It isn’t as if Fox News has a high bar for journalistic talent or integrity. Lauren Green, however, seems crappy even for Fox News.
Reza Aslan is one of the world’s foremost scholars on the subject of world religions. He recently wrote a book, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth (Amazon). Fox News decided to have Lauren Green “interview” him. The result was simply embarrassing.
Greene demanded to know why a Muslim would write a book about “the founder of Christianity.” To that, Aslan replied, “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.”
That wasn’t good enough for this hack. She seemed truly incapable of understanding why anyone with a Muslim background would write about Christianity. Aslan explained to her, with clear irritation but measured patience, “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.”
Finally, toward the end, desperate that she hadn’t gotten a single punch in, Greene runs to try and paint Aslan as dishonest. “You never disclosed you were a Muslim,” she said. Aslan immediately gave her a very polite slap with: “Ma’am the 2nd page of my book says I’m a Muslim.”
All that was missing from the Fox News playbook was her asking him whether he hated America or was working for terrorists. I guess the teleprompter broke.
Anyone who watches Fox News for any other reason than to point and laugh really needs to have their head examined.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lkWngd2hZ4]
