More on the survey of American Muslims

Continuing our discussion of the recent Pew Research Center survey of American Muslims, it turns out that Muslims in the United States hold rather social democratic views. 70% favour a bigger government, while only 43% of Americans as a whole do.

73% of American Muslims think the US government should do more to help the poor, a view that 63% of Americans share overall.

On homosexuality, 63% of American Muslims think it should be discouraged, while only 38% of Americans think so in general.

While 35% of Americans approve of George W. Bush's job performance, only 15% of American Muslims do. 63% of American Muslims (as opposed to 51% of Americans in general) are Democrats, or have pro-Democrat views.

72% of American Muslims and 60% of American Christians say that religion is "very important" in their lives. Curiously enough, 61% of American Muslims pray everyday, while 70% of American Christians do so. 40% of American Muslims go to the mosque every week, while 45% of American Christians attend church services weekly.

54% of American Christians think that churches "should express views on political and social issues," while only 43% of American Muslims say the same about mosques.

This is the second (of four) posts in a Notes on Religion series on the Pew Research Center's survey of American Muslims, released in May 2007. Here are links to the other three:

[First post] [Second Post] [Third Post] [Fourth Post]

DHS wants to reach more Muslims

Officials from the US Dept. of Homeland Security said in Senate testimony that they want to increase outreach to the American Muslim and Arab communities, in order to prevent acts of domestic terrorism. Daniel Sutherland, the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at the DHS, said that the US government should "work hard to deepen the engagement" with the American Muslim community.

Senator Claire McCaskill (Democrat-Missouri) said that a positive view of Islam by the US government "may be the most powerful weapon we have against terrorism" (Los Angeles Times).

A move in the right direction, definitely, but, wait a minute: the DHS has an Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties? Maybe it figures that there's only one officer in that position in that vast department.