Granted I am no expert on Iran and I know that religious affiliation and actual practice differ but I was under the impression that >90% of Iranians were Muslim. Even in the US, which I consider to be deeply religious despite its religious citizens not closely practicing their proclaimed religion, only about 70% of people claim to be Christian. Yeah, sure, they might not go to church everyday but they still remain a highly influential political force due to their identification with that religion. Would this not be the same in Iran? If not more so?
I can easily see how a Muslim person who isn’t religious would still call themselves Muslim even if they practice the same amount of religion as a lapsed Christian who no longer identifies that way.
A lot of Christians will also do this, plenty don’t attend church, read the bible, don’t really think about god existing or not and still label themselves as such. They are functionally agnostics/non religious imo
Iran is an explicit theocracy where people are defined as muslims by default and where irreligion/atheism is not a valid category in identification by the government.
Sure, but almost all of Mexico identifies as Catholic but church going is mostly reserved for special occasions like baptisms and the big religious holidays. You’ll see the crucifixes, the Jesus pictures and whatnot but it’s not like they’re on that annoying protestant bullshit.
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Granted I am no expert on Iran and I know that religious affiliation and actual practice differ but I was under the impression that >90% of Iranians were Muslim. Even in the US, which I consider to be deeply religious despite its religious citizens not closely practicing their proclaimed religion, only about 70% of people claim to be Christian. Yeah, sure, they might not go to church everyday but they still remain a highly influential political force due to their identification with that religion. Would this not be the same in Iran? If not more so?
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Thanks for taking the time to explain that, I was not aware.
A lot of Christians will also do this, plenty don’t attend church, read the bible, don’t really think about god existing or not and still label themselves as such. They are functionally agnostics/non religious imo
Iran is an explicit theocracy where people are defined as muslims by default and where irreligion/atheism is not a valid category in identification by the government.
Sure, but almost all of Mexico identifies as Catholic but church going is mostly reserved for special occasions like baptisms and the big religious holidays. You’ll see the crucifixes, the Jesus pictures and whatnot but it’s not like they’re on that annoying protestant bullshit.