American Muslims growing more liberal, survey shows

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- olweasel
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American Muslims growing more liberal, survey shows
OP - July 27, 2017, 01:08 AM

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(CNN) - American Muslims are growing more religiously and socially liberal, with the number who say society should accept homosexuality nearly doubling during the past decade, according to a major new survey.

American Muslims are also more likely to identify as political liberals and believe there are multiple ways to interpret the teachings of Islam, the survey found.

Conducted by the Pew Research Center, the survey of 1,001 American Muslims depicts a community in tumult, with the vast majority disapproving of President Donald Trump and worrying about the direction of the country. Even so, many remain hopeful about their future in the United States, the survey found, despite persistent anxiety about Islamic extremism and religious discrimination.

The wide-ranging survey, which was released on Wednesday, solicited opinions on everything from religious practices and politics to terrorism and social values. In addition, Pew found that the American Muslim population has been rising steadily for a decade, adding about 100,000 people per year. An estimated 3.35 million Muslims now live in the United States, just 1% of the overall population.

The survey interviews were conducted in English, as well as Arabic, Farsi and Urdu, between January 23 and May 2, 2017. The average margin of error is plus or minus 5.8 percentage points.
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http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/26/us/pew-muslim-american-survey/index.html

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- Cornflower
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American Muslims growing more liberal, survey shows
Reply #1 - July 27, 2017, 07:37 AM

I've always been interested why American Muslims are more liberal than European. Does it have to do with the demographic, the type of immigration the US and Europe gets, or the actual politics/sociopolitics in place. Or perhaps a combination of both? Would be interested to hear your thoughts.

"The healthiest people I know are those who are the first to label themselves fucked up." - three
- TheDashingRabbit
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American Muslims growing more liberal, survey shows
Reply #2 - July 27, 2017, 02:28 PM

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I've always been interested why American Muslims are more liberal than European. Does it have to do with the demographic, the type of immigration the US and Europe gets, or the actual politics/sociopolitics in place. Or perhaps a combination of both? Would be interested to hear your thoughts.

We still do have alot of fundamentalists its just that we have less frothing at the mouth type islamists.

Ive grown up in the conservative strand of the muslim community so my interactions with liberal muslims have been pretty non existant.

I want to say that education plays a role but as Maajid often points out the lesser educated immigrant muslim parents were actually less religious than their highly educated children.

In my opinion a life without curiosity is not a life worth living
- TheDashingRabbit
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American Muslims growing more liberal, survey shows
Reply #3 - July 27, 2017, 02:30 PM

Maybe its because there was comparatively a lesser amount of racism towards arabs and south asians in Canada and the U.S. than in Europe.

The islamists were able to use those grievances to easily recruit muslim youth into islamism.

Kenan Malik writes about this in this article.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/28/islamism-separation-other-peoples-even-muslims

In my opinion a life without curiosity is not a life worth living
- Cornflower
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American Muslims growing more liberal, survey shows
Reply #4 - July 27, 2017, 09:07 PM

I've thought about that as well (part of the socio-political aspect of it, so to speak). The modern day fundamentalism och conservative wave we see right now is more a modern phenomena than an old one, in my opinion.

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- bogart
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American Muslims growing more liberal, survey shows
Reply #5 - July 27, 2017, 10:29 PM

Class is a factor as well.
- Ward_End
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American Muslims growing more liberal, survey shows
Reply #6 - July 27, 2017, 10:58 PM

Quote from: Cornflower on July 27, 2017, 07:37 AM
I've always been interested why American Muslims are more liberal than European. Does it have to do with the demographic, the type of immigration the US and Europe gets, or the actual politics/sociopolitics in place. Or perhaps a combination of both? Would be interested to hear your thoughts.

A mix is probably the answer, however clichéd that sounds perhaps. I come from one of the most conservative regions in Pakistan and our community is often criticised for being slow to integrate compared to other immigrant communities. That combined with a sense of grievance towards international conflicts concerning Muslims (Bosnia, Kashmir, Iraq) which some Muslims will feel the need to radicalise against a perceived attack from the West against the Muslim world. And there's good old fashioned racism during the 70s and 80s (this I can only comment on the British context) against brown immigrants of Muslim origin, feeling that they don't belong and that they have to go back to their 'roots' in some form or another.
- three
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American Muslims growing more liberal, survey shows
Reply #7 - July 27, 2017, 11:49 PM

I know that the literature I had access to in English here was very very liberal. Hardly recognizable as traditional Islam at all. Especially what was being sold at the Islamic Center.

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