Comments by "Rob McCune" (@robm6645) on "Reza Aslan Cannot Be Trusted" video.

  1. bow man So it is regressive to allow for some disagreement? Or is it regressive to work together on important issues?  The fact is Kyle calls out bad behavior all the time, but if the situation calls for it, he will admit that the other side has a point. Apparently it is specific criticism and nuance that are regressive, I see that now.
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  2. +Epic MP Kinda. Depends, research things for yourself.
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  3. +DocZom Hold on now, valuing human rights is regressive, while militarism, authoritarianism and ethnocentrism are all progressive. Didn't you learn anything from Pakman?
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  4. +gnhtd1 I'm pretty sure the middle segment about Reza's position on Israel is what is driving the entire video in David's mind. That said both sides of the Israeli-Palestine conflict wage these wars for political theater, and both should be condemned.
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  5. Noah Ferguson He claims it's fine for Harris to gain expertise outside of his specific fields of education, yet he condemns Reza for the same thing. It is contradictory and a double standard the way Pakman presents it. Either one can gain credible expertise through independent scholarship or one cannot.  There is definite room to criticize Reza for both misrepresenting his credentials and for being a hypocrite in his criticism of Harris for lacking credentials. But if you are going to say Reza lacks credentials in the field he talks about but also claim it is wrong of him to criticize Harris because Harris does his own research, then you need to explain that middle ground.  Pakman not only doesn't do that, but splits those criticisms up and hopes no one will notice.
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  6. +Charlie Everton Actually you should be concerned with the facts rather than A. declaring him leader of anything, and B. demanding that he be smeared and discredited.
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  7. +AnxiousObserver Congratulations on being more committed to the truth than political affiliation or cult of personality.
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  8. Ryan MacFarlane Occupying land isn't self defense. 
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  9. Ryan MacFarlane . "So you believe that genocidal barbarians are entitled to the region just because they say so?" Certainly not, which is why I oppose Israel's illegal land grab. "Israel is a democratic society which treats its people equally under the law, and which guarantees basic rights and freedoms to all its citizens" Not even remotely true.
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  10. +kurd55 Yeah, I'm guessing David put that comment at the end of the video so people wouldn't notice the contradiction. Either independent scholarly research without a degree is acceptable, or it is not. I personally think it is so long as one is upfront about it, but David doesn't apply this consistently.
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  11. +Adam Birch What makes you think he's part of the progressive movement?
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  12. bow man That's not what does on anything else, so that is almost certainly not what he said. There is a difference between acknowledging a liberal muslim is better than ISIS and giving someone a pass. Kyle does the first one, but not the second one. 
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  13. Matt Greer Since he mischaracterized what Kyle says, I don't see why that is problem. The fact is Kyle takes things on an issue by issue basis, and a lot of the time is never 100% for a person or 100% against them.  What Kyle is doing is allowing for disagreement, what Kyle is doing is acknowledging that there is room to work together on common issues. And this is what bow man called regressive. 
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  14. +mikeissjr Especially since at the end of the video he claims Sam Harris is perfectly justified in coming to his own conclusions based on independent research.
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  15. +SuperMokez No it was a two fold point, first that he doesn't have the degrees he claims, second that he doesn't have proper credentials or expertise. The second one Pakman hypocritically contradicts himself on, so he put it at the end of the video and hoped no one would notice.
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  16. +Joe Berg That's Pakman, he's going to be hugely biased on Israel and issues surrounding Judaism. It's one of those things you're going to have learn to accept.
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  17. +Julie Collura David's not going to learn how academia works, that will undermine his argument.
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  18. Noah Ferguson Harris's qualifications, or lack there of, aren't really relevant. The difference is in the way in which they are portrayed in the video. 
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  19. Omar Hanbali And since they're not really a political group to begin with it won't make much of a difference.
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  20. bow man I've explained that like 3 times now. The fact you see no difference between what is actually true and your own characterization shows that what I am saying is correct.
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  21. +Noah Ferguson Well he contradicted him self by saying that Reza Aslan has no impact on scholarship, then claimed Reza Alsan was responsible for biased scholarship regarding female genital mutilation. So he has no impact on religious studies or history, but is somehow able to manipulate not only academia but international policy making bodies. The later claim is not evidenced in the video. He also contradicted himself when he used a lack of credentials to discredit Reza Aslan, but then later in the video claims Sam Harris is credible because he does his own independent non-academic research. And then there is the part of the video where he says Reza is dangerous for opposing civilian casualties done by the IDF.
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  22. Neil F The part where Pakman condemns Reza for his opposition to civilian casualties comes shortly after David denies FGM is a central African problem and displays a map showing the prevalence of FGM in central Africa. If Aslan has any influence on policy David still provided no evidence for it, only repeated that he did have influence over both academia and policy.  Regardless the video has a clear double standard about what kind of expertise can be gained by studying things one does not have a degree for.
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  23. Noah Ferguson "Human shields" is an excuse to justify civilian casualties. The fact is Israel was bombing millions of people fenced into a few square miles who had no where else to go. Civilian casualties can be condemned without apology and no one has to accept excuses.
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  24. +Poketto That already happens.
