Why westerners hate islam

Recent polling also shows that fully half of U. About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world.

It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Newsletters Donate My Account. Research Topics. Republicans, white evangelicals express greatest reservations about Muslims, Islam Republicans and those who lean toward the GOP tend to hold much more negative views about Muslims and Islam than do Democrats and those who lean toward the Democratic Party.

Many in U. Video: U. Muslims Dataset. Table of Contents U. The truth is the majority of Muslims are helpless, both at the hands of the Islamist militants and of the West. They are caught up in a strange mix that includes: the North-South divide where global superpowers continue to play imperial politics in the developing world; sickening poverty and illiteracy; and, worst of all, the destruction of several Muslim countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt in the wake of the Cold War.

For these Muslims, the world is a complicated political space where they neither belong with the terrorists and nor are accepted by the West. We must remember there there are millions, if not billions, suffering throughout the Muslim world under rulers that are directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, supported by Western governments.

These are the regimes propped up by Western powers that benefit the elite while imposing heavy burdens on common citizens. Muslims tolerate terrorism in their ranks because for decades the West allowed their countries and their people to suffer under foreign policies that, at times, also encouraged Islamist militants.

If Western governments had turned a blind eye they would have caused much less harm. The truth is, the situation of many Muslims in the West is also grim. These recently released stats reveal that there are disproportionally more Muslims in jails, more Muslims without tertiary education, and more Muslims unemployed in every European country with a sizeable Muslim population.

The horrific terrorism in San Bernardino has revived fears of extremist jihadists operating on American soil. In a poll I conducted between November 4 and 10, —after a reported ISIS bomb brought down a Russian civilian airplane over Egypt but before the Paris and San Bernardino attacks—several trends are clear.

Many of the attitudes expressed are outgrowths of the American experience over the past decade and a half. This may have many reasons, but at the core, it is probably easier for many Americans—with strong anti-discrimination norms—to express dislike of an abstract idea rather than to appear prejudiced toward people. They never recovered, even during the early days of the Arab uprisings, which generated much sympathy among Americans.

But a decade later, the picture changed dramatically. A poll I conducted in April showed that 61 percent of Americans expressed unfavorable views of Islam, while only 33 percent expressed favorable views.

This was in the middle of expressed optimism about the Arab uprisings, when 70 percent of Americans, for example, expressed favorable views of Egyptians. At the time, Americans still seemed to differentiate between Islam and Muslims, with half saying they have positive views of Muslims. My recent poll indicates nearly identical views of Islam in as in the optimistic days of , with 61 percent of Americans also expressing unfavorable views.

But views of the Muslim people slightly improved, with 53 percent expressing favorable views. This comes despite the pessimism about the region, the rise of ISIS, and the bombing that dominated the news even before the Paris and the San Bernardino attacks; After all, 70 percent of Americans identified ISIS as the biggest threat facing the United States a year ago, which is about the same percentage expressing this view in my most recent poll.

The cold-blooded murder of a Catholic priest at a French church last week is an tragic reminder that the anti-Christian sentiments of ISIS are manifesting themselves on European soil. To succeed in the fight against ISIS and all other religious groups that promote a hate-fuelled, intolerant, and divisive worldview requires understanding that this is a battle of ideas. Where ISIS desires division, we must show unity. All rights reserved. Citation, reproduction and or translation of this publication, in whole or in part, for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorised provided the source is fully acknowledged.

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