Very interesting, and much more revealing, interview with Reza Aslan, author of "Zealot."

I usually do not post videos that are this long but I did this time because I found this interview to be very interesting in that it explains what Aslan believes about the existence of Jesus, how much of what we think we know about Jesus is accurate, and how he, a scholar who studies religions, can remain an adherent of Islam.

Essentially Aslan is saying that nobody is supposed to take what is written in the Bible literally, including the words attributed to Jesus, but that what was written was supposed to provide a description of what the authors wanted readers to believe went on and describe the kind of man that people already believed Jesus to be.

He essentially says that where modern believers go wrong is in their desire to take what is written in the Bible as literal fact, when in fact it is Gospel truth, in that it is meant to impart a deeper "truth" about who they believed Jesus and other Biblical figures were rather than to paint an accurate picture of who they were and what they said.

Personally I find that explanation fascinating. To me it appears that the first step toward understanding the teachings in the Bible, or Quran, is to simply have faith, and to read them from that perspective, since without faith the books are of no value, either historically or as factual account of the lives of the characters within.

Since I simply cannot get past that first hurdle, my readings of the Bible have left me confused and sorely unimpressed.

Now another thing that Cenk Uygur was able to get out of Aslan, is the answer to a question that has been driving me crazy since I saw his first interview concerning this book.

You see Aslan has essentially destroyed one of my most personally held beliefs about the study of religion. And that is that somebody who REALLY studied religion, and compared them to one another, simply could NOT continue to be a person of faith.

Aslan's answer still leaves me with a lot of question about his faith, but it does answer the question, to some degree, as to how a learned individual could still believe in a supernatural being "beyond the materiel world."

I especially enjoyed this quote "Anyone who says 'I believe in Christianity' or I believe in Islam' misses the point. Christianity and Islam are not 'things to believe' they are signposts to God. They are a means to an end, not an end in and of themselves." 

I don't think this is the way much of Christianity is presented in this country, but it does make some sense.

Of course I still don't find myself compelled to believe any of it, but at least I can respect a learned person wanting to find a way to relate to something that they take on faith alone.

Here is the discussion of Babygate as promised by the Young Turks. Update!

This is a discussion with Salon's Justin Elliott on the subject of Trig's birth and the possibility that Sarah Palin faked it.  Which of course all of us know she did.

Part One



Part Two



Not terribly satisfying to me.  Especially how my crush Tina Dupuy seemingly dismisses it out of hand, without given much credibility from the outset. (I guess she WON'T be the future Ex-Mrs Gryphen then.)

But once again, at least it IS being talked about.

It also showed up over at Business Insider today. They handled it in a much more serious fashion than did either Justin Elliott or Tina Dupuy, in that they actually read Scharlott's research paper and paid attention to the evidence presented.

Now that the ball is rolling, let's see where it rolls to next.

Update: Joe McGinniss is not very happy with the media coverage of this story thus far either.