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CNN fires Reza Aslan after he tweeted Trump is a piece of shit.

E

Erevador

Member
Should have been fired for his obfuscation about female genital mutilation, suggesting it was merely an "African problem."
 
L

LiK

Member
And yet Corey Lewandowski was hired as a political commentator shortly after the physical assault incident.
 
G

Golden_Pigeon

Banned
cloudburst said:
I agree. He does present a whitewashed version of Islam, and this is coming from someone who took a course of his.
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I don't think he present a whitewashed version of Islam at all, he present Islam as he understand it. I read some part of his book about Islam, and i don't agree with everything, but i don't believe he is manipulating anything. He just give his personals views and he certainly is knowledgeable. He says for instance that hijab is not a quranic injunction. Classic sunni scholarship affirm that it does. He would be a liar if he was was pretending to give the classic sunni interpretation of Islam. I think it's pretty clear that he place himself above all sects/doctrines in his understanding of Islam.

He accept Islam as existing by itself, independent of what men do with it. For others academics, Islam is ISIS and the Muslim Golden Age alike. I don't believe that one approach is necessarily better than the other, it's just different.

Anyway, he shouldn't have made this tweet, it's pointless. His voice is useful and he will loose some audience because of that.
 
A

Aselith

Member
Well it's true but it's not really the hill to die on. You're not going to change anyone's mind.

But I understand why he'd do it and hes right.
 
C

Chuck Norris

Banned
Piece of shit is too kind for Trump.

A piece of shit is the end product of feeding your body nutrients and staying healthy. It is a good thing. Calling Trump a piece of shit is too kind.

Trump is more like a pile of vomit. Where you make a bad decision and it all comes flying up out of your face into a foul smelling, sickly mess.
 
C

cloudburst

Banned
Golden_Pigeon said:
I don't think he present a whitewashed version of Islam at all, he present Islam as he understand it. I read some part of his book about Islam, and i don't agree with everything, but i don't believe he is manipulating anything. He just give his personals views and he certainly is knowledgeable.
But what scholar dosen't ? He accept Islam as existing by itself, independent of what men do with it. For others academics, Islam is ISIS and the Muslim Golden Age alike. I don't believe that one approach is necessarily better than the other, it's just different.
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He generally presents the good, and conceals the bad. A scholar shouldn't just present their personal view, they should present an objective viewpoint supported by reliable sources.

Having said that, I am not discounting his works or claiming he has malicious intent, I am simply stating that they are more aimed at providing an optimistic and liberal perspective of Islam.
 
G

Golden_Pigeon

Banned
cloudburst said:
He generally presents the good, and conceals the bad. A scholar shouldn't just present their personal view, they should present an objective viewpoint supported by reliable sources.

Having said that, I am not discounting his works or claiming he has malicious intent, I am simply stating that they are more aimed at providing an optimistic and liberal perspective of Islam.
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A whole chapter of his book on Islam is dedicated to fanaticism from the Khawarij to Al Qaida, so i don't know exactly what you're saying. Are you saying that he should says that the religion is inherently terrorist or sexist to be balanced ?
 
G

Goose_Se7en

Banned
We have perpetually offended people on both sides. Shit is disgusting and this guy shouldn't have been let go regardless of his dumb tweet. Same thing goes for Kathy Griffin. I keep saying the freedom of speech is dying, some call it melodrama. I call it facts. We have to talk around eggshells and think of every word we say before delivering it. Screw that.

You say a joke, you send a tweet and folks go right after you, they want your job your livelihood, shit maybe even your life if they could have it. I may not agree with this guy's tweet, or Griffin's tasteless joke but I'll defend their ability to tweet and joke about w.e. they want without fear of losing their jobs.

This Believer series meant alot to this Reza person and now it's just down the shitter.
 
G

Goose_Se7en

Banned
Crema said:
Freedom of speech was never about letting people say anything without any consequences.
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Oh I hear you, but i'm sure the founding fathers didn't intend for Twitter and Facebook and the rest of social media, alongside traditional outlets to try to self censor and police folks thoughts, jokes and tweets. Exit polls during the 2016 election said Clinton was going to win by a landslide. Why? So many of those polled lied lol.
 
NoMoreTrolls

NoMoreTrolls

Banned
Stumpokapow said:
I actually agree that commentators shouldn't express themselves like this. I think professional people should conduct themselves respectfully and with dignity in public.

But it seems totally untenable to simultaneously argue that the way Trump speaks about others is acceptable and that the way others speak about Trump is unacceptable.

And enforcing it against a guy who gets paid to talk on CNN and not against a guy who gets paid to use the nuclear codes seems arbitrary and capricious.
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Can't disagree with this. At some point, people are going to have to come to terms that the internet is real life, now. Shit you say online has consequences. If you say some objectionable things online that compromise your place of work (even if true), expect to lose your job. Twitter is not a private place to vent; community outreach (and outrage) is at an all time high, so expect anything you say to be heard by someone who wants you to lose your job.
 
