My old friend is born and raised in Tennessee. He earned a Master's degree in Comparative Literature and almost completed his Ph.D., a specialist in French and German, as well as literary theory. I am pretty sure no one ever asked him, "You're from America, from Tennessee. Why are you interested in the languages and literature of France and Germany? Why do you teach impressionable young people to speak German in college?" Of course not.
So why do people ask Reza Aslan, a scholar of religions, a specialist in Christianity, why he has written a book on Jesus since he is Muslim? His being Muslim makes it no more strange for him to be interested in the historical Jesus than does my friend's being an American makes it strange for him to be interested in French and German.
People need to grow up.
Review of "Zealot" by Reza Aslan, from the New York Times, August 5, 2013.
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