Originally posted by Defensive minded
Sometimes, though, you would also hear them answer Catholic Bosnian, Orthodox Bosnian and Bosnian Muslim, which is more of a cultural distinction than a religious one since the majority of people down there don't go to church or to the mosque, especially not the young.
I know, it's a mess.
My parents can sometimes sit at home and watch a show with folklore, mixed dance groups from any old former Yugoslavian province and comment "that's an orthodox folklore outfit", "that's a Muslim outfit from this and that specific region"
Cultural [insert religion] are to be found in many parts of the world and I believe it is stronger amongst minorities and/or where there's been a rather recent conflict.
Another example of ethnoreligious groups is Sikhs, they're not all wearing a turban. Or Thai Muslims where I'm sure you remember the conflict in southern Thailand only a few years ago. But most of Thailand's Muslims live further up north, Bangkok, as well as throughout the country. Some of them are religious, for some it's more of a cultural identity, which most likely grew stronger during the conflict in the south. Same with Burma when several thousand Rohingya Muslims were killed in one month only and even monks participated in the murders. That kind of thing strengthens the inclination to call yourself and identify as a Muslim, even though you might not go to the mosque and have Friday off instead of Sunday.
It's an identifier many use not that different from when we follow a World cup and say that we want [country] to win because we are [nationality].
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