A poll by the respected Pew Research Center has caused concern in America with its finding that one in four young American Muslims consider suicide bombing sometimes acceptable.
But to us here in Great Britain, one figure ignored in the States stands out even more.
On page 9 of the report is a bar-chart showing the percentages of Muslims in various countries who consider themselves Muslim first, and only afterwards link their identity with their country of residence. Of American Muslims, 47% consider themselves Muslims first and foremost - before identifying themselves as Americans.
In other countries the percentage identifying themselves firstly as Muslims are:
France – 46%
Germany – 66%
Spain – 69%
But leading – indeed towering over – all of these, with a whopping 81% of its Muslims population identifying itself as Muslim first is… the UK.
That’s not far off twice the lack of national self-identification as France and the US. At least we could all agree on one thing – something is uniquely wrong with Britain.
Comments (1)
Is it so far off the track or are Muslims just conceptualising their identity as people of these isles always have? One really needs to ask Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and atheists the same question here and in other countries before making a meaningful judgement.
Being American has always been a big thing with Americans - flag flying and all that is part of their civic religion necessary perhaps because of their short history and melting pot background. The same applies for the French - their national anthem glorifying themselves and obsession with their lingo says it all.
By contrast we don't need a civic religion as we don't separate church and state. Our national anthem by contrast is devoid of any nationalistic sentiment. And we happily absorb new words into our language. British nationalism as in the last night of the proms is always tongue in cheek in its over the topness.
With Germany of course one needs the right blood to be German so no wonder the high percentage there.
And Spain? Not many Spaniards think of themselves as Spanish as opposed to Basque, Catalan etc.
Posted by William Haines | May 31, 2007 11:24 PM
Posted on May 31, 2007 23:24