Reza Aslan has spent a career defending Islam as a talking head over at CNN. He works toward painting anyone who may be alarmed with radicalized Islamists and many of the ways mainstream Islam treats women and minorities, as intolerant bigots.
Aslan, in his attempt to prove us all a bunch of bigots, has embarked on his own journey of tolerance with his new show Believer with Reza Aslan, which chronicles his travels across the world to meet with strange religious leaders and sects.
None of them have been more weird than his recent interaction with Aghori, a sect (albeit apostate) of Hinduism. The Aghori believe they draw their power and connection to ‘God’ through the consumption and use of bodies of other human beings. Cremated remains are often used in their rituals, which involve rubbing and smearing the cremated remains into their skin. They also eat portions of human bodies. Yep, that’s right! Cannibalism.
During this visit to the tribe, Mr. Tolerance himself, attempted to excuse himself from his interaction because he feared the people he was with. Check out this interaction between him and the producers of the show:
Aslan: I feel like this may have been a mistake. Maybe we just … like, somebody distracts him and then I just leave?
Producer: We’ll just see where it goes.
Aslan: I can be polite. I can be very polite about it.
Why didn’t I think of that!? We can just defeat ISIS with kindness! Also, if you happened to be kidnapped by Radical Islamists, just ask someone to distract them while you sneak away politely!
Oh but it gets better! Aslan then politely accepted and ate human brain that was offered to him by these cannibals.
I guess that means that if you’re visiting with your radicalized Islamic neighbors, and they invited you over for some ritualistic chucking of gay people off of clock towers or stoning of some women in a soccer stadium, you can’t say no. It would make you an intolerant bigot.
Aslan ate another person’s brain because he was afraid of offending the threatening and violent man who sat in front of him. That isn’t tolerance. That’s cowardice. That’s conforming and bowing to fear. Next time I hear Aslan lecturing Americans on religious tolerance, be sure to remember that Aslan believes that tolerance extends to experimenting with cannibalism.
As for me, I’ll avoid the ingesting of other human beings, thank you very much.
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