# Fox News hits a new low with Reza Aslan interview **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 29, 2013, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794 "2013-07-29T06:55:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794/81 "2013-07-31T09:15:11Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Well, you certainly ran with that assumption, which is why people were questioning you so much. Bullshit. I made an “If A then B” statement. No less than 6 people replied initially and precisely none of them said “not A”. They questioned my reasoning. Then Marley pointed out that A might be wrong at which point I conceded on the factual point immediately. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794/82 "2013-07-31T11:16:40Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#): > > Last Friday, Fox News had religious scholar Reza Aslan on their show “Spirited Debate” to talk about his new book “Zealot”, and all the interviewer manages to ask him in about 10 minutes is why a Muslim would write a book about Jesus. It’s a fair question. After all, you never see a Christian on Fox News who pretends to understand Muslims. Oh wait… ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794/83 "2013-07-31T11:23:34Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > It’s a fair question. After all, you never see a Christian on Fox News who pretends to understand Muslims. Oh wait… It’s actually not an insane question in itself. It could be a reasonable starting point for a conversation. Of course, in this case, the interview goes to hell right away. I’m actually the most puzzled about how Green found it completely incomprehensible that a Democrat might want to write about Ronald Reagan. Apparently, she hasn’t ever set foot in a university. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794/84 "2013-07-31T14:16:23Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Bullshit. I made an “If A then B” statement. No less than 6 people replied initially and precisely none of them said “not A”. They questioned my reasoning. Then Marley pointed out that A might be wrong at which point I conceded on the factual point immediately. I’ll say bullshit right back to you. You, yourself, conceded that you were assuming **BigT** ’s claim was correct. Let’s refresh your memory. > [@Princhester](#): > > Dunno, it was **BigT** who made the claim, and since the first person to respond to \*\*BigT \*\*didn’t challenge \*\*BigT’s \*\*claim but only the conclusions \*\*BigT \*\*drew from the claim I was assuming it was correct. If the claim is baseless, so be it. As you stated in that post that you were assuming A was correct when you made that “if A then B” statement, then it was not a simple hypothetical argument. It matters not a whit the number of other posters who failed to correctly point out the wrong assumption, it was a bad assumption. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794/85 "2013-07-31T15:16:50Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > Remember last election night when the anchor on Fox News stormed off the set and walked to the election analysis room to get the analysts to explain why they were calling Ohio for Obama? That was completely rehearsed ahead of time. She admitted that on camera when she said that she hoped they had worked out the microphone problems. That wasn’t her suddenly deciding to do a hard-hitting journalistic investigation and get to the bottom of things. That’s not right. The woman mentioned they had tested the mikes going back to the analysis room because they wanted the capability to be able to go there if they wanted to. Karl Rove disagreed with their calling Ohio; so she went to ask the analysts. Your claim requires that they knew ahead of time Ohio would go for Obama, that Karl Rove would protest it, and the analysts would stand firm. How would that further the conservative agenda? I now return you to the topic at hand - Green obviously hadn’t read Ra’s al Ghoul’s (D) book, and was unable to adapt her questions to the content of his answers. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794/86 "2013-07-31T18:25:52Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > The first words out of a writer’s mouth in any interview should be: “Have you read my book?”. It would shut down a lot of stupidity right away. In all seriousness, I wonder what any Fox host’s answer to this question would be. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794/87 "2013-07-31T19:32:18Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > In all seriousness, I wonder what any Fox host’s answer to this question would be. \*No sir. Literacy is an automatic disqualifier at the job interview. \* ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794/88 "2013-07-31T19:46:26Z")
[What a pathetic attempt at defending the Fox reporter by another Fox reporter and a right-wing shill.](http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/fox-news-tackles-most-embarrassing-interview-ever-host-was-r) Almost zero facts but a whole lot of “far left media” and “arrogance” and questioning his credentials. Also, “she’s a really nice person.” ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794/89 "2013-07-31T23:07:41Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > I’ll say bullshit right back to you. Oh fer cryin out loud. I know it was an assumption. That’s why I conceded it once challenged. But your statement that people were questioning me because it was a bad assumption is flat out wrong. They weren’t questioning my assumption. Indeed, the first six posters to respond to me _were working off the same assumption I was_. Precisely none questioned my assumption, only my reasoning. Put up or shut up. Quote me a single post between my first one and Marley pointing out “not A” which was questioning me because they thought “not A”. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794/90 "2013-08-01T13:31:16Z")
