Interesting little poll on CBSnews.com about Americans’ perception of Islam.
Forty-five percent of respondents queried April 6 – 9 said they have an unfavorable view of Islam, a rise from 36 percent in February. And the public’s impression of Islam has diminished even more compared with four years ago. In February 2002 – less than six months after the terrorist attacks of September 11 – the country was evenly divided in its impression of Islam.
This is, actually, a “duh” finding. Between 9-11, the cartoon caricatures, Iraq, and now Iran, the American diet has consisted almost exclusively of negative impressions. (There are, of course, moderate Muslims… but for obvious reasons, they don’t make the news nearly as often.)
Actually, it’s not the Islam rating that I found interesting in this poll at all. Instead, the results of how the rest of the heap stacked up were far more entertaining. Consider, for instance, the “Christian Fundamentalists”, who ranked above Islam and Mormons… but below everybody else.
Shocking.