Writing for the CNN Belief Blog, Dan Merica distills the newly released Pew Research Center study on Islam into five major takeaways:
- Differences between U.S. and international Muslims are vast,
- Sharia law favored, especially by more devout Muslims,
- Most Muslims believe religion, politics should be intertwined,
- Around the world, Muslims heralded religious freedom, and
- Islamic extremism widely rejected, but still a concern.
Says Who?
This four year long study included a total of 38,000 interviews in 39 countries and territories conducted in over 80 languages.
So What?
In the early years of the second decade of the twenty-first century, there is a great deal of misinformation about Islam being shared in America. This new research offers a wealth of information about Muslim understanding in America as well as on a more global basis.
- Which (if any) of the five takeaways challenge your prior assumptions?
- How is your local faith community involved in providing accurate information about Islam?