Statistics/Quotes


There are a lot of heated debates and discussions going on surrounding the Park 51 Mosque.  Here are some quotes on different opinions and perspectives in support of the new Mosque.

Mayor Bloomberg: 
“This nation was founded on the principle that the government must never choose between religions or favor one over another. The World Trade Center site will forever hold a special place in our city, in our hearts. But we would be untrue to the best part of ourselves and who we are as New Yorkers and Americans if we said no to a mosque in lower Manhattan.
Let us not forget that Muslims were among those murdered on 9/11, and that our Muslim neighbors grieved with us as New Yorkers and as Americans. We would betray our values and play into our enemies’ hands if we were to treat Muslims differently than anyone else. In fact, to cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists, and we should not stand for that."



President Barack Obama
“Let me clear, as a citizen and President, I believe Muslims have the right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan with local laws and orders. This is America and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcomed in this country and that they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are.”



Eboo Patel
“This seems to me a little like telling black people 50 years ago, you know you can sit anywhere on the bus you like, just not the front.”
CNN interviewer: I don’t think black people were behind the terrorist attacks
Eboo Patel:
“And American Muslims weren’t behind the terrorist attacks either.”The American Muslims who are firefighters, police officers, who coach little leagues and serve in the PTA deserve another name, an honored name and that is “Fellow American”.

http://www.chillyoislamyo.com/memorable-quotes-about-park-51-mosquecordoba-house/






CNN: 70% of All Americans Oppose Park51/Cordoba Mosque

By RACHEL on August 11, 2010
Opponents of the Park51 mosque are found nationwide.
Opponents of the Park51 mosque are found nationwide.
Results from a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll today shows that opposition to the Park51 mosque is not limited to New York City voters — but nationwide.
70 percent of all Americans oppose the plan to build a mosque 600 feet from the Ground Zero / World Trade Center site. While only 29 percent were in favor of the Park51 mosque.
In terms of the breakdown of those polled, opposition crossed all political lines and age demographics.
54 percent  of Democrats polled were against the development, while 82 percent of Republicans polled were against it. 70 percent of Independents polled were also against the building of the mosque.
6 in 10 people under the age of 50 oppose the plan.
These poll results come after a recent Quinnipiac poll determined that most New York voters were against the building of a mosque at Ground Zero.
Here is the question and result from the poll:
41. As you may know, a group of Muslims in the U.S. plan to build a mosque two blocks from the site 
in New York City where the World Trade Center used to stand.  Do you favor or oppose this plan?  
 Aug. 6-10 
  2010
  
 Favor 29% 
 Oppose 68% 
 No opinion 3%



Quinnipiac Poll: 7 Out of 10 Want Park51 Moved

By RACHEL on August 31, 2010
Park 51 is the new name for the Cordoba House Mosque
Park 51 is the new name for the Cordoba House.
Although freedom of religion has been an important point in the debate surrounding the Park51 development, a new Quinnipiac Poll has been released confirming that New York voters defer to the sensitivities of 9/11 families.
According to the poll:
“By a 54 – 40 percent majority, voters agree “that because of American freedom of religion, Muslims have the right to build the mosque near Ground Zero,” the independent poll finds. Another 7 percent are undecided.
But these same voters agree 53 – 39 percent, with 8 percent undecided, “that because of the sensitivities of 9/11 relatives, Muslims should not be allowed to build the mosque near Ground Zero.
And by a 71 – 21 percent majority, voters agree “that because of the opposition of Ground Zero relatives, the Muslim group should voluntarily build the mosque somewhere else.
By a 45 – 31 percent margin, New York State voters say they have a “generally favorable” opinion of Islam, with 24 percent undecided.
The heated, sometimes angry, debate over the proposal to build a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero has New York State voters twisted in knots, with some of them taking contradictory positions depending on how the question is asked,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
A majority agrees that American freedom of religion gives Muslims the right to build the mosque near the site of the terrorist attack. Republicans disagree 54 – 39 percent.
Because of the sensitivities of relatives of the terrorist victims, an almost identical majority, including many of the same voters, believes Muslims should not be allowed to open the mosque.Overwhelmingly, across all party and regional lines, New Yorkers say the sponsors ought to voluntarily move the proposed mosque to another location,” Carroll added.
New York City voters say 63 – 28 percent that mosque proponents should voluntarily choose another site, compared to 76 – 17 percent among upstate voters and the same 76 – 17 percent among suburban voters.”





Here's another poll taken in The Escapist Magazine, and this poll was taken in a religious perspective.
Poll: New York Mosque


should it stay or go?
stay
88.2% (15)
88.2% (15)
go
11.8% (2)
11.8% (2)





The New York Post published this article from a poll they gave.

