Anti-Muslim and Anti-Jewish Prejudice Linked
Howard Stern's Anti-Arab Prejudice
Anti-Christian Prejudice in Israel
Redux: Anti-Christian Prejudice in Israel
The Anti-Defamation League's Jewish Supremacist Doctrine
Glenn Beck Condemned For Anti-Jewish Comments
A new survey by polling firm Gallup has found that those whom express prejudice toward Muslims are amongst the same group of people who hold prejudice toward Jews. In others words: Islamophobes likely to be anti-Semites too.
This finding in America dovetails with European surveys where anti-Islam sentiment is often held by the same people who are bigoted toward Jews. Thus, not being Christian is the problem for these people.
In the Gallup poll, respondents who said they feel "a great deal" of prejudice toward Jews are very likely to report feeling the same level of bias toward Muslims.
The new poll shows that 53% of Americans view Islam unfavorable. An unfortunate number, but...
Dalia Mogahed, executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, said that Americans' attitudes toward Muslims generally seem to be improving but that "changes are not dramatic."
The poll found that weekly churchgoers "are less likely to harbor bias against Muslims." A good sign in a devote country.
Prejudice against Islam is often due to ignorance about the faith. For instance, people who believe that Islam is against gender equality are likely to hold negative views. In reality, most Muslims support gender equality:
Data from other Gallup interviews that were not part of the most recent poll show that majorities of Muslims in Iran, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, among other places, say that women and men should have equal legal rights.
It is not surprising that Americans are mostly ignorant about the faith given the reporting and often malign presenting on Islam in the U.S. press to say nothing of the venom that spews from right-wing outlets.
It is up to Muslim-Americans to educate the press and the American people about the righteousness of faith and that we are patriotic Americans like all else.
Only by seeing Islam firsthand and hearing the message, can Muslims confront this prejudice. Thus it is good that most of those anti-Islam are against Islam out of ignorance. That means the bigotry is curable. Once we end the ignorance they will respect our faith.
