Religion scholar Reza Aslan grilled by Fox News anchor who wonders why a Muslim would write on Jesus (Video)

There have been awkward Fox News interviews before, but none has lit up the Internet quite like the latest one from over the weekend. Religious scholar Reza Aslan, who happens to be a Muslim, was asked repeatedly by Fox News anchor Lauren Green why a Muslim would write about Christianity in Jesus in his new book, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth.

Green introduced Aslan by saying that his book caused controversy for the sole reason that he is a Muslim writing about the founder of Christianity, so that was her first question. “Well, to be clear, 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,” Aslan replied, notes Slate.com.

But for some reason that wasn’t enough for Green, who decided this was more important than asking him about the content of his book. “It still begs the question though, why would you be interested in the founder of Christianity?” she asked.

Aslan was visibly annoyed and started speaking slowly to make sure she got every word he said. “Because it’s my job as an academic. I am a professor of religion, including the New Testament. That’s what I do for a living, actually,” he said.

Then, Green brings up a stupefying comparison, asking Green if a Muslim writing on Jesus is like a Democrat writing about Ronald Reagan.

“It would be like a Democrat with a PhD in Reagan who has been studying his life and history for two decades writing about Reagan,” Aslan replied, reports Mediate. “I think that the fundamental problem here is that you’re assuming that I have some sort of faith-based bias. I write about Judaism, I write about Hinduism, I write about Christianity, I write about Islam. My job as a scholar with a PhD in the subject is to write about religions.”

Green then accused him of not telling people he’s a Muslim during interviews, but he noted that it’s in his biography on the second page of his book.

If you’re interested in what Zealot is actually about, Aslan writes that Jesus was important as a political revolutionary who sacrificed himself for those who were not able to stand up themselves.

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