Author Topic: ABC News: More Americans Feeling Unease Wit Islam  (Read 388 times)

CWalker187

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ABC News: More Americans Feeling Unease Wit Islam
« on: October 28, 2002, 09:35:58 PM »
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/islam021028.html


Unease With Islam
Public Opinion Shifts, As Religious Leaders Speak Out

Analysis
By Steven Waldman and Deborah Caldwell
Beliefnet.com
Special to ABCNEWS.com
 


Oct. 28 — No one would have been surprised if, after 9/11, rage-filled Americans blamed Islam as the culprit.  

After all, the nation was just attacked in the name of Allah. Then, it might have been assumed, the antagonism would have faded as people gained a more nuanced understanding of Islam and the terrorists' twisted use of doctrine.
Instead, something close to the opposite has happened. A surprising new ABCNEWS/Beliefnet poll shows that after starting out surprisingly tolerant, public opinion of Islam has become more negative.

  The percentage of Americans having an unfavorable view of Islam has jumped from 24 percent in January 2002 to 33 percent now.

  The portion of Americans who say that Islam "doesn't teach respect for other faiths" rose from 22 percent to 35 percent.

  A total of 73 percent of Americans do not feel they have a good basic understanding of its beliefs and tenets, and that, too, has risen, from 61 percent last winter. This suggests that any additional information people have gleaned about Islam has confused more than clarified.

Meanwhile, evangelical white Protestants are 22 points more likely than other white Protestants to express an unfavorable opinion of Islam. They're also more likely, but by much smaller margins, to think Islam encourages violence and doesn't teach respect for other beliefs.

Talking Tolerance After 9/11

The survey was completed just before the two suspects in the Beltway sniper attacks — one of whom is a Muslim convert — were caught; therefore, it is possible the negative numbers could worsen.

Why did public opinion shift?

The most significant moment in 2001 on this issue was when President Bush stood before the nation just days after the Sept. 11 terror attacks and declared, "Islam is a religion of peace." He followed that up with a series of symbolic gestures: hosting a Ramadan dinner at the White House (a first) last November, posing for pictures with the Koran on his desk, inviting American Muslim leaders to his office, and visiting a Washington mosque.

Since most Americans knew little about Islam, Bush was, initially, America's teacher. He did it for a mix of practical and idealistic reasons. In diplomatic terms, it was crucial that the United States gain support from governments like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. To get that support, it was important that the war on terror not be viewed as a war on Islam.

But even before his election, Bush had made a point of reaching out to Muslims. When he talked about religion during campaign speeches, he invariably referred to "churches, temples and mosques" a rhetorical innovation not before embraced by presidential candidates of either party.

But conservative Christians were quietly unhappy with Bush's posture. One group, the Virginia-based Family Policy Network, encouraged members to "thank Franklin Graham for his faithfulness to Christ in the face of criticism."

That was a reference to comments made by Billy Graham's evangelist son, in which he described Islam as a "wicked, violent" religion — comments he repeated numerous times in the last year.

Slowly, one by one, conservative Christian leaders started voicing their concerns about Islam. At first, it was that Islam tended to cause violence, then that it was inherently violent. Then came direct, inflammatory attacks on the prophet Mohammed, with the head of the Southern Baptists calling Mohammed a "demon-possessed pedophile," Pat Robertson labeling him a "wild-eyed fanatic" and Jerry Falwell calling him "a terrorist."

The most important figure was Franklin Graham, who has a much bigger following than either Robertson or Falwell (except with TV show producers, who love the controversial duo). What's more, he's personal friends with Bush and gave the invocation at the new president's inauguration. He is viewed as a mainstream evangelical leader.

In August, he said during an interview that Muslims hadn't sufficiently apologized for the terrorist attacks — and he challenged Muslim leaders to offer to help rebuild Lower Manhattan or compensate the families of victims to show they condemn terrorism.

That comment followed a string of remarks about Islam and Muslims, as Graham promoted his new book, The Name. In the book, Graham writes that "Islam — unlike Christianity — has among its basic teachings a deep intolerance for those who follow other faiths."

Then, in an interview with Beliefnet that month, he virtually mocked Bush's stance. After the terrorist attacks, he said, "there was this hoo-rah around Islam being a peaceful religion — but then you start having suicide bombers, and people start saying, 'Wait a minute, something doesn't add up here.'"

Mounting Criticism

Some Christians came to view Islam not only as a threat to the Middle East, but also as a threat to America and a threat to the souls of millions. Efforts begun before 9/11 to convert Muslims around the world picked up steam. A popular one targeted an area of the world called "The 10/40 Window," said to have the largest population of non-Christians in the world.

The area, also called "the Resistant Belt," extends from 10 degrees to 40 degrees north of the equator, and stretches from North Africa across to China. It includes Indonesia, Sudan, Morocco, Ivory Coast, southern China, Iran, Turkmenistan and other countries.

