c. 2006 Religion News Service
Poll Finds Muslims Lean Democratic, See War on Terror as War on Islam
WASHINGTON (RNS) A new survey by an Islamic advocacy group suggests that America’s Muslim voters lean Democratic, and just over half fear that the war on terror has become a war on Islam.
Pollsters asked 1,000 Muslims about their political views, religion and levels of social integration in the survey. The results were published Tuesday (Oct. 24) by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
According to the survey, 89 percent of Muslims claim they vote regularly, and 42 percent identify themselves as Democrats. Seventeen percent said they were Republicans and 28 percent consider themselves independent.
The survey also focused on interfaith and political issues. For example, 84 percent of American Muslims believe they should more strongly emphasize the values they share with Christians and Jews; 55 percent said they fear the war on terror has become a war on Islam; 66 percent support working toward normalizing U.S. relations with Iran; and 12 percent believe the U.S. intervention in Iraq was worthwhile.
Nearly half of those polled avoided making a distinction between religious sects and said they consider themselves “just Muslims.”
“The results are very important because they come at a critical time for the American Muslim community,” said Nihad Awad, executive director of the group. “It shows that the Muslim community’s vote should not be taken for granted.”
The telephone survey was conducted Aug. 3-31 by Genesis Research Associates, and sampled 1,000 registered Muslim voters. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
_ Keith Roshangar
Colson Resigns As Prison Fellowship Chairman
WASHINGTON (RNS) Prison Fellowship founder Chuck Colson has announced his resignation as chairman of the board of the ministry he started 30 years ago.
Colson, who turned 75 on Oct. 16, said Monday (Oct. 23) that the board of Prison Fellowship USA has chosen business executive Michael Timmis as his successor. Timmis is the co-owner and vice chairman of Talon L.L.C., a Detroit-based private investment holding company. Since 1997, he has served as chairman of the board of Prison Fellowship International.
Colson will remain a member of the Prison Fellowship board and plans to pursue writing, teaching and speaking work with the ministry, which is based in Lansdowne, Va.
Colson is a former Nixon aide who served seven months in prison on obstruction of justice charges related to the Watergate scandal. His time behind bars led to his founding of the ministry that seeks to aid prisoners and their families.
Colson chose former Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley as Prison Fellowship’s president and CEO in 2002.
“The potential for this ministry under the leadership and management of men like Mark Earley and Mike Timmis, and the help of 300 talented staff who share our vision and passion for prisoners and their families, is phenomenal,” Colson said.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Furor Over Government Action on Muslim Airport Workers in France
PARIS (RNS) The removal of security clearances of dozens of mostly Muslim baggage handlers at the Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris has sparked outrage on the part of French labor unions and anti-discrimination activists.
So far, at least six Muslims have filed charges of discrimination against the state for having their security passes revoked by French police on grounds that they presented a security threat.
“This is about discrimination because of a person’s ethnic or religious appearance,” said Mouloud Aounit, head of the anti-discrimination group MRAP, who filed charges against the Seine St. Denis police precinct on behalf of three of the airport workers.
The French government has defended its decision to suspend the baggage handlers after interviewing them about their religious beliefs and other issues.
“I cannot accept that people with radical practices” work in the country’s airports, French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said Saturday (Oct. 21).
In interviews with the French media, several of the baggage handlers denied they had any ties with radical Islam, and simply described themselves as devout Muslims.
“I’ve never been criticized, nobody’s ever said I was a danger before,” one Moroccan airport worker, whose name was not disclosed, told France’s Europe 1 radio. “ … I’m Muslim, I have a beard, I pray, I take care of my family, that’s it.”
Two leading French labor unions have taken up the cause of the Muslim workers, and some airport runway workers went on strike Monday.
Aounit blamed the furor on the publication of a book in April alleging radical Islam threatened the Paris-area airport. Titled “Les Mosques de Roissy” _ or the Mosques of Roissy, as Charles de Gaulle is known _ the book was penned by far-right French politician Philippe de Villiers.
“Since the book’s come out, we’ve witnessed a kind of witch hunt against Muslims,” Aounit said. “They’ve closed the prayer halls and we’ve seen an acceleration of (security) badges being denied.”
At the time, French officials denied the book’s claims. But the government subsequently closed several Muslim prayer rooms operating at Charles de Gaulle and another Paris airport, Orly.
On Saturday, Sarkozy also said 18 imams preaching a radical version of Islam had been expelled from the country this year.
_ Elizabeth Bryant
Staying in Bed Outranks Sitting in Pews, Survey Shows
(RNS) A good night’s sleep ranks far above attending church as a favorite activity, a nationwide poll shows.
The Barna Group asked more than 1,000 adults to say how much they looked forward to any of 17 activities, ranging from sleeping to completing tax forms.
Seven out of 10 _ 71 percent _ of respondents said they relished the thought of getting enough sleep. That contrasted with 40 percent who said they looked forward “a lot” to attending church services, which was the fourth most appealing activity.
Tucked between sleep and church attendance _ two activities that have sometimes been known to be combined _ were spending time with friends (55 percent) and listening to music (54 percent).
Although sleep outranked church attendance, researchers found that reading the Bible scored higher than reading a novel for pleasure. Nearly one-third (31 percent) of those surveyed said they really looked forward to Bible reading, compared to 25 percent who cited reading novels.
Among the activities people seemed to find least appealing were shopping for clothing (16 percent), having a doctor’s examination (14 percent) and filling out tax forms (11 percent).
David Kinnaman, vice president of the Barna Group, said the data reveal how busy Americans are.
“The pace of life, the acceleration of all of the things that we have to do as Americans, is just incredible,” he said.
“So sleep becomes one of those few areas that provides kind of a mini-sanctuary for people.”
The telephone survey by the Ventura, Calif.-based marketing firm, included 1,005 adults nationwide and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Quote of the Day: The Rev. Tom Reese of Georgetown University
(RNS) “(Pope) Benedict is an extremely intelligent person. There’s no hatred, no disrespect toward Islam. His problem is he’s a German academic theologian and he doesn’t have a political bone in his body.”
_ The Rev. Tom Reese, former editor of America magazine and now a fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University, speaking at a forum at Syracuse University about Pope Benedict XVI. He was quoted by the Syracuse Post-Standard.
KRE/PH END RNS
