We're Making Headway

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We're Making Headway Posted: 30 Nov 2014 10:05 PM PST According to an article in NewsObserver.com, "In the early 2000s, just 25 percent of Americans believed that Muslims are prone to violence because of their religion, according to the Pew Research Center. By February of this year, after decade-long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, that number had climbed to 38 percent. Since September, though, it’s jumped to 50 percent in the Pew survey, probably because of high-profile beheadings by fighters for the Islamic States of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS." Along the same lines, the following appears in an article on ISLAMiCommentary (which refers to itself as "a public scholarship forum, managed out of the The Duke Islamic Studies Center that aims to inform public discourse and policy on Islam and Muslim communities"): In 17 surveys since 9/11 conducted by Pew, the Arab-American Institute, and other organizations, “unfavorable” responses declined from 2001 through 2006, then veered upward. From 21-24 percent “unfavorable” responses in 2006, negative responses spiked as high as 63 percent in recent years... When Americans are asked about their attitude toward Islam, rather than Muslims, the rates are even more negative. In 24 surveys over the past dozen years, “unfavorable” responses toward Islam averaged 40 percent, as compared with 32 percent toward Muslims and 25 percent toward Muslim-Americans. “Favorable” responses about Islam outnumbered “unfavorable” responses in almost every survey prior to 2006, but the reverse is true in nearly every survey since then. The point of view of both of these quoted articles is that this negative attitude is an undesirable trend caused by misunderstanding. I see it as just the opposite: It is a healthy trend caused by an increasing understanding that Islamic doctrine is the basis of many of the world's most important problems. It's a promising trend, but more work is needed. When the number of non-Muslims who understand Islam reaches an overwhelming majority, the Islamization of the non-Islamic world will be vigorously resisted and the tide will turn. The most important thing that needs to happen to reach that point is for each of us to help educate those of our remaining friends and family who still don't get it. We need to not merely "tell them the truth," but to really get through to them skillfully and successfully. We're making headway. Let's keep increasing our skill and effectiveness and finish the job.