Are Muslims More Peaceful Than Their Neighbors?

by Abdul Malik Mujahid

78% of Muslims Oppose Killing Civilians as Compared to 46% of Americans

It seems the preachers of peace have fallen short. Although both the Quran and the Bible contain God’s commandment that killing one innocent human being is like killing the whole of humanity, a large number of Americans believe it is justifiable to intentionally attack civilians. A World Public Opinion (WPO) survey done in collaboration with the University of Maryland published in January 2007 reported that 51% of Americans believed “bombings and other types of attacks intentionally aimed at civilians are sometimes justified.”According to a May 22 2007 PEW survey, only 13% of American Muslims hold a similar sentiment when asked about suicide bombings against civilian targets. The survey findings, however, did not provide any relief for American Muslims from Islamophobia.While some media presented a positive side of the PEW survey, most others have used it as an opportunity to fan hatred against American Muslims.Michelle Malkin went to National Review to proclaim that the poll “should be a wake-up call.” Mark Steyn said it demonstrates the existence in America of “a huge comfort zone for the jihad to operate in,” and on CNN, Anderson Cooper was horrified—just horrified—that “so many” American Muslims would support such violence.

Considering that the PEW poll contains many problems, we decided to put together some comparison of these polls about Muslim Americans with the general American population. Here are some interesting finding.

Are You Christian First, Muslim First or American First

47 percent American Muslims said they think of themselves mainly as Muslims, rather than mainly as Americans. (PEW) [1]

Contrast this with another PEW Survey about all Americans…

42 percent of all Christian Americans soaring to 62 percent of evangelical white Protestants similarly say they are Christians first. (PEW)

Conspiracy Theories and Skepticism About 9/11

Question: Did Muslims/Arab carry out the attacks on 9/11?

28 percent of U.S. Muslims said no. (PEW)[2]

Contrast this with…

36 percent of all Americans consider the accusation that people in the federal government either assisted in the 9/11 terrorist attacks or took no action to stop the attacks because they wanted to United States to go to war in the Middle East. (Ohio University). [3]

Also 22 percent of Canadians believe the 9/11 attacks had nothing to do with Osama Bin Laden and were actually a plot by influential Americans.[4]

Is It Ok to Kill Civilians:  Can suicide bombings of civilian targets to defend Islam be justified?

13 percent of American Muslims surveyed responded it is often/sometimes/rarely justified (PEW)

78 percent said it is never justified

Contrast this with general American public…

According to World Public Opinion/University of Maryland survey done in December 2006. [5]:

51 percent of Americans surveyed said killing civilians can be often/sometimes/rarely justified

46 percent stated it can never be justified

Also note…

ABC News and the Washington Post asked about the acceptability of violence in a 1995 survey, after the Oklahoma City bombing, examining distrust of the federal government. “Do you think it is ever justified for citizens to take violent action against the United States government, or not?” asked that equally hypothetical question. Nine percent of Americans said yes.[6]

About Church and State

49% Muslim Americans believed in the separation of mosque and state (PEW 2007)

43% believed that mosques should express their views on social and political questions.

Contrast this with…

43% Christian Americans believe in the separation of church and state, (PEW 2006)

54% Christian Americans believe that church and other houses of worship should be open and forceful about their political and social views.

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Notes:

[1] http://pewresearch.org/pubs/483/muslim-americans

[2] 32% Muslims declined to answer this question.

[3] It was part of a survey posted on newsPolls.org on J uly 6, 2006 – source link - http://www.newspolls.org/question.php?question_id=716

[4] The source is a September 11, 2006 Ipsos Reid Poll. Subscription is needed to access the poll but a brief description can be found here: http://www.newsmax.com/scripts/printer_friendly.pl?page=http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/9/11/112040.shtml?s=ic

[5] http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/pdf/jan07/Iran_Jan07_rpt.pdf

[6] http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=3204116

 

Malik Mujahid is President of Sound Vision http://www.soundvision.com/