Wednesday, October 25, 2006

How American Muslims View America Post-9/11

I didn't want to start today linking to this disturbing post by Charles at Little Green Footballs. I didn't want to, but I must.

He cites a survey from the Islamic Society of North America who he calls "a radical Islamic front group". All 307 respondants were American citizens. To give you just a taste of the results, I'll show you the results of the third question:

3. Is the American government at war with the religion of Islam?
YES - 208
NO - 79
UNDECIDED - 20
If we are at war with Islam, why are we giving Billions with a "B" to Muslim countries to rebuild and come into the 21st century?

The second question is interesting:
2. Do you consider yourself to be a Muslim first, an American first, or both equally?
MUSLIM FIRST - 214
AMERICAN FIRST - 4
BOTH EQUALLY - 86
UNDECIDED - 3
Do you consider yourself a Christian first or an American first? My list goes like this: God, Family, Country. But of course, my religious values are compatible with my country's values of free will, rule of law, love towards my fellow man even if I consider him a sinner--tolerance, etc.

The weirdest results are the psychological disconnect about 9/11. The majority of the respondants don't believe that Muslims hijacked planes and flew them in to the buildings, a huge majority believe the U.S. knew of the coming attacks, and nearly half believe the U.S. government organized the attacks.

Is this denial to hide their shame? Or do they truly believe the country they reside in is capable of such onerous action? Obviously these people are self-selected, not randomized Muslims. I'm wondering why there haven't been more polling efforts to determine how "moderate" U.S. Muslims view America.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for stopping by and commenting today. It gave me the chance to check out your blog. I like! I'm commenting on this post though several others resonated with me also. Jon Haidt, U. VA., has done some work on the psychological underpinnings of morality. Fascinating stuff. I really enjoyed him in the MAPP program. Anyway, one of his studies was on the reaction of moderate Muslims in norther Virginia to news of suicide bombings in Israel. It gave them a sense of elevation and awe and a desire to go out a do some great thing themselves. In other words, much like how many of us felt about the first responders that went into the towers on 9/11. Knowing that others are neither amoral nor immoral, but are responding on the same fundamental moral mechanisms as we are is key. Frankly, I have trouble really getting my mind around it, but I'm working on it. Seems important.

Again, thanks for commenting.

Johnny Ong said...

my malaysia govt did a similar study too where the religion (islam) came top toppling their nationality and their own race (malay)

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