Hi At risk of being called racist and/or an islamaphobe, I thought Kristof's article and others like it might be naive in so readily declaring concerns about Islam to be irrational. Does irrational fear or prejudice really explain the reactions against Islam in so many parts of the world and in so much of the population in some countries? Prejudice and fear can of course be widespread, but I suspect something else is operating in many or at least some cases, namely concerns about the spread of Islam (or at least radical or extreme forms) that might have some validity?
Here, for example, is a story nominally about threats to bomb a store in Afghanistan if it did not stop playing music. Although those threats apparently were the work of the Taliban, what caught my eye was the last few paragraphs reproduced below. http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2010/09/03/taliban-tries-to-stop-the-music-in-afghanistan-again.html "President Hamid Karzai is under pressure from the Ulema Council of Afghanistan, the religious body composed of the clerics and preachers from across the country. They see the implementation of Sharia (Islamic law) as a way to stop the growing insurgency in the country. They seek bans on some programs run on some private TV channels, and during an intense parliamentary debate this year, many members called the non-Afghan serials aired on these channels un-Islamic. Early in August, more than 300 members of the council called on Karzai to revive Islamic punishments such stoning, amputation and execution for various crimes. Islamic clerics have deep influence in the traditionally conservative Afghan society and has played a substantial role in backing * and ousting * of past regimes." That is, there is a substantial and powerful group of clerics, presumably speaking on behalf of their religion, who want to introduce practices that I suspect many of us would find abhorrent. It does not appear to be simply some radical minority. Are we to believe that when these clerics emigrate to other countries, they all lose these values or that clerics with these values never emigrate or try to exert their influence abroad? A recent Pew survey also showed widespread support among Pakistan respondents for harsh punishments of offenders, suggesting it is not simply the clerics who hold these views. See http://pewglobal.org/2010/07/29/concern-about-extremist-threat-slips-in-pakistan/ For example, 76% of respondents endorsed the death penalty for people who leave Islam. Again can we assume that such beliefs are left behind when people emigrate to other nations? Certainly there have been examples of other traditional practices being imported (e.g., honour killings, genital cutting). And consider the concerns about the Koran-burning in Florida. The Minister threatens to burn some books, and people express concern about his actions because of the expected / threatened reaction among some (many?) Muslims, which is ... to kill Christians? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100909/ap_on_re_as/quran_burning_reaction Would not a more appropriate response be to burn Bibles or at worst perhaps punish the people who committed the offense? And past history from Rushdie on suggests that in fact the concerns about a violent reaction are warranted. Perhaps even more relevant would be the deaths that resulted in 2005 from reports (perhaps erroneous?) that the Koran had been mistreated at Gitmo. Should we assume that such reactions by some Muslims are nothing out of the ordinary and say nothing about the intense feelings that the religion engenders in at least some of its adherents, and arguably moreso than seems the case in other religions? Do such passionate reactions exist solely in native countries? It is worth noting perhaps that concern about extreme forms of Islam is found even in Muslim countries, some of which have adopted policies similar to those decried in European countries. Syria is one example: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/19/syria-bans-face-covering_n_651222.html Certainly it would seem strange to say that people in a Muslim country are prejudiced against Islam or are Islamaphobic? Although clearly concerns about becoming less secular get conflated with concerns about loss of power. Finally, it is worth noting that our own religious histories in the West included some pretty unsavory practices (burning people at the stake, anyone?). How we evolved beyond that is presumably in part a psychological question about the evolution of societies? One common factor is that western nations do tend to put less emphasis on religion. This is true even of the USA, although it is more religious than other developed countries. Here is data from the Pew surveys on the importance of religion in various countries. http://pewglobal.org/files/pdf/167.pdf A number of countries on the list are predominantly Muslim and have a high percentage of respondents saying that religion is very important to them. Even nominally-secular Turkey has a somewhat higher percentage (65%) than the USA (59%), which is much higher than other developed countries (e.g., Canada at 30%, France at 11%). Is it safe to assume that a similar evolution will occur in other religions; that is, that religious passions will become less intense and less influential in people's lives? In tracking down some of these sites, I came across a recent Pew survey on religion in Africa at: http://pewforum.org/executive-summary-islam-and-christianity-in-sub-saharan-africa.aspx It has an updated table on importance of religion to peoples around the world, and is largely consistent with earlier survey. Africa as a whole is a highly religious continent (e.g., 72% of Christians and 92% of Muslims pray once a day). Africa is a balance of Muslim (primarily in North) and Christian adherents, and they asked some interesting questions relevant here. Christians more often saw Muslims as violent than reverse. 60% of Christians endorsed law based on Bible and 63% of Muslims favored Sharia law. 19% of Christians and 29% of Muslims state that violence against civilians is often or sometimes justified in defense of religion. On most questions, there was much variability across countries in responses. All in all I do think that it would be a cop-out for psychologists to characterize what is happening around the world in overly simplistic terms like prejudice or islamaphobia, not that these have no rôle to play in matters. If we just think in our own nations, perhaps especially the USA, how difficult it has been to resolve conflicts that implicate deeply held values and beliefs (e.g., abortion), we might better appreciate the complexity of what is happening as Islam spreads to largely secular nations due to immigration to developed countries, or comes face-to-face with other religions, as in parts of Africa. Take care Jim (sent with some trepidation!) James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca >>> "Helweg-Larsen, Marie" <helw...@dickinson.edu> 11-Sep-10 3:31:49 AM >>> It seems that there are lots of lessons/topics for a psychologist to discuss in class with respect to the current 'islamaphobia'. Of course such a discussion could be structured around social psychological work on prejudice and discrimination but also emotions in general. This author suggests that fear and not prejudice is the cause of opposition to the Not-at-Ground-Zero Mosque. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/opinion/05kristof.html?src=me&ref=general Marie **************************************************** Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychology Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS), +45 2065 1360 Dickinson College (on leave 2010/2011) http://users.dickinson.edu/~helwegm/index.html **************************************************** -----Original Message----- From: Mike Palij [mailto:m...@nyu.edu] Sent: Friday, September 10, 2010 15:08 To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Cc: Mike Palij Subject: [tips] They Too Died That Day An article in the NY Times focuses on one family that deals with their grief over the loss of a father and husband in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. How they have dealth with the attack and the aftermath should give us and, if we share with our students, pause. See: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/nyregion/10muslim.html?_r=1&th=&emc=th&pagewanted=all The fact that the family is Muslim would be incidental except for the recent madness manifesting itself in U.S. religious and political circles. I wonder what critical thinking lessons psychologists will teach about this madness? -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: helw...@dickinson.edu. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13234.b0e864a6eccfc779c8119f5a4468797f&n=T&l=tips&o=4705 or send a blank email to leave-4705-13234.b0e864a6eccfc779c8119f5a44687...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a891720c9&n=T&l=tips&o=4731 or send a blank email to leave-4731-13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a89172...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. 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