That this flood of criticism was never rebutted by Bush made Christian leaders feel this is fair game. Why didn't Bush rebut them? The most common answer from Bush defenders was that it is an inappropriate role for the president to "get in the middle of an argument like that." But given his strong statements on Islam, Bush had already inserted himself into the Islam discussion. His silence, particularly as his political allies began disagreeing with him, was therefore notable.

It's important to distinguish between Graham and other Christian leaders. Unlike Robertson and Falwell, Graham is thought to represent the mainstream evangelical base, one of Bush's crucial voting blocs. Graham's comments signaled how unpopular Bush's Islam-is-peace line had become with this important political group. There was no political cost to Bush after his initial statements; they were viewed as necessary comments to win the war. A direct rebuttal of Graham, however, could have alienated some of his supporters.

On the other hand, it could be argued, a wartime leader needs to be more politically courageous. Bush had plenty of political capital to spend but chose not to. What's more, the comments from Robertson gave Bush an opportunity. While Graham is a popular figure in evangelical circles and neutral with the general public, Robertson is relatively uninfluential with evangelicals and unpopular with the general public. Bush could have disagreed with Robertson, showing his opposition to extremism on all sides, without alienating his base. His unwillingness to do even that exhibits an extreme caution, and some would say, political cowardice, on Bush's part.

There is another factor: Muslim leaders themselves. They, like Bush, asserted over and over that Islam was a "religion of peace" and that "Islam means peace." There was a cognitive dissonance between these simple assertions and a continuous stream of suicide bombings in the name of Islam. Conservative scholars and religious leaders cited verse after verse from the Koran showing a violent streak. Though many were taken out of context (and were comparable to verses in the Old Testament of the Bible), they nonetheless were effective rebuttals, at minimum, to the claim that "Islam is a religion of peace."

Reacting to the Muslim Reaction

Meanwhile, polls came out during the winter showing that Muslims around the world believed Israel was partly to blame for the attacks; even a few respected American Muslim leaders echoed those statements.

Muslim leaders maintained that Osama bin Laden was an aberration, a single twisted soul distorting Islam. But the reality is something more disturbing — that Islam is now being used as a justification for violence — not by a few, but by many. Though many Muslim leaders criticized the terrorists, few stated that the problems with Islam's misuse were dangerously widespread. As a result, Muslim leaders may have lost some of their credibility.

During a dinner in early October sponsored by the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, Judith Kipper chastised Muslims for not saying and doing more. "There is a need now for Muslims in America to stand up and be accountable," said Kipper, an ABCNEWS consultant and director of the Middle East program of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Keeping your head down isn't going to work anymore."

American University professor Akbar Ahmed admitted as much: "For the first time in history, Muslim civilization is on a direct collision course with all the world religions."

Ahmed said that at this point, he is aggravated that many Muslims won't acknowledge this. "After Sept. 11, there was this mantra, 'We are peaceful, we are peaceful.' After Muslims killed 3,000 people, it makes no sense to me."

Though probably a mistake, the posture of Muslim leaders was understandable in one sense: American Muslims live in constant fear that antagonism would turn to harassment or violence against them. And indeed, since Sept. 11, 2001, there have been numerous instances of violence against American Muslims, so a defensive posture is not at all surprising.

But Ahmed, a former high commissioner of Pakistan to the United Kingdom and an expert on bin Laden, said Muslims must overcome that posture. "I feel a sense of sorrow and embarrassment," because, he said, "We are at the bottom of the pile."
 
 

Trauma-san

Re:ABC News: More Americans Feeling Unease Wit Islam
« Reply #1 on: October 28, 2002, 10:16:54 PM »
I think that's a pretty fair, unbiased article.  
 

RAPQUAKE

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Re:ABC News: More Americans Feeling Unease Wit Islam
« Reply #2 on: October 28, 2002, 10:29:06 PM »
^^those are very similar to my views on the subject
 

King Tech Quadafi

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Re:ABC News: More Americans Feeling Unease Wit Islam
« Reply #3 on: October 29, 2002, 08:35:44 AM »
good article as it exposes very nicely the religious fanatics in the States, and im not talkin about Muslims, im talkin about those Evangelical Christains who view Islam as a threat and thus feel the need to insult it/

what do u expect in America? when your attorney general insults Islam, u expect ordinary citizens not to?

lost in all this whoop la, is the fact that the West systematically opresses Muslims, and this is what is leading to anger on our side, and this is what will lead to the eventual clash of civilizations.
"One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. "Which road do I take?" she asked. "Where do you want to go?" was his response. "I don't know," Alice answered. "Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."

- Lewis Carroll
 

Trauma-san

Re:ABC News: More Americans Feeling Unease Wit Islam
« Reply #4 on: October 29, 2002, 12:26:12 PM »
^^ You've heard 1 representative of our government say something negative about Islam.  Probably, there's tons more... (just to give you the benefit of the doubt)

Now.  Think about any Islamic state.  You think they haven't said negative crap about Christians?  I'd bet it's constant.  
 