I wonder if Mrs. Green knows if Muslims believe in Jesus? ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794/91 "2013-08-01T13:32:08Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Oh fer cryin out loud. I know it was an assumption. That’s why I conceded it once challenged. But your statement that people were questioning me because it was a bad assumption is flat out wrong. They weren’t questioning my assumption. Indeed, the first six posters to respond to me _were working off the same assumption I was_. Precisely none questioned my assumption, only my reasoning. > > Put up or shut up. Quote me a single post between my first one and Marley pointing out “not A” which was questioning me because they thought “not A”. Put up or shut up what? This is what I said. > [@me](#): > > Well, you certainly ran with that assumption, which is why people were questioning you so much. There is no evidence that they had the same assumption. You and the six posters were talking past each other, probably because they had didn’t share the same assumption that you did, which is that the scholar was acting is if he didn’t understand there some people would be offended. > [@Princhester](#): > > Strawmanning much? What I said was “The guy may be a religious scholar but if he doesn’t understand why a scholar from a different religion writing realistic and accurate things about somebody else’s religion would offend them, he doesn’t know jack about religion, or he’s pretending he doesn’t.” As you acknowledge later, when you wrote that you were writing with the assumption that he was acting like he didn’t understand other people would be offended. If A, then B" is often used in arguments when A is given so even had you not had the mistaken assumption, there would be no way for someone to immediately know that you were arguing about a logical point. The other posters were not clear in their arguments, which **Marley** acknowledged, but they weren’t really arguing the point “If A then not B” either. They were arguing C, that a Muslim could write a book about Christ and be fair. Reading your comments, they seem very critical of the author, as \*\*Marley \*\*also pointed out especially given that the assumption was third hand from something **BigT** quoted. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794/92 "2013-08-01T17:27:38Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > [What a pathetic attempt at defending the Fox reporter by another Fox reporter and a right-wing shill.](http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/fox-news-tackles-most-embarrassing-interview-ever-host-was-r) > > Almost zero facts but a whole lot of “far left media” and “arrogance” and questioning his credentials. Also, “she’s a really nice person.” Am I the only one who thinks he did come off as a little arrogant? If this were a conversation at a party, and he said something like, ‘‘I have four degrees and a Ph.D. and am really hot shit, trust me,’’ I would have thought he was a bit of a tool. If someone brings up my religion, I’m not about to talk about what a distinguished scholar I am, I’m going to respond directly to the implication that my religion makes me biased. I mean, it’s not even what he said but how he said it, talking very slow, very condescending, and he repeated the same thing like three times. I almost think it would have been better if he had ignored her. I think he started off on the defensive, expecting to be raked over the coals for being a Muslim, and it made him look a bit touchy. She was a complete bitch though. And the book does sound quite interesting. ETA: Though I loved, LOVED, ‘‘No, that would be like a Democrat who had a Ph.D and had spent twenty years studying Republicans writing a book about Republicans.’’ That was totally warranted. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794/93 "2013-08-01T17:29:58Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > If this were a conversation at a party, and he said something like, ‘‘I have four degrees and a Ph.D. and am really hot shit, trust me,’’ I would have thought he was a bit of a tool. That’s not the same context. She was asking why a Muslim would write a book about Christianity and he explained that he’s a scholar of religions. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794/94 "2013-08-01T17:37:56Z")
