Sunday, December 19, 2004

If you've been reading blogs today, you've probably seen this AP story in some form or another:

44% in poll OK limits on rights of Muslims

Nearly half of all Americans surveyed said they think the US government should restrict the civil liberties of Muslim Americans, according to a nationwide poll.

The survey conducted by Cornell University also found that Republicans and people who described themselves as highly religious were more apt to support curtailing Muslims' civil liberties than Democrats or people who are less religious....


You can get the survey results here (that's a PDF; it's the first link on this page).

For your convenience, I've broken out the results on party affiliation and religiosity. As the survey notes, "high religiosity" is high Christian religiosity, American style:

Religiosity is measured only for Christian, Atheist, or Agnostic respondents; together these comprise eighty-seven percent of the sample (625 respondents). Adherents to other faiths are excluded from analyses involving religion. The measure is a standardized additive index of four separate questions: self-reported church attendance, literal interpretation of the Bible, self-identification as an “evangelical,” and whether the respondent believes Israel is a fulfillment of the biblical prophesy about the second coming of Jesus. Using the overall measure, respondents were split into thirds and categorized as exhibiting low, moderate, or high religiosity.

Now, the results of key questions -- on Muslims and life during wartime in general.

1) Government should have greater power in monitoring Internet activities such as email and online transactions.
Independents: 34%; Democrats: 40%; Republicans: 64%
low religiosity: 35%; moderate religiosity: 52%; high religiosity 61%

2) Law enforcement officials should be able to indefinitely detain suspected terrorists.
Independents: 55%; Democrats: 54%; Republicans: 76%
low religiosity: 50%; moderate religiosity: 65%; high religiosity 79%

3) We need to outlaw some un-American actions, even if they're Constitutionally protected.
Independents: 30%; Democrats: 34%; Republicans: 42%
low religiosity: 28%; moderate religiosity: 39%; high religiosity 43%

4) Government officials sometimes need to lie to the press about military operations.
Independents: 42%; Democrats: 36%; Republicans: 62%
low religiosity: 48%; moderate religiosity: 51%; high religiosity 49%

5) In a time of crisis or war, the media should NOT cover anti-war protests.
Independents: 26%; Democrats: 24%; Republicans: 48%
low religiosity: 24%; moderate religiosity: 28%; high religiosity 46%

6) In a time of crisis or war, the media should NOT report comments of individuals who criticize the government.
Independents: 25%; Democrats: 22%; Republicans: 45%
low religiosity: 20%; moderate religiosity: 29%; high religiosity 44%

7) In a time of war or crisis, individuals should be allowed to stage public protests against the government or its policies.
Independents: 63%; Democrats: 71%; Republicans: 50%
low religiosity: 69%; moderate religiosity: 56%; high religiosity 51%

8) In a time of war or crisis, individuals should be allowed to criticize publicly the government, or its policies.
Independents: 65%; Democrats: 75%; Republicans: 51%
low religiosity: 72%; moderate religiosity: 58%; high religiosity 54%

*****

All Muslim Americans should be required to register their whereabouts with the federal government.
Independents: 17%; Democrats: 24%; Republicans: 40%
low religiosity: 15%; moderate religiosity: 30%; high religiosity 42%

Mosques should be closely monitored and surveilled by U.S. law enforcement agencies. Independents: 24%; Democrats: 22%; Republicans: 34%
low religiosity: 13%; moderate religiosity: 33%; high religiosity 34%

U.S. government agencies should profile citizens as potential threats based on being Muslim or having Middle Eastern heritage.
Independents: 15%; Democrats: 17%; Republicans: 34%
low religiosity: 16%; moderate religiosity: 24%; high religiosity 29%

Muslim civic and volunteer organizations should be infiltrated by undercover law enforcement agents to keep watch on their activities and fundraising.
Independents: 27%; Democrats: 21%; Republicans: 41%
low religiosity: 19%; moderate religiosity: 33%; high religiosity 40%


Draw your own conclusions.

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