’m merely doing this as a scholar or student of politics who just happens to have been a part of one and then the other and then the first party, would you accept the work merely as academic piece? I wouldn’t. And don’t tell me this is politics and that is religion. Religion is political and if you don’t agree – God help you.
If an atheist wrote a book on religion on the Prophet or Ram or Jesus I would read it with a certain point of view, a literary filter if you like. If one who was born into a faith and at no point had shown any inclination to leave it and join another but just kind of got on with life like most of us do, I’d read it with a different preconceived notion. If someone who was born into a faith decided it wasn’t fulfilling, formally embraced another, spent time trying to convince others to come on board the ark for salvation, wrote the book – that would make my filter act in yet another way.
Sure, none of the conversions or reconversions need necessarily have influenced the author’s academic study. Much like Pawan Bansal, Karunanidhi-Maran’s and every neta with sons, daughters, nieces, nephews with conflict of interest in businesses and portfolios need not have influenced business dealings or awarding contracts. But they do need to be questioned. There may very well be no connection - but for a question to be raised is fair and in fact important.
As a kid I was often in Mussoorie with friends and family. Weirdos (sometimes desi, often Caucasian) with kids in prams used to try and entice us with comic books about Christ and tell us they’d save our souls and crap like that. I thought they were a bunch of idiots. I still do. It’s important you know my position on religion so you know what to make of this piece. I believe in God. In fact, I pray everyday. I find people who try to convert others to their religion or even themselves convert from one religion to another - idiots. Unless it’s to get some quota benefit or special prasad or food item or something, then it’s practical. Now you the reader has a better idea of how much of what I write is dispassionate “critique” and how much is prejudice against “believers”. I think people who spend any time in their lives trying to tell others that their soul will be saved by some Allah or Christ or Ram are morons who should rot in hell. As are those who think skipping from one faith to another will do them good. Morally and ethically too it’s very thin ice you’re on.
So Reza Aslan with “four degrees, including one in the New Testament, and fluency in biblical Greek” played his hand very well and the dim-witted anchor played hers badly - but there is nothing offensive or politically incorrect about examining or questioning motives on this specific issue in this context with the background and history of the particular writer – Reza Aslan. Fox doing it was a bad judgment call, ironically for the same reasons, because of context and their background and history. Lauren Green’s clueless offensive demeanour didn’t help either. A bit like Modi questioning someone’s secular credentials.
If there is anyone I haven’t offended yet, please get in line. Buddhists, you’re cool except in Sri Lanka where dear aggressive monk who picked a fight with me, I don’t think Buddha will be offended if I turn my back while leaving the Temple of The Tooth in Kandy. Walking backwards is for dolts.
