Reza Aslan Cannot Be Trusted 

David Pakman's Opus.

Hell his degree in fictional writing should make him an expert in religious writing

I can't believe how cringe inducing Aslan is. ....and trust me, i have a Phd in cringe inducing self promotion

This is why I love David. He is a lefty like myself but stands for facts. We are not saying people should be afraid of muslims but ignoring facts or lying about stats is anti-intellectual..

This kind of reporting could do your channel very well. Since TYT is in the toilet, and Secular Talk is sitting on the fence, you and Rubin are the only two channels I look forward to watching. There needs to be another wave of progressive channels.

I have never met a true expert in a field that felt the need to constantly remind everyone that he was an expert and used arguments from authority to get their points across.

Holy crap! How did I not know this? I'm so glad I found this video. I feel ashamed of myself for just trusting him at his word without research. Valuable lesson learned. Thank you so much for thi...and now I know what to look for from here on out. Thank you. What a shame, I enjoyed listening to him.

A Creative Writer who creates a mythology around his actual educational background

wow - this was devastating. It deserves to go viral.

He's definitely been putting his degree in fictional writing to good use while defaming Sam Harris.

I can't believe I used to think Aslan was cool

Reza "I have a phd in religion" Aslan. I've been calling this guy a charlatan for nearly 10 years now. Glad people are taking notice.

Fantastic job, David. Islam contains many bad ideas and they must be addressed without resorting to language intended to shut down conversation.

A devastating takedown of Reza Aslan.

I dunno, creative writing and religion are the same thing, aren't they?

Thank you, this was much needed

Who funded this video? Does the Pakman show reveal its funding?

This is a very impressive example of investigative journalism. Well done David.

Here is a quote from his PhD advisor Mark Juergensmayer: “Since I was Reza’s thesis adviser at the Univ. of California-Santa Barbara, I can testify that he is a religious studies scholar. (I am a sociologist of religion with a position in sociology and an affiliation with religious studies). Though Reza’s PhD is in sociology most of his graduate course work at UCSB was in the history of religion in the dept of religious studies. Though none of his 4 degrees are in history as such, he is a “historian of religion” in the way that that term is used at the Univ of Chicago to cover the field of comparative religion; and his theology degree at Harvard covered Bible and Church history, and required him to master New Testament Greek. So in short, he is who he says he is.”

He sounds like the kind of person who should be featured on r/iamverysmart because of how much he keeps mentioning his supposed credentials.

Wow, I never knew Aslan was this much of a liar.

But guys, HE HAS A PhD in REliGiOuS HiSTORy!

This is the second time I"ve watched this video. Just want to give DP Show another big thumbs up. This is really terrific journalism David, thank you.

Great to go back to these old ones and see your evolution, David, you have really come a long way!

For anyone who disliked this video, why? I'm really curious about what Pakman gets wrong here. This seems to be pretty damning evidence against Reza.

God damn, David. This is possibly one of your finest works. Bravo!

Thank you Pakman! Challenging the status quo and reminding people that our lens impacts our perspectives

"How to Win Arguments", by Reza Aslan. 1. Lie about your credentials. 2. Say that your fake credentials make your arguments automatically superior to your opponent's, who doesn't know any better. 3. The end.

If only Christopher Hitches was alive :'(

This was thorough, scholarly, articulate and professional with no frothy unsubstantiated emotional claims or inflammatory rhetoric. I found it very inspirational - thank you for being a voice of reason and for having the courage to stand up against people who criticize and suppress the free thinkers that refuse to conform to politically correct dogma.

This is one of the best video by David Pakman

I’m really impressed by this. This is a great analysis and breakdown of all the constant flaws in Aslans “expressed”

This! This video alone is worth a subscription.

The pictures of those screaming little girls were too much for me... How can grown-ups do this to little girls?!

Very well done video! Thank you David!

Wow, I had no idea. Great video man.

Secular Talk it's still the most level source in my opinion, David has some crazy beliefs regarding feminism, but glad to see the team is coming around a little to some of these bit issues.

Not going to lie, I was pretty skeptical about this video until I watched it through. Great research.

SAE (self appointed experts) like Reza Aslan and many other religious leaders would much prefer you to just trust them as an authority figure, never question them, but this expose on Reza was the utmost damaging, the title of this piece is clearly warranted, from his distortion of his education, his distortion on downplaying FGM in the Muslim world, and a litany of charges that Pakman clearly demonstrates. Reza should be embarrassed enough to go into hiding after this piece went public five years ago, but he’s most been doing damage control through many more ad hominem attacks making him even less an expert that he so desperately wants others to think of him as.

great work on this video and all your research!

Real journalism on the TYT network? This does not compute.

I'm a liberal and Reza is doing nothing new to help the liberal cause. So many people swallow his lies without really researching most of his outrageous claims.

