Negative perception of Islam increasing: Poll numbers higher than 911

[ECH1969]

As the war in Iraq grinds into its fourth year, a growing proportion of Americans are expressing unfavorable views of Islam, and a majority now say that Muslims are disproportionately prone to violence, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The poll found that nearly half of Americans -- 46 percent -- have a negative view of Islam, seven percentage points higher than in the tense months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, when Muslims were often targeted for violence.

The survey comes at a time of increasing tension; the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq show little sign of ending, and members of Congress are seeking to block the Bush administration's attempt to hire an Arab company to manage operations at six of the nation's ports.

According to the poll, the proportion of Americans who believe that Islam helps to stoke violence against non-Muslims has more than doubled since the attacks, from 14 percent in January 2002 to 33 percent today. "The intensity has not abated and remains a vein that's very near the surface, ready to be tapped at any moment," Zogby said. "Members of Congress have been exploiting this over the ports issue. Radio commentators have been talking about it nonstop."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11735622/

[goddess40]

1. It should be down for all fundies regardless of where they start from

I would hope all fundamentalist would be under scrutiny - intolerance is such an ugly thing.

[saigon68]

24. They start here with the "KISSING BANDIT"

[Missy M]

2. This is all because of the Bush administration in my opinion...

with their non-stop rhetoric about terror.

[ECH1969]

3. Actually this is a pretty massive jump from last years ABC/WP poll

The cartoon controvery was probably the biggest factor in all of this.

[greyl]

7. All?

Do you think extreme fundamentalists have no responsibility here?

An interesting article from shortly after the London bombings:

"Despite concerns about the London attacks and fear of terrorism in the United States, the number of Americans saying that Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence has fallen from 44 percent two years ago to just 36 percent in the current survey.

People have a less positive view of Islam in general than of Muslim-Americans in particular. Just 39 percent view Islam favorably, while 36 percent regard it an unfavorable religion. But 55 percent said they hold a favorable view of Muslim-Americans, compared to 25 percent who view Muslim-Americans with disfavor.

While Muslim-Americans have grown in popularity over the last two years, from 51 percent favorable in July 2003 to 55 percent today, evangelicals lost ground. Fifty-eight percent rated evangelicals favorably and 18 percent unfavorably in 2003. In 2005 the percentages shifted to 57 percent pro and 19 percent con.

http://www.ethicsdaily.com/article_detail.cfm?AID=6077

[sutz12]

4. So the neo-can plan is working..

:shrug:

[bullimiami]

5. this is without a doubt bushs fault. he created this bogeyman.

[adriennui]

6. i despise bush

but you have only the islamists themselves and perhaps the media to blame.
after 9/11 bush constantly said islam is a religion of peace...perhaps some people didn't see it as such. since then there have been kidnappings, beheadings, riots over cartoons, riots in paris etc. iraq may be blamed for some of the violence but look to pakistan, gaza, saudi arabia,central africa, indonesia, etc. for car bombs, hotel bombs, embassy bombs.

the steady drumbeat of islamic violence has not been halted.....people are weary.

[Just Me]

11. Three white college boys burned to the ground ten churches.

White collar crime is skyrocketing.

Palestinians being bombed and/or oppressed.

Christians call for assasination of elected leaders.

Secret torture camps, all over the damn place.

This administration is responsible for the VIOLENT injuries/deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people.

Steady stream of violence all right. But, the source is certainly not merely Islam believers.

[adriennui]

14. the original post was about negative muslim perceptions

nothing less, nothing more. the poll is a snapshot of this moment in time.

[coalition_unwilling]

23. What do you expect?

There is no war on terrorism, but there is a war for empire. The boundaries and sides of that war are still coming into focus but certainly Western corporate globalization, aka, imperialism, is one side of the on-going imperial war.

For that matter, why is it that when the U.S. or British governments obliterate hundreds of thousands of civilians (think Hiroshima, Dresden or Vietnam), Judeo-Christianity is not seen as "prone to violence"? The hypocrisy and cant are just too much sometimes.

Most Americans don't know the first thing about Islam, about Muslims or about their true enemies (Hint: It isn't Iraqis or Afghanis.) So I'm tempted to say, who gives a shit what they think? Mao's aphorism -- that political power grows out of the power of a gun -- is more and more apt, with each passing day.

[bullimiami]

28. what bush 'says' and what bush does are disconnected.

sure, he gave lip service to islam is peace, but he has treated all arabic peoples like they are animals.

[Bacchus39]

8. I am actually surprised it isn't even higher

in terms of negative perception.

[Just Me]

9. So, the hate propaganda is working.

Shameful! First the women, then the Blacks, then the Jews, now the Muslims. x(

[Doctor_J]

10. Faux News deserves every penny they get from Rove

hate is the only thing keeping * from a mob carrying pitchforks and torches

[DavidDvorkin]

12. I have a very negative perception of Islam

And Christianity and Judaism and . . .

[adriennui]

15. organized religion and greed

are at the root of evil.

[DamnYank]

13. My negative perception of all organized religions

has increased significantly since 9/11.

[One_Life_To_Give]

16. Bump from Cartoon related riots/ deaths?

With the recent row over the Danish Cartoons this is not surprising.
I don't know anyone who can really "understand" the reaction. (As opposed to the provocation.)

[HuffleClaw]

17. gee, i can't imagine why, could it be the daily 'two minute hate' by

all those right wing radio hosts? fox news? the governments constant agitprop?

[tatertop]

19. That's exactly what they are doing, and it's working

Dumbmericans are so easily led

[amagusta]

18. Naughty, naughty Muslims: invaded and brutalized, they fight back!

There is an ancient psychological understanding that the more someone is guilty of a certain behavior, the more angry he becomes when observing this same behavior in others: the liar gets most upset when lied to; the thief is most angered when robbed.

No wonder, then, that so many Americans perceive muslims as being prone to violence. What could be more American than violence!

[Igel]

26. And I look at the level of rage in the US, in Britain,

and in much of the Muslim world. I try to compare the two.

And I find the Muslims' rage to far surpass that of the Americans'. Should we apply your insight, or does it magically not apply because its application yields the incorrect answer?

[megatherium]

27. Last time I checked, America does not

prevent women from driving or going in public without male escorts (Saudi Arabia); punish blasphemy with death (Pakistan); run miniseries dramatizing the Protocols of the Elders of Zion on state TV (Egypt); bar Jews from entering their country (Saudi Arabia).

(I'm not in favor of war, by any means; we should get the hell out of Iraq and the entire middle east. But Islam isn't known for its zeal for human rights.)

[slackmaster]

20. I regard Islam with mild contempt

About the same way I feel about Catholicism.

[genieroze]

21. I have a bad opinion of fanatical jerk offs from any religion.

[cantstandbush]

22. Rising among those who already hated Islam. n/t

[NYC]

25. Bush has been beating us over the head with terrorism and

terrorists, and they are usually Muslim. Muslim extremists, Sunni insurgents, Islamic jihadists, etc., etc. What did they expect?

Right after 9/11, "arabs" were rounded up by the INS. I put arabs in quotes because Iranians were part of the round up. Who fed this anti-Muslim fervor? Bush. It was part of his "everything changed since 9/11" patriotic with us or against us tripe.