COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Monday, June 12, 2017

We Just Don't Understand Them (Voice Of America -November 01, 2009)

The ninth month of the Obama presidency

Is Islam Misunderstood in America?

A new survey of U.S. public attitudes toward Muslim-Americans and Islam finds that a majority of Americans -- 55 percent -- regard Muslim-Americans favorably, but that smaller numbers - only 41 percent -- have favorable impressions of Islam as a religion. The study by the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Research Center indicates that many Americans perceive a link between Islam and violence, with more than one in three saying Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence among its believers. Experts on Islamic-American relations believe such negative views stem from American ignorance of Islamic culture. 

Muslims and Islamic culture have long been an integral part of American society. But today, almost years after the 9/11 attacks by radical Islamists and the start of America's war on terror, many Americans associate Islam with violence and extremism. 

We asked a random sample of people in downtown Washington, DC, what immediately comes to mind when they hear the word "Islam". "Unfortunately, the first thought that I have is something maybe a little charged with aggression and negativity," said one woman. A man remarked, "The fact that I work in Washington, DC, makes me especially fearful of Islamic terrorism, especially in the time after September 11." Another woman shared her thoughts: "I know it is a religion founded by Muhammad, and that he was a General, a warrior." Another man talked about his fears: "It brings a little bit of fear to me after being here on September 11th and watching the planes go in." 

The Washington, DC-based Pew Research Center did a more scientific survey. Gregory Smith, who co-authored the study say, "Only about four in 10 say they have favorable views of Islam, and there is also a minority of the public - but a substantial minority, about one third in our survey last summer - who say that they are concerned that Islam encourages violence among its believers."
American Muslim leaders blame the US news media for generating what Nihad Awad, Executive Director of the Council for American Islamic Relations calls "Islamophobia". 

"The kind of coverage that the American audience has been receiving about Islam and Muslims leads one to just one conclusion, that Islam is bad and Muslims are violent," he said. "The media has failed to capture the reality of the Muslim world and only focused on the actions of the few."

One of the problems with the media's portrayal of Islam, experts say, is that violent acts committed by Islamic terrorists aligned with al-Qaida make the news far more often than the peaceful aspects of Islamic culture. 

Dr. Yvonne Haddad is Professor of Islamic History at the Center for Muslim -Christian Understanding at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. "It is very difficult for Americans to distinguish between al-Qaida and not al-Qaida," she said. "It is very difficult for them to distinguish between the few people who are terrorists and the rest of Muslims who are just people trying to make their living, trying to raise their kids and have a peaceful life."

According to the Pew Research Center study, public perceptions depend heavily on a few key factors. Gregory Smith explained. "One of the most powerful factors shaping views of Islam is education," he said. "Those Americans who have more education tend to be more favorable toward Muslim Americans and Islam than Americans with less education. Interestingly, age was also a good predictor of views of Muslim Americans and Islam, with young people tend to be more favorable than were older people." 

Betsy McCormick, a working professional, says she gained a more positive view of Islam by traveling and having direct contact with Islamic culture in the Middle East: "I guess there are a lot of distorted views, because I have traveled to Egypt and I sort of witnessed the practice of the religion and I found it very enriching and very interesting," she said.

Some Americans, including Patricia Hagen, believe a dialogue among the people of the three monotheistic faiths - Christianity, Islam and Judaism - is the best approach to overcome misunderstandings. "Better understanding - and I think it is got to come from within all of the three major religions, to work together," she said. "Coming from a Christian background, Abraham is the founder of Judaism [and] Christianity as well as Islam, so we came from the same foundation, now we have to build upon that foundation."

But building that trust will be a challenge. The Pew study suggests many Americans believe the terrorist attacks of recent years are just the first salvoes of an intensifying conflict between Islam and the West.

32 comments:

  1. TODAY - THE GAP:

    When asked if they hold a favorable attitude towards Islam, for instance, there is a 40-point gap between Republicans and Democrats in general (24 percent of Republicans and 64 percent of Democrats). But the gap widens to 50 points between Clinton supporters (66 percent have a favorable view) and Trump supporters (16 percent), specifically.

