Balderdash. Religion and belief in a god are two totally separate items. You can believe in a god but not religion and vice versa.
But he was in a bar! At least, that’s what I get from the quote you’re responding to. So, looks like you got yourself a takiya boy for a mayor there. Wait till he starts closing all those bars and ban public kissing. And issue a fatwa against putting up a Canadian flag.
Or, he really is not Muslim.
Yawn. Portland’s had a gay mayor for years. We’ve even had a sex scandal that no one cared about! He’s also got the same name as a beer, which is what Portland is also known for.
So someone beat a gay, sex-scandalizing, beer mayor!
Yes, but is he in a high profile marriage so people who meet him in an official capacity cannot ignore the fact that he is gay, and instead have to make charming small talk with his husband?
We had a gay Mayor before the turn of the millennium. He was an adequate mayor - not the worst, but far from the best. But he was gay. That counts for something doesn’t it?
Was he drinking alcohol? It’s perfectly possible to be in a bar and not be drinking alcohol.
Even that won’t really get you an answer…lots of Muslims here in Chicago drink, some of them quite openly, just as many Catholics use birth control and some Jewish people eat bacon. Their religious leaders may not be fond of the practice, but they’re rarely kicked out of the club for doing so.
If he says he’s a Muslim, I’m happy to consider him a Muslim. If he’s a Muslim who drinks alcohol in public, other Muslims may say he’s a **bad ** or sinning Muslim, but I doubt they’d say he’s not Muslim at all.
Next thing you’re going to tell me he was really born in Hawaii.
Don’t be silly. Everyone knows that one’s religious affiliation is not a personal decision of faith, but is decided by some chump on the internet.
Duh.
I know a Muslim who drinks booze occasionally. Just means she isn’t the best Muslim she can be, but she still considers herself Muslim. A bit like an otherwise observant Jew who doesn’t bother to keep kosher.
Right: or a Christian who offers the occasional blood sacrfice to Ba’al. Everyone has their little foibles.
Heh. Exactly.
We were in Tunisia last summer, and asked a local how observant the populace was, after seeing a lovely mosque in Sidi Bou Said. He chuckled and said that if we saw how crowded the mosque was on the sabbath (or whichever word is used for sabbath in Islam, I can’t remember!), we’d think the whole country was highly devout. But if we saw how crowded the bars were on the weekends, we’d think there wasn’t a single observant Muslim within a hundred miles.
See also: the population of Turkey. Their beer is pretty good, but the spirits are purest firewater.
Foulness, thy name is raki ;).
Ugh, you have no idea. People recoil like crazy. My parents are different races and religions and they consider it abhorrent that I’m agnostic.
No true… muslim?
He’s brown and has a funny name, I would have thought that was all you yanks
would require as proof.
By the way, do you enjoy shellfish?
No kidding - I thought you were Muslim until proven otherwise.
Yeah just keep rubbing it in why don’t you.
The irony of the people who have considered Albertans rednecks for so long electing a redneck mayor is just too delicious to ignore.
Two of three but throw in unmarried but co-habitating (we have a First Parter!) and childfree by choice.
She said that but also flat out said no, she doesn’t believe in God. She’s been pretty unequivocal on it, which is why I still love Julia even though I wince a lot… 