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   U.S. Muslim's Views On Terror

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Topic: U.S. Muslim's Views On Terror (Read 551 times)

Bumper
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U.S. Muslim's Views On Terror
« on: May 25^th, 2007, 8:50am »

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WASHINGTON One in four younger U.S. Muslims say suicide bombings to defend their religion are acceptable at least in some circumstances, though most Muslim Americans overwhelmingly reject the tactic, a poll says.

The survey by the Pew Research Center, one of the most exhaustive ever of the country's Muslims, revealed a community that in many ways blends comfortably into society. Its largely mainstream members express nearly as much happiness with their lives and communities as the general public does, show a broad willingness to adopt American customs, and have income and education levels similar to others in the U.S. Virtually all are critical of Islamic extremism and al-Qaida.

Even so, the survey revealed noteworthy pockets of discontent.

While nearly 80 percent of U.S. Muslims say suicide bombings of civilians to defend Islam cannot be justified, 13 percent say they can be, at least rarely.

That sentiment is strongest among those younger than 30. Two percent of them say it can often be justified, 13 percent say sometimes and 11 percent say rarely.

"It is a hair-raising number," said Radwan Masmoudi, president of the Washington-based Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, which promotes the compatibility of Islam with democracy.

He said most supporters of the attacks likely assumed the context was a fight against occupation -- a term Muslims often use to describe the conflict with Israel.

U.S. Muslims have growing Internet and television access to extreme ideologies, he said, adding: "People, especially younger people, are susceptible to these ideas."

U.S. Muslims are far less accepting of suicide attacks than Muslims in many other nations. In Pew surveys last year, support in some Muslim countries exceeded 50 percent, while it was considered justifiable by about one in four Muslims in Britain and Spain, and one in three in France.

Andrew Kohut, Pew director, said in an interview that support for the attacks represented "one of the few trouble spots" in the survey.

The poll briefly describes the rationales for and against "suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilian targets" and then asks, "Do you personally feel that this kind of violence is often justified to defend Islam, sometimes justified, rarely justified, or never justified?"

The question did not specify where a suicide attack might occur, who might carry it out or what was meant by using a bombing to "defend Islam."

Those of all ages backing at least some suicide attacks were about evenly divided between men and women, with support stronger from those who were U.S.-born and less educated, and those who attend mosques at least weekly.

Telephone interviews were conducted with 1,050 Muslim adults from January through April. Subjects were chosen at random, from a separate list of households including some with Muslim-sounding names, and from Muslim households that had answered previous surveys.

The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 5 percentage points.

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"One out of four younger members" . . . . THAT my friends, is scary stuff. THAT is the future.

IMO, ANY member of a Religion that says it can JUSTIFY, on ANY level, this type of VIOLENCE against other human beings as a means to defend their "religion" from perceived threats . . . . . is nothing more than a savage, barbaric CRIMINAL.

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Heather
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Re: U.S. Muslim's Views On Terror
« Reply #1 on: May 25^th, 2007, 5:23pm »

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Muslims who think and say things like that are not true Muslims. They are thinking up a distorted view of the real religion. No one should think that all Muslims are the same way.

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Dixie
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Re: U.S. Muslim's Views On Terror
« Reply #2 on: May 25^th, 2007, 10:11pm »

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I don't think most people do think all Muslims think that way. But it's a pretty scary statistic that 1 in 4 think homocide bombings are ok. That is what makes fighting the war so difficult. Hard to pinpoint the enemy

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Re: U.S. Muslim's Views On Terror
« Reply #3 on: May 25^th, 2007, 11:10pm »

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on May 25^th, 2007, 5:23pm, Heather wrote:

Muslims who think and say things like that are not true Muslims. They are thinking up a distorted view of the real religion. No one should think that all Muslims are the same way.

Well Heather, YOU might not think the Muslims who think and say things like that are not "true Muslims" but THEY think they are . . . . and THEY (one out of four) think suicide bombing is a viable option.

This wasn't some random survey of anyone . . . . this was an exhaustive survey of only people who called themselves Muslims.