    Similar divides manifested on questions about the compatibility of the Islamic and Western religions and societies, with 13 percent of Clinton supporters believing in a so-called clash of civilizations and 62 percent of Trump supporters believing it. That is a 41-point gap.

    https://www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2016/07/27/poll-shows-american-views-on-muslims-and-the-middle-east-are-deeply-polarized/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pew Research (2007): 26% of younger Muslims in America believe suicide bombings are justified.
    35% of young Muslims in Britain believe suicide bombings are justified (24% overall).
    42% of young Muslims in France believe suicide bombings are justified (35% overall).
    22% of young Muslims in Germany believe suicide bombings are justified.(13% overall).
    29% of young Muslims in Spain believe suicide bombings are justified.(25% overall).
    http://www.pewresearch.org/files/old-assets/pdf/muslim-americans.pdf#page=60

    Pew Research (2011): 8% of Muslims in America believe suicide bombings are often or sometimes justified (81% never).
    28% of Egyptian Muslims believe suicide bombings are often or sometimes justified (38% never).
    http://www.people-press.org/2011/08/30/muslim-americans-no-signs-of-growth-in-alienation-or-support-for-extremism/

    Pew Research (2007): Muslim-Americans who identify more strongly with their religion are three times more likely to feel that suicide bombings are justified
    http://www.pewresearch.org/files/old-assets/pdf/muslim-americans.pdf#page=60

    27% of British Muslims do not support the deportation of Islamic extremists preaching violence and hate.
    http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2005/07/more-survey-research-from-a-british-islamist.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. We don't need them. What is the benefit?

    ReplyDelete
  4. BBC Radio (2015): 45% of British Muslims agree that clerics preaching violence against the West represent "mainstream Islam".
    http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/bbc-radio-4-today-muslim-poll/

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Polling Company CSP Poll (2015): 19% of Muslim-Americans say that violence is justified in order to make Sharia the law in the United States (66% disagree).
    http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/150612-CSP-Polling-Company-Nationwide-Online-Survey-of-Muslims-Topline-Poll-Data.pdf

    The Polling Company CSP Poll (2015): 25% of Muslim-Americans say that violence against Americans in the United States is justified as part of the "global Jihad (64% disagree).
    http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/150612-CSP-Polling-Company-Nationwide-Online-Survey-of-Muslims-Topline-Poll-Data.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  6. IT GETS WORSE:

    The Sun (2015: Following Nov. 2015 attacks in Paris, 1 in 4 young Muslims in Britain (and 1 in 5 overall) said they sympathize with those who fight for ISIS.
    http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/6758207/1-in-5-British-Muslims-have-sympathy-for-jihadis-in-poll.html

    ICM (2016): 2 in 3 Muslims in Britain would not report terror plot to police.
    http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article4730825.ece

    ReplyDelete
  7. Please feel free to extoll the virtues and gifts that Islam brings to the west.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Pew Research (2010): 49% of Nigerian Muslims have favorable view of al-Qaeda (34% unfavorable)
    23% of Indonesians have favorable view of al-Qaeda (56% unfavorable)
    34% of Jordanians have favorable view of al-Qaeda
    25% of Indonesians have "confidence" in Osama bin Laden (59% had confidence in 2003)
    1 in 5 Egyptians have "confidence" in Osama bin Laden
    http://pewglobal.org/2010/12/02/muslims-around-the-world-divided-on-hamas-and-hezbollah/

    ReplyDelete
  9. ICM (Mirror) Poll 2015: 1.5 Million British Muslims support the Islamic State, about half the total population.
    http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/muslim-leader-isis-supporting-brits-disenfranchised-6018357

    ReplyDelete
  10. You really have to be sipping tea at The Pollyanna Souk & Hookah to try and defend the indefensible, but do give it your best.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :)

      I am not so inclined and so do decline.

      I think, though, those numbers in the US are probably too low.

      Why would a young moslem wish to bring attention to oneself by admitting one supports suicide bombings, or sharia law ?

      Delete
    2. I'm still awaiting any real show of condemnation by US moslems when one of these killings events occurs.

      I haven't seen it yet, and doubt I ever will.

      Delete
    3. Pew Research (2007): 26% of younger Muslims in America believe suicide bombings are justified.

      I read that as meaning that every fourth young moslem Quirk might pass in the street out his way is willing to kill his ass.

      Delete
    4. One can also say that at least 1 out of 4 young moslems in the USA is traitorous to our Constitution.

      Delete
  11. June 12, 2017
    A Perspective on Multiculturalism
    By Peter Hyatt

    While filming ABC’s “20/20”, I had a Muslim from Lebanon applying makeup, while an Israeli immigrant worked the lighting, and an Irishman worked the sound. I could not resist the opportunity afforded and asked the three of them, “When, you, the Irishman leave the room, do you, the Muslim, try to kill you the Israeli?”

    We had a good laugh and the Muslim went on to tell a riveting and emotional account of what it was like living under Islam and how his parents arranged for his escape. He said he was an atheist, as were his parents, while living under Islam’s foreboding shadow of condemnation. He described what it was like to be in a bombing. To a deception detection expert, his language indicated experiential knowledge and some post-trauma impact.

    These workers clearly enjoyed their professional relationship as do many in multicultural settings.

    In Geneva, Switzerland a few months later, I spoke to many people who came from outside Switzerland, most of whom spoke English and French, while many others spoke three or even four languages. They too enjoy the economic and cultural benefits that free movement of peoples afforded. For lunch, they have Italian, French, German, Chinese, Thai, Indian, and other cuisine choices, skillfully prepared and available daily near every street corner.

