To the extent the conclusions in the following article are true, questions are raised that someone writing for HuffPo would not ask : For example, why are most Jews also Democratic voters ? Here is another case of Jews not pursuing rational optimization behavior. American Jews, that is. Israeli Jews are another matter. Keep in mind that Benjamin Netanyahu is PM and he is approximately as far to the Right as Pat Buchanan. But Jews in the USA voted for Obama at the 78% level. Why the difference ? Two very different worlds, for one thing. Muslims when they are 1% of the population simply do not behave like Muslims when they are 80 % or 90 % of the population. Furthermore, there is something to be said for the culture of America with its stress on religious pluralism. It makes a difference. But if the experience of other conservative religious groups is any indication, should it happen, as soon as Muslims reach ":critical mass" in any particular location ( it may already be the case in Dearborn, Michigan ) they can be expected to revert to form even if not as dramatically as if this was the Mid East. Which is to say that Jews --like anyone else removed from painful realities-- prefer to live in a comfortable fantasy world where all is sweetness and light and differences can be overlooked. I am reminded of a short conversation I had a couple of years ago with a Saudi women here in Oregon. I had mentioned that I once had been a Baha'i. She misunderstood me and thought that I said that I still was a Baha'i. Before there was any chance to correct this impression, she began to make comments about the commonalities between Baha'is and Muslims. Of which there are more than a few. My best guess is that the woman's desire to seek dialogue was brought about by her feeling of being part of a small minority and here was someone else also from a small minority who also understood something about the Mid East. Misery loves company, so to speak. However, I don't happen to be either a Baha'i any more --a faith I departed from in 1973-- nor someone who is ignorant of the real state of affairs between Baha'is and Muslims in the Mid East. Hence my incredulity at the Saudi woman. After all, Muslims kill Baha'is, or if Baha'is are lucky, all that happens is ostracism, denial of basic rights, and legal harassments of various kinds. But here in America what counted to her was a need to deal with isolation and to connect with someone else who has sensitivity to the Mid East. Something like this may also be going on between Jews and Muslims in the United States. Much else might be said, but to introduce a subject which deserves some attention. Billy ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Huff Post | Religion Jews and Muslims in America Have More in Common Than We Think Posted: 8/11/11
Contrary to common assumptions, many Jewish and Muslim Americans enjoy warm relations. Yet we are only beginning to understand how and why this is so. A Gallup report released last week goes a long way to explaining this unexpected trend and shows that the two communities have more in common than is often thought. The report, "_Muslim Americans: Faith, Freedom, and the Future_ (http://www.abudhabigallupcenter.com/148778/report-bilingual-muslim-americans-faith-fre edom-future.aspx) ," reveals that overwhelming numbers of Jewish Americans believe Muslim Americans are loyal to their country -- 80 percent to be exact. Aside from Muslims themselves, no other religious community demonstrates such confidence in the loyalty of America's Muslim citizens. Further, it seems that Jewish and Muslim Americans share a number of common political views, even about issues as contentious as the Middle East conflict. The same study indicates that 81 percent of Muslim Americans and 78 percent of Jewish Americans support a two-state solution, which would enable Israel and a future independent Palestinian state to live side by side. While dialogue about the Middle East conflict remains contentious, the vision for a long-term solution appears surprisingly similar. How could this be? Why would two communities, so often portrayed as being at each other's throats, not only have confidence in each other but have similar perspectives on even the most contentious issues? One possibility is a shared immigrant experience. Jewish immigrants, who arrived in multiple waves of immigration but most visibly in large numbers at the end of the 19th century, often used education as a means of gaining a foothold in America and of finding a way to contribute to their new country. It now appears that Muslims are taking a similar approach. In fact, 40 percent of Muslims surveyed in a 2009 Gallup report, "_Muslim Americans: A National Portrait_ (http://www.abudhabigallupcenter.com/143765/muslim-americans-national-portrait.aspx) ," note that they have obtained a college degree (or more). The study indicates that Muslim Americans are the second most likely of any religious group, behind Jewish Americans, to obtain at least a college education. It seems that Muslim Americans may be carving out a niche and contributing to American society today much as their Jewish counterparts worked to do a century ago. While Jews and Muslims in America may have highly educated communities, both groups also exhibit fear about perceptions that others hold of their traditions. According to _last week's report_ (http://www.abudhabigallupcenter.com/148778/report-bilingual-muslim-americans-faith-freedom-future.aspx) , Jewish and Muslim Americans are more likely than adherents of any other tradition to conceal their religious identity. This has caused what may best be described as significant empathy on the part of many Jewish and Muslim Americans for one another. While 60 percent of Muslim Americans _polled by Gallup_ (http://www.abudhabigallupcenter.com/148778/report-bilingual-muslim-americans-faith-freedom-future.aspx) say that they experience prejudice from most Americans, a remarkable 66 percent of Jewish Americans say that most Americans exhibit prejudice against Muslims. This means that Jewish Americans are more aware of anti-Muslim prejudice than any other religious community. Fear and other negative responses to prejudice may compound the overall drive for Jews and Muslims to obtain a higher education and find a niche in the United States. This process may also create stress for members of both communities. According to the _2009 Gallup report_ (http://www.abudhabigallupcenter.com/143765/muslim-americans-national-portrait.aspx) , 39 percent of Muslim Americans and 36 percent of Jewish Americans report experiencing a lot of "worry." This worry may correspond to fear of prejudicial treatment and a desire to conceal one's religious identity. Overt displays of religious identity and the push to succeed in a new society may come into tension for both communities, though this is a hypothesis that warrants further research. In short, Jews and Muslims share profoundly in their experience in the United States. As small religious minorities, each under 2 percent of the American population (with the population of Muslim Americans perhaps a fraction of that figure) they maintain a sense of marginalization. Yet their response to this adversity is one of contribution to society through significant investment in personal education, which in turn creates new opportunities. Jewish immigration to America may have peaked over a century ago, while Muslim immigration is still relatively new. But both communities share in their drive not only to make America their home but to play a significant and positive role in that newfound homeland. Both communities would do well to recognize the remarkable parallels in their experiences as immigrants to America, as would Americans in other religious communities. The potential for collaboration is clear, while the narrative of conflict has been significantly debunked. -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
