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Quick, What's The Most Diverse Religious Group in America?
If you said Kabbalah, you spend too much time reading People magazine. If you said Muslim, you've probably read the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies "first comprehensive study of the Muslim American community and its habits, perspectives and beliefs."
Comprehensive is pretty much the word. Not distinguishing between native and foreign-born Muslims, the center conducted more than 300,000 national household interviews over the past year to try to coalesce the most accurate picture yet of what it means to be Muslim in America. Among the findings, as alluded to, Muslims are the most diverse religion in America in terms of ethnicity. According to the study:
Muslim Americans represent the only faith community without a majority race. They are black, white, Asian and Hispanic. African-Americans, not Arabs, make up the largest ethnic group (35 percent).
Synchronicity in play: At its annual Saviors' Day event outside Chicago this past weekend, the theme for the Nation of Islam -- previously a black nationalism Muslim movement -- was preaching the gospel of diversity, inclusion and outreach to more immigrants, Asians and Native Americans.
In addition to being diverse, Muslims also tend to be younger, and enjoy a higher employment rate than the general population:
More than a third (36 percent) of Muslim Americans are between the ages of 18 and 29, significantly more than the general public (18 percent). They are more likely than any other group to report being at work or school, with 70 percent reporting having a job, compared with the general public at 64 percent.
The fact that the majority of American Muslims are educated and employed is significant. Going on eight years after 9/11, there's still fear in some quarters that American Muslim sleeper cells exist. While the possibility can't be wholly discounted, the education and income levels of American Muslims tend to reduce that possibility.
In his online series on "why American Muslims don't blow things up," Slate's Timothy Noah delves into the Melting-Pot Theory, which pretty much asserts that smarts and good pay (along with the fact Muslims only make up about 1 percent of the population) tend to cool anti-American fervor.
For more perspective, visit That Minority Thing.com
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Update on my recent Amsterdam experience, with tie in to other comments below about Madrid:
"(CNN) -- Seven people were arrested for allegedly plotting to bomb densely populated areas in Amsterdam, Netherlands, police said Thursday.
One member of the group of six men and one woman has ties to a bombing in Madrid, Spain, said Amsterdam police spokeswoman Shermain Canbamme.
Late Thursday, police were still searching buildings where the arrests were made, she said. Several shopping areas and the area around a soccer stadium had been closed as a precaution.
The suspects were being held at several police stations, police said, and no charges had been filed as of late Thursday night. "
What about the USA's most perverse religious group? How about a little equality among religions?
I'm sure someone must have already pointed this out, but just in case they haven't: Kabbalah isn't a religion.
Good, maybe they can on AIPAC
USA is too obsessed with religion.
It's crazy.
I'd say atheists would be the most diverse religious group in America...that is, if you buy the crazy Evangelical line that somehow being without religion is somehow a religion.
Those crazy Evangelicals are ridiculous on that one. I read that 'atheism' was considered a religion by the Supreme Court if I recall correctly. But, I wonder how those right wingers would accept an atheist organization claiming tax exempt status if indeed they do.
Let's see, the right wingers say that those who don't have faith 'believe' in a religion and then turn around and call faith based 'intelligent design' a science. Are they crazy or are they trying to drive us crazy?
Not only can"t Muslims rein in their fan ahtics, they hardly say anything derogatory about their full fledged Muslim fan ahtics (tear or ist).
They say plenty of derogatory things about the Fundies but the MSM media refuses to report the press releases condemng terror.ist activities.
Don't fall into the right-wing christianist propaganda.
I am left y liberal Muslim who happens to have been born in the U.S. I disagree with fundamentalism in any faith because I find it limits one's ability to think. However, it seems to me that many of the postings on this site represent a kind of non-religious fundamentalism. The "us" and "them" stuff just never ends...
Glad to meet you. I had a liberal Muslim family as neighbors once, and, amusingly, had a Jewish family living on the other side. All good people, but we sure had some fun joking about where I was situated.
And you're right about the "us" and "them" stuff. The problem is, many of "us" agree about the "us" and "them" stuff, and many of "them" don't. Or something like that.
Religiously, I'm sort of an odd atheist / agnostic / Wiccan blend. Which is to say, I treat spiritually as important in my life, but anything that can be said about it is either science or poetry, or meaningless to me.
Right now I'm thinking that if we cannot all emphasize the things that make shared sense to us all--and there are common grounds everywhere, getting out-shouted--we're all just going to fall further apart.
My background is similar to Jenintinah. I would just like to say that of course the vast majority of Muslims disagree with fundamentalist practices such as killing innocent non-combatants, since they go against the true teachings of Islam. However as this article states, we're only about 1% of the population in the US. Additionally, we don't have a "leader" or any figure in America that speaks for American Muslims. Therefore, when people expect someone to speak on the behalf of liberal moderate muslims in America and condemn terrorist attacks and it doesn't happen, I think most people just assume that we're all cool with it. Well we're not.
