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-- Poll show surprising level of support for curtailing muslim civil rights

Poll show surprising level of support for curtailing muslim civil rights

From Cornell University. I've bolded the most interesting parts.

quote:

ITHACA, N.Y. -- In a study to determine how much the public fears terrorism, almost half of respondents polled nationally said they believe the U.S. government should -- in some way -- curtail civil liberties for Muslim Americans, according to a new survey released today (Dec. 17) by Cornell University. About 27 percent of respondents said that all Muslim Americans should be required to register their location with the federal government, and 26 percent said they think that mosques should be closely monitored by U.S. law enforcement agencies. Twenty-nine percent agreed that undercover law enforcement agents should infiltrate Muslim civic and volunteer organizations, in order to keep tabs on their activities and fund raising. About 22 percent said the federal government should profile citizens as potential threats based on the fact that they are Muslim or have Middle Eastern heritage. In all, about 44 percent said they believe that some curtailment of civil liberties is necessary for Muslim Americans. Conversely, 48 percent of respondents nationally said they do not believe that civil liberties for Muslim Americans should be restricted. The Media and Society Research Group, in Cornell's Department of Communication, commissioned the poll, which was supervised by the Survey Research Institute, in Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations. The results were based on 715 completed telephone interviews of respondents across the United States, and the poll has a margin of error of 3.6 percent. The survey also examined the relation of religiosity to perceptions of Islam and Islamic countries among Christian respondents. Sixty-five percent of self-described highly religious people queried said they view Islam as encouraging violence more than other religions do; in comparison, 42 percent of the respondents who said they were not highly religious saw Islam as encouraging violence. In addition, highly religious respondents also were more likely to describe Islamic countries as violent (64 percent), fanatical (61 percent) and dangerous (64 percent). Fewer of the respondents who said they were not highly religious described Islamic countries as violent (49 percent), fanatical (46 percent) and dangerous (44 percent). But 80 percent of all respondents said they see Islamic countries as being oppressive toward women. "Our results highlight the need for continued dialogue about issues of civil liberties in time of war," says James Shanahan, Cornell associate professor of communication and a principal investigator in the study. Shanahan and Erik Nisbet, senior research associate with the ILR Survey Research Institute, commissioned the study, and Ron Ostman, professor of communication, and his students administered it. Shanahan notes: "Most Americans understand that balancing political freedoms with security can sometimes be difficult. Nevertheless, while a majority of Americans support civil liberties even in these difficult times, and while more discussion about civil liberties is always warranted, our findings highlight that personal religiosity as well as exposure to news media are two important correlates of support for restrictions. We need to explore why these two very important channels of discourse may nurture fear rather than understanding." Researchers found that opinions on restricting civil liberties for Muslim Americans vary by political self-identification. About 40 percent of Republican respondents agreed that Muslim Americans should be required to register their whereabouts, compared with 24 percent of Democratic respondents and 17 percent of independents. Forty-one percent of Republican respondents said that Muslim American civic groups should be infiltrated, compared with 21 percent of Democrats and 27 percent of independents. On whether mosques should be monitored, about 34 percent of the Republicans polled agreed they should be, compared with 22 percent of Democrats. Thirty-four percent of Republicans said that profiling of Muslim Americans is necessary, compared with 17 percent of Democrats. The survey also showed a correlation between television news-viewing habits, a respondent's fear level and attitudes toward restrictions on civil liberties for all Americans. Respondents who paid a lot of attention to television news were more likely to favor restrictions on civil liberties, such as greater power for the government to monitor the Internet. Respondents who paid less attention to television news were less likely to support such measures. "The more attention paid to television news, the more you fear terrorism, and you are more likely to favor restrictions on civil liberties," says Nisbet.

That religious people and Republicans are more likely to support limitations of muslims rights doesn't come as a surprise to me. But the reportings that people watching more news on tv have similar views are quite surprising I would say. Can Fox News be responsible for this trend, or are the other US networks spewing out FUD propaganda as well?

Re: Poll show surprising level of support for curtailing muslim civil rights

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Originally posted by trancaholic That religious people and Republicans are more likely to support limitations of muslims rights doesn't come as a surprise to me. But the reportings that people watching more news on tv have similar views are quite surprising I would say. Can Fox News be responsible for this trend, or are the other US networks spewing out FUD propaganda as well?

I'm not sure what's responsible (lazy thinking, rational thought, gov't leadership, the media slant against muslims, and so forth), but either way, its all very disturbing.

Reminds me of the quote by a clergyman in Europe during Hitler's ascendance. The one that says to paraphrase: no one said anything about the cripples when they were taken, then the jews, and so forth, and when they came for me there was no-one to protest it. Maybe someone can post it. I'd appreciate it.

I found the quote. I hope people take it to heart.


"In Germany, they came first for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists but I didn't speak up because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time nobody was left to speak up." -- Martin Niemoeller, Protestant Minister & Holocast Survivor

Thats such a powerful quote. We had camps for the Japanese during WWII we can't let the government do that to Muslim Americans.

Re: Poll show surprising level of support for curtailing muslim civil rights

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Originally posted by trancaholic Can Fox News be responsible for this trend, or are the other US networks spewing out FUD propaganda as well?

What about the possibility that this is simply the more well-informed opinion?

