tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38085367.post6808528802505087007..comments2024-03-09T04:25:13.906-05:00Comments on Irtiqa: Increasing Creationism in England: Are Muslims to blame?Salman Hameedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04327330113822656571noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38085367.post-91087010857906480172007-10-09T21:45:00.000-04:002007-10-09T21:45:00.000-04:00I think there may be a difference in attitude of M...I think there may be a difference in attitude of Muslims in the US and in UK. A lot has to do with colonialism, but some of it may also have to do with the nature of the two societies (US & UK). I think US has done a better job (at least in the past) of assimilating diverse immigrant populations compared to Europe. Furthermore, Muslim immigrants to US may have higher education degrees on average than Muslim immigrants to UK (and Europe). I'm sure statistics are available to check what is happening...but I wish the BBC article had presented it in a more nuanced manner.Salman Hameedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04327330113822656571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38085367.post-64789150280365350692007-10-09T13:58:00.000-04:002007-10-09T13:58:00.000-04:00The wikipedia article on "Islam in the United King...The wikipedia article on "Islam in the United Kingdom", Muslims make up about 3% of the population of England and Wales (1,536,015 Muslims according to the 2001 census). The US census does not collect information on religion, and estimates from the corresponding wikipedia article lists a few surveys as showing a population between 0.5 and 2.2% of the US population. I'm more inclined to put faith in the quoted Pew Survey, putting the US Muslim population at around 2.4 million in 2007 (around 2.6%, I think).<BR/><BR/>To distill all that down, it seems like the US and UK have a similar Muslim population. This would lead me to be skeptical of claims that Muslim creationists are having that much of an influence on UK schools. As you suggested, a rising population doesn't necessarily correspond to an increase of pressure to teach creationism in schools. The US seems to be have a similar percentage of Muslims in its population, but they're not featured prominently in debates about evolution here. Either the media is turning a blind eye to them because of the larger, louder influence of Christian creationists, or something different is happening in the US than the UK despite similarities in population, or the BBC got its story wrong.<BR/><BR/>Like you, I can't think of a really good way to check. One thing I would look at is the population densities of Muslims in the US as opposed to Muslims in the UK. If a population of creationist Muslims was particularly dense in a particular district, they might have a disproportionate effect on district policy when compared to the policies of other districts. Then again, isn't school policy directed by a national (rather than district or state) policy in the UK? The issue is much more complex than the BBC presents, but that point is made pretty regularly.<BR/><BR/>I sure would like to know the BBC sources for their article, though.Donhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02733799054106197853noreply@blogger.com