I have made it clear in other notes that I think we need some honesty about the intentions of global Islam. It seems that this encouragement seems to be received by some that I am part of the "hate Islam" crowd. I am note sure where that crowd is, but I have no desire to be part of it. G. K. Chesterton wrote in his biography of St. Francis that he went to Syria, determining that it was better to make converts out of Muslims than to conquer them. I share that sentiment. They need the good news of Jesus Christ. They need to replace their love for the Quran with a love for the Bible. They need to move from their Allah to the Triune God. Is this offensive? I would think that any Christian would agree.
Steve Chapman, in his September 26, 2010 article, says that there is no question that feelings on both sides are running higher than usual. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, says the Pew Research Center, 59 percent of Americans had a favorable view of Islam, but today, the figure is 30 percent. A spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations blamed the recent slashing of a Muslim cab driver in New York on "hate rhetoric."
But all these events get attention for the same reason that airplane crashes get attention: They are unusual. Considering the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and considering the U.S. invasion of two Islamic countries, for Chapman, the surprise is not that feelings between Muslims and non-Muslims in this country are so bitter and angry. It's that they are so amicable.
He points out that the "ground zero mosque" has elicited a great deal of opposition -- but, for the most part, restrained opposition. A Fox News poll found that while 64 percent of Americans do not want the facility at that location, 61 percent -- including most Republicans -- say the group has the right to build it there.
Chapman says that most people don't perceive all Muslims as a lurking danger. Asked whether Islam is more likely than other religions "to encourage violence," 35 percent of Americans said yes -- but 42 percent said no.
Further, the American Muslim community is not a seething swamp of violent militancy. There are estimated to be at least 1.3 million Muslims in this country -- plenty to furnish an unending stream of suicide bombers, if the motivation existed. But it doesn't. If there is anything striking about the home front of the global war on terrorism, it's the extreme rarity of domestic jihadists. A 2007 survey by Pew found that only 5 percent have a favorable view of al-Qaida -- a number that drops to 3 percent among foreign-born Muslims. Far from praying daily for the rise of Islamic extremism, 61 percent said they were worried about it. Mr. Chapman does not mention it, but I wonder about the other 39 percent. That would about 507,000 Muslims have no concern about the rise of extremism. Although the reason for lack of concern may be benign, it still puzzles me.
Chapman goes on to point out that unlike the alienated Muslim populations of Europe, American Muslims do not feel estranged from society. "Most say their communities are excellent or good places to live," Pew discovered. Most also believe women are better off in the United States than in Muslim countries.
Their overall satisfaction with the state of the country is no different, according to Pew, from the overall satisfaction of everyone else. They do not sound like a violent cult plotting to impose Taliban-style Shariah law on the infidels who surround them. They sound strangely like ... Americans. Which is what they are. For the most part, Muslims have achieved integration and acceptance. Only a quarter of them say they have ever suffered discrimination. Most have many non-Muslim friends.
Chapman suggests that these statistics may be the result of the fact that non-Muslims do not regard them with fear and loathing. Hate crimes against Muslims do not support the charge that Americans are frothing Islamophobes. In 2008, there were only 105 anti-Muslim incidents, compared with 1,013 against Jews.
What we see in action here is the powerful influence of deeply rooted ideas about assimilation, tolerance and freedom. Americans generally see Muslims as just one more ingredient in the national melting pot. Muslims mostly identify with our way of life.
The tensions and conflicts in evidence in our public debates do exist, but they give a misleading picture of modern American society. The reality is the one proclaimed by the Founders: E pluribus unum. Out of many, one.
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