Are American and European muslims more liberal?

[Khairan]

BismillahAs salam alaikum

Khairan, are you Shia?

As salam alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu

Dan, the answer to that question is a complicated one. I consider myself a Shia for political reasons and because of my take on history, but I do not believe in imams or the existence of a specially dilineated line of people who bear the Prophet's wisdom, and I consider the Imams of history temporal rulers, not divinely guided ones (although I respect Jafar as-Sadiq as a great scholar). So religiously speaking I expect that most people would not consider me a Shia.