Of course, it gets muddled when other religions teach the same thing that yours does. I find that it’s good to list what you believe and not what you are labeled as. For example, I believe in the Christ is okay, but saying that you believe in not stealing is better. I have homosexual friends who have this very dilemma. They believe in Christ and consider themselves to be Christians, but at the same time they are homosexual. They know that in their religious belief, homosexuality is considered sinful and wrong. Thus they have to reconcile the dissonance between what they believe to be true and themselves. I do not envy people in this situation.
This isn’t only a religious problem. I see this happen a lot in politics as well. People believe in a candidate, but don’t believe in all the ideas they have. Also, people will believe in a particular party and then the party changes an ideal they stand by and there is mass confusion. The republicans (and others) who were in office under George W. Bush, assisted him in racking up massive amounts of federal debt and plunging the country into a never ending war are very different from say, Eisenhower, who advocated for limited government and less debt.
Instead I find it better to follow ideas and believe in them than in people. Finding someone who will share all the same beliefs that you do is next to impossible, but finding someone who believes some of the same ideas that you do is a path toward mutual understanding and acceptance.
Believe in ideas. Believe in yourself.