Huff post: When FOX’s Lauren Green asked Reza Aslan why a Muslim would write a book about Jesus, she was biased.
When Reza Aslan answered her, he was biased.
When I watched the interview, I was biased.
And when you read this article… well, you get the point.
And on and on and on we go, impugning everyone else’s bias, denying our own.
I’m still trying to figure out why it’s unfair to ask a scholar if he was aware of his own philosophical bias while doing his research. Obviously, Green didn’t ask the question in this way, and admittedly, her clumsy phrasing made for cringe-worthy awkwardness. I’m not defending Green’s wording. I’m only pointing out that we don’t “do history” in a vacuum, whether or not we’ve got four degrees.
I’m pointing out that, regardless of how offensively the question was asked, the fact remains that it absolutely does matter to Reza Aslan’s writing that he is a Muslim. Just like it absolutely does matter to my writing that I’m a gay Christian. My thought, my activities, my writing — all are situated, all are trapped within my particular context of Brandon-ness. I can’t break out of myself and say, “Now I shall do philosophy from a heterosexual, atheist perspective unpolluted by my own brain.”
Categories: Americas
The best answer should have been:
Christians & other non-Muslims have been writing about Muhammad (saw)for 1400 years. Most of the writings were critical & some were derogatory & insulting.
Suddenly, Muslims have no business/right to write about Jesus.