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Originally posted by Spacey Orange I found the quote. I hope people take it to heart. "In Germany, they came first for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists but I didn't speak up because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time nobody was left to speak up." -- Martin Niemoeller, Protestant Minister & Holocast Survivor

Odd I'd always think of terrorism and Europe's great ability to look the other way in the face of it when I read this quote... not US civil liberty issues.

if you read the details of the report it only polled 715 people by telephone which imo is not very many.. in ireland the minimum number of people required by law for polls such as this is 1000 and they usually exceed this number so as not just meet the minimum standard required..im not saying the result would be any different just something i noticed..another thing i wondered was what was the age demographic but it dosnt say..nice quote spacey..i remember that from senior school..disturbing results and puzzling at the same time..given the part about tv watchers..have to think about that one

Re: Re: Poll show surprising level of support for curtailing muslim civil rights

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Originally posted by Yoepus What about the possibility that this is simply the more well-informed opinion?

You mean that the existence of unchecked muslims in the US really is a major security hazard? Yes that is of course a valid concern, but even if it was true, you need to bear the following two points in mind:

* First, consider the accumulated costs of muslim terrorism in the US the last, say, 5 years: About 3000 dead and $83 billion in damages (PDF-source. Next, consider how many resources it would take to monitor all muslims to the extend proposed by the study - in addition to the loss in revenue from foreign business partners who will give up trading with the US because of cumbersome procedures in airports and harbours. Wouldn't all these resources be better used in fighting murder crimes (approximately 72500 dead (murder rate (5/100000)*290 million people*5 years), or corporate crime, where I only give one example from the last 5 years: Enron (approximately $60 billions lost several sources)???

* Second, and more importantly, how much of the legacy of the US will you sacrifice on the altar of (perceived?) safety? Concepts such as secular government, "the land of the free", and "the melting pot" will all become bad jokes if measures were instigated that singles out a portion of the population as second class citizens based on their religion. Do I need to draw parallels?

Regardless of what the public thinks it would never stand up in the courts. Liberal justices would be aghast to engage in discrimination and conservative justices would balk at federal infringements on the constitution.

quote:

Respondents who paid a lot of attention to television news were more likely to favor restrictions on civil liberties, such as greater power for the government to monitor the Internet. Respondents who paid less attention to television news were less likely to support such measures.

this is indeed a scary part... to me that show how biased the news are and its scary how big influence media might have on people...

and for the whole thing, it definitely shows how this whole anti terror thing have blow out of proportion...

Today Sunday 19 dec..i read in my sunday newspaper..headline reads..Disapproval of muslims rises..sorry i cant post the whole article..anyway researchers asked 1000 people in 19 european countries "do you think nowadays there is a lot of,a little of,or no diapproval of muslims living in european societys"...the results were..75 % of swedes said ther was a "definatly a lot or rather a lot" of disapproval of muslims..holland was next with 72%..denmark 67%..britian came in at 39%..it dosnt list all the countries %..muslims were also asked which country treated them fairest..britian came tops..so it aint just the USA its happening all over europe as well

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Originally posted by zig Today Sunday 19 dec..i read in my sunday newspaper..headline reads..Disapproval of muslims rises..sorry i cant post the whole article..anyway researchers asked 1000 people in 19 european countries "do you think nowadays there is a lot of,a little of,or no diapproval of muslims living in european societys"...the results were..75 % of swedes said ther was a "definatly a lot or rather a lot" of disapproval of muslims..holland was next with 72%..denmark 67%..britian came in at 39%..it dosnt list all the countries %

thats a werid question to ask tho, since that doesnt mean shit really. First of all, it asked if you think it is much dissaproval, which means that they didnt ask if people didnt like them or not, just if they thought that other people might not like them. second it asked if they thought there were dissaproval in EUROPEAN societies, so that means if 75% of the swedes answered "definatly a lot or rather a lot" that might aswell mean that they think that there is dissaproval of muslims in holland, which probably is based on watching news from a couple of weeks ago. So that does not mean anything at all really!

^^^^^^ +1

Furthermore, the question is very vague with the undefinedness of "lot" and "disapproval" being the prime examples. The questions of the Cornell institute were much more concrete. Don't get me wrong, I think that a large percentage (50%+) of Europeans consider muslims to be more dangerous than non-muslims, but that doesn't mean that they would be ready to accept measures as drastic as reducing the civil rights of muslims based on their belief.

lets think about it. Take away some of the freedomes from a muslim population in any non-muslim countries you will get a lot more terrorists who wouldn't have been before.

quote:

Originally posted by x-filer lets think about it. Take away some of the freedomes from a muslim population in any non-muslim countries you will get a lot more terrorists who wouldn't have been before.

clearly everyone is not smart enough to realize that.

"clearly everyone is not smart enough to realize that."
clearly you must agree with me

quote:

Originally posted by x-filer "clearly everyone is not smart enough to realize that." clearly you must agree with me

not used to it?

Re: Re: Poll show surprising level of support for curtailing muslim civil rights

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Originally posted by Yoepus What about the possibility that this is simply the more well-informed opinion?

and how the hell is it a more well-informed opinion

Re: Re: Poll show surprising level of support for curtailing muslim civil rights

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Originally posted by Yoepus What about the possibility that this is simply the more well-informed opinion?

keep what you just said in mind and its implications next time you call someone an anti-semite for criticizing Israeli policy. racsist hypoctire.

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