I heard this some time ago as I was driving in my car listening to the radio.
An old gentleman (I didn't get his name) was telling a radio host about his life. He had been born in a distant country, because his father, an Irishman, had been posted there by his government.
When he was six, his parents moved to Northern Ireland and he was to start school there. It was in the early 60's, in the time of The Troubles.
He got his school uniform and went to school. When he came home his father was waiting for him.
"So, how did it go?", he asked. "It was OK", his son said. "And your new friends?", his father wanted to know. "They were OK, only they asked me all time whether I was a Catholic or a Protestant. I didn't know what to answer. You are a Catholic and Mum is a Protestant. What do I tell them?".
His father thought about it for a while. Not wanting his son to get into trouble, he came up with a solution: "You tell them you're a Muslim!".
He went to school the next day, and again his father was waiting for him to hear the news, when he came back from school.
"So, what did the other kids say, when you told them you are a Muslim?", he asked, eager to know if his solution had worked.
It hadn't quite. They were still not satisfied. What they had said was,"Well, you're a Muslim, that's fine. But we want to know if you are a Catholic Muslim or a Protestant Muslim?".
