A Fascinating Look at the Political Views of Muslim Americans
By
A new Gallup poll shows that they are more likely than Christians or Jews to object to the targeting and killing of civilians
An arm of the Gallup organization based in the United Arab Emirates has just published, in partnership with their U.S. based colleagues, the results of a major polling that compares the attitudes of Muslim Americans to Americans of other faiths. Its title is "Examining U.S. Muslims' Political, Social, and Spiritual Engagement 10 Years After September 11," and its most attention grabbing finding is the fact that Muslim Americans are more likely than Christians or Jews to believe that targeting and killing civilians is never justified, whether it is done by the military or an individual. Put another way, Christians and Jews are more comfortable with civilians being targeted and killed by a wide margin.
Here is the distribution of opinion when the military is doing the killing:
And the results when an individual or small group of people is targeting and killing civilians:
Am I alone in being horrified by the percentage of Americans who are sometimes okay with efforts to "target and kill" civilians?
Other fascinating findings abound.
Are Muslims in this country sympathetic to Al Qaeda? 92 percent of Muslims say no, along with 75 percent of the nonreligious, 70 percent of Jews, 63 percent of Catholics, and 56 percent of Protestants. Muslim Americans are less likely than other religious groups to have confidence in the military (70 percent have confidence, 28 percent lack it), and more likely to think that the wars in Iraq (83 percent) and Afghanistan (47 percent) were mistakes. They also most skeptical of federal law enforcement - 60 percent have confidence in the FBI, whereas among Christians and Jews at least 75 percent have faith in the bureau. And 48 percent say they've experienced racial or religious discrimination in the last year, compared to 31 percent of Mormons, 25 percent of the nonreligious, 21 percent of Jews, 20 percent of Catholics, and 18 percent of Protestants. (Along with Jews, Muslims also felt least respected, by a wide margin, when practicing their religion in public.)
With what aspects of their identity do Muslim Americans most strongly identify? It's a question best answered in visual format:
Muslims were evenly divided on the question of whether their coreligionists were more obligated than other groups to speak out against terrorism: 49 percent said yes with the same percentage saying no. A majority of all groups say Muslim Americans are loyal to the United States: 93 percent of Muslim Americans think so, along with 80 percent of Jews and 69 percent of the nonreligious, but only a disappointing 59 percent of Catholics and 56 percent of Protestants. Jews were also most likely to agree with Muslims that they face prejudice in America.
Muslims are least likely to believe that it is possible to profile a terrorist "based on gender, age, ethnicity, or other demographic traits," despite the fact that terrorists are extremely likely to be male, and very unlikely to be children or elderly.
Do a majority of Muslim Americans think that any national Muslim organization represents their interests? Nope:
There is, finally, the question of why people in Muslim countries have an unfavorable view of the United States. A majority of Muslim Americans say it's based on actions that the U.S. has taken. Everyone else thinks that people in those countries have been propagandized into disliking us:
An arm of the Gallup organization based in the United Arab Emirates has just published, in partnership with their U.S. based colleagues, the results of a major polling that compares the attitudes of Muslim Americans to Americans of other faiths. Its title is "Examining U.S. Muslims' Political, Social, and Spiritual Engagement 10 Years After September 11," and its most attention grabbing finding is the fact that Muslim Americans are more likely than Christians or Jews to believe that targeting and killing civilians is never justified, whether it is done by the military or an individual. Put another way, Christians and Jews are more comfortable with civilians being targeted and killed by a wide margin.
Here is the distribution of opinion when the military is doing the killing:
And the results when an individual or small group of people is targeting and killing civilians:
Am I alone in being horrified by the percentage of Americans who are sometimes okay with efforts to "target and kill" civilians?
Other fascinating findings abound.
