Two-Thirds of Evangelicals Think That Muslims Don’t Belong in America

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US Muslims are apprehensive about Islamic extremism in the U.S.

As U.S. society slowly goes secular, a report published by the Pew Research Center reveals American Muslims and American Christians suffer from a considerable perception gap[/tweetit] when it comes to knowing about each other. Resistance towards Muslims comes most from white evangelicals.

Two-Thirds of Evangelicals Think That Muslims Don’t Belong in America[/tweetthis]

About two-thirds of Evangelicals hold the belief that Muslims can never be a part of the mainstream American society. They contend that Islam gives tacit approval to engage in violence much more compared to other faiths. About 72 percent of white evangelicals hold this view. From the other side, about 30 percent of Muslims think that Christianity and Islam are in conflict. In contrast, only 44 percent of common U.S. citizens hold this view.

76080The study conducted by Pew Research Center found that white evangelicals are twice as much more likely to support a policy which will halt the U.S. refugee program temporarily. They also support the limited entry of citizens from a number of Muslim majority countries into the United States. In fact, the Pew Research Center discovered evangelicals are the sole U.S. religious group which has only increased when it came to support a yet-hypothetical “Muslim ban.”

Mainstream analysts are afraid that evangelicals' view of Muslims may lead to the destruction of unity among the different religious communities. Research done earlier by Pew has found out that only 35 percent of all evangelicals surveyed know a Muslim personally. In contrast, personal contact with Muslims are 40 percent for mainline Catholics and Protestants, 73 percent for the Jews, and about 50 percent of unaffiliated Americans.

According to David Cashin of Columbia International University, “This is the best chance we’ve had in human history to share the love of Christ with Muslims.” The professor of Intercultural Studies- and an expert concerning Muslim-Christian relations- said “Because of these attitudes, we could miss the opportunity.”

An overwhelming 62 percent of Muslims hold the belief that Americans do not recognize them as a component of American mainstream society. 68 percent of U.S. Muslims worry about President Trump whose administration's immigration policy has specifically targeted people coming from countries having a Muslim majority population. 71 percent of U.S. Muslims are concerned about extremist Islam inside the United States.

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