Seven in 10 NYers want mosque moved

By CARL CAMPANILE
Last Updated: 11:09 AM, August 31, 2010
Posted: 7:05 AM, August 31, 2010
Comments: 181
More Print
Move the mosque!
Seven in ten New Yorkers say the proposed mosque/Islamic community center near Ground Zero should be relocated because of opposition from 9/11 families — and an equal number want state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to probe the group’s finances, a new statewide poll released today found.
“Overwhelmingly — across party and regional lines — New Yorkers say the sponsors ought to voluntarily move the proposed mosque to another location,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
The survey of 1,497 of New York residents found:
He speaks for most -- a new poll says seven in 10 New Yorkers want the controversial mosque moved.
AFP/GETTY IMAGES
He speaks for most -- a new poll says seven in 10 New Yorkers want the controversial mosque moved.
* 54 percent agree that “freedom of religion” gives Muslims the legal right to build the mosque on Park Place, while 40 percent disagreed and the rest were undecided.
* But 53 percent also said Muslim developers should not be allowed to build the mosque near the World Trade Center site in deference to sensitivities of 9/11 relatives, with 39 percent opposed and the rest undecided.
* A whopping 71 percent then said the organizers should voluntarily move the mosque elsewhere because of opposition from 9/11 family members. Only 21 percent were opposed, with the rest undecided.
* And 71 percent also said that AG Cuomo should probe the finances behind the building of the mosque, also known as 51Park. The concerns over who bankrolls the mosque comes as developer Sharif el-Gamal just announced the launch of the facility’s fundraising campaign and he collected $10,000 last week from supporters.
* A sizable number of New Yorkers have negative views of Islam. Nearly one-third — 31 percent have an unfavorable opinion and about one-quarter were undecided. Less than a majority – 45 percent – had a favorable opinion.
* About one-quarter of New Yorkers think “mainstream Islam” encourages violence against non-Muslims, while 54 percent consider it a peaceful religion. About one in five had no opinion.
There were partisan differences. Republicans were most strongly against the mosque: 72 percent of GOPers said Muslims should not be allowed to build it there, and 85 percent said planners should voluntarily relocate the facility.
Democrats were more divided – with 49 percent opposed to government blocking the project because of objections from 9/11 families. But even 61 percent of Democrats said organizers should voluntarily move it.
There was also a slight gender and regional gap. By a 56-34 margin, women said the mosque should not be allowed to build near Ground Zero despite the legal right to do so. Among the men, there was a narrower 50-45 split.
As for Cuomo, even 65 percent of Democrats agree the AG should probe Park 51’s finances.
Meanwhile President Obama’s approval ratings sank to their lowest level ever in Democratic-friendly NY – with 51 percent supporting him and 41 disapproving.
There’s a regional gap. Democratic-dominated NYC voters back Obama 66-27. But he gets a thumbs down from 54 percent of suburban voters and 47 percent of upstaters.





Taking on Islamophobia: numbers AND values

Paul Rosenberg,  Aug 24, 2010 13:30 EDT (209 days ago)  on  Open Left - Front Page  (Original Article)
Last week, in our discussions of the Park51 Cultural Center, and the surrounding political firestorm, there was a lot of discussion of the First Amendment issue vs. the question of whether the center should be built there.  A couple of opposite mis-perceptions seemed to crop up a lot (or maybe it was just me):
(1) The idea that the First Amendment was clear, and that's all there is to it.
(2) The idea that everyone knows about the First Amendment, so that's irrelevant, all that matters is how folks feel.
These may be overly broad, but they're close enough for jazz.  A poll from the Economist/YouGov shows that it's more complicated than either of these views. It also shows that even though anti-Muslim views predominate, making this--at least right now--a "winning" issue for conservatives and Republicans--the underlying structure of attitudes shows conservatives and Republicans to be out of step with Americans as a whole--as I'll explain below. I don't just want to talk dry numbers here.  I want to talk numbers and values.  I want to talk about America as a place for all--liberty and justice for all--vs. America as a place for only one small tribe, where only those on top have anything resembling freedom, and no one has justice at all.  I want to talk about America as the land of the free and the home of the brave vs. America as a land ruled by dark fears where no one is truly at home, where no one ever feels safe, where no one is ever secure.
And so, with that in mind, let's turn to the data.
First, we see that barely more than half of all respondents recognize the First Amendment right as protecting the right to build the "mosque", and less than one third of Republicans:
Second, we see that barely more than a third of those who recognize the First Amendment right thnk it's a good idea (17.5% out of 50.2%).  Among Republicans, it's far, far less.  While just over 30% recognize the Constitutional right, less than 2% think it's the right thing to do:
Obviously, this is a snapshot at a given point in time, and it very much reflects how the story has developed, how it has been shaped and promoted by the rightwing activist network, as well as the more long-range shaping of attitudes.   But the snapshot in time captures relational truths that tend to endure even when the spectrum of attittudes shifts one way or another.
To see what I mean, I've got four charts on the flip: opinions on rights and feelings by party ID and ideology.  But before turning to them, we should first consider the basic background of attitudes towards Islam:


With "very unfavorable" dominating over the total of all favorable in the total population, there's no doubt of the overall hostile environment.  For simplicity's sake in making comparisons, I combined both of the two favorable and unfavorable categories together to get the following compressed table:
This table shows very similar figures for Republicans and conservatives--roughly 10-1 unfavorable opinions, with 11% unsure--and for Independents and moderates--roughly 55% unfavorable vs. 20-25% favorable.  This contrasts rather strikingly with the divergence between Democrats--who were no more favorable than Independents (25% vs. 25.5%) and only modestly less unfavorable (45% vs. 56.4%)--and liberals, who were almost evenly split: 39.5% favorable vs. 39% unfavorable.
Clearly, the feelings regarding Park51 are heavily influenced by these background attitudes towards Islam in general. For all groups except conservatives and Republicans, the levels of support for Park51 track levels of approval for Islam relatively closely, but for them, support for building Park51 is just 20% of their already low level of approval of Islam:
Clearly, the attitudes and psychology of conservatives divergedramatically from that of other Americans--although this divergence is masked by the high level of hysteria they have successfully mobilized.
And now to the charts on the flip...
First, looking at the party-ID breakdown on the issue of First Amendment rights, it's immediately apparent why the Republicans do not want to have this discussion with the public at large.  Stoking their base?  Not a problem.  Answering questions from the "lamestream media"?  Not so much!

















This is the same reason, of course, that Democrats should want to have the public debate revolve around the First Amendment and religious freedom: it's a winner for Democrats, and it paints the Republicans--quite accurately--as opposed to the US Constitution and fundamental American values.
Considering how they go on and on without end about their unique, super-spiritual, blood-brothers-oath-of-the-Jedi-whatever relationship to the Constitution, it ought to be very interesting and illuminating to spend weeks on end having them openly attacking the First Amendment.  Every Democrat on the face of the planet ought to be doing whatever they can think of to make this happen.  If we actually had a functioning strategic infrastructure, this is what it would be doing right now.
The breakdown by ideology is interesting in how it differs. Since we don't have complete cross-tabs, we can't say eaxtly for certain, but the relatively closeness among conservatives compared to Republicans strongly indicates that non-Republican conservatives are a lot clearer on the First Amendment than conservative Republicans are.  And there's no guesswork at all in saying that liberals as a whole are a lot clearer than Democrats as a whole.

















Of course, none of that seems to matter right now, as the right does everything it can to pump up the fear and hatred, while centrists like Dean and Obama dither.  Identity politics, authoritarianism and xenophobia have always been the core of conservatism, and the more they can be projected out into the population at large, the better conservatives do in dominating the political discourse:


















And, of course, this works very well in unifying Republicans heading into the mid-term elections, as can be seen in this graph of party attitudes:



















As expected, from the discussion above, the picture is very similar with respect to attitudes towards Islam, both in terms of Party ID:



















And in terms of ideology:


















The message here is bleak only because -- following Obama's absurd notion of running away from the culture wars as a way of ending them -- liberals and Democrats have not forcefully and consistently engaged.  The potential is there for us to win, simply because we are on the side of America's core principles and values.  But this means nothing if it is not made a consistent narrative theme.  Fear will always be a much easier sell, unless the groundwork is well laid to resist it.
Coda: Dispositon & Situation
These findings reflect something very important about a broader fundamental truth explained long ago by Robert Altemeyer, who pioneered the investigation of rightwing authoritarianism (RWA).  As Altemeyer put it, the influence of RWA was statistically quite strong, producing correlations much higher than are usually seen in social science. However, this influence was relatively weak compared to situational factors, such as a terrorist attack.  Altemeyer pointed to recent Canadian history as an example, but years later we saw the same thing in America in the response to 9/11, with even the vast majority of Democrats lining up in support of George Bush.
In short, authoritarian conservatism has its power anchored in the collective disposition of conservatives--not all of them, but a critical mass of them as a collecive whole.  It then asserts its hegemony over the society as a whole by acting out in ways that alter the political situation--making it more polarized, more threatening, more confusing, more difficult to deal with operationally--so that others who are not authoritarian by disposition nonetheless respond in an authoritarian manner because of the poltical situation.
This insight from Altemeyer was not a major focus of his at the time, but in light of enormous amount of work done to develop the perspective of situationism by Jon Hanson--of Harvard Law School and The Situationist Blog--and others, we should defintely view it as an insight of primary importance if we wish to extricate ourselves from being dominated by the fearful worldview of a conservative minority in our midst.
Combating fear--even while acknowledging it, when appropriate--is thus a clear first principle of action for progressives.  Combating fear and affirming our core values and principles go hand in hand together.









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