Funny how small 26 percent sounds when it describes, for example, the number of American voters who support the Senate’s mass-amnesty, goody-bag bill for illegal aliens. In this case, the one in four people polled by Rasmussen this week who hope the legislation passes comes off as a minority voice, especially when compared to the whopping 72 percent of voters who favor border enforcement and the reduction of illegal immigration.
But 26 percent looms large when it describes the number of American Muslims, ages 18-29, who support suicide bombings “in defense of Islam” — one of the sensational, if sensationally underreported, findings of a recent Pew poll. According to Pew, the total Muslim population in America is 2.35 million, 30 percent of whom are between 18 and 29. By my figuring, the suicide-bomb-approving cohort works out to 183,000 people. The poll also tells us that 69 percent of younger American Muslims say suicide bombings are never justified. While representing a majority almost as great as the percentage of American voters who favor border enforcement, 69 percent in this particular case is wholly inadequate; indeed, a strikingly poor showing.
Why?
In the case of the immigration bill, the poll reflects public opinion pertaining to a political process, a no-holds-barred, expletive-laced, free-for-all that, loathsome as it may sometimes seem, remains democratically rooted in a nonviolent contest of ideas, politics and flim-flam. In such a context, one-quarter of anything pales next to three-quarters of anything.
In the case of suicide bombing, however, the context changes. According to Pew’s data, one-quarter of younger American Muslims approve of the presence of skin-ripping, skull-crushing, organ-piercing violence in civilian life as a religious imperative — “in defense of Islam.” (The Pew pollsters declined to define “defense of Islam,” but having lived through Pope Rage, Cartoon Rage, Koran Rage, Satanic Verses Rage, etc., I think it’s safe to say this is a rather broad category.)
Such approval for religious violence is not just another unfettered political opinion finding expression in a poll-taker’s tally. On the contrary, the fact that a significant young chunk of American Islam believes such violence has a place in society indicates something closer to the end of unfettered political opinion. It may signal the beginning of physical coercion as a factor in the American political process. Which helps explain why the 69 percent figure is no consolation prize; only unanimity is acceptable here.
It’s not that a physical fear factor pertaining to mainly Islamic terrorism hasn’t long existed — just take a look at the dispiriting security perimeter erected around the Capitol, for instance. But this Pew poll may mark the first official acknowledgement that such violence and, equally important, the threat of such violence, actually find approval within the American polity.
Something new and barbarous under the sun, right? This is why it’s all the more disturbing to review the happy headline-spin the story received. The blogger Ace of Spades provided an early roundup of the Orwellian tags, which included: “Poll: Most Muslims seek to adopt American lifestyle” (USA Today); “Muslims assimilate better in U.S. than Europe, poll finds” (New York Times); “Poll: U.S. Muslims Feel Post-9/11 Backlash Despite Moderate Outlook” (Voice of America). My personal fave: “Upbeat portrait of U.S. Muslims” (Sacramento Bee). The accompanying stories were no less giddy.
But why the journalistic rush to depict the shocking story as so much happy talk? Therein lies a tale, one of fanatical religious fervor — on the part of the mainstream media (MSM). Like other politically correct elites, the MSM follow their own version of the “true faith”: multiculturalism. Multiculturalism preaches that all civilizations are the same, all religions are the same, all peoples are the same. The Pew results, meanwhile, tell them something else again: Some people — some young American Muslim people — approve of suicide bombing in defense of Islam. Does this finding perhaps introduce a qualitative difference among civilizations, religions and peoples? That is, is there something more desirable about societies that don’t inspire and glorify suicide bombings — something worth preserving? Conversely, is there something about Islam our own society requires protection against? This is very tricky territory for the MSM. The logical answers are multiculturally blasphemous.
The MSM response: Better to say nothing at all. Or better yet, just smile. Big grin. Happy story. It’s one measly quarter, after all. Just one in four. And isn’t that something to be upbeat about?
Diana West is a columnist for The Washington Times. She can be contacted via dianawest@verizon.net
Columns
Related Photos
-
File photo
America must not ignore a dangerous percentage
- Columns
-
-
319 Days and counting!!
Break out the credit cards and the doughnuts! Charge up to your hearts desire and eat whatever you want, don’t worry about carrying around those extra forty pounds because according to a growing population of scientists, quacks, researchers, religious dudes and guru’s the world is going to end in 2012.
