Philosopher Michael LaBossiere reprises some familiar questions hereabouts.
Laying aside the political machinations, there is a rather interesting philosophical and theological question here: who decides who is a Muslim? Since I am not a Muslim or a scholar of Islam, I will not be examining this question from a theological or religious perspective. I will certainly not be making any assertions about which specific religious authorities have the right to say who is and who is not a true Muslim. Rather, I am looking at the philosophical matter of the foundation of legitimate group identity. This is, of course, a variation on one aspect of the classic problem of universals: in virtue of what (if anything) is a particular (such as a person) of a type (such as being a Muslim)?
By a different route than my own, LaBossiere reaches the same conclusion I’ve reached — there’s no telling.
What is needed, then, is some sort of sure sign—clear and indisputable proof of the one true view. Naturally, each person thinks he has that—and everyone cannot be right. God, sadly, has not provided any means of sorting this out —- no glowing divine auras around those who have it right.
Fred Phelps, a man that most Christians freely reviled while he was alive, could easily quote Scripture to prove that he was right. ISIS warriors, reviled and mocked by Muslims almost universally, can also quote holy texts which prove they are doing as the Invisible Wizard requires.
The overwhelming majority of those of each faith insist that their own odious outliers are not r-e-e-e-a-l Christians or Muslims. The opponents of both faiths insist that the sewer-dwellers among their opponents are exemplars of the r-e-e-e-a-l faith, and that the majority who don’t have the slightest interest in bothering anybody have merely a cultural association with that faith.
In other words, the typical Christian will insist that Fred Phelps is not a r-e-e-e-a-l Christian, but ISIS are r-e-e-e-a-l Muslims — the genuine article. The average Muslim, on the other hand, insists that ISIS are not r-e-e-e-a-l Muslims, then looks at Phelps’ public indecencies and wonders what on earth is wrong with Christians.
The all-important truth is that the overwhelming majority of both Christians and Muslims have too much sense and decency to be ‘good’ anythings; from al-Baghdadi to the red-faced howler at your local Southern Baptist church, it’s the ones who don’t that you have to watch.