Are Muslims in this country sympathetic to Al Qaeda? 92 percent of Muslims say no, along with 75 percent of the nonreligious, 70 percent of Jews, 63 percent of Catholics, and 56 percent of Protestants. Muslim Americans are less likely than other religious groups to have confidence in the military (70 percent have confidence, 28 percent lack it), and more likely to think that the wars in Iraq (83 percent) and Afghanistan (47 percent) were mistakes. They also most skeptical of federal law enforcement - 60 percent have confidence in the FBI, whereas among Christians and Jews at least 75 percent have faith in the bureau. And 48 percent say they've experienced racial or religious discrimination in the last year, compared to 31 percent of Mormons, 25 percent of the nonreligious, 21 percent of Jews, 20 percent of Catholics, and 18 percent of Protestants. (Along with Jews, Muslims also felt least respected, by a wide margin, when practicing their religion in public.)
With what aspects of their identity do Muslim Americans most strongly identify? It's a question best answered in visual format:
Muslims were evenly divided on the question of whether their coreligionists were more obligated than other groups to speak out against terrorism: 49 percent said yes with the same percentage saying no. A majority of all groups say Muslim Americans are loyal to the United States: 93 percent of Muslim Americans think so, along with 80 percent of Jews and 69 percent of the nonreligious, but only a disappointing 59 percent of Catholics and 56 percent of Protestants. Jews were also most likely to agree with Muslims that they face prejudice in America.
Muslims are least likely to believe that it is possible to profile a terrorist "based on gender, age, ethnicity, or other demographic traits," despite the fact that terrorists are extremely likely to be male, and very unlikely to be children or elderly.
Do a majority of Muslim Americans think that any national Muslim organization represents their interests? Nope:
There is, finally, the question of why people in Muslim countries have an unfavorable view of the United States. A majority of Muslim Americans say it's based on actions that the U.S. has taken. Everyone else thinks that people in those countries have been propagandized into disliking us:
Image credit: Reuters
This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/08/a-fascinating-look-at-the-political-views-of-muslim-americans/242975/
Copyright © 2012 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All Rights Reserved.
***
Muslims are the most loyal American religious group, new poll says
Muslim Americans are loyal to the US and optimistic despite facing high levels of discrimination, a Gallup poll on American religious groups finds.
By By Mark Guarino | Christian Science Monitor – Tue, Aug 2, 2011
A poll released Thursday revealed curious contradictions in the Muslim-American community, which is more enthused about its country and president than any other religious group, yet is the least politically active and faces the greatest discrimination.
The Gallup poll on American religious groups offers a counterpoint to the stereotype that Muslims in the US lead isolated lives because they do not feel comfortable fitting in or associating with mainstream American culture. Moreover, it also offers insights into the Muslim-American experience – from how dramatically the election of President Obama affected them to how little they trust the activists who work on their behalf.
In total, the poll paints a picture of a community characterized by optimism but still seeking acceptance among its fellow citizens.
IN PICTURES: Islam in America
For instance, 93 percent of Muslim Americans say they are loyal to America. They have the highest confidence in the integrity of US elections (57 percent), and they are the most hopeful about their lives over the next five years, compared with other groups.
Yet 48 percent of Muslim Americans report they experienced some kind of racial or religious discrimination, a finding that places them far ahead of Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Mormons, and atheists/agnostics.
One reason for the optimistic outlook despite discrimination could be that Muslim Americans see their financial fortunes improving. Some 64 percent of Muslim Americans in 2011 reported their standard of living got better, compared with 46 percent in 2008.
But the presidency of Mr. Obama has arguably had an even more powerful affect on Muslim Americans. Muslim Americans give him the highest approval rating – 80 percent – of any religious group. American Jews are a distant second, giving Obama a 65 percent approval rating.
The number is even more striking when compared with Muslim American support for George W. Bush in 2008, which was 7 percent.
The shift in leadership in Washington was “truly transformational” for US Muslims in how they viewed their loyalties to democratic institutions and the nation at large, says Dalia Mogahed, director and senior analyst of the Abu Dhabi Gallup Center, based in the United Arab Emirates.
After the 9/11 attacks, Muslim Americans faced intense scrutiny, both individually and from federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Obama is credited with helping smooth tensions through his outreach to the US Muslim community and his effort to end the Iraq war responsibly. The poll shows that 83 percent of Muslim Americans – more than any other religious group – say the war was a “mistake.”
