I really believe that to have a full impression of Jesus, both as Christ as a man, you must know about the world that gave shape to him - the world out of which he arose.
Reza AslanThe idea of literalism in the Bible is a very new phenomenon. In many ways, it's a product of the scientific revolution.
Reza AslanAuthoritarians tend to consolidate support by using fear, but more importantly by driving a wedge among the people that they want to control.
Reza AslanWhen I was in the US, I felt that the discourse there surrounding Muslims as the other, problematising Muslims and Islam as the other was very similar to what we find in Australia, which is that the image of Islam is a constructed image in the West. We are starting from a point of view that Islam and Muslims - well Islam is a violent, misogynistic, hateful religion and that is where the debate always starts from - that presumption underlies the discourse.
Reza Aslan