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  25. Poketto Fair enough, I'm not particularly a Reza fan myself, but I dislike the knee-jerk responses dropping his name gets. In fact his name is used as a slur in some cases.
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  26. Paul Adonia I suppose that's a more substantive criticism than most of the video, but that's not saying much.  Anyway as I said, I don't really like the guy, so I don't need more convincing not to like him. 
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  27. +Titus Orelius Why? That just means David gets less views.
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  28. Brendan Beckett Funny, the notion that an evil force controls everything, while at the same time their being beaten back by a silent majority is the same kind of propaganda one finds on Fox News.
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  29. Ryan MacFarlane Meanwhile your contention is herp di derp.de deedly derpty derpty dum.
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  30. Ryan MacFarlane It is the truest response, all you are doing is spinning an elaborate fiction with no bearing on reality. 
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  31. Ryan MacFarlane There is a very substantive argument against your position. You just have no interest in facts or arguments so there is not much point in going over it. The fact is Israels military occupation is not in any way defensive, you are just making it up. Innocent civilians including women and children are neither genocidal nor barbarians, you made it up. Israel is not a democracy because it does not have universal suffrage in it's self proclaimed borders, to be a democracy it must either stay within it's recognized borders or grant sufferage to all people living within. Same goes for human rights and equal protection, by denying this you are denying reality. And finally Hamas does not control Palestine, so the charter of terrorist group is not the definition of Palestinian society. In this instance you are both ignoring the reality of Fatah and Palestinian Authority, and making things up by claiming Hamas controls everything.  The only things you wish to content are either wholly fictions, or denials of reality or both.
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  32. Ryan MacFarlane The Confederacy doesn't exist any more. Not to mention they are citizens of the United States and have had the right to vote the entire time, along with all other rights of U.S. citizens. This is in no way applicable for that reason alone. It seems your grip on reality is gone with the wind.
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  33. checkcall123 Well you kinda have to be thinking and possess an attention span to notice it in the first place.
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  34. checkcall123 Exactly.
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  35. checkcall123 It's not my fault you can't see the obvious. Besides, I didn't make the video about him, David did. All he had to do was care about the truth rather than rhetoric but he couldn't do that.
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  36. checkcall123 If the arguments are bad, they deserve to be debunked. And those arguments revolve around Sam Harris, Israel Palestine, and misrepresenting the problem of FGM.
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  37. checkcall123 You don't have to consider yourself a dog just because you have a short attention span and are easily fooled.
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  38. checkcall123 I realize my greater understanding of the world may seem bizarre to you since are unable to see how I reach conclusions, but if you think it is insane, then perhaps you are the one who needs help. 
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  39. checkcall123 Who said anything about Reza?
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  40. checkcall123 I don't see what that has to do with anything.
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  41. checkcall123 The fact you are becoming less and less responsive is a troubling sign.
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  42. +Presadistic Law Actually it's not, there is a progressive candidate in the democratic party, Bernie Sanders, but no new atheist candidate. Unless you want to claim Hillary Clinton.
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  43. Omar Hanbali Simply put, Presadistic Law's comment is false. If it were true it would be borne out in the political landscape, and it is not. 
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  44. Presadistic Law If they don't have a political view how are they a divide among members of left? 
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  45. Presadistic Law Wut?
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  46. Adam Birch So how many degrees of separation does one need to become a "leader?" Also, at least two of those people you mentioned just interviewed the guy, which doesn't really count as an endorsement. So your evidence amounts to some people interviewed him.  If you asked me who leaders of the progressive movement were I would point to Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. What is their relationship to Reza? 
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  47. Adam Birch Jon Stewart did the same thing when he interviewed David Barton. That's because it was just a bad interview. Not to mention, I think the only hard interview he's had was on Fox News. And that was focused on how could a muslim write a book on Jesus. I'm also pretty sure he got a hard time on Bill Maher, for saying that killing children was wrong. Again I'm not seeing how he is a "progressive figure."
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  48. Adam Birch Well if you're going to demand that people denounce Reza, then you should establish him as the "progressive figure" you claim he is. What you are doing is backward, you seek to associate him with the progressive movement in the hopes of discrediting both. You even admit that in your comment, along with a silly ultimatum. 
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  49. Adam Birch He appears on CNN all the time. It's going to take a lot to just stop perpetuating his legitimacy, mostly him stopping his own self promotion. Also Dave Rubin is not a progressive.
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  50. Adam Birch Probably because he has said he isn't one and has a show dedicated to attacking them in a sort of guilt by association thing. Kinda like saying "Reza Aslan is a progressive figure."
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  51. +BIG BEAR To Ben C it means any liberal or reality based person.
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  52. Matt Greer Well you have that thing Kyle does 90% of the time, and you have the thing bow man said he did. What are the odds that what bow man said is true? 
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  53. ***** Those were the days when atheists were atheists.
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  54. Matt Greer No, they now worship false idols. 
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  55. Matt Greer When did I say that? 
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  56. Matt Greer It seems the only one generalizing here is you. And if you're the only one generalizing, that raises the question of who the real hypocrite is? 
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  57. Matt Greer Wut?
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