Muslims and the West haven't always seen eye to eye, but a study released Thursday suggests the situation is more severe than mere disagreement and that the two groups generally harbor cynicism and adverse opinions of each other.
The Pew Global Attitudes Project conducted the study among 14,000 people in Indonesia, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan, India, Spain, Germany, Russia, France, Great Britain and the United States, with "special oversamples" taken in the four European Union nations.
The interviews for "The Great Divide: How Westerners and Muslims View Each Other" were conducted from March 31 to May 14.
"The state of relations is not very good," said Richard Wike, senior project director. "Many in the West see Muslims as fanatical, violent and as lacking tolerance. "Meanwhile, Muslims in the Middle East and Asia generally see Westerners as selfish, immoral and greedy -- as well as violent and fanatical."
The study showed that Westerners are "broadly skeptical of Muslim values" and that they often believe, especially in Germany and Spain, that there is a conflict between being a devout Muslim and living in modern society
Saturday, June 24, 2006
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2 comments:
no certainly not a surprise, especially in the middle of a war.
I never took statistics, what the hell is a "special oversample"? Sounds like a fancy term for some type of mathematical shenanigans.
Yeah, 2 divergent cultures that have been at odds w/ each other in one form or another for centuries. Is anyone surprised they're not singing each others praises?
And I wonder what the Muslims living in Germany, France, UK and the US had to say about the Great Satan.
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