I’ve heard it, and you probably have as well, Islam is a violent religion. Folks who claim to be Muslim, who commit violence in the name of Islam are really Muslims. And when I have responded with the idea that it is the same regarding Christians and Christianity, I encounter opposition, folks who claim to be Christian, who commit violence in the name of Christianity, aren’t really Christians. A recent poll by the folks at PRRI bears this out. 75% of the folks in the US believe that people who commit acts of violence in the name of Christianity are not Christian. But only 50% of the folks in the US believe that people who commit acts of violence in the name of Islam are not Muslim. That’s a double standard when it comes down to who folks in the US believe commit acts of violence.
It gets even more interesting when those who hold this double standard are broken into various groups, such as Republicans vs Democrats. 75% of Republicans don’t believe that Christians who commit violent acts are really Christians, while only 33% of Republicans don’t believe that Muslims who commit violent acts are really Muslims. The Democrats do a little better but still have a double standard. 79% of Democrats don’t believe that Christians who commit violent acts are really Christians, while 55% of Democrats don’t believe that Muslims who commit violent acts are really Muslims.
Go check out the full report of the survey at the PRRI website to see the results when broken down into different groups of Christians, Americans’ Double Standard on Religious Violence.
Facts for the story and the main image are from the PRRI report linked above.