CWalker187

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Re:ABC News: More Americans Feeling Unease Wit Islam
« Reply #5 on: October 29, 2002, 12:39:22 PM »
good article as it exposes very nicely the religious fanatics in the States, and im not talkin about Muslims, im talkin about those Evangelical Christains who view Islam as a threat and thus feel the need to insult it/


LOL, the fact that people like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson are considered "christian extremists" shows just how tolerant and loving Christianity really is. Our extremists are offensive because they call another religion violent, while your extremists blow people up, drive planes into skyscrapers, slit stewardesses throats, etc Which is worse?

And another thing, can you really blame some Americans for considering Islam a threat when all over the world Muslims are trying to kill us simply because of our nationality and religion?



lost in all this whoop la, is the fact that the West systematically opresses Muslims, and this is what is leading to anger on our side, and this is what will lead to the eventual clash of civilizations.

The west does not oppress Muslims. Western countries give Muslims more rights than Muslims have in their own countries. That is why Muslims are all dying to move to western countries.....in addtion to wanting to set up terror cells to kill us.

 

Kill

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Re:ABC News: More Americans Feeling Unease Wit Islam
« Reply #6 on: October 29, 2002, 01:10:55 PM »

LOL, the fact that people like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson are considered "christian extremists" shows just how tolerant and loving Christianity really is. Our extremists are offensive because they call another religion violent, while your extremists blow people up, drive planes into skyscrapers, slit stewardesses throats, etc Which is worse?

Unlike Falwell & Robertson many of those Muslim extremists you are talking about didn't have the possibility of going to good schools and gaining alot of knowledge and unlike Falwell & Robertson they grew up in poor places often ruled by violence, shitty places. And if tanks run down trees in their village they logically blame it on those who control the tanks, shoot innocent people and cut off water supply. So their way of retaliation is terrorism and mothafuckas like Sharon and Bush try to fight it by going into villages with tanks where they run down trees, kill innocent people and cut off water supply. Then those Muslims retaliate. It's a vicious circle. And mothafuckas like you definitely don't do shit to stop it
 

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Re:ABC News: More Americans Feeling Unease Wit Islam
« Reply #7 on: October 29, 2002, 01:45:09 PM »


And another thing, can you really blame some Americans for considering Islam a threat when all over the world Muslims are trying to kill us simply because of our nationality and religion?


can you blame some Muslims from attacking America when all over the world America and its allies kill Muslims?
"One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. "Which road do I take?" she asked. "Where do you want to go?" was his response. "I don't know," Alice answered. "Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."

- Lewis Carroll
 

CharlieBrown

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Re:ABC News: More Americans Feeling Unease Wit Islam
« Reply #8 on: October 29, 2002, 01:50:26 PM »

LOL, the fact that people like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson are considered "christian extremists" shows just how tolerant and loving Christianity really is. Our extremists are offensive because they call another religion violent, while your extremists blow people up, drive planes into skyscrapers, slit stewardesses throats, etc Which is worse?

So its not christian extremists who blow up abortion clinics and murder docters who perform abortions then?
Charlie, lost his life right in front of the party...
 

infinite59

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Re:ABC News: More Americans Feeling Unease Wit Islam
« Reply #9 on: November 04, 2002, 04:34:29 PM »
The one thing CWalker fails to realize is that every month since Sept. 11th the number of people converting into the fold of Islam continues to increase both at home and internationally by more than 100%!!!!!!
 

Ant

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Re:ABC News: More Americans Feeling Unease Wit Islam
« Reply #10 on: November 04, 2002, 05:01:37 PM »
so the number of people practicing islam has doubled?  I'm guessing that figure is far from the truth.  But perhaps I am wrong.

Are you also counting nation of islam convertees?

If you look back over time.  The roman catholic church at one point in history was the fast growing religion.  Does that prove anything? Not exactly.  

If you are going to argue you should try to do so objectively.  I'm noticing a double standard.  Evidence you find that supports islam matters, but equal evidence against it is disregarded.  There is another double standard in that you criticize anti islamics for exagerating and providing false information.  But you provided exagerated information in your above statement.  

On another note.  I'm purchasing myself a copy of the Quran which i'll start reading over winter break right now I'm too busy.  From the little bit i learned about islam in my western religious traditions class 2 years ago I did like what I heard.  I also know a lot of muslims not very well, but my school has a large muslim population many of  whom are fine people from what I've seen.  However, extremists like yourself frustrate me for a number of reasons.  They are arrogant, closed minded, and opinionated.  You're the first islam extremist I have encountered, previously i only knew christian extremists.   And what I've noticed is you all searched long and hard for hope that you were desperately in need of.  You found islam, some other poeple i know found jesus essentially though you all seem the same outwardly.  But while they defend jesus and preach the bible all day, you talk about your religion obsessively.