    Like a sumptuously prepared meal, the mix of ingredients can produce culinary delights, but consider within this multiculturalism the single entry of arsenic that destroys.

    The element of multiculturalism that becomes defective is Islam. Islam is a supremacist criminal ideology, started by a pedophile murderous thief, with religious undertones. Unlike other religions, Islam is the only major religion that prescribes coercive violence at its core. In spite of claims to the contrary, the Bible’s historical records report violence, without precept for violence, nor historical precedent of coercive violence. In spite of elitist claims to the contrary, no one is dressing up as a nun, yelling “What would Jesus do?” while strapped with bombs. History recognizes that those who waged illicit war and attempted to justify it with religion, did so in contradiction with their religion’s ideology.

    Multiculturalism’s arsenic is Islam. The West is slowly yielding to the Islamic call of peace through submission. No politician wants to say “no” to its encroachment, knowing that even denying an Islamic school holiday is going to be met with violence or threats of violence. When Sharia, or Islamic law is protested, the left defends it. Sharia calls for death to those who oppose Islam, meaning the leftists, themselves, are under its lethal penalty.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. European moral narcissism imported Muslims by the millions while disarming its own citizens. Each time another Islamic attack takes place and the perpetrators confess their motive, the left tells us that the confession is false, and it is not in devout obedience to the Koranic verses calling for violence but the killers are frustrated with the weather, the unemployment rate, or from a 1,000 years old grievance.

      As London’s Islamic mayor tells its citizens to get used to watching their children blown up, and Londoners react with Teddy Bears, hashtags, and arrests of citizens who complain about Islam, Manchester’s police chief tells the world that “arming the police is not the answer.”

      It is music to the Islamists’ ears.

      Had Hillary Clinton been elected president, the disarming of America would have begun in earnest, much to the delight of this brutal and totalitarian ideology which has come off eight years of political defense.

      As conservatives who often feel betrayed by President Trump, perhaps we should pause and consider what European children are now getting “used to” as they grow up going to school under military protection.

      Still, the field trips to mosques continue, and the slogan of “love not hate” is sung to the Islamic soldiers too numerous for surveillance, who watch Europe submit and understand their own supremacy. While we have moments of silence on Facebook, they are reloading.

      Multiculturalism’s benefits are destroyed by Islam.

      In the march against Sharia in the United States, it was the absence of Muslims that is most disturbing. CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood, and leftist organizations came together to oppose the opposing of Islamic law in America.

      We’ve got to build borders, or else, like Western Europe, we’ll have to build barriers around us, our children and the monuments of progress, to protect all from this encroaching virus.

      Multiculturalism is the entry gate of Islam into the West.

      http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/06/a_perspective_on_multiculturalism_.html

      Delete
  12. Stupidity on steroids:

    “The thing that should really worry Gen. Townsend is the latest permission of the US Congress to deliver American MANPADs to the Syrian militants in 2017,” Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian ministry, said. He added that it “was not hard to guess who will get them after they are delivered to Syria.”

    The Russian general warned the US against using the authorization to deliver anti-aircraft weapons to Syrian rebels, saying that expecting the weapons to be used “against aircraft of one side only” would be wishful thinking, and was not supported by the previous record of arms transfers to the region.

    “Sooner or later they will bite off the giving hand,” Konashenkov said.

    Authorization to deliver portable shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles to Syrian rebels was granted by the US lawmakers in the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, passed last week. Most observers consider it a mostly symbolic gesture.

    ReplyDelete
  13. February 2017

    The survey of 10 European countries, carried out by the Royal Institute of International Affairs (also known as Chatham House), asked if “all further migration from mainly Muslim countries should be stopped.”

    An average of 55 percent of respondents across the 10 countries agreed. Only one in five respondents said they wanted Muslim migration to continue.

    If the globalist activists posing as journalists in the mainstream media ever bothered to cover the Muslim migrant crisis in Europe honestly, these survey results wouldn’t come as a shock.

    Only on Sunday, five German girls between the ages of 12 and 14 were molested by two Muslim asylum seekers, aged 23 and 34, in the town of Bad Oldesloe. The police report on the incident, released Monday, said that the victims were “touched under water.”

    Sex crimes committed by Muslim migrants in swimming pools have become so widespread in countries like Germany and Sweden that it can accurately described as an epidemic, and have led some pools to institute extra security and even sex-segregation in some instances.

