Bridge initiative releases report on american catholics public opinion and portrayals of islam

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BRIDGE INITIATIVE RELEASES REPORT ON AMERICAN CATHOLICS PUBLIC OPINION AND PORTRAYALS OF ISLAM

I wonder if US Catholics here agree with the findings with this study. From my experience on the Non Catholic Religions forum, there seems to be quite a bit of confusion and mis-information on Islam as a faith tradition in general. The bullet points in the link were quite startling to me.
The Bridge Initiative, a Georgetown University research project on Islamophobia, released today a report that sheds light on American Catholics’ views of Islam, and the way Islam is discussed in Catholic publications.
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This report, “Danger & Dialogue: American Catholic Public Opinion and Portrayals of Islam,” finds that nearly half of Catholics can’t name any similarities between Catholicism and Islam, or say explicitly that there are no commonalities.
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The report, which includes survey data on Catholics views of Muslims and interreligious dialogue, also reveals that three in ten Catholics admit to having unfavorable views, while only 14% say they have a favorable impression of Muslims. The poll also shows that respondents who consume content from Catholic media have more unfavorable views of Muslims than those who don’t.
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bridge.georgetown.edu/danger-dialogue-american-catholic-public-opinion-and-portrayals-of-islam/?mc_cid=4065e37548&mc_eid=e6b0452c69
 
Franciscan Action Network released a statement about this.

Press Release: Franciscans Dismayed by New Findings on American Catholic Attitudes Towards Islam
Washington, D.C.—Today the Bridge Initiative at Georgetown University released a national poll of Catholics and their attitudes towards Muslims and Islam. Perhaps not surprising, most American Catholics do not personally know a Muslim and most do not have a good understanding of Islam as a religion. The report found that “Nearly half of Catholics can’t name any similarities between Catholicism and Islam, or say explicitly that there are no commonalities.”
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Perhaps most disturbing however is the fact that many Catholic publishers, media outlets, and some prominent Catholics perpetuate fear of Muslims and promote Islamophobia. The Bridge Initiative found that “Nearly half of Catholics (45%) believe that Islam is more likely to ‘encourage violence than other religions around the world.’” The report found that on average Catholics who frequently read Catholic media outlets tend to have a more unfavorable view of Muslims. The Franciscan Action Network (FAN) is concerned that these media trends are helping to drive American Catholics’ negative views of Islam. We are all our brother’s and sister’s keepers and this promotion of hate neither humanizes Muslims in America–including refugees–nor does it help promote healthy interfaith dialogue.
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“In choosing the name Francis, the Pope showed that he was committed to interfaith dialogue, much like his namesake. At the Franciscan Action Network, we’re deeply disappointed in the survey results, and ask American Catholics to get to know their Muslim neighbors," said Franciscan Action Network executive director Patrick Carolan. “And for those Catholics promoting fear and bigotry, we call on them to consider a different path and to follow the lead of St. Francis and the Sultan in the 13th Century.”
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As part of Franciscan Action Network’s mission is peacemaking, FAN commends the Bridge Initiative for their efforts which shed much-needed light on the state of Catholic-Muslim relations in America today. FAN looks forward to continuing to promote an ongoing dialogue between American Catholics and Muslims, including working with Unity Productions Foundation on an upcoming documentary on the “Sultan and the Saint.”
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Bogus study at a CINO University. Catholics do not hate others, period. Spin, spin, spin.
 
Used2beSherryG said:
Bogus study at a CINO University. Catholics do not hate others, period. Spin, spin, spin.
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I don’t believe ‘hate’ was a word mentioned in the study. The study was to examine how Catholics understand Islam, what beliefs they hold about that particular faith tradition, and how well they know Muslims in general vs getting information online. They looked at Catholic media and saw a specific slant against Islam, impacting how Catholics viewed the religion.
The headlines of Catholic articles dealing with Islam have a negative sentiment overall, and the primary emotion conveyed is anger. Of the online Catholic outlets examined, Catholic Answers and Catholic Culture had the most negative sentiment in their titles related to Islam. Only one outlet had positive headlines about Islam: American Catholic.
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I don’t think there was a lot of spin of the study. The reports I saw pretty much described what the was learned.

The Center at Georgetown, BTW, is quite well respected.
 
Read the Koran.

It’s an easy read.

AND, you can also review this:

jihadwatch.org

AND you can subscribe to the daily digest.

And here is more daily news on this subject:

pamelageller.com

Important to do the reading.
 