"Professor of Creative Writing at UC Riverside." At least the man is smart enough to not play *that* one up.

wonderful piece, thank you for sharing

Any critic of the liar & idiot Reza Aslan is a friend of mine. Subscribed. (From Dave Rubin's interview.)

Excellent Video, looking forward to more of this long form content in the future! :)

This was awesome! Thanks for the thorough education.

Nailed it again David! :)

Thank you for this, Mr. Pakman.

(Please excuse the lack of paragraphs.) Even though I hold a Master's in history, I was reluctant to refer to myself as a historian given that I don't have, nor do I have any plans to study for, a doctorate in the field. Ultimately, however, I started using the term given the original research I contributed to the my field and frankly, because I worked damn hard for it and I'm proud of my accomplishment. That said, I only ever mention it (and essentially only online as it's not necessary face-to-face) to indicate that I'm trained in a particular subject and might understand some aspect of an issue in a way that one who hasn't had formal training would. But that doesn't make me right. I might be able to explain the how or why of an issue and might strengthen someone's opposition to my opinion. It also doesn't mean that I don't respect what those who don't have formal training have to say. I can begin to list the people who have zero formal training yet have been the first source I'll reference on a particular subject. There is an "amateur" historian who has written several books in my field of expertise who I feel has a far better understanding of the subject and whose work I cite often. She earned it through her research, not her degrees or lack thereof.

what an amazing and eyeopening piece of field work! just....WOW!

1,000,000 subscribers! Grats!

Thank you David Pakman for speaking to the suave intellectualistic danger of Reza Aslan. He has also infuriated the Scientology watching community with his oatmeal justifications for Scientology.

Excellent video! Im glad you made this analysis since I did followed what he said in different media.

This is fantastically well done.

"Since I was Reza’s thesis adviser at the Univ. of California-Santa Barbara, I can testify that he is a religious studies scholar. (I am a sociologist of religion with a position in sociology and an affiliation with religious studies). Though Reza’s PhD is in sociology most of his graduate course work at UCSB was in the history of religion in the dept of religious studies. Though none of his 4 degrees are in history as such, he is a “historian of religion” in the way that that term is used at the Univ of Chicago to cover the field of comparative religion; and his theology degree at Harvard covered Bible and Church history, and required him to master New Testament Greek. So in short, he is who he says he is." -Reza Aslan's PhD adviser,Mark Juergensmeyer.

This is the way I like to see a takedown. Thorough and complete. Not relying on constantly pausing and interrupting them during a comment, but instead by allowing their entire argument to be said and then dealing with it honestly. Good stuff.

This is a great video, a must-watch for anyone duped by Aslan's half-truths and outright untruths.

Thank you for this.

Excellent vid David.

David, I am conservative and I often diagree with you, but I always thought that you are an honest person with different opinion. This video confirmed, that I was right :)

Another muslim basher. What qualifies this guy to authenticate someone elses experience in their field, works both ways. He also fails to reference Reza on most of the points he aims to provocates e.g. Womens rights in malaysia.

This, written out, would have gotten an A+ at any university which studies religion. Brilliant work per usual by David.

This was fantastic! Thank you!

Nowhere in the Old Testament is slavery forbidden either, David. Is Judaism a religion that promotes slavery (to the same extent as it promotes genital mutilation)?

from his dissertation supervisor, Mark Juergensmeyer, is interesting: Since i was Reza’s thesis adviser at the Univ of California-Santa Barbara, I can testify that he is a religious studies scholar. (I am a sociologist of religion with a position in sociology and an affiliation with religious studies). Though Reza’s PhD is in sociology most of his graduate course work at UCSB was in the history of religion in the dept of religious studies. Though none of his 4 degrees are in history as such, he is a “historian of religion” in the way that that term is used at the Univ of Chicago to cover the field of comparative religion; and his theology degree at Harvard covered Bible and Church history, and required him to master New Testament Greek. So in short, he is who he says he is. historicaljesusresearch.blogspot.ca/2013/07/did-reza-aslan-lie-about-his.html

Now this is Great Journalism! Shed light on everyone and everything

Top notch reporting!

This is a great piece of work.

David This was such a good commentary I just wish more knew who he is because of the title,because any Fee thinker trapped in PC would benefit from this!

Reminds me of "Dr. Laura", who had a PhD in Physiology, not any field related to counseling, psychiatry, or psychology.

This level of journalism is why I sub to David.

Aslan is a goofball. Making any intellectual comment about this clown would give him more respect than he deserves. Just ignore.

Excellent journalism David

This is rather excellently done, almost impeccable. There is some discussion around the research material that Reza Aslan worked on for his PhD, in that it attested that there was a large religious history content.

This video needs to go viral!

I love how you entirely destroyed Aslan in this video! Great work! He's lied about his credentials, in order to build a platform for his career. It's just academic dishonesty and unethic. If he has a PhD in anything, he would know this.

sam harris warned you

This is one of only a few of Pakman's videos I'll like.

Great Video !! Absolutely true.

Great vid, thanks for setting straight David.