I wonder what kind of answer she was expecting, since she was so completely unprepared for a sensible one, and didn’t seem to have any kind of follow-up. Did she think he would scream, “Oh no, you busted me!”, and then disappear in a puff of smoke or something? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794/95 "2013-08-01T18:56:59Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Am I the only one who thinks he did come off as a little arrogant? If this were a conversation at a party, and he said something like, ‘‘I have four degrees and a Ph.D. and am really hot shit, trust me,’’ I would have thought he was a bit of a tool. If someone brings up my religion, I’m not about to talk about what a distinguished scholar I am, I’m going to respond directly to the implication that my religion makes me biased. I mean, it’s not even what he said but how he said it, talking very slow, very condescending, and he repeated the same thing like three times. I almost think it would have been better if he had ignored her. I think he started off on the defensive, expecting to be raked over the coals for being a Muslim, and it made him look a bit touchy. > > She was a complete bitch though. And the book does sound quite interesting. > > ETA: Though I loved, LOVED, ‘‘No, that would be like a Democrat who had a Ph.D and had spent twenty years studying Republicans writing a book about Republicans.’’ That was totally warranted. If you’re just having a polite conversation, than it would be a little douchey to gush about all your degrees. But that not what happened here, she wasn’t being polite; she was criticizing him. I don’t see how else he could have defended himself. Saying something banal like “it’s a free country.” Doesn’t sound very compelling. Nor is it going to help your book sales, which is the main intent of going on these book tours. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794/96 "2013-08-01T19:03:37Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > That’s not the same context. She was asking why a Muslim would write a book about Christianity and he explained that he’s a scholar of religions. I just didn’t like the way he said it, I guess. Something rubbed me the wrong way. For the record, the interviewer was really terrible. Not just because she was biased, but because she sounded so stupid. Just stupid. I think it’s the worst interview I’ve ever seen, for an interviewer. I’ve seen interviewees make asses of themselves a lot of times, but she takes the prize for least professional interview of all time. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794/97 "2013-08-01T19:32:04Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I just didn’t like the way he said it, I guess. Something rubbed me the wrong way. > > For the record, the interviewer was really terrible. Not just because she was biased, but because she sounded so stupid. Just stupid. I think it’s the worst interview I’ve ever seen, for an interviewer. I’ve seen interviewees make asses of themselves a lot of times, but she takes the prize for least professional interview of all time. He definitely was condescending, but I think it was just in response to her being so freaking dumb. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794/98 "2013-08-01T19:44:09Z")
In the interviewer’s defense though, she most likely had some Fox News producers screaming in her ear, demanding that she ask the brain-dead questions and say the brain-dead things that she did. I don’t blame her; she was just a puppet. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794/99 "2013-08-02T00:48:15Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > He definitely was condescending, but I think it was just in response to her being so freaking dumb. YMMV I think Slate says that he had figured out what kind of questioning were coming. Whether she is an idiot or her controllers are, there wasn’t a possibility of a conversation. It was a badly thought out interview. What did they expect him to do? Disavow the book? Actually, on second thought, this would be entirely aimed at their camp, people who aren’t going to listen to reason. OMG, he’s a Muslim! And he wrote a book about our Savior! Burn him! ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794/100 "2013-08-02T01:00:08Z")
From [Slate](http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/07/29/reza_aslan_book_sales_zealot_author_knew_what_he_was_doing_on_fox_news_that.html?fb_ref=sm_fb_plugin_activity). > [@](#): > > Green’s almost blindingly illogical and offensive line of questioning, though, seems to have obscured the fact that Aslan appears to have arrived ready to do battle. This wasn’t a case of an academic being blindsided by a TV anchor. If anything, it was Aslan who had the upper hand at the outset. The day before the interview, [FoxNews.com](http://FoxNews.com) had published pastor John S. Dickerson’s screed accusing the mainstream media of helping Aslan hide the fact that he is Muslim. Shortly after, a series of one-star reviews began to appear on Zealot’s Amazon page. Aslan had heard the criticism and came ready to smack it down. And—thankfully!—he did. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-hits-a-new-low-with-reza-aslan-interview/664794.md?page=6)