I seriously doubt that if this same survey were done on Baptists . . . . you'd find that one out of four young Baptist would think that straping on an explosive vest and walking into a crowded room would be justified to protect their theology.

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JP
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Re: U.S. Muslim's Views On Terror
« Reply #4 on: May 26^th, 2007, 12:32pm »

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I am actually disappointed with the way the survey was delivered.

"While nearly 80 percent of U.S. Muslims say suicide bombings of civilians to defend Islam cannot be justified, 13 percent say they can be, at least rarely."

From the survey Pew Research Center (PRC) have done, they didn't deny that "80 percent of US Muslims say suicide bombings of civilians to defend Islam cannot be justified", but they didn't "focus" on this finding either. They focused on the "bad" part, this part: "13 percent say they can be, at least rarely."

Also, it's intriguing how they included this part:

"That sentiment is strongest among those younger than 30. Two percent of them say it can often be justified, 13 percent say sometimes and 11 percent say rarely."

2+13+11 = 26%, or about 1 out of 4, of US Muslims younger than 30 think suicide bombings can be justified, at least rarely. What the article left out was what percent of US Muslims are people younger than 30.

I think this article on the survey was made to scare the readers, by focusing on parts of the survey that are scary. WHY would they scare their readers though? To make us angry? And the most important thing, in my opinion, is what would YOU do with this information? Because that's the purpose of surveys right? To gather information so that we can use that information?

« Last Edit: May 26^th, 2007, 12:33pm by JP »

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Re: U.S. Muslim's Views On Terror
« Reply #5 on: May 28^th, 2007, 10:35am »

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on May 26^th, 2007, 12:32pm, JP wrote:

While you are disappointed in the way it was delivered, I am disappointed in the realization that SOME/ANY of the believers of this faith think random killing of innocent people is a viable means to defend their religion.

The tone of your post "it's intriguing how they included this part" . . . . . . . . seems to imply that you feel that the Pew Research Center had a preconceived agenda. I do not agree. It looks to me like they tried to do a fairly comprehensive survey . . . . and discovered some fairly surprising information.

As for the "use" of a survey, the definition of the word would indicate it's to discover a general view, to examine, inspect or consider carefully, to make a detailed study as by gathering information and analyzing it. The Pew Research Center presents the information. Various readers will take that information and interput it in their own way. I would urge you to go their site and read the entire survey. This was not some fly-by-night project.

My point in this thread is not about some agenda, or some supposed bias on the part of the researchers . . . . . .

. . . it's the fact that even ONE of the believers of this faith would condone, promote or justify the taking of ANY innocent life . . . . to "protect" what they felt was an affront to their beliefs.

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yesteach
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Re: U.S. Muslim's Views On Terror
« Reply #6 on: May 28^th, 2007, 2:19pm »

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I always distrust "surveys" and statistics in general... depending on the people surveyed and the way questions are asked, you can create statistics to support just about anything...

There are radicals in every religion that condone extreme measures.. otherwise the Crusades would have never happened, abortion clinics wouldn't have been bombed, and Israel and Palestine could settle their borders peaceably.. Sad

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Re: U.S. Muslim's Views On Terror
« Reply #7 on: May 28^th, 2007, 4:46pm »

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on May 28^th, 2007, 2:19pm, yesteach wrote:

I'm scratching my head here . . . . I feel like I'm talking apples and everyone is reading oranges. :chin:

I thought that we had progressed as a species since the Crusades . . . . . but you bring up a very good point regarding the bombing of the abortion clinics. There are more than enough nuts out there, religious and otherwise.

. . . . . but then again, even the anti-abortion wackos don't think enough of their ideology to strap on a suicide bomb vest. THAT is the level of commitment to a cause that the survey identifies and THAT is what is disturbing. . . . . and THAT was the point of my posts.

I'll move on. . . . . . . how about those RED SOX!

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Dixie
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Re: U.S. Muslim's Views On Terror
« Reply #8 on: May 28^th, 2007, 7:12pm »

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how about those RED SOX!

I am squealing with glee Bumper! Makes it even sweeter to see the Yankees struggling this year.

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