I agree with Jenintinah about the "us" and "them" conversations on this wall. Some of the atheist commentors seem to assume that because they are non-religious that they are somehow automatically more rational, understanding, and humane than the rest of the world. Well the comments on this wall seem to suggest otherwise. Anyway, I hope this article and these discussions will lead us all to a better understanding of each others values, to peace, and to truth. Good night.
Muslims practicing the fundementals of Islam cant kill noncombantants , only EXTREEMIST muslims do these things . A fundemental muslim is a kind and gentle person , it is the extreemists that generate all of the uglyness and bad press. And even when moderate muslims do speak out against this , no one will print it or listen to us Being Muslim today is a lot like being a jew in Germany in the late 20;s in the last century , not being sent to camps in this country yet but if the republican facists come back into power who knows
My last post should have stated... "....Police officers face pressure to NOT report bad cops...."
Would someone please tell me how to Reply to my own post? I've never figured out how the rest of you do that.
Islam is, historically, factually, the least race- and class-obsessed of all the major religions.
But they, like all the other major religions, are displaying at least one major failing: the inability to reign in their own fanatics.
This is not just a problem with religion. Doctors are hesitant to report bad doctors. Police officers face pressure to report bad cops. Money managers... you get the idea. Despite their awful reputation, lawyers are actually better than most other professions--they all have to pass the bar, and being so often in adversarial positions to each other, they can at least usually keep each other's behavior within constraints by a threat to the income-producing License.
Conservatives in our political world so often wonder why liberals want so much regulation? The answer is simple: interest groups are historically terrible at regulating their own excesses.
Whether political, professional, or religious, every group is going to have to do better at policing itself... or we really are going to end up with a police-state world.
At one time I was willing to give each religion a try. I would have gone to a mosque and studied the basics of Islam and maybe convert. But then came 911 . It would have been absolutely crazy to tell all my friends: "Guess what, everybody! I've become a Muslim! ". Maybe that would have been caving-in to the opinions of others (not a noble thing to do!), but, seeing that I had developed some minor doubts as to the validity of all religions in general, it was clearly not worth the effort merely to appear open minded. If you have a belief, then by all means, join accordingly, just as long as you don't wish harm on others. As for me, however, I'll just go around worshiping what George Carlin called "The Big Electron--Wohh,Wohh!"
Jeez. After reading these commnets i am reminded at how cr a z y people are for their religion. I h.a.t.e. all religions equally. They all cause problems. None do any good. god is man made make believe.
Hating religions is perfectly fine. They are all irrational pile of fairytales.
But that is no reason hate the "religious."
The fact that a piece of real estate called the Holy Land has been a war zone for thousands of years tells you all you need to know about religion.
It doesn't matter which religion is the most diverse. They are all bad. Religion is the biggest problem with humanity. We need to all grow up and stop playing make-believe. We are all going to die and there is no proof that there is any magic light that is going to take you to some patriarchial paradise. Religion and religious people are the problem. I gaurentee we would overcome racism and sexism QUICK if we'd give up on fairy tales.
and homophobia as well
I hope you're understand that I won't have a high opinion of a religion whose only message to me is that they can't make up their minds on how to kill me, by throwing me off a building or having a wall fall on me.
The human mind is designed to think it is 'right' all the time (see Bill O'Reilly) and religion feeds into that mechanism. Atheists think they are right. Religious people think they are right. If only we could evolve to relate to reality instead of our interpretation of reality. The sun was never a god riding across the sky in a chariot. If some young pregnant woman told you she was a virgin (in vitro fertilization aside), would you believe her. So, why would you believe a story 2000 years old? It's hearsay.
It doesn't much matter what religious cult a person belongs to if they mind their own business and don't try to force their beliefs onto others or the world they pose no threat to themselves or anyone else.
The religious cults that crusade to have their beliefs inflicted on everyone else are evil at best and in the U.S. are in reality the American Taliban.
The Mormon Church has stepped way out of bounds with the Prop 8 proposal and they succeed could very well be next on the list. Most so called christian sects don't like the Mormon sect as it flies in the face of every fairy tale they choose to believe in and that is a real no no!
The Mormon's have banned a cartoon because it is a documentary on their faith and beliefs but you can go here to view it yourselves http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy0d1HbItOo&NR=1
My gosh,,, this would explain the Anti-Islamic teachings of the Mormon convert, Glen Beck, on Fox News.
Wow,, thank you.
All the best
Knute
Many people on this wall seem to be judging the whole religion of Islam based on the actions of a very very very small fanatical minority amongst Muslims. Because I'm assuming the people here are intelligent, I'll ask you all to read every word of the Quran for yourselves before passing judgement on the entire religion. People are inherently imperfect no matter what they claim to believe in. The fact that a few religious extremists commit violent acts and hide behind religion to justify it, doesn't necessarily say anything about what the true teachings of Islam are. Generalizations don't work when they don't apply to the majority. I'm not asking anyone to agree with the teachings of Islam, but at the very least please educate yourselves before you speak or post. The information is all over the internet. A personal favorite of mine are the YouTube videos of Dr. Bilal Philips posted by khalifahklothing. Peace.
Really, it doesn't matter what any holy book says. It matters what extremists think it says.
And those guys couldn't care less what we think of them.
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