Despite the positive signs, “there are still obstacles” for Muslim Americans, Ms. Mogahed says.
“They embrace American values and democratic principles but aren’t sure if the rest of American embraces them,” she says.
Some 56 percent of Protestants said American Muslims had no sympathy for Al Qaeda, the lowest number of any faith group. By comparison, 63 percent of Catholics and 70 percent of Jews thought Muslim Americans had no sympathies for Al Qaeda.
“That’s certainly a challenge for the [US Muslim] community – to have their loyalty questioned by such a large number of their fellow Americans,” Mogahed says.
Those challenges, however, have not led Muslim Americans to try to affect change at the ballot box. They are the least likely religious group to vote, with just 65 percent of Muslims in America are registered. One reason is age: The average age of a Muslim-American is 35, while the average American Protestant is 55. Younger people tend to be less politically active, Mogahed says.
Another reason is affiliation: Poll findings show that the majority of Muslim Americans say that none of the leading Muslim organizations in the US, such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations or the Islamic Society of North America, represents their interests.
With the 2012 election around the corner, Mogahed says political parties that want to reach out to Muslim-American voters might be better off establishing partnerships with local mosques than focusing on winning endorsements from national advocacy organizations. This is especially relevant considering that Muslim Americans who attend a religious service once a week are two times more likely to be politically active than those who attend less frequently, the poll found.
“The mosque should be more the mobilization engine” for get-out-the-vote drives than it has been in the past, she says.
The poll surveyed 2,482 adults, 475 of whom were Muslim. For Muslims, there was a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 7 percentage points.
IN PICTURES: Islam in America
***
(The following is my unedited reply to Seattle physician friend Ed M who forwarded a copy of a speech given by Holland’s right-wing politician, Geert Wilders, whose political vitriol recalls America’s David Duke.)
Dear Ed,
I apologize for not having time to properly edit/formulate the following.
Instead, I offer a hodge-podge that contains lots of good data and (in my view) useful analysis to put Geert Wilders' rabidly nationalistic claims to the test. http://www.snopes.com/
My foremost argument is against the notion that some sort of "centralized" Islamic "takeover" is imminent.
Islam has no leadership, no one remotely equivalent to a "Hitler."
Lest we forget, Hitler was charismatic leader of a European powerhouse - the world'sEngineering Leader.
Currently, no Islamic leader exists who can possibly consolidate a totalitarian threat to the Western world. Even in The Islamic World, those putative leaders who have ruled for decades are seen as oppressors. The Syrian revolt against Assad is the most recent case in point.
Furthermore, the evidence is overwhelming that Islamics are socially and politically conservative people whose presence in their "adopted countries" contributes much more to political stability than political instability. (Sure, there are - and will always be - numerous individual exceptions to any general rule. Focus on exceptions and Satan himself becomes, as Paul observed, "an angel of light.")
"A new Gallup poll shows that they are more likely than Christians or Jews to object to the targeting and killing of civilians." What?!? Impossible!?! Except that it's true. And when we consider Americans fondness of carnage and torture, what else should we expect? http://www.
Some general observations about Wilders, Demographics and Politics:
Although I distrust the tone of the following article, it “feels” like it should be "part of this "mix" - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Muslim population by country: http://en.wikipedia.
Notice that Canada is 2.8% Muslim, whereas the US is 0.8% Muslim.
As a percentage of population, Canada has 22% more Muslim’s than Spain. (It is always comforting that Canada keeps its cool, an anchor of Rationality for a nation that has lost its mind, taken leave of its senses, labors 24/7 to trash Truth - http://www.youtube.com/
Note that Hispanics comprise 16% of the US population; that American blacks comprise 12.2% of the population; and that Muslims comprise 0.8%.
A salient, but forgotten, fact "in all this" is that wealthy humans have always sought "slaves" and "servants" to do their dirty work. (Interesting datum: 15% - 30% of the male slaves to arrive in the U.S. prior to 1800 were Muslim. http://en.wikipedia.
