RubySoho
Winston
Terror, by the numbers
May 23rd 2007 14:13
A new poll has come out today in the news regarding U.S. Muslim views on suicide bombings, Al-Qaida, and Islamic extremism. Predictably, different news outlets append differing amounts of alarm to the story. MSNBC and the Boston Globe, for example, are fairly reserved. The New York Post makes it seems as though Muslim armies are massing in the Heartland as we speak.
Regardless of how the news agencies choose to present this information, the numbers are what they are. Anyone who has ever taken a class in statistics, etc., knows that numbers can be skewed easily if a poll is not conducted honestly and properly. The Pew Research Center (the organization responsible for this poll) generally has a reputation as a reliable polling source, so, for the sake of this post, I will treat these findings as legitimate.
What the poll says is this:
-13% of US Muslims state that suicide bombings involving civilians are at least rarely justified in defense of Islam. That number rises to 26% in US Muslims under the age of 30.
-5% of those polled had a favorable opinion of terrorist groups like Al-Qaida. 25% did not respond.
-slightly over 50% of Muslims believe they experience greater prejudice post 9/11.
Truthfully, I have little trouble accepting the poll findings. While I am careful to keep in mind media bias and sensationalism, the existence of religious extremism in the world, and, yes, in America, is hardly in doubt. The good news is that, according to this poll, the large majority of US Muslims rejects extremism. Still, 13% represents about 250,000 Muslims who believe in the efficacy of suicide bombings. That has to be troubling to anyone.
Of course, supporting a radical idea and actually carrying it out yourself are two quite different things. Just because some Muslims support the notion of suicide bombing, it doesn't mean that they would actually carry out the act. Even so, one must assume that out of a quarter million people who even tacitly support that sort of violence, at least a few of them must have the will and the drive to possibly follow through.
There is little question that some day, whether it is tomorrow or ten years from now, a suicide bombing will take place on American soil. It is inevitable, given the current political and religious climate. As the smoke rises and the dead and injured are carted away, what will the response be here? Sadly, I can predict a likely outcome. Anti-Muslim fervor will swell up in an instant, and tensions will hover at the bursting point. Muslims will respond to this with finger-pointing and indignation. It will be a wound that will take a great deal of time to heal, assuming that it is an isolated incident. If it is a recurring event, I don't like to think about the possible consequences.
I will foolishly propose an alternative to this. Moderate Muslims, instead of defending Islam as a "religion of peace" (a claim I will look into at a future date here -- the Koran isn't the most peaceful book in the world) and wringing your hands, crying "persecution", rise up against the dissenters in your ranks who insist on dealing in violence and ignorance. If violence is so abhorrent to you, stand against it. Stamp out these seeds of fundamentalism and martyrdom through relentless education and cultural reconstruction. Most of all, stop touting the infallibility of Allah and the Koran and allow doubt to creep in, just a little. Infallibility breeds arrogance, arrogance begets argument, argument leads to fighting....we know where this goes. The same goes for all sides. Christians, Jews, Muslims.....all sides need to consider the fact that maybe none of them are completely right.
The numbers cited in this poll are alarming. They will not change by themselves. Education and dialog are what is needed to combat this problem, not guns and bombs. Education and dialog. What radical ideas.
Regardless of how the news agencies choose to present this information, the numbers are what they are. Anyone who has ever taken a class in statistics, etc., knows that numbers can be skewed easily if a poll is not conducted honestly and properly. The Pew Research Center (the organization responsible for this poll) generally has a reputation as a reliable polling source, so, for the sake of this post, I will treat these findings as legitimate.
What the poll says is this:
-13% of US Muslims state that suicide bombings involving civilians are at least rarely justified in defense of Islam. That number rises to 26% in US Muslims under the age of 30.
-5% of those polled had a favorable opinion of terrorist groups like Al-Qaida. 25% did not respond.
-slightly over 50% of Muslims believe they experience greater prejudice post 9/11.
Truthfully, I have little trouble accepting the poll findings. While I am careful to keep in mind media bias and sensationalism, the existence of religious extremism in the world, and, yes, in America, is hardly in doubt. The good news is that, according to this poll, the large majority of US Muslims rejects extremism. Still, 13% represents about 250,000 Muslims who believe in the efficacy of suicide bombings. That has to be troubling to anyone.
Of course, supporting a radical idea and actually carrying it out yourself are two quite different things. Just because some Muslims support the notion of suicide bombing, it doesn't mean that they would actually carry out the act. Even so, one must assume that out of a quarter million people who even tacitly support that sort of violence, at least a few of them must have the will and the drive to possibly follow through.
There is little question that some day, whether it is tomorrow or ten years from now, a suicide bombing will take place on American soil. It is inevitable, given the current political and religious climate. As the smoke rises and the dead and injured are carted away, what will the response be here? Sadly, I can predict a likely outcome. Anti-Muslim fervor will swell up in an instant, and tensions will hover at the bursting point. Muslims will respond to this with finger-pointing and indignation. It will be a wound that will take a great deal of time to heal, assuming that it is an isolated incident. If it is a recurring event, I don't like to think about the possible consequences.
I will foolishly propose an alternative to this. Moderate Muslims, instead of defending Islam as a "religion of peace" (a claim I will look into at a future date here -- the Koran isn't the most peaceful book in the world) and wringing your hands, crying "persecution", rise up against the dissenters in your ranks who insist on dealing in violence and ignorance. If violence is so abhorrent to you, stand against it. Stamp out these seeds of fundamentalism and martyrdom through relentless education and cultural reconstruction. Most of all, stop touting the infallibility of Allah and the Koran and allow doubt to creep in, just a little. Infallibility breeds arrogance, arrogance begets argument, argument leads to fighting....we know where this goes. The same goes for all sides. Christians, Jews, Muslims.....all sides need to consider the fact that maybe none of them are completely right.
The numbers cited in this poll are alarming. They will not change by themselves. Education and dialog are what is needed to combat this problem, not guns and bombs. Education and dialog. What radical ideas.
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Comment by Wendi
I have never been a person who judges others based on the color of skin, gender, belief systems, or origin of birth. People are people, point blank. However, after 9/11, when getting on a plane, you bet your ass I was looking around and slightly unnerved by certain passengers. On one hand, I was terribly ashamed of myself. On the other hand, it seemed a perfectly natural reaction.
I consider myself a reasonable and compassionate human being, but there are plenty of people in our world who lack compassion all together and don't lean on "reason" in their decision making processes. I can see where prejudice would come into play on a grand scale after 9/11. It's not justified, but I understand it.
As for the numbers and the flip side of the coin, I can't say much. I'm uneducated and unexperienced... but if I can understand how the racism could explode within my own culture, I have to be willing to understand that someone on the flip side could also find "reason" for supporting the concept of suicide bombings.
Now that we know the problem, how can we find a solution? People have been going to war over religion and power for as long as people have existed.
W
Comment by Winston
Small Thoughts on Big Questions
It's easy for me to sit here and write about the need for education and moderation, but the fact that those things are needed isn't news. How do you fight a few thousand years of training? How do you combat religious and social values that are so deeply ingrained, they're practically genetic? In short, how to overcome human nature? Man, I wish I knew.
For now, there is no answer. We can only try, again and again and again, to call for reason. Sadly, I doubt that you or I will live to see a day when the scales of the world tip towards reason and peace....