I find it absurd too, but it is often how it is phrased in English-language discourse, even in Dutch discourse the anti-Islām branch phrases it as such: the language suggests that one can identify a “Muslim” by some kind of physical phænotype of his body.
The difference is that in general in Dutch discourse, such statements are considered racist or betraying such a mentality, and frequently protested, but, in English-language literature, even the “left” that claims to champion the causes of all these “races” and “religions” still very often writes in a way that betrays a mentality that some religions and countries are “races” and others are not.
The difference is that in general in Dutch discourse, such statements are considered racist or betraying such a mentality, and frequently protested, but, in English-language literature, even the “left” that claims to champion the causes of all these “races” and “religions” still very often writes in a way that betrays a mentality that some religions and countries are “races” and others are not.