    ReplyDelete
  14. 55% of Europeans are unenlightened about the joys and bounties brought into their lives by the Islamic tourists. To the other 45% they have yet to learn that wishing doesn't make things so.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Gingrich is on near the end of this Ingraham Podcast.

    https://www.podcastone.com/episode/LI-Podcast-061217

    ReplyDelete
  16. Angry protester hit a police horse with a flagpole that had a nail sticking out, police say

    I'm guessing "she" was with the counter anti-sharia protest.

    http://www.fresnobee.com/news/nation-world/national/article155763324.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://www.pennlive.com/news/2017/06/philadelphia_woman_accused_of.html?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

      Delete
  17. Dear Member,

    We are pleased to announce that former U.S. Senator Jim DeMint has officially joined
    the Convention of States Project as a Senior Advisor!
    (http://conventionofstates.us8.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=3a21cd3d06284c105dbd92fee&id=25fd76434f&e=15e694a1e1)

    For nearly two decades, DeMint made a name for himself in Washington fighting for
    freedom, limited government and fiscal responsibility. Now he will continue to do so
    by traveling the country raising awareness about the only solution as big as the
    problem in D.C.

    “I tried to rein in Washington from the House and Senate, but once I realized that
    Washington will never willingly return decision-making power back to the American
    people and the states, I began to search for another way to restrain the federal
    government,” said DeMint. “I am excited to get outside the beltway and work with the
    grassroots of the Convention of States Project to continue the fight I started
    almost two decades ago.”

    Twelve states have passed the Convention of States resolution calling for fiscal
    restraint, limiting the size, scope and jurisdiction of the federal government, and
    term limits on federal officials, such as judges.

    Momentum continues to build as constitutional thought leaders, statesmen and experts
    urge citizens and state legislators to use this constitutional tool before it is too
    late.

    Our list of endorsers include Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, American economist Thomas
    Sowell, Sheriff David Clarke, Lt. Bill Cowan, historian David Barton, Ben Carson,
    M.D., Ken Cuccinelli, Senator Marco Rubio, Senator Ron Johnson, retired U.S. Senator
    Tom Coburn, retired U.S. Senator Jim DeMint, South Carolina Congressman Jeff Duncan,
    former Gov. Jeb Bush, former Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Gov. Sarah Palin, Gov. John
    Kasich, former Gov. Bobby Jindal, Gov. Greg Abbot, and Col. Allen West.

    It’s never too late to get involved in the fight and be a part of history in the
    making.

    Click here to sign-up as a District Captain and help recruit supporters in your
    local house district!
    (http://conventionofstates.us8.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=3a21cd3d06284c105dbd92fee&id=68e5011d59&e=15e694a1e1)

    For America,

    The Convention of States Team

    LET'S SAVE THE NATION!
    (http://conventionofstates.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3a21cd3d06284c105dbd92fee&id=de2b384149&e=15e694a1e1)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Quirky Secrets To Genius

    (Credit: SPL)
    In Depth Brain

    What you can learn from Einstein’s quirky habits

    More than 10 hours of sleep and no socks – could this be the secret to thinking like a genius?

    http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170612-what-you-can-learn-from-einsteins-quirky-habits

    I noticed it in the past....every time Quirk puts socks on he gets dumber than shit.

    Da Da LeBoeuf and Miss Felony have noticed it too, and have quit buying him socks for his birthdays.

    ReplyDelete
  19. SHARIA UK: TWO ARRESTED FOR BURNING QUR’ANS
    Yes, 29 people were killed in recent jihad attacks, but…burnt Qur’ans!
    June 12, 2017 Robert Spencer

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/266963/sharia-uk-two-arrested-burning-qurans-robert-spencer

    England surely looks to be finished.

    ReplyDelete
  20. We need a higher speed of light -

    Why Is the Speed of Light So Slow?
    By Ross Pomeroy
    June 12, 2017

    ....As strange as that assertion may seem to humans accustomed to traveling a mere 70 miles per hour on the highway, it makes a lot of sense on a cosmic scale. Consider this: If the observable Universe was reduced to the size of planet Earth, traversing the Milky Way Galaxy would be roughly equivalent to walking three houses down the block to visit your neighbor. And yet, traveling at the cosmic speed limit of our smaller, Earth-size universe, that short jaunt would take 100,000 years!

    This example showcases just how tediously slow exploring the galaxy would be for a ship traveling at the speed of light. Such a journey would span more than a hundred human generations!

    Even if you don't consider humanity's self-centered wish for interstellar light-speed travel and instead think about photons dashing across our solar system, the speed of light still seems positively sluggish. As astrophysicist Brian Koberlein calculated, it takes 45 minutes for light from the Sun to reach Jupiter, and five hours for it to reach Pluto....


    http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2017/06/12/why_is_the_speed_of_light_so_slow.html

    This has always really pissed me off. The speed of light ought to be at least 10,000 times what it is.....then we could get somewhere.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. God must have had His socks on when he set the speed of light.

      Delete
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    ReplyDelete