What is a real Muslim?

[robvalue]

Well, I'd say that is slightly different. You're making a claim about the nature of your being, which is contradicted by simple observation.

More drivel that really matters to no one:

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I'm speaking from a legal standpoint, ultimately. I guess if your religion was that you believe you're a teapot, or just that you are a teapot, then you would be part of that religion. So "I'm a teapot" could be your religious views.

What I'm really saying is that claiming to be a Muslim says absolutely nothing about you in real terms, from the point of view of an independent observer. There's nothing involved in the claim that can be tested in any way. It's just like giving yourself an arbitrary new name and asking everyone to call you that. You can go on to explain your interpretation of Islam, and it can be anything at all. Religion doesn't have to make sense or have any grounding in reality, clearly.

More to the point, you don't even have to believe what you say you believe. If I just declare I'm Muslim, and write this on a form, then as far as the law is concerned, I am a Muslim at that time.

As a more extreme example, I could say I believe every usual Christian doctrine and no usual Islamic doctrine, but that I am still "A Muslim". It would be a stupid thing to say, but since it is a claim that means nothing specific except that I call myself a Muslim, then that's what I am. My interpretation is just extremely nonstandard. My conclusion is not required to make sense. What most other people would call me doesn't matter; that would be religious oppression if my religious status could be legally dictated to me by the majority based on their reaction to my interpretation.

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