On what date did Islam officially become a "race"? [Spirituality & Religion]

@Emosaur Practicing Catholicism makes me a Catholic, but it doesn't make me Italian, even though many Italians are Catholic.

I know several non-muslims who practice the faith of Islam. It's like a Polish person practicing the Lutheran faith.

@KebleBollyJocksford Well, I'd probably call it the law of karma or the law of attraction. I think you generally get back what you put out there and people react to what they read, not a person's words.

@KebleBollyJocksford Here's a lesson I found important to lear: we can change one thing and one thing only in this world, and that's us. We can't change what others do, what they think, how they act, what they say or how they feel. We can only adapt our behavior to fit the best version of ourselves. So when others are being jerks, maybe just let it slide and find your own happy space inside.

@Emosaur Oy. I'm not saying every Italian is Catholic. I'm saying many Catholics are Italian. Most importantly, I'm calling one an ethnicity and one a religion.

Let's make the important distinction between [i]ethnicity[/i] and [i]race.[/i] Race - African American, Caucasian, etc. - is determined by a common set of physical and genetic traits. Ethnicity is composed of cultural specifics. So, a person might be of the White race but Latin ethnicity.

Muslim is an ethnicity - it's a cultural identification marked by traditions, common societal behaviors, ideologies, etc. Many also practice (as part of that ethnic expression) the religion of Islam. So in this sense, many Islam-practicing people are Muslim. Many Muslims are Islamic, but not all.

Races:
Caucasian or White
African American or Black
Pacific Islander or Native American
Asian

Ethnicities:
Italian
Irish
Muslim
Serbian
French

Faiths:
Catholicism
Judaism
Islam
Evangelical

You can mix and match, but one trait never morphs into perfect synonymous meaning with another.

@KebleBollyJocksford Honestly, if you don't understand it by now, I'm not sure you will.

I was raised Catholic, a specific religion under the umbrella of all Christian religions. So. it goes like this: I am Catholic; therefore, I'm part of the larger group that encompasses all Christians. Being Christian doesn't make me Catholic, but being Catholic does make me Christian.

Understand that? I hope so, because here's where it changes: Islam is NOT a specific religion under the umbrella of Muslim faiths. Muslim is a ethnic identification. I live in the South. By common practice, I might be Baptist. But I don't have to be Baptist just because I'm southern. Really - it's not all that hard.

@KebleBollyJocksford The snake has begun to eat its own tail, and I can't continue this conversation anymore.