From a theological point of view, it is not within our purview to determine who is a “real Christian” or a “real Muslim,” nor do we have any interest in doing so. This is reserved for the adherents of Christianity and Islam.
But being, or not being, a “real Christian” or a “real Muslim” is pervasively used today as a political statement. This is within our purview to comment on, and this comment reduces to one word: hypocrisy. Supposedly, it is politically incorrect to deal in the question of who is a “real Muslim,” but politically correctto label someone a “real Christian” or “not Christian.” Heaven forfend that a terrorist who himself kills in the name of Islam — not only a religious but a political act too — is labeled a “real Muslim,” but Pope Francis has no trouble labeling a politician as “not Christian.”
There’s a logical fallacy called “No True Scotsman.” It’s when people try to distance themselves from wayward members of a group by excluding them. Prof. Bradley Dowden explains it thus:
Person A: “No Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge.”
Person B: “But my uncle Angus likes sugar with his porridge.”
Person A: “Ah yes, but no true Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge.”
Sound familiar? As in, no true Muslim would be an Islamic terrorist. Or now, in the latest iteration, Pope Francis said in obvious reference to Donald Trump: “A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian.”
The logic behind the argument is a form of denial. Instead of confronting the uncomfortable, one denies it exists.
Newsflash: Donald Trump is a Christian. Islamic terrorists are Muslims. The Crusaders were Christian. Baruch Goldstein was a Jew. To say that they are not “real” adherents doesn’t change their membership. Nor do the actions of any religion’s adherents erase the stain or the glory (as the case may be) on the religion that they may bring to it.
Surprise: It is incredible in the wake of Islamic terrorism how many scholars of Islam have emerged to determine the character of an individual Muslim’s faith.
No surprise: The pope, as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, says he speaks for who is and who is not a Christian in the non-Catholic Christian tradition, be they Protestants or Orthodox Christians.
It would be politically convenient if every religious group were pure; if every adherent of every religion conducted himself or herself in accord with “thou shalt not kill” and other ethical and moral standards. But every honest person knows it isn’t this way. Which doesn’t make the adherents of, say, Christianity or Islam, “not a real Christian” or “not a real Muslim.”
We hate to break it to Virginia, yes, there is a Santa Claus, and yes, there is no perfection in religion on this earth. To read the non-perfect adherents out of any given religion is essentially to deny that religion exists at all. An absurd claim.
Distortion of, or failings in the practice of, any given faith doesn’t mean that people who act in the name of their faith are no longer a member of the faith. Their actions reflect on it. They are “real” members.
Copyright © 2016 by the Intermountain Jewish News