ComplineSanFran said:
I don’t believe ‘hate’ was a word mentioned in the study. The study was to examine how Catholics understand Islam, what beliefs they hold about that particular faith tradition, and how well they know Muslims in general vs getting information online. They looked at Catholic media and saw a specific slant against Islam, impacting how Catholics viewed the religion.

I don’t think there was a lot of spin of the study. The reports I saw pretty much described what the was learned.

The Center at Georgetown, BTW, is quite well respected.
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If it wasn’t done with an agenda, perhaps they should not start by referring to their work as a “report on Islamophobia.”

And again, meaningless data when Catholic only mean “person was baptized Catholic.” When our views of mass attendance, social issues, and Church teachings are so divergent from the message of the faith, why would Catholics have any unified, Christian view of another religion?

The VASSSTTTTT majority of Catholics in the world do not get any slant from Catholic media, because they are not exposed to it. Do you think the 75% of American Catholics who don’t attend weekly mass are spending their free time watching Fr. Mitch Pacwa on EWTN on Wednesday nights? Do you think Catholic media is prevalent in the poorer regions of Africa where Catholicism is thriving?
 
Maximilan_Kolbe said:
If it wasn’t done with an agenda, perhaps they should not start by referring to their work as a “report on Islamophobia.”

And again, meaningless data when Catholic only mean “person was baptized Catholic.” When our views of mass attendance, social issues, and Church teachings are so divergent from the message of the faith, why would Catholics have any unified, Christian view of another religion?

The VASSSTTTTT majority of Catholics in the world do not get any slant from Catholic media, because they are not exposed to it. Do you think the 75% of American Catholics who don’t attend weekly mass are spending their free time watching Fr. Mitch Pacwa on EWTN on Wednesday nights? Do you think Catholic media is prevalent in the poorer regions of Africa where Catholicism is thriving?
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To respond to your concerns:
  1. Islamophobia. Well, the study was commissioned by The Bridge, ‘based in Georgetown University’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, The Bridge Initiative is a multi-year research project that connects the academic study of Islamophobia with the public square.’ So If they are tracking Islamophobia, it seems that using the word is appropriate.
  2. American Catholic views are extremely varied, politically, theologically, and socially. If you are doing a sociological study of American Catholics on their understanding of what Islam is, then you use a random sample of Catholics in their varied positions. It’s good scholarship. The scholars were not looking for a unified view; they were looking at what the statistics are and their range, and they got that information.
  3. The study included US Catholics only. And no, I don’t think a large majority of US Catholics are reading Catholic news, nor watching EWTN, nor here on Catholic.com. However, the study did reveal that those who DO get their information from Catholic news sources tend towards having negative views of Islam.
 
ComplineSanFran said:
To respond to your concerns:
  1. Islamophobia. Well, the study was commissioned by The Bridge, ‘based in Georgetown University’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, The Bridge Initiative is a multi-year research project that connects the academic study of Islamophobia with the public square.’ So If they are tracking Islamophobia, it seems that using the word is appropriate.
2) American Catholic views are extremely varied, politically, theologically, and socially. If you are doing a sociological study of American Catholics on their understanding of what Islam is, then you use a random sample of Catholics in their varied positions. It’s good scholarship. The scholars were not looking for a unified view; they were looking at what the statistics are and their range, and they got that information.
  1. The study included US Catholics only. And no, I don’t think a large majority of US Catholics are reading Catholic news, nor watching EWTN, nor here on Catholic.com. However, the study did reveal that those who DO get their information from Catholic news sources tend towards having negative views of Islam.
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The bold is the part I find especially meaningless. I have literally nothing in common with some other Catholics I know other than we are all human. Beyond that, we share nothing important in common.

Do a study like this across some other diverse group like Caucasians, or “dudes named Steve” and you’ll find equally useless information. Polling random Catholics tell us nothing about the religious impact on anything since the opinions and beliefs are random and not in any way related to their faith in the majority of cases.
 
It occurs to me to wonder whether Georgetown U. has ever conducted a survey of Christophobia among self-identified Muslims.
 
JimG said:
It occurs to me to wonder whether Georgetown U. has ever conducted a survey of Christophobia among self-identified Muslims.
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Just a guess here, but probably because they are a Catholic institution doing a bit of introspection, and adhering to Scripture by looking at the log in our own eyes first. It makes for better relationships with our fellow brothers and sisters under Abraham.
 
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