"Which leads me to the question I asked (which telemann ignored) -- What's Reza Aslan's real beef with "new atheists"?"
That they attack religion. What's more, they attack religion not only on purely intellectual grounds but on political and moral grounds too. Why wouldn't he have beef about that? Why wouldn't religious people be upset about criticisms of religion?
What Reza Aslan has been keen to draw attention to in his defences of religion (the ones that I've seen) is the diversity of religious belief and practice. He's happy for the bad beliefs and practices to be condemned provided that the good beliefs and practices are praised and as long as we don't kid ourselves that religion is any one thing.
And he's right.
If you want to make moral and political judgements of religion then you have to look at actual religious practices and beliefs, which are completely independent of any disinterested, rational and informed interpretations of religious scripture. The two things are simply separate topics.
There's nothing wrong with discussing these separate topics, but there's not much to be gained from conflating them.
If you want to use your time taking cheap shots at religious inconsistency and hypocrisy then by all means go for it... but don't pretend that it's enough to justify a moral and political critique of religion. It is, at best, a criticism of the rationality and intelligence of religion.
no subject
That they attack religion. What's more, they attack religion not only on purely intellectual grounds but on political and moral grounds too. Why wouldn't he have beef about that? Why wouldn't religious people be upset about criticisms of religion?
What Reza Aslan has been keen to draw attention to in his defences of religion (the ones that I've seen) is the diversity of religious belief and practice. He's happy for the bad beliefs and practices to be condemned provided that the good beliefs and practices are praised and as long as we don't kid ourselves that religion is any one thing.
And he's right.
If you want to make moral and political judgements of religion then you have to look at actual religious practices and beliefs, which are completely independent of any disinterested, rational and informed interpretations of religious scripture. The two things are simply separate topics.
There's nothing wrong with discussing these separate topics, but there's not much to be gained from conflating them.
If you want to use your time taking cheap shots at religious inconsistency and hypocrisy then by all means go for it... but don't pretend that it's enough to justify a moral and political critique of religion. It is, at best, a criticism of the rationality and intelligence of religion.