The Pew Research Center just released a new report on the state of Muslims living in the U.S. It is largely encouraging, nothing that, for instance, that most Muslims repudiate religious extremism and are generally happy with America (though they’re even happier with President Obama, who enjoys a 76 percent approval rating). In fact, 66 percent of Muslim-Americans report being that life in the U.S. is better than in most Muslim countries, while only eight percent say it is worse. 48 percent reported that Americans are friendly toward them, with only 16 percent reporting that Americans are unfriendly. Muslims report that there is less extremism in their communities than the general public reports they believe there is, but not by a large margin.
Left-leaning media blog Gawker gleefully reported that “Muslims [are] more American than you,” based on the fact that Muslims are more likely to watch sports and attend religious services than Americans, by a 48 to 47 percent margin and 47 to 45 percent margin, respectively. Dispensing with the liberal utopian idea that Muslims are just like any other American, the report does seem to suggest that, as a whole, Muslims in America seem relatively well adjusted. This is not to say that there is no cause for concern about extremism or that, as the Muslim population continues to grow, such concerns might increase. But as it stands today, the Pew report reinforces the impression that the U.S. doesn’t yet face the problems of Muslim populations in many European nations.