I read with great interest the April 4 article “Poll says Islam least-favored U.S. religion; Muslims blame the media.”
As an American Muslim, I am well aware of the negativity with which Islam is regarded in America. Although I was disappointed by the low rating given by the subjects polled, I had hoped to gain some insight on why Americans hold Islam in such contempt. Instead, what I noticed was that some of the information in this article appeared biased against Muslims.
The poll was taken to determine how the World Trade Center bombing would affect the public’s perception of Muslims. No information regarding their viewpoint on Muslims prior to the bombing was mentioned.
This information is called a “baseline” and is critical to studies of this nature. Without an idea of how Muslims were perceived before this extremely negative and highly publicized event, one cannot truly say how the public’s perception of Muslims has changed. A poll taken on public opinion of the safety of Los Angeles after the 1988 Summer Olympics should yield more positive responses than a similar poll conducted following the L.A. riots. Timing is everything.
Hinduism and Islam were tied for the lowest rating. However, the headline of the article does not reflect this finding. And this fact is not mentioned until the end of the article.
There were more people who had no opinion of Islam than there were people with negative opinions. Also, a greater number of people believed that there is a tendency to discriminate against Muslims than there were people with no opinions. It may have been more correct for the headline to reflect that not only Muslims, but nearly 50 percent of the population, “blame the media.”
Last, it was very disturbing to note that the Zogby Group (which conducted the poll) believes that the results suggest an opportunity for Muslims to “better integrate themselves into American life.” Perhaps when America has solved its problems with racism, sexism, homelessness and substance abuse, Muslims may desire to integrate more fully into this society. Until then, we hope to offer a positive alternative.
