13 comments

1. Marie - Yolda Chemin Faisant

   Honestly, I don’t understand the goal of your article. Which link are you searching between ‘being religious’ and ‘being liberal’? These statistics don’t tell much as far as you don’t describe the Muslim religion as general in order to give an introduction to your figures. When was this research carried out? by who (appart from this Christian Democratic political faction Konrad Adenaeur Foundation) ? Is the separation of State and Church a good thing? (for example in France it means any religion but the ‘Moslim’ ). And I would have so many more questions to ask you …. If I may be sarcastic, the tittle of your book ‘The Quest for a Moral Compass: A Global History of Ethics.’ seems to be in harmony with the lack of rigor from this article.
   • Kenan Malik

     Scratches head in puzzlement. I was not writing here a proper analysis, simply pointing readers to an interesting poll, and pulling out a few details from it, which I thought might be useful, especially as not everyone reads French. For details of the poll, its methodology etc, just follow the link I provided. I have written much about religion, secularism and the relationship between faith and state (you can start here, if you wish, an article which sets out my views on the meaning of religious freedom, or this, arising out of the burqa ban in France, or my explanation as to why I am an atheist), but I don’t have to discuss such issues every time I link to a poll. Finally, and I am not being sarcastic, I hope your reading of a book is not limited to its title.
     • Marie - Yolda Chemin Faisant

       Thanks for your answer, you just mentioned you opened a debate …. never mind next time I’ll keep my thoughts for my friends and I. I translate texts and articles from various scientific institutes so I’m not so used to sweeping methodology. Whether your atheist or anything else does not interest me that much. Again forgive my intrusion, have a nice day.
       • Kenan Malik

         No need to apologize. And I wasn’t suggesting that you should not have commented. I was just puzzled by the content and tone of your criticism. When I wrote that ‘Whether [Tunisia’s] liberalism and lower levels of religiosity is the product or the driver of democratic change is open to debate’, I was merely suggesting that the causal relationship is not given, but needs to be debated. I am happy to hear your views on the matter.
2. Pictures

   V interesting. The IS question you use is a bit ambiguous (does ‘responsible’ mean indirectly or directly?) Claiming the US is indirectly responsible is reasonable. However the followup question about financing is more telling and does indeed show that about half think the US / Israel is funding IS.

   I find the relatively strong Tunisian national identity interesting, as if one were going on ‘history of separate identity as a polity’ it would seem Morocco and Egypt have more history here. Why do you think national identity is stronger vs religious idnetity in Tunisia. It doesn’t seem to stand out economically from the other Maghreb countries.

   Also, do you know what ‘L’inconscience’ should be translated to, in the poll on perceived motivations for joining IS? What does ‘unconsciousness’ mean here? It can’t mean ignorance as that’s also in the poll
   • Kenan Malik

     I agree that wording may seem ambiguous, but the follow-up finance question question makes it clear what people mean. I’m not certain, either, what ‘l’inconscience’ means in this context – perhaps ‘unawareness of?’ Though how that differs from ‘l’ignorance’, I don’t know.
     • Pictures

       I asked a French speaker and they said it means “Unawareness, and, in this context, also not having a conscience about it. So ignorance/uncaring.”

       Still seems a bit odd, I guess the concept makes sense in French.
3. damon

   Having visited three of these countries as a tourist, the ambiguous results of these polls don’t surprise me. As a foreigner from Europe there, you can often feel like you’re travelling in another dimension.

   One thing that quickly came to mind when I saw who people there thought was behind ISIS – was Donald Trump and his supposed ”ban on Muslims” coming to the United States.
   As wrongheaded as what he said might be, you could see the argument that Egyptians wouldn’t make the best new immigrants to America.
4. eclectic squire

   Thank you for posting this interesting poll and saving us the work of translating Kenan, it’s been a long time since I used my UK learned French! Tunisia is a popular tourist spot for Europeans, perhaps for good, liberal reasons. I heard you speak in Vancouver 2012 and have been following your blog ever since, enjoy your writing and ideas.
5. Paul Braterman

   “Respondents were asked ‘which country was behind the creation of the Islamic State (Daech)?’”
   If this is what was actually asked, it is a deplorably and incompetently worded question.it presupposes that there is a country behind Daesh, so people answering may have interpreted it as something like “What country’s actions have been most responsible for the creation of Daesh?” Given how the 2003 Gulf War helped create the conditions for Daesh, blaming the US is not completely irrational. Israel is another matter; I think it is many decades since Israel encouraged Islamist groups in order to undermine Arafat’s PLO. But again, given the loading of the question, the answers are not surprising.
   • Pictures

     This is true it is a very badly worded question for the reasons you state. However, the next question in the survey asks for opinions on which countries support IS financially, which is much less ambiguous, and the survey results are similar.
6. JGG

   The name is Adenauer. He was kind of a big deal at one point.
   • Kenan Malik

     Thanks for spotting. I rely on my crowdsourced proofers…

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