Hating the Other

America is a nation where the overwhelming majority of its citizens are affiliated with a Christian religion. This is true even though there have been recent increases in the numbers of people who self-identify as an atheist or as a non-affiliated religious or spiritual person.

This reality makes a recent Gallup poll most interesting. Under the auspices of the Muslim West Facts Project, the poll investigated what Ameicans thought of four of the major world religions: Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. The report can be found at: http://www.muslimwestfacts.com/mwf/125315/Religious-Perceptions-America.aspx.

Here are some interesting facts - at least for me - from the poll.
** Islam elicits the most negative views with 53% of respondents saying they had either a "not too favorable" or a "not favorable at all" opinion of the religion.
** Most Americans know very little about Islam with 63% saying they had "very little knowledge" or "none at all" about the religion, even though 52% say they know someone who is a Muslim.
** There is some statistical correlation between prejudice toward Jews and prejudice toward Muslims with those who self-identify as having a "great deal" of prejudice toward Jews 32 times more likely also to have a "great deal" of prejudice toward Muslims.
** There is also some statistical correlation between those who attend a religious service more than once a week and reporting "no prejudice" toward Muslims.

What should "good" Christian Americans think about those who follow another faith? How much should "good" Christian Americans know about those other faiths? What do you think?

And, throw them under the bus!

Daniel Dennett, professor of philosophy at Tufts University, is one of the new cadre of individuals aggressively attcking religion and those who hold religious beliefs. In a Q&A in the Wasington Post, he was asked about the claims of media bias against religion, such as those recently made by Brit Hume. Professor Dennett's full answer can be found at: http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/
daniel_c_dennett/2010/01/religious_no_longer_a_protected_class.html.

I found part of his answer provocative. Dennett said:
I look forward to the day when violence done under the influence of religious passion is considered more dishonorable, more shameful, than crimes of avarice, and is punished accordingly, and religious leaders who incite such acts are regarded with the same contempt that we reserve for bartenders who send dangerously disabled people out onto the highways.

I also look forward to the day when pastors who abuse the authority of their pulpits by misinforming their congregations about science, about public health, about global warming, about evolution must answer to the charge of dishonesty. Telling pious lies to trusting children is a form of abuse, plain and simple. If quacks and bunko artists can be convicted of fraud for selling worthless cures, why not clergy for making their living off unsupported claims of miracle cures and the efficacy of prayer?

How do you respond to his comments?