This is some of the best reporting I have ever seen on this channel. I am actually kinda shocked anything in the tyt network would be so critical of political correctness or Islam in general. *Edit/Correction* David Pakman is not associated with tyt. My mistake.

Thank you David Packman for being honest about the problems with Islam. A lot of progressives are less open about these issues.

I don't love everything in this video but enough that you've earned a new sub. WP

-Reza Doesn't Have a PhD in Religion: - Would you agree with him if he did?. What credentials does Sam Harris have regarding the study of religion again?. Why do you take his word at face value when even a masters beats Harris's educational standing in this particular arena?. Moreover, if you are going to take Harris side on this, than clearly education in religion is not important anyway so why demand it of one & not the other?. FGM: - Female Genital Mutilation occurs in non-Muslim societies in Africa and is practiced by Christians, Muslims and Animists alike. In Egypt, where perhaps 97 percent of girls suffer genital mutilation, both Christian Copts and Muslims are complicit. *Again*, why only draw the spotlight onto the Muslim population?... unless you have a vested interest in only highlighting one, as the other does not fit the proposed narrative. Indonesian Sharia: - This was very selective, as the part highlighted 'Aceh' is the only province in the Muslim-dominated country to adhere to sharia, which puts it at odds with other provinces where the vast majority of the population practices a moderate form of the religion. Moreover, Aceh was granted special autonomy in 2005 as part of an agreement with Jakarta to end decades of separatist violence, Aceh's adoption of sharia law comes after several churches were burnt down following Islamist pressure. Therefore, this was highly politically motivated, rather than strictly religious. Hamas using Human-Shields: - Hamas has made no secret of its policy of encouraging civilians to face down Israeli attacks “with their bare chests”. But we don’t know how many people have followed this advice, so it’s difficult to say how far Hamas can be blamed for the civilian deaths. We do know that rockets have been stored in UN-run schools, which may or may not add credibility to Israel’s broader claims that Hamas has a habit of operating in civilian areas. However, even if all these things turn out to be true, they may not exonerate Israel from the accusation of war crimes being levelled by the UN’s human rights chief Navi Pillay. Israel’s conduct could still be found to be “indiscriminate” or “disproportionate” if it led to excessive civilian casualties or failed to distinguish between military and civilian targets, regardless of the behaviour of Hamas. Reports emerged during the most recent conflict of Hamas urging residents to ignore Israeli warnings to evacuate. However, these calls may have been motivated by a desire to minimize panic and displacement, in any case, such statements are not the same as directing specific civilians to remain in their homes as “human shields” for fighters, munitions, or military equipment. Under international humanitarian law even if “human shields” are being used Israel’s obligations to protect these civilians would still apply. [Amnesty International]. Ad-hominem attacks: - Do a video on Harris's words of Ben Affleck after their tiff on Real Time, when asked about this on The Rubin Report Harris stated "The outburst may have been due to all the steroids he was on for his role in Batman". Or calling Jullian Assange a "Creepy Bastard" on the Joe Rogan Experience for merely showing the video 'Collateral murder' to the America public, which demanded the messenger be reprimanded rather than the culprits.

I don't quite understand the part about his credentials. He has a Phd in Sociology and the subject of his thesis was Religion, which also is his main area of interest, furthermore, he does have a masters degree in theology. Now sure, he is quite obnoxious about flaunting his degrees, but to say he is lying about his credentials is overstating an issue a bit, no?

best video yet David

The problem with lying is everybody's going to think of you as a liar.

I instantly subscribed after I saw this video. Absolutely brilliant stuff, Mr. Pakman.

Ten million thumbs up David! Thank you so much for exposing the massive assholishness of Reza Aslan.

You my friend are a true liberal ! respect from Algeria we need allies like you to support us liberals in the Muslim world

David is amazing \m/

"fact that it is also practiced by Christians and other groups with ancient beliefs makes it hard to say the practice is particularly Muslim"....why does David ignore the fact that fgm is done in non Islamic countries all throughout Africa?? if fgm is Islamic as David suggests them why is it practiced in non Islamic countries??? why does fgm pre date islam??

Wow, this video was a solid breakdown with perfect arguments. David Pakman, we all know that Trump is a moron, but please do more of these videos and a little less of the President-elect. I realize that discussing his actions is very important because MSM has been failing of late, but your channel needs more breadth than just Trump.

Really REALLY good critique & an accurate calling-out of irresponsibility, inaccuracy and perhaps dishonesty on Reza's part. I was not aware of half of this. I don't agree with everything I've heard from Pakman but this makes me want to subscribe to get more balanced content.

The title sums it up. I've known this for years.

Never heard Bill Nye, Carl Sagan or Neil DeGrasse Tyson mentioning constantly their credentials..

We are not having this discussion in "a legitimate way" .. makes you cringe.

Wow David hit the nail on the head on this one.

Great vid. Appears that unlike Aslan's statements David has done his empirical and factual research on the issues.