US Muslims: Young, Diverse, Striving

By Jane Lampman

A "national portrait" of Muslim Americans, released Monday by Gallup, depicts the youngest and most racially diverse religious community in the country as striving for a secure place in American society and an active role in public life.

The report describes a group that has achieved successes and shares much in common with other Americans, yet struggles for a sense of belonging in a country where some citizens harbor post-9/11 suspicions about the Islamic faith.

Drawing on data from three distinct Gallup surveys, the report compares Muslim Americans with other religious groups and the general US population, as well as with Muslims in other countries.

Muslim Americans, for instance, are among the most highly educated religious groups in the US, second to Jews. In a remarkable finding, 43 percent of Muslim-American women hold a college or postgraduate degree, compared with 29 percent of US women overall. They are as likely as Muslim men to hold professional jobs. The group shows strong employment rates, including 30 percent in professional work and 25 percent self-employed.

Muslim Americans volunteer in their communities to the same degree as other US citizens, and they give slightly more to charity. While 80 percent consider religion important to them, weekly worship attendance (41 percent) is typical of other religious groups. Their political participation has risen rapidly in recent years, though it still lags behind that of others.

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CSM: http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0303/p02s02-ussc.html

There's a lot of confusion about them.

A good friend of mine is half-Lebanese, half-Ashkhenazi (I know. WHAT?), and she's among the most lovely people I know.
Most Arab-Americans are Christian, though.
Way too much discrimination against both Muslims and Arabs in Murka since 9/11 IMHO.
I've been raised Muslim, actually, of a North African denomination to be exact, even though I've never believed it, but I still hold some beliefs of it, like the no-alcohol part. (But not the no-beacon part :D)

The situation of Muslims in Europe, on the contrary, is disastrous, according to one of my aunts residing in suburban Paris.