Posted on 10/06/2004 10:32:47 AM PDT by Area Freeper
An Islamic civil rights group says crimes against Muslims and negative beliefs about Muslims have increased in the United States since 2001. But the U.S.-based organization also says that a recent poll it commissioned finds that a vast majority of Americans have neutral thoughts about Muslims. Allah. Islam. Mohammed. A poll commissioned by the Council on American-Islamic Relations indicates these are among the first thoughts that come to Americans' minds when they hear the word "Muslim."
In the survey of one thousand Americans conducted in June, two out of three Americans thought of a similarly neutral image when they heard the word Muslim. While the vast majority, 67 percent, thought of neutral terms, the Council on American-Islamic Relations is concerned that 32 percent thought of a negative term such as war or violence. And only two percent thought of a positive term such as good, beautiful or decent.
The founder of the research firm that conducted the poll, Jeni Sall of Genesis Research Associates, says the very first thing people think of when they hear a word indicates their attitude.
"Generally, it's considered that what you have at the top of your mind, what you will say on an open-ended basis, is the most predictive of the way that you think, so if I say, 'What comes to mind when I say the word Muslim?' and you say 'war,' you probably don't have warm, fuzzy feelings about Islam," Ms. Sall said.
One in four Americans surveyed agreed with the statements that Muslims teach their children to hate or they value life less than other people.
The council's research director, Mohamed Nimer, says this finding is troubling for the more than six million Muslims living in the United States.
"It's very uncomfortable to live thinking that it is likely that one in four of the neighbors around you think you are less human than they are," Mr. Nimer said.
But the poll also found that twice as many people, about half those polled, think of Muslims as family-oriented, honest, hospitable, or generous people who have contributed to society.
Ms. Sall explains even more Americans believe Islam is a peaceful religion.
"When we asked people whether they agreed or disagreed with the statement that the people who are using Islam to justify violence are misusing the teachings, we found that 44 percent agreed strongly with that statement, and in fact most Americans did agree at least to some degree with that statement," Ms. Sall said.
The survey finds that people who know Muslims or are knowledgeable about Islam are less likely to have negative perceptions of the faith.
The council is trying to educate more people about Islam by encouraging 100 mosques to share a meal with members of other faiths during Ramadan, the Islamic fast that begins in mid-October. It is also asking people to donate books about Islam to public libraries.
They didn't ask me.
I guess I'm not in the vast majority, then.
I doubt if the majority is within it either.
90% of Americans immediately think of a United 767 flying into a building. Many are just too polite to say so.
The view out of my office window used to be the World Trade Center.
My view of Muslims is something other than neutral.
I have a neutral view towards Islam... HOWEVER, Moderate Islam better get a hold of its radical elements VERY QUICKLY, or my view will go from neutral to negative....
VOA, you're naive. Try asking non-Arabs.
My thinking was they asked the same group of people who say they never masturbate.
I wasn't asked either. I'm proud to say that I run a Muslim-free household.
Ever notice that they never cite the number of "crimes" against Muslims? The reason is simple: the grand total is 47.
While one attack on someone solely because of their race, sex or creed is definitely wrong, that number of crimes against Islamists pales in comparison to the number of anti-Semitic attacks by Muslims against Jews.
Not that I expect such facts to come to the fore at the hands of Islamists or their sympathizers in the media.
The intended audience of this article is Mooselimbs in foreign countries.
As far as most Americans being neutral on Muslims, even if everybody hated them, so what? We were very anti-Japan, anti-German and anti-Russian in our past....that was then at that time. Today they are our allies and from what I can see there is no residue of our former feelings toward them.
Most Americans didn't read the Koran. Otherwise they would share my views on Mohammedanism.
I want to have a favorable view of muslims, but every time I look, it seems that they are beheading someone, using suicide bombers to kill large numbers of people, vowing to acquire nuclear weapons, engaging in such things as gang rape, honor killings and preaching hate from the mosques.
I have unadulterated hatred for Islam & a sense of sympathy to those many innocents who somehow were born into that cult!!
All this says to me is that, as usual, most Americans have their heads planted squarely up their oh-so-PC butts.
