| FrontPageMag.com | By Robert Spencer | By Hugh Fitzgerald | Books | Dhimmi Watch | Islam 101 | Qur'an Blog | Raymond Ibrahim | Robert Spencer |  |
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
Today I intend, as much as time permits, to highlight a few of the findings from the Pew Research Center poll of American Muslims. Here is the first: 47% of what Pew says are 2.35 million Muslims in America, or a little more than one million Muslims, consider themselves to be Muslims first, Americans second. The other bars in the graph above show that to be a much lower percentage than in Britain, Germany, and Spain: 81% of Muslims in Britain consider themselves to be Muslims first; 66% in Germany, and 69% in Spain. In France, as under fire as it is for not assimilating its Muslim immigrants (although they have resisted assimilation at every step), it's 46%.
Anyway, all religions make absolute claims, so this is not really unusual or unexpected. Most serious Christians in America probably consider themselves Christians first and Americans second. But given the nature of Islam as a political and social system as well as a religious faith, this finding has important implications for whether these one million Muslims would like to see Islamic law, Sharia, in the United States, and will be working to that end. I haven't read it all yet, but I doubt that the Pew poll asks pointed questions like that.
Posted by Robert at May 23, 2007 5:28 AM
Print this entry
| Email this entry
| Digg this
| del.icio.us
|
Same thing in Australia:
Muslim history in Australia dates back to 1650. That’s more than 100 years before the First Fleet.
Sheik Yer'mami saddled his camel and rode out into the outer outback and found proof:
Posted by: sheik yer'mami![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/nav-commenters.gif)
at May 23, 2007 6:06 AM
Sheik Yer'mami: "Muslim history in Australia dates back to 1650."
There is an element of truth here. Muslim depravity, murder and mayhem was known to the farthest reaches of the world one thousand years after its founding. It may have been known by some Australians as early as 1650. It was certainly known by Indonesians by then!
Posted by: David England at May 23, 2007 6:30 AM
One of the most interesting things from the first couple of chapters is the striking difference between the attitudes of native born Muslims versus the immigrant Muslim community. Two thirds of the native born Muslims are African-Americans; their attitudes about the U.S. are far harsher than those of the immigrant community. I suspect that most of the native born converted to Islam, in large part, because of their lack of belief in the American system and way of life.
Spinoneone
at May 23, 2007 6:54 AM
Mr. Spencer:
I find your other criticisms of American Islam valid, but not this one.
I myself am a Catholic first, and an American second.
I thought that as a Catholic deacon, you would understand this.
Posted by: DominvsVobiscvm at May 23, 2007 7:05 AM
I don't think either takes precedence over the other at all, hence our "God and Country" philosophy, and I'm Roman Catholic myself.
Recall "Render unto Caesar..."
(apples & oranges argument)
at May 23, 2007 7:37 AM
"Q.E12 Do you think of yourself first as an American or first as a Muslim?" Page 93
"14 In April 2006, the question asked Christians living in the U.S., “Do you think of yourself first as American
or first as a Christian?”" Page 93 footnote.
Muslim Christian
28 == 48 American First
47 == 42 Religion First
18 == 7 Both equally
6 == 1 Neither/Other
1 == 2 Don't Know Refused
This compares the response for Muslims in the US
to Christians in the US from a 2006 survey.
The symbol == is used to separate the columns, since I couldn't find a tab and didn't want to figure out a table in html.
Posted by: Old Atlantic at May 23, 2007 8:08 AM
Page 90 (of pdf, all my page numbers refer to pdf page number. Official page number is 84.)
IF BELIEVE KORAN IS WORD OF GOD (Q.E4=1), ASK:
Q.E5 And would you say that [READ, IN ORDER]?
3-07
Muslims == General Public (Bible)
86 Koran == 69 The Bible is the word of God, (NET)
50 Koran == 35 The Bible is to be taken literally, word for word,
25 Koran == 28 That not everything in the Bible should be taken literally, word for word.
11 == 6 Other/Don’t know/Refused (VOL. DO NOT READ)
8 Koran == 22 The Bible is a book written by men and is not the word of God (NET)
1 == 2 Other (VOL. DO NOT READ)
5 == 7 Don’t know/Refused (VOL. DO NOT READ)
GP footnote 10 In March 2007, both general public questions asked about “the Bible” instead of the Koran.
Posted by: Old Atlantic at May 23, 2007 8:15 AM
If there are 6-7 Million here (as estimated by the Encyclopedia Britannica figures in the report) instead of 1.8 Million...
and they are able to reproduce themselves in 7 years (as per the San Diego figures vs. the 17 years in the Illinois figures in the report), then the problem of 'Muslim first, American second' is a significant problem.
Muslims cannot be compared to Christians no matter how many times Pew tries to draw this comparison.
Posted by: BurkasforHitlery at May 23, 2007 8:31 AM
Last night on one of the talk shows, two young Muslims, a man and woman, looking like they were graduate students at Ivy League schools, were questioned about some of the survey. They both attempted to muddy the waters about the answers given by American Muslims. One point that they made was that large numbers of non-Muslim Americans also believe that someone else besides Muslims were responsible for 9/11. They sited a poll in Ohio for that statement. Of course, that theory is rampant among Muslims, most of whom believe that the "Jews" did the deed. As for the saying, "God first, then family, then country," yes, I grew up with that saying too, taught in the church-sponsored school that I attended as a child. However, in the 12 years that I attended such schools, not one teacher, nor parents, nor adult neighbors, did I learn that it was justified in the name of religion to do anything violent.
Posted by: maryrose at May 23, 2007 8:45 AM
The difference between Christian sentiments and moslem expressing the same feelings is a matter of how it works out practically.
In Romans 1:1-4, Titus 3:1 and I Peter 2:13,14 Paul exhorts Christians to submit to the secular governmental entities ( that God had/has placed) in authority above them.
From what I understand about islam, moslems are required to bring all secular governments under submission to islamic rule.
So, even though the Christians and moslems interviewed appear to have the same sentiments, their sentiments, in actuality, are not alike in the least.
Posted by: eve_anne_gelical at May 23, 2007 12:23 PM
Well, Muslims in India are the descendents of forcible converts of quite long ago, as long ago as 700 AD.
Even though they are here the inheritors of the Hindu culture and land, their minds and souls are pledged to Arabia.
Even centuries of living in a Hindu land, and being the descendents of the once Hindu people has not infused in the Indian Muslims any sense of loyalty to their nation.
There are very few Muslim Indians. Most are Indian Muslims....
Posted by: proud-hindu at May 24, 2007 12:37 AM
Comments are turned off and archived for this entry.
(Note: The Comments section is provided in the interests of free speech only. It is mostly unmoderated, but comments that are off-topic, offensive, slanderous, or otherwise annoying stand a chance of being deleted. The fact that any comment remains on the site IN NO WAY constitutes an endorsement by Jihad Watch or Dhimmi Watch, or by Robert Spencer or any other Jihad Watch or Dhimmi Watch writer, of any view expressed, fact alleged, or link provided in that comment.)