A fascinating and in-depth new survey of Muslim Americans from Pew has some very interesting results. It's difficult to summarize given the poll's length, but here's an excerpt from their press release:
As the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaches, a comprehensive public opinion survey by the Pew Research Center finds no indication of increased alienation or anger among Muslim Americans in response to concerns about home-grown Islamic terrorists, controversies about the building of mosques and other pressures on this high-profile minority group in recent years. Nor does the new polling provide any evidence of rising support for Islamic extremism among Muslim Americans.
On the contrary, as found in the Pew Research Center’s 2007 survey, Muslims in the United States continue to reject extremism by much larger margins than most other Muslim publics around the world, and many express concern about the possible rise of Islamic extremism. Very few Muslim Americans – just 1% – say that suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilian targets are often justified to defend Islam from its enemies; an additional 7% say suicide bombings are sometimes justified in these circumstances. Fully 81% say that suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilians are never justified. Comparably small percentages of Muslim Americans express favorable views of al Qaeda, and the current poll finds more holding very unfavorable views of al Qaeda now than in 2007.
Yet Republican Rep. Peter King, who has turned himself into Congress's religious persecution czar, of course manages to spin these results his way:
Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) says that a new Pew Research Study shows the need for continued congressional hearings on Islamic radicalization in America, after the poll found 21 percent of Muslims have observed support for extremism in their communities.
“I don’t rely on polls, but the fact that 21 percent have seen extremism in their communities reinforces the need for the hearings,” King told POLITICO. [...]
However, he said he was alarmed at the fact that only 43 percent of those surveyed viewed the country’s ongoing anti-terrorist efforts as “sincere.”
“I’ve always said that the overwhelming majority of Muslims are good Americans [but] I’m concerned that only 43 percent of Muslims see anti-terrorism programs are ‘sincere’. I don’t know what world they’re living in… it’s very disappointing,” King said.
Putting aside the outrageousness of King's continued vendetta (if that's even possible to do), this is a great example of how easy it is to b.s. with polls. This is what Pew actually shows:
That is to say, a large increase in support among Muslim Americans for U.S. efforts to combat terrorism. Of course, King happily ignores that because it serves his purposes. There's tons more to look at in Pew's survey, but one other graphic stood out to me:
Makes you wonder if the only thing motivating Peter King isn't pure bigotry.