And so it is that Hispanics and blacks came to the United States -- just as Muslims have recently come to Europe -- to fill these roles. It is simply "the way of the world."
My judge friend, ABC, says that as soon as America's economy begins to expand with vigor, "we will beg Mexican workers to come back."
No shit Sherlock!
Geert Wilders’ native Netherlands is 5.5% Islamic, one third the percentage of U.S. Hispanics and less than half the percentage of American blacks. -- http://en.
Here’s an excellent country-by-country breakdown of Europe's Muslim demographics. http://news.bbc.
In Western Europe, France is the only country in which the Muslim minority significantly exceeds 5% of total population. And Wilders is predicting The Caliphate in 30 years! My ass.
Projections - http://en.wikipedia.org/
Don Melvin writes that, excluding Russia, Europe's Muslim population will double by 2020. He also says that almost 85% of Europe's total population growth in 2005 was due to immigration in general. Omer Taspinar predicts that the Muslim population of Europe will nearly double by 2015, while the non-Muslim will shrink by 3.5%, if the higher Muslim birth rate persists. (Alan here... This is a big "if." See below.)
However, a 2007 Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) report calls for caution and argues that the Muslim population projections are overestimated.
Professor Philip Jenkins of Penn State University estimates that by 2100, Muslims will compose about 25% of Europe's population. (Alan here... Jenkins estimate seems the most plausible, although by 2100 the effects of miscegenation will have done much to diffuse "The Islamic Threat," while simultaneously creating "a new European." See below.) But Jenkins admits this figure does not take account of the large birthrates amongst Europe's immigrant Christians.[25]
Other analysts are skeptical about the given forecast and the accuracy of the claimed Muslim population growth, since there has been a sharp decrease in Muslim fertility rates. A Pew Forum study, published in January 2011, forecast an increase of Muslims in European population from 6% in 2010 to 8% in 2030. PEW also found that Muslim fertility rate in Europe would drop from 2.2 in 2010 to 2.0 in 2030. On the other hand, the non-Muslim fertility rate in Europe would increase from 1.5 in 2010 to 1.6 in 2030.
***
The matter of declining Islamic birthrates is I think quite significant in this demographic discussion since contemporary population predictions always extrapolate from current trendlines which do not account for the steep (and inevitable) decline in birthrates that happen when people become wealthier, a process affecting Muslims throughout traditionally-Christian Europe.
Consider: in 1990 Mexico had a fertility rate of 3.3 children per female, but by 2005, that number had fallen by 36 percent to 2.1, which is the Zero Population Growth rate. http://jonjayray.wordpress.
In 1968 (a year after my first visit to Mexico) the Mexican birthrate per female was nearly seven (7). Now 44 later, Mexico is barely "replacing" itself.
Also unexamined is a crucial circumstance that's foundational to this whole issue: the progressive miscegenation of Humankind.
As Muslim girls "come of age" in their adopted European homes, they will, like other Europeans, become more secular and more inclined to marry "outside the faith." (When I was a boy, "marrying in the faith" was a Big Deal, just as it was a Big Deal for Protestants to vituperate against "damned Papists," and for Papists to view non-Catholics as "eternally lost souls.")
Across Europe -- including the Balkans, but excluding Russia and Turkey -- the Muslim percentage of Europe's population is purported to be 7.1% (although when I review the percentage in each individual country it barely reaches 5%). http://en.wikipedia.org/
I rather imagine that more than half of European Islamics are already assimilated in Europe, and that assimilation of the recent “tsunami” of Islamic immigrants will accelerate quickly.
I’m unable to locate any data concerning the percentage of “unassimilated” European Muslims, but in that pursuit, I came upon a fascinating post showing that "46% of American Christians consider themselves Christian before they consider themselves American." Perhaps America’s fears of unassimilated Muslims is a projection of American Christians’ refusal to assimilate into the United States.