J

Jumeira

Banned
cloudburst said:
He generally presents the good, and conceals the bad. A scholar shouldn't just present their personal view, they should present an objective viewpoint supported by reliable sources.

Having said that, I am not discounting his works or claiming he has malicious intent, I am simply stating that they are more aimed at providing an optimistic and liberal perspective of Islam.
Click to expand...

Yes... an accurate perspective practiced by moderates, whats dishonest about ideas that are in action and understood by the majority of Muslims? Shouldnt you be supporting him and muslims that hold thks view?

Erevador said:
Should have been fired for his obfuscation about female genital mutilation, suggesting it was merely an "African problem."
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Its largely concentrated in Africa hes not wrong there (according to Unicef)
 
M

MKIL65

Member
RustyNails said:
You know where else Reza Aslan is hated? On racists, Islamophobes and nazis' websites. Great company you got.
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Whenever a minority speaks up and manages to provide a well-informed argument, you know some racist asshats out there will throw a fit.

To Clarify: I'm not defending this guy specifically, cause I don't know his history. But if some other brown dude said the same thing, they would also likely get fired.
 
Z

ZealousD

Makes world leading predictions like "The sun will rise tomorrow"
Erevador said:
Should have been fired for his obfuscation about female genital mutilation, suggesting it was merely an "African problem."
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I suspect you don't even the remember the context under which he said that.
 
L

littlebigman

Member
I grew up gay in a Christian household, so I have very, very little patience for people who try to damage control for dangerous religious ideologies under the guise of love and tolerance. Good riddance.
 
F

Fracas

#fuckonami
I don't see the issue here. Dude can hold whatever opinion he wants, just don't spew stuff like that in public. It's incredibly unprofessional and I wouldn't want someone saying that stuff to represent my brand. It's an open and shut thing.

The apology is nice, but I think the damage was done.
 
R

RionaaM

Unconfirmed Member
The problem is that he implied Trump is not a complete shit, only a piece of it. He's minimizing Trump's shittiness.
 
K

Kyzer

Banned
If Reza Azlan was a rapper maybe he could get away with being crude and Trump-like in his tweets without losing his job, unfortunately he's a public figure that represents a company and they have every right to terminate any association with someone who doesn't carry themselves to whatever standard they determine appropriate.
 
Z

Zubz

Banned
RionaaM said:
The problem is that he implied Trump is not a complete shit, only a piece of it. He's minimizing Trump's shittiness.
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Well, if it turns out he's one of many, many people that Russia has their sticky fingers locked into, then he's still just a piece. A big piece, but maybe not even the biggest.

I take solace knowing that being told he's not the biggest piece of feces would eat into that idiot, too.
 
O

Omega Kirby

Member
Stumpokapow said:
I actually agree that commentators shouldn't express themselves like this. I think professional people should conduct themselves respectfully and with dignity in public.

But it seems totally untenable to simultaneously argue that the way Trump speaks about others is acceptable and that the way others speak about Trump is unacceptable.

And enforcing it against a guy who gets paid to talk on CNN and not against a guy who gets paid to use the nuclear codes seems arbitrary and capricious.
Click to expand...

Sometimes you just can't hold it in any longer. Was it worth it? Who knows
 
V

victreeb3l

Member
Fracas said:
I don't see the issue here. Dude can hold whatever opinion he wants, just don't spew stuff like that in public. It's incredibly unprofessional and I wouldn't want someone saying that stuff to represent my brand. It's an open and shut thing.

The apology is nice, but I think the damage was done.
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I dont think he apologized, which makes me like Reza even more. Fuck Trump, and honestly fuck CNN for their double standards.
 
T

The Artisan

Member
effingvic said:
I dont think he apologized, which makes me like Reza even more. Fuck Trump, and honestly fuck CNN for their double standards.
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it wasn't really an apology it just looks like he wanted to leave cnn on good terms, like he didn't say anything that would imply ill will towards them.
 
V

victreeb3l

Member
The Artisan said:
it wasn't really an apology it just looks like he wanted to leave cnn on good terms, like he didn't say anything that would imply ill will towards them.
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Yeah hes just being professional now. If he left saying FUCK CNN that would make it much harder for him to land his next gig. No one wants to hire a guy who shits on their previous boss.
 
T

The Artisan

Member
effingvic said:
Yeah hes just being professional now. If he left saying FUCK CNN that would make it much harder for him to land his next gig. No one wants to hire a guy who shits on their previous boss.
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indeed. but this and the cannibal thing aren't adding positives to his image.
 
M

MiloHoffman

Member
images
 
L

Limit

Member
He needed to play the language game a bit better. Beat around the bush some. Say it but don't say it. Learn something politicians for once. They are the masters at it.
 
S

Spoiled Milk

Banned
D

Deleted member 10571

Unconfirmed Member
So, do they now have a giant shitstorm on their hands, as they would have by the right if they fired a pro Trump commentary?
 
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