The US media didn't discuss religion very much in 2011 (0.7% of stories), according to the latest Pew research results. But when they did, it was Islam that dominated (32%).
Specifically, news of the congressional hearings by Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) dominated (9.4% of religion stories). Pew notes a New York Times report that the hearings were a revival of "McCarthyism". In fact, there's no equivalence. McCarthy chased ephemera. Radical Islamists bent on destroying western civilisation, starting with the "Great Satan" of the US, by contrast, are plentiful. Seeking to understand how they become radicalised ought be a task supported by all.
Rep. Keith Ellison, one of two Muslims in Congress, is quoted as making an "emotional defence of the patriotism of American Muslims [which was] recounted by many journalists".
But the hearings were not about those patriotic American Muslims. It was about those that seek to kill their fellow Americans. As King notes:
Specifically, news of the congressional hearings by Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) dominated (9.4% of religion stories). Pew notes a New York Times report that the hearings were a revival of "McCarthyism". In fact, there's no equivalence. McCarthy chased ephemera. Radical Islamists bent on destroying western civilisation, starting with the "Great Satan" of the US, by contrast, are plentiful. Seeking to understand how they become radicalised ought be a task supported by all.
Rep. Keith Ellison, one of two Muslims in Congress, is quoted as making an "emotional defence of the patriotism of American Muslims [which was] recounted by many journalists".
But the hearings were not about those patriotic American Muslims. It was about those that seek to kill their fellow Americans. As King notes:
“[U.S. Attorney General] Eric Holder is not saying he's staying awake at night because of what's coming from anti-abortion demonstrators or coming from environmental extremists or from Neo-Nazis. It's the radicalization right now in the Muslim community," King told CNN.True, 'dat.