-
Boundaries
Just as each of us has a need for physical safety, we also have a need for emotional or psychological safety. Boundaries is the term we use to define what helps us feel safe and comfortable in relationships. We have all had the experience of feeling like another person was closer to us physically than was comfortable. So too it is important to define for yourself how close you want to be with others emotionally. Naturally, this varies with who the other person is.
-
Building is only one part of expansion at LRMA
On January 25, the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art held a ground-breaking ceremony for a $5 million project that includes a 5,425-square foot addition and substantial increases to the Museum’s endowment fund.
-
Is now the time to refinance?
Mortgages are cheaper than ever. Economists and real estate analysts who predicted lower interest rates were not disappointed; the earliest numbers from 2012 have reached an all-time low, leading a number of homeowners to consider their options.
-
Eyes on the U.S. Economy
What a great weekend! The weather was just right for getting outside and practicing your favorite hobby or just “piddlin” around. I even went over to Gardner Park and threw the pigskin with my buddies, Ben and Jasper. Mallorie’s folks made it over to Laurel Saturday afternoon and we fired up the grill. We dined on steaks, chops, red fish and all the fixin’s – thank you Mike!
-
Travel Technology
After leaving the Trapani Salt Flats on the western coast of Sicily on a late November afternoon, I maneuvered our vehicle down yet another remote, unmarked dirt road and passed dozens of vacant houses. No one was on the streets. It had been 10 minutes since we had seen another car. Sunlight was at a minimum. We had been warned several times about remote areas of Sicily.
-
Going Paperless — Priceless!
For months, a large retailer emailed me twice a day, begging me to switch from paper billing to online billing. If only I would go paperless, my hair would grow back rich and thick, my sciatica would go away, my plantar fasciitis would heal itself, my cats would stop shedding, and my chance of heavenly reward would rise. OK, fine. I’ll sign up, just please stop sending me your stupid emails.
-
Obama’s Racial Politics
There’s been a heap of criticism placed upon President Barack Obama’s domestic policies that have promoted government intrusion and prolonged our fiscal crisis and his foreign policies that have emboldened our enemies. Any criticism of Obama pales in comparison with what might be said about the American people who voted him in to the nation’s highest office.
-
Pain to Blessing
My sister, Janie, is having surgery soon. Mom is going out to Colorado to help her through the recuperation. Dad and I can help by sending Mom who is a pro at caring for her girls. Mom will be sure Janie has everything she needs and will help her do what she cannot do for herself. Janie is not looking forward to the pain of surgery, but she is looking forward to feeling better.
-
What really happened to the Gingrich case?
The Romney campaign has been hitting Newt Gingrich hard over the 1990s ethics case that resulted in the former speaker being reprimanded and paying a $300,000 penalty. Romney mentions it often, and his campaign made the ethics case the focus of the most widely viewed attack ad of the Florida primary.
- More Columns Headlines
-
Police: Father Planned Deadly Fire for Some Time
US, UK Pressure on Syria; More Homs Violence
Raw Video: Mass Killer Wants Medal, Freedom
Few Answers in Death of Sons of Missing Utah Mom
Court Strips Contador of Tour De France Title
Runaway Goat Leads Police on Wild Chase
And the Winner for Best Super Bowl Ad Is...
Raw Video: Deadly Helicopter Crash in Australia
Raw Video: Smoke, Purported Gunfire in Syria
Romney Latest Poll to Join Let-me-explain Club
Blast Kills Husband of Missing Utah Mom, 2 Boys
Obama: US, Israel Will Work Against Iran Nukes
NJ Museum Finds 19th Century Recording
Snow Causes Disruptions in Much of Europe
Clinton: Vetoed U.N. Syria Resolution 'travesty'
Romney Picks Up Decisive Win in Nevada Caucuses
Gingrich Renews Vow to Campaign Until Convention
Romney Rolls to Easy Win in Nevada GOP Caucuses
Raw Video: Missing Family Found Alive in Ore.
Police Clear Tents From Occupy Site in DC
