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| Terror Networks & Islam |
| Details From Muslims' Attitudes Poll |
| 2005-07-14 |
| Attitudes about Muslims and Islam, based on a Pew Research Center global survey: About three-fourths of the people living in the United States and European countries like Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Russia say they are concerned about the rise of Islamic extremism around the world. An overwhelming majority of people living in European countries like Britain, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Russia say they think Muslims coming into their country want to be distinct from the larger society rather than adopting their new country's customs. A majority of people in European countries polled said they felt there is a growing sense of Islamic identity among Muslims in their countries, and most said that was bad for their countries. Muslim women were more likely to view the United States positively than Muslim men. People in the United States, European countries and India were most likely to name Islam as the most violent religion when asked to choose between Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Hinduism. People in the Middle East were most likely to say Judaism was the most violent of those four religions. Views of Christians in the Muslim world are more negative than views of Muslims in the Christian world. Muslims' views of Jews are overwhelmingly negative in the majority-Muslim countries polled. The polls were taken in various countries from late April to the end of May, with samples of about 1,000 in most countries and slightly fewer than 1,000 in the European countries. The margin of sampling error ranged from 2 percentage points to 4 percentage points, depending on the sample size. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #3 And another thing. The establishment clause says Congress can't ESTABLISH a state religion. It says notheing about outlawing a "religion". |
| Posted by: Hyper 2005-07-14 18:11 |
| #2 100% of Hypers say: "Death Before Dihmitude", but only after taking some with... |
| Posted by: Hyper 2005-07-14 18:10 |
| #1 Theres more in another AP piece Public confidence in bin Laden has dipped sharply since May 2003 in Indonesia, Morocco, Lebanon and Turkey — all countries that have experienced recent terrorist bombings. Makes sense, good. But In Pakistan and Jordan, a majority of people continue to say they have at least some confidence in bin Laden, the Saudi who leads al-Qaida. "Support for Osama bin Laden is waning, but there are still people who admire him and view him as a hero," said Ulil Abshor Abdala, chairman of the Islamic Liberal Network, a non-governmental organization in Indonesia that supports religious moderation and interfaith harmony. "For some youth Osama Bin Laden is like Che Guevera, it does not matter what you say, he is a hero to them. Our challenge is how to limit the extent of this heroic admiration among the youth," Abdala said. The United States remains broadly unpopular in those heavily Muslim countries. Solid majorities of the people in Lebanon, Pakistan, Turkey, Jordan and Indonesia have an unfavorable view of the United States, while Moroccans are split. Young people in Morocco, Lebanon, Pakistan and Turkey view America more favorably than the overall populations in those countries, the polling found. Reasons for Islamic extremism varied from one majority-Muslim country to the next. Poverty and a lack of jobs were mentioned most often in some countries, while U.S. policies and influence were mentioned in others. Lack of education, immorality and lawlessness also were cited. "The concern about the causes of extremism are varied," said Wendy Sherman, who was counselor for the State Department in the Clinton administration. "When the U.S. government looks at our counterterrorism efforts, we clearly have to use a variety of approaches." The Pew survey found some conflicting feelings about Islam in majority-Muslim countries. In all of those countries except Jordan, people were more likely to say Islam is playing a greater role in their countries than it did a few years ago. The increasing role of Islam was overwhelmingly seen as a positive development in all those countries except Turkey. Respondents said growing immorality, government corruption and concerns about Western influence were among their reasons for turning to Islam. A majority of people in Morocco and Pakistan say Islamic extremism greatly threatens their country, and almost half in Indonesia and Turkey said it poses a great threat. Few people in Lebanon and Jordan felt that way. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2005-07-14 16:11 |