[More in the cross-post on the MRC's NewsBusters blog.]
Don Lemon returned to the question of whether Islam is an inherently violent religion on the 8 September 2014 edition of CNN Tonight, as he interviewed Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison and author Reza Aslan. Lemon turned to his two Muslim guests for their take on a recent Tweet by atheist HBO host Bill Maher: "ISIS, one of thousands of Islamic militant groups beheads another. But by all means let's keep pretending all religions are alike."
Aslan contended that "Islam isn't a violent religion or a peaceful religion. It's just a religion, and like all religions, it is absolutely dependent on the interpretation of whomever follows it." This answer actually surprised the anchor, who cited an oft-used talking point by apologists for Islam. The University of California-Riverside professor continued with a relativistic argument about religion in general:
DON LEMON: But I think it's interesting that you say it's not a peaceful religion, because most Muslims will say that Islam is a peaceful religion.
REZA ASLAN, PROFESSOR, UC RIVERSIDE: ASLAN: I completely understand why most people of faith – regardless of the faith – think that the radicals and extremists within their faith are not really Jews; are not really Christians; are not really Muslims. But the fact of the matter is – is a Muslim is whoever says he's a Muslim. A Jew is whoever says he's a Jew.
The problem, however, is when we take the actions of an infinitesimal group and make it, somehow, predictive of the actions of everyone else – 1.6 billion Muslims, in this case. That's when the argument becomes completely strained and unbelievable.
But the fact of the matter is, if you're a violent, war-mongering person, you can find justification in any scripture. If you're a peaceful, pluralistic person, you can find justification for your views in the exact same scriptures.