The only good muslim is a dead muslim.
Period.
Islam: a lethal combination of dorks and butchers.
I think the headline is pretty much correct, but one more attack on the US........
From the article:
"It's very uncomfortable to live thinking that it is likely that one in four of the neighbors around you think you are less human than they are," Mr. Nimer said.
What makes me "uncomfortable" is the fact that Islam teaches that non-Muslims are less than human.
Being Muslim is a hate crime!
I worked in thje WTC for almost eight years. I met my wife there. Whydon't these pollsters ask me what I think?
Are you sure they didn't ask whether we should neuter all Muslims?
I deal with Moos on a constant basis and mine eyes have been opened wider and wider ever since...
LOL
My views aren't neutral, they are to be fair, but on guard concerning them in this war.
Ask me what I think of Islam, Allah and Mo-ham-head, baby!
"Ms. Sall explains even more Americans believe Islam is a peaceful religion."
How quickly they forget 9-11...
When the *next shoe drops*, America had better wake-the-hell-up, dammit.
Now why would Americans be today calling Islam a "Religion of Peace"? Anyone?
Ms. Sall explains even more Americans believe Islam is a peaceful religion.
More Americans need to spend some time reading:
Radical Islam's 'plan' to take over America - Arab-American author outlines secret 20-year strategy to undermine country
The Islamic States of America?
Misunderstanding the Enemy: the Islamic Threat and the U.S. Media
No one polled me about that death cult.
Subject to immediate change.
W says that crap because he doesn't want to take on 1.2 bn of the subhuman filth, all at once. Millions parrot him. I get furious everytime he says it. But now I understand why. Americans have a very short, collective memory.
Islam isn't a religion and it sure isn't peaceful. It's a violent politico-socio-economic cult of deviants, boy-buggerers, murderers, tyrants, fanatics, liars, fascists, women-chattellers; I could go on and on.
Islam, The Cult of Death®
Not me. I despise every single one of them.
Nuke em all off the face of the planet tomorrow morning and I wouldn't care or loose any sleep. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
I think they're all primitive, barbaric, fascist scum.
and Belsan
Well said. And let us not forget that it took the Muslim world three years to condemn the 9/11 attacks. If you ask me, they were hedging their bets and hoping that the Islamofascists would destroy us. Then they got a whiff of reality as their body counts went up in our successful War on Terror and then they decided it was a good time to switch sides.
And don't forget their catchy slogan!
"Islam: we're a religion of peace and WE'LL KILL YOU TO PROVE IT!"
Beats me. The literal translation of the word "Islam" means Submission, not "peace."
There ain't nothing "peaceful" about being forced to submit to the false god of a cult of death.
It's undoubtedly true. I've learned that in real life, if I voice my concerns about muslims, I'm almost always treated like I'm the biggest bigot since Archie Bunker. Muslims are everywhere in DFW, and casual observation would lead me to believe that indeed, they are viewed with neutrality.
Disagree. It just isn't so.
(In my best southern accent) "Bull Sheet."
200 years from now, I want their children's children's children's children
to cower and cringe in fear whenever they hear the sounds of jet engines overhead
because their legends tell of fire from the sky.
I want them to hide in dark caves and holes in the earth,
shivering with terror whenever they hear the roar of diesel engines
because the tales of their ancestors talk about metal monsters
crawling over the earth, spitting death and destruction.
I want their mothers to be able to admonish them with
"If you don't behave, the Pale Destroyers will come for you",
and that will be enough to reduce them to quivering obesience.
I want the annihilation to be so complete that their mythology
will tell them of the day of judgment when the stern gods from across the sea
.. the powerful 'Mericans .. destroyed their forefathers' wickedness.
(Original created by BlueLancer ... 13 September 2001)
(Thanks to HiJinx for the accompanying pictures)
Thanks for the Reality Post BTTT
Post of the Day AFAIC
LOL! You're soooooooooo right.
Islam - type of virulent viral infection of the brain with no known cure.
Yeaahh, right.
Where did take do the poll, mosques in Michigan?
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