Reza Aslan: Why I am a Muslim

[rug]

Editor's note: Reza Aslan is the author of "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth" and the host of CNN's new original series "Believer With Reza Aslan," Sundays at 10 p.m. ET starting on March 5. The views expressed are his own.

By Reza Aslan
Updated 10:17 AM ET, Sun February 26, 2017

(CNN) As a writer and scholar of religions, I am often asked how, knowing all that I know about the religions of the world, I can still call myself a believer, let alone a Muslim.

It's a reasonable question. Considering the role that religion so often plays in fueling conflicts abroad and inspiring bigotry at home, it is not always so easy to defend the value of religion in society. And, in a world in which reason and religion seem to be moving further apart, it is certainly understandable why so many people view religious faith as the hallmark of an irrational mind.

Of course, as someone who has spent the better part of the last two decades studying the world's religions -- and having recently crisscrossed the globe for my new spiritual adventure series "Believer," where I immerse myself in religious traditions both familiar and downright bizarre -- I know better than to take the truth claims of any religion (including my own) too seriously.

But I also know this: Religion and faith are not the same thing.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/26/opinions/believer-personal-faith-essay-reza-aslan/

[guillaumeb]

1. Recommended.

Well written.

From the article:

'A signpost to God'
Faith is mysterious and ineffable. It is an emotional, not necessarily a rational, experience.

And because it is an emotional choice, the language and techniques of science are not useful.

And yet, in the end, faith is nothing more or less than a choice. You either believe there is something beyond the physical world (as I do), or you don't. You either believe you are more than the sum of your material parts (as I do), or you don't. You either believe in the existence of a soul (as I do), or you don't.
No one can prove or disprove these things, not any more than anyone can prove or disprove love or fear or any other human emotion.

A succinct description of what faith is, and what it is not.

[Jim__]

2. Interesting essay.

That's where religion comes in. Beyond the doctrines and dogma, the do's and the don't's, religion is simply a framework for thinking about the existential questions we all struggle with as human beings.

Well said.