Over A Quarter Of British Muslims Have Sympathy For The Charlie Hebdo Terrorists

[naomi24]

According to the author of the article //That is sickening, reprehensible and unacceptable. And we have to say so. Rather than patting the other three quarters who don’t have sympathy on the head, and saying “Well done. You’re the good Muslims”.//

Do you agree with him? A quarter of all British Muslims is an awful lot of people.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/11434695/Over-a-quarter-of-British-Muslims-have-sympathy-for-the-Charlie-Hebdo-terrorists.-That-is-far-too-many.html

[jim360]

I think that a lot depends on how you interpret the word "sympathise". It is rather too vague to draw too firm conclusions. You can sympathise to some extent, or greatly, or something between, and each carries a different meaning, and then it also depends on how the respondents interpreted the question.

It is entirely possible to sympathise with a subset of motives behind a set of horrific actions without condoning the actions themselves. One example from history might be the French Revolutionaries, cutting their bloody way through all who disagreed with them. Horrific. And then you go and visit somewhere like Versailles, see its in-your-face "I'm rich and you, my subjects, are all so poor", and begin to wonder if, after all, the revolutionaries had a point. I can sympathise, then, with some of the motives behind the revolutionaries to some extent, such as their need to overthrow oppression, without condoning the bloody executions of their many victims.

Such sympathies may be misplaced, of course, but I think it's dangerous to read into this 27% figure that one quarter of British Muslims are happy with what happened at Charlie Hebdo.

The 11% who agreed that the journalists deserved their fate, however, is disturbing. I'm slightly surprised that this figure has been overlooked.

[agchristie]

Let's not forget either:-

/// And an additional eight percent said they were unsure whether they had some sympathy or not.///

So, whatever the degree of sympathy if you add on the 2% who would not answer, the 27% could actually have been as high as 37%!!!

[jourdain2]

I am offended by some very nasty representations of Christ and Christianity, certainly 'The Last Temptation of Christ' (made with Muslim backing and money) was hugely offensive to millions of people. I have never felt the temptation to kill the authors of these blasphemies, although they hurt very much. I accept the definition of 'sympathise' may be broad, but there is an old saying 'If you can't stand the heat then get out of the kitchen'. It is not up to the West to change, it is up to the incomers.

[ludwig]

// Why not?

The question was about the motives which led to the slaying. "I have some sympathy with the motives behind the Charlie Hebdo attcks...". The motives were the disapproval of the published images. The reaction was to slay 11 (or was it 12?) people. //

Exactly. Having 'sympathy with the motives behind' something isn't the same as having sympathy with, or condoning the reaction to it.

If I heard someone had killed their spouse because they found out they'd been having an affair, I'd have some sympathy with the motives behind the killing, but that isn't the same as saying I thought the killing was justified.

The question is flawed because it isn't clear exactly what it means.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing but contempt for those 27% and the other 80% that said they were offended by the cartoons. They're all brainwashed fools as far as I'm concerned, but what you said was inaccurate.

[agchristie]

Ludwig,

///They're all brainwashed fools as far as I'm concerned,///

Does this render the whole survey unreliable and void? ;-)

[ludwig]

// The 11% who agreed that the journalists deserved their fate, however, is disturbing. I'm slightly surprised that this figure has been overlooked. //

Me too. More than 1 in 10 think they deserved to be attacked. This is the really disturbing statistic. The thing about 'sympathy for the motives' behind is somewhat of a red herring.

That's 11% of British muslims (who will to admit to) supporting islamist terrorism.

[ludwig]

// Does this render the whole survey unreliable and void? ;-) //

No. It's a useful insight into the opinions of brainwashed fools.

[agchristie]

///It's a useful insight into the opinions of brainwashed fools.///

A replication of someone else's view or really their own? Could be a double count?