Religious identity labels in scholarship conflate birth culture with belief

Evidence

This sort of study is generally pursued at an elementary level; its purpose is to avoid trouble for some commercial or government undertaking with a quick turnover of employees in Muslim countries. Nevertheless, this has possibilities at a much less elementary level. There is almost endless scope for investigation of the reactions of Western and Eastern Christians and Muslims to each other. Here it is important to remember that ‘Western Christian’ means ‘born in one of the Western countries traditionally considered Christian’ and may include professed atheists and religious fanatics alike. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1715

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies that the label ‘Western Christian’ in scholarship refers to cultural origin, possibly including atheists and fanatics.