Reza Aslan’s advice to Muslims in the U.S. that aren’t all-in for gay marriage? Get over it and get on board.
Previously, Muslim ‘scholar’ Aslan has been a controversial figure for his interpretations of other religions, like the time he called Jesus a Marxist. Now it seems he’s moving on to rogue interpretations of his own religion and the Constitution.
In an open letter to the Huffington Post, Aslan explained, “With all the rainbow-flag waving and self-congratulatory pats on the back this country is giving itself right now, you don't need another reason for Americans to dislike you,” which is a great reason to believe something – groupthink at its best.
But that’s not enough, Aslan reminded American Muslims that their rights are guaranteed along with LGBT’ers: “After all, the constitution that just ensured the rights of LGBT communities is the same constitution that protects our mosques and community centers…You can't celebrate one without the other.”
Well … except that freedom of religion was explicitly outlined in the First Amendment to the Constitution, while gay marriage is a right invented out of thin air last week.
According to Aslan, “You can't pick and choose which civil liberties apply to which people. Either we are all equal, or the whole thing is just a sham.” But you can – and the Framers did, picking religion, press, speech, etc., and it certainly hasn’t looked like a sham for the past two hundred years.
And don’t forget the Quran’s ringing endorsement for gay marriage! Aslan quotes: "’Believers, stand firm for God, be witnesses for justice. Never allow the hatred of people to prevent you from being just. Be just, for this is closest to righteousness (Quran 5:8).’”
And apparently this is case closed. Aslan explains, “It doesn't get any clearer than that. You may think LGBT rights is a new conversation, something that's only recently come into contact with modern Islamic thought, but trust us, it's not.”
Well it may not get any clearer than that, but you don’t have to be a Muslim scholar to figure out that gay marriage is not what Muhammad was talking about there.
His conclusion from these shaky points: “[Muslims] have to do more than tolerate. We have to embrace. We have to fight for the right of others to live their lives as freely as we want to live ours.”
Toleration isn’t enough, active support is necessitated.
CNN is set to run a new show, Believer, on world religions with Aslan. With demonstrated hyper-progressive views toward religion, he’s undoubtedly their ideal candidate.
