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44 Percent Say Restrict Muslims

A recent nationwide telephone survey by Cornell University and reported by truthout.org, CNN and others said that 44 percent of Americans believe the U.S. government should restrict the civil liberties of Muslim Americans.

The survey also suggested that respondents who paid more attention to television news were more likely to fear terrorist attacks and support limiting the rights of Muslim Americans. Perhaps the only encouraging news to come out of the survey was that only 37 percent of respondents believed a terrorist attact was imminent in the United States in the next 12 months. A similar poll in November 2002 put that figure at 90 percent.

I don't really want to live in a country where nearly half the people believe that discrimination against a particular religious group is okay, but then I was born into that country and in fact that way of thinking is ingrained in our very creation and has it's emblems woven into our institutions--even our money, with its ubiquitous "In God We Trust". But perhaps during this holiday season it is important to remember that the only people who need to have their civil liberties violated are the ones we have proven and convicted of being guilty of that crime. Not people who trust in Allah instead of "God".

Happy Holidays all....