Excerpts: American Christians are more likely than their Western European counterparts to think of themselves first in terms of their religion rather than their nationality; 46 percent of Christians in the U.S. see themselves primarily as Christians and the same number consider themselves Americans first. In contrast, majorities of Christians in France (90 percent), Germany (70 percent), Britain (63 percent) and Spain (53 percent) identify primarily with their nationality rather than their religion. Among Christians in the U.S., white evangelicals are especially inclined to identify first with their faith; 70 percent in this group see themselves first as Christians rather than as Americans, while 22 percent say they are primarily American.
A reader reply to the above: Yes......... Americans are, from my experience, generally more "un-american" (complain more, try to beat the system more, and generally a lot more apathetic and probably vote less) than foreigners since they are still happy to be away from where they were… Pretty much always the way it was from Ellis island on....... and considering the right/Tea/Christian party is trying to conscript the US gov. to be a right/tea/christian country.. no matter how you look at it they are err. un-american.. understanding the fact they think america is WRONG currently.. and would be more than happy to gut it, put prayer in public schools, allow nothing but charity to "help" people and throw out all people not of their belief... (we want the US to be a Christian Nation.. as un-american as you can get) yes, un-american.......... In their defense they don't realize how un-american they are.......
This same study cited above (reported in the Christian Science Monitor) says that "Muslims are the most loyal American religious group" http://news.yahoo.com/
Muslims' high level of identification with their new "home country" does not surprise me in the least. Muslims are very conservative people and feelings of reflexively "proud patriotism" are as conservative as it gets.
In fact, Bush-Cheney’s 2000 victory in Florida (which decided the election) seems attributable to the overwhelming percentage of American Muslims (in excess of 89%) who voted Republican - http://www.meforum.org/13/
On the other hand, the "crusading instinct" runs deep in the Caucasian psyche - an instinct which (in my historical reading) results in significantly-to-hugely greater losses than gains.
It is also confoundingly problematic that young males, by hormonal mandate, are enamored of war and therefore, like Wilders, try to justify belligerence. (And, as always, the first casualty of war is Truth.)
Since "statistical cherry-picking" can "marshal the facts" to create plausible rationales for "anything," it is not surprising that Wilders (his lies, musings and misrepresentations aside) make Israel look like "civilization's last line of defense" and that, within 50 years, Europe will crumble before the looming Caliphate.
However, were it not for biblical justifications and their appeal to the ignorant, it is now clear to all scholars (and most serious analysts) that the creation of Zionist Israel was a mistake.
And yes! If I had lived in Europe during the post-War period, I see myself endorsing the creation of Israel.
But whatever Israel is now, it is not Civilization's "existential" outpost.
It is nearer the truth to argue that modern Israel is the most systematically oppressive polity in the Middle East, a political impulse that can be described as "ghettoizing neo-Nazism-without-the-ovens."
According to current trend-lines, the Muslim population of the U.S. is set to double by 2030 - from 0.8% to nearly 2%
Consider: In Israel, Palestinian citizens of the Zionist state number a little over 20% of Israel's population. It is said that Ariel Sharon shifted his political position from brutal oppression to accommodation when he was persuaded that the lofty Palestinian birthrate would lead to a majority of Palestinian citizens in Israel within as little as 30 years. The outcome of this demographic shift would be that Palestinian citizens would then vote themselves into permanent power, perhaps going so far as to adopt a new constitution. In recent time, the perceived demographic "inevitability" that changed Sharon's "life" has been most vigorously deconstructed by Israeli Zionists - http://en.wikipedia.org/
If we humans re-dedicated a tenth of the energy currently expended on justifications for the next war to the purposes of Peace, the Prince of Peace would no longer be blasphemed as a mouthpiece for Crusade.
Pax on both houses
Alan
Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2012 8:42 PM
Subject: Chilling report from Holland
Hi Alan: Oh dear ! Here's another one.... but from someone that doesn't usually froth at the mouth or even forward such stuff. I know nothing of the Dutch "Party for Freedom."
From:
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:23:28 -0500Subject: Chilling report from HollandTo: michaeltittle@att.
Subject: Chilling report from Holland
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