A friend of mine, the editor of a newspaper, asked a few of his friends and acquaintance to do a little research on the following three questions. Now I could have spent more time, and probably should have tried to give opposing points of view, but hey, basically I am retired and lazy. Plus I figured, by posting here at Daily Kos, there would be no end to the people who will point out my failings and inaccuracies. I actually like that about this site!
1. How many Muslims are there in the United States?
Islam is the third largest religion in the United States after Christianity and Judaism. Approximately 0.9% of the population follows it. However we should realize that Muslims are one of the most racially diverse religions in the United States. For example about a quarter of Muslims in the U.S. are African Americans, Mohammed Ali comes to mind. Most Muslims are African and Asian, not Arabic. My first link is to Wikipedia, which has a very good breakdown and lists how and from where Muslims came to the U.S. To answer Dales question as to the amount of Muslims that reside here, the answer varies, but about 2.8 million is what I have found. I get different sites with vastly different numbers, but .8 to .9% seems prevalent and the 2015 census has us at just over 320 million. The pew poll has it at 2.75 million Muslims, so there you go!
2. How many are radical or believe there should no other religion than Islam?
The first link I included for question two is a lecture about understanding Islam and radicals by the Heritage Foundation. I did this partly because it is a conservative think tank and so should demonstrate that I am trying to find truths here. I quote from that article.
“Most Muslims around the world, and most Muslim leaders around the world, condemned the terrorist attack on the United States and proclaimed that it did not represent or stem from Islam. The West needs to commend this opinion, and begin to appreciate and celebrate the traditional Islam that rejects such violence. Our policy ought to be that all peoples, of all religions, who fulfill their religion with devotion, charity, equality and concern for others will be celebrated and protected, but that any person--whether in the name of religion or socialism or history--who seeks to take over a state and turn that belief into an ideology, an ideology which terrorizes and kills innocent people, is our enemy and the enemy of all religion.”
The second link is a Pew Research Center article. Here is the quote I think is most appropriate, but I recommend the whole article.
“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.” So I guess I would have to say the 1% and the 8% would have to be added together as radical in my opinion, so my answer to the question is 9%.
So the short answer to the second part of the question about whether or not they believe it is their religion or the highway, I could not find a site that I thought was trustworthy from any point of view. My take from what I have been reading is just like Christians; Muslims who believe in Islam believe it to be the only true religion!
3. How many are horrified by the terrorist acts their fellow Muslims are committing?
I am quoting from the same Pew Poll. I did research about 30 sites, but they were all one extreme or the other trying to make their point, so I did not include them. Again, I recommend you read both the links for question two, the quotes I am giving are of course just a way to give you a reference to the information I found, but the articles as a whole should be read.
“Fully 81% say that suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilians are never justified.” So I guess my answer to question three is 81%.
I look forward to what other people found. I realize that between the 9% for answer #2 and the 81% for answer #3 there is 10% missing. Make of that what you will.
Now for my two cents worth, I think if we are going to eschew the tenants of the bible, or the principles of this great country, we have to bite the bullet and take in refugees. Is there risk, yes there is! But if we run scared then the extremists win. I could also point out there are extremist who call themselves Christians! They are Caucasians, used to wear hoods to hide themselves, and there other examples I could give, but we are not kicking this example or their kin out of the States. They are terrorists by any definition of the term. We still allow them to exist, demonstrate, and hold meetings, and there is not a person in on this earth who does not know the violence they have perpetrated on mankind. So I am just pointing out that everything is relevant. We have ministers who preach jihad against Muslims in our churches, so why is that not extremism. If you’re going to be a Christian than be a Christian. Most of you treat the bible as if it was a contract with your Internet provider or phone service where you just scroll to the end and hit “agree”! In the bible’s case you thumb to the end and hit “I believe” without actually reading studying it either!
Question One Supporting Links
en.wikipedia.org/...
muslimpopulation.com/...
www.usnews.com/...
Question Two Supporting Links
www.heritage.org/...
www.people-press.org/...
Question Three Supporting link. (same as above)
www.people-press.org/...
