2007年VOA标准英语-Major poll finds US Muslims Mostly Mainstream

By Mohamed Elshinnawi
Washington
01 June 2007
 

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American Muslim schoolchildren

Despite their deep dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq and U.S foreign policy, a major new survey found U.S Muslims--most of whom are immigrants--are largely integrated into U.S society.  And the Pew Research Center reports the estimated 2.3 million American Muslims are moderate in their views on many of the issues that have divided others of their faith and Westerners around the world. Mohamed Elshinnawi has more.

The Pew Research Center survey found that U.S Muslims tend to be better assimilated and more content with the larger society they live in than their European counterparts. Pew President Andrew Kohut says a polling sample of more than 1,000 American Muslims revealed their outlooks and attitudes are mostly mainstream.

 

"I think the most significant findings are that the Muslim American population is a very content, moderate, middle class segment of the public, unlike the Muslim minorities in Europe,” he says. “Muslims are not of lower income or lower education levels. They mirror the general public even though two thirds of them are first generation. They were born elsewhere. They have decidedly American points of view; if you work hard you can get ahead in this country. 

Mr. Kohut says U.S. Muslims are participating in the full range of American experiences.  But, he says many of them feel their lives became more difficult after September 11th, 2001 -- that they feel they are singled out and scrutinized². While 76 percent of American Muslims say they are concerned about the rise of Islamic extremism around the world, Kohut adds there were some negative findings:

"We only find, for example, less than one in 20 that they have a favorable view of al-Qaida, or believe that suicide bombings can be justified³ in defense⁴ of Islam, but among younger Muslims under 30 years of age that number swells⁵ to 15 percent."

Ibrahim Hooper is the Communication Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations in Washington. "There was a poll at the end of last year that polled American population of all faiths asking them whether they thought attacks on civilians⁶ were justified in the war on terror and a similar figure said that was the case, so it is the nature of polling that you will get that kind of figures,” said Hooper. “But I think we should really focus on the bulk of the report that the vast majority of American Muslims are rejecting terrorism and religious extremism."

Mr. Hooper says that the survey shows that there is no conflict between being a Muslim and living as an American in this society.

Imam Yahya Hendi, the Muslim Chaplain at Georgetown University says he agrees. "There are Muslims who are active in the political community, in Congress. There are almost 10,000 Muslims in the Department of Defense, in the Army and they are very practicing Muslims, so I do not see Islam as a prevention from being very integrated."

The Pew Research survey also shows that nearly three quarters of respondents believe that American society rewards them for hard work regardless of their religious background. As we randomly⁷ gauge⁸ non-Muslim American feelings about their Muslim fellow citizens we get different opinions.

"In my own experience with Islam and with people of Islamic background I have very good experiences," said one woman. "As a non-Muslim, I really hope mainstream Muslim Americans speak out even more forcefully and take actions to defeat the terrorists in our midst," said a man on the street in Washington.

Another woman said, "We need to work together, and coming from a Christian⁹ background, Abraham is the founder¹⁰ of basically Judaism, Christianity and Islam. We come from the same foundation, now we have to build on that foundation

1 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

2 scrutinized   

v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The jeweler scrutinized the diamond for flaws. 宝石商人仔细察看钻石有无瑕庇 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Together we scrutinized the twelve lemon cakes from the delicatessen shop. 我们一起把甜食店里买来的十二块柠檬蛋糕细细打量了一番。 来自英汉文学 - 盖茨比

3 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 swells   

增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The waters were heaving up in great swells. 河水正在急剧上升。
• A barrel swells in the middle. 水桶中部隆起。

6 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

7 randomly   

adv.随便地，未加计划地

参考例句：

• Within the hot gas chamber, molecules are moving randomly in all directions. 在灼热的气体燃烧室内，分子在各个方向上作无规运动。 来自辞典例句
• Transformed cells are loosely attached, rounded and randomly oriented. 转化细胞则不大贴壁、圆缩并呈杂乱分布。 来自辞典例句

8 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

9 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

10 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。