Muslims and Sikhs might well envy that vibe. But Buddhism is more than an odd case"”it shows that even a fast-growing religion can avoid rubbing Canadians the wrong way. The Buddhist population increased 84 per cent between 1991 and the 2001 national census. Still, that left the total Buddhist population at only about 300,000, or around one per cent of the population"”far too small for most Canadians to have anything beyond fleeting direct contact with the religion. Even so, Buddhism's favourability rating of 57 per cent is four points higher than Judaism, a religion with much deeper roots in Canada. Buddhism was the only religion, including Christianity, for which more than half of people who said they don't have a friend of that faith held a favourable opinion of it anyway.
Even among those who profess a broad acceptance of other religions, the prospect of one of your children marrying someone from an unfamiliar background can be a test of tolerance. On this delicate question, though, the poll suggests a paradox. Although only 28 per cent said they have a generally favourable opinion of Islam, fully 39 per cent declared that they would find it acceptable for one of their children to marry a Muslim. The pattern follows for the other minority faiths: Canadians surveyed were more likely to say they would approve of one of their kids marrying a follower of a given religion than tended to view that religion favourably. So while only 30 per cent view Sikhs favourably, 39 per cent wouldn't object to a child marrying one. Similarly, 41 per cent have a favourable opinion of Hinduism, but 46 per cent would find their child's marriage to a Hindu acceptable.
That pattern might signal an intriguing instinct to respect personal choice in marriage over misguided generalizations about religions. Still, the numbers hardly suggest open-armed tolerance: with respect to all three of Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism, less than half of those surveyed said they would find it acceptable for one of their children to marry a follower of those religions. For the marriage question, the results again suggest the usual stratification: Christianity is by far most widely accepted, followed by Judaism and Buddhism, with Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism facing the most negative feelings. A resounding 83 per cent would accept a child marrying a Christian, 53 per cent a Buddhist, and 56 per cent a Jew.
Overall, the findings suggest minority religions aren't getting a fair shake from the majority. But there remain legitimate questions, even misgivings, about the relationship between mainstream believers and fringe extremists. Outsiders, including journalists, sometimes have trouble gauging how many Sikhs support groups that have sometimes resorted to terrorism in their quest to carve a separate state out of India. Earlier this month, for instance, portraits of the assassins of former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi were reportedly on display in Surrey, B.C., at celebrations of Vaisakhi, the birth of Sikhism, and the images even appeared on T-shirts. Palbinder Shergill responds to questions about this sort of issue by making the simple, but fundamental, point that not everything a particular Sikh espouses should reflect on Sikhism as a whole.
Muslim groups also face a minefield of image challenges, which often flow from international affairs rather than domestic life. Gardee admits, for example, his organization's campaign urging the federal government to bring home Omar Kahdr might convey the wrong impressions to some Canadians. After all, Khadr, the Canadian being held by the U.S. at the Guantánamo Bay detention facility, is the son of Ahmed Said Khadr, who was an al-Qaeda financier before he was killed in a gun battle in Pakistan in 2003. Other members of the Khadr family have made outrageous public comments. "Yes, some of the things his family have said have been troubling and outright disturbing,"� Gardee said. "But as a Canadian citizen he still has rights. He's a Canadian citizen and he's a Muslim. That puts him squarely within our mandate to deal with."�
The problem of how to project a moderate face of Islam to a wider Canadian public is a pressing challenge. Within disparate Muslim communities"”and the religion is anything but monolithic"”the nature of mosque leadership is a subject of sometimes fierce debate. In fact, that argument is currently raging at Ottawa's largest mosque, just a few minutes drive west of Parliament Hill. An imam recruited last year from Egypt to preach at the mosque is regarded by some who pray there as not fluent enough in English and too out of touch with modern Canadian society for the job. Others say he needs more time to find his place.
Karim Karim, a communications professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, recently released a report based on extensive surveys and focus group sessions in Canada, the U.S. and Britain that found Muslims in all three countries yearn for imams who better understand the West. "There was a lot of admiration for leaders who were engaging in issues of youth, poverty, employment, women's issues,"� Karim told Maclean's, "rather than just knowing the theology and being able to recite the Quran."�
Perhaps a new generation of Muslim leaders more attuned to Canadian sensibilities can help bridge the obvious gaps in understanding. Karim points to negative connotations that have built up around a handful of loaded terms. According to him, sharia is a "very malleable, very diverse"� set of ethics and values about leading a Muslim life"”not a rigid legal code. He describes a fatwa as an "informed opinion by a learned scholar"�"”not a death edict. And Karim says most Muslims think of jihad as "a daily struggle to be a good Muslim."� But he adds, "It would be disingenuous on my part to say that, no, the other side does not exist. It does exist"”the taking up of arms for a cause of justice."�
His willingness to try to explain details, convey nuances, even underline contradictions"”it all suggests that Karim craves dialogue on a level the Angus Reid poll suggests too few Canadians are ready for. Even Grenville, who has long experience tracking all sorts of opinions, finds the landscape of attitude toward unfamiliar faiths bleak. "This runs counter to all we espouse,"� he said. "We need to face up to the reality of it."� No doubt leaders of the fast-growing, little-understood religious minorities need to consider the image they project. But the rest of Canadians might try a little soul-searching, too. For a country that often boasts of modern identity based on acceptance of diversity, this poll suggests that's still a goal to strive toward rather than an achieved reality. Â
Angus Reid's online poll was conducted from April 14 to April 15, 2009. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20. The results were statistically weighted for education, age, gender and region to ensure a sample representative of the adult population of Canada.
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What’s more"”and what’s less"”popular than the Tories and the Liberals
Interesting piece but it’s findings are hardly surprising. Most of our perceptions of unknown religion and cultures comes from media. If they don’t report the sunnier side of people then all we hear about are the bad apples. Take PEI for example, many Islanders still think that everyone here is either Protestant or Catholic.
Makes me wonder about all these religious surveys… How many people polled are Agnostic and Atheist?
Personally if I had children, and they wanted to marry a religious person, I would be upset by it. Why? Because I don’t want my children marrying some regular person. Anyone with some brains (and a little guts) is able to discern reality from fantasy.
I would also find it offensive if my children became religious. I would think “Where have I gone wrong?” Does this rational view make me intolerant to religious people? If I tell religious people “Wow, that’s really silly. What if it’s not true?” am I intolerant, or am I actually *HELPING* them? I think the latter.
It’s been some time since my sisters found the christmas presents hidden under the bed and ruined the magic. Hopefully in a generation or two North America will grow up too.
Well it depends on how much of a dick you are being about it.
For example, if you say “I do not believe in god, and these are the reasons you shouldn’t believe in God” then that is being helpful and contributing positively to the debate.
If you say, you feel that someone of religious faith lacks guts or brains and is unable to distinguish fantasy and reality, you are being a giant douche.
You’re quite right that telling someone their religion is silly is not intolerant - a point this article seems to miss altogether. If you think you’re right, then presumably you think other people are wrong, and therefore that their view isn’t as worthwhile as your own. That’s just plain sense.
However, the fact that you think religion is somehow on a par with believing in santa shows that you’re a much less thoughtful person than you think you are. Or maybe much less well informed than you think. Could be both or either.
I’m calling your bluff Social Liberal and saying you are a troll who is trying to smear atheists as intolerant.
You should learn to be a little more subtle and not use such laughable arguments– “I’d be *offended* if one of my kids married a ‘religious’ person” and they shouldn’t marry a ‘regular’ person. LOL!! The chestnut though is your (sic) rationalism=intolerance sentence. I’d be cruel and say chalk it up to you being home schooled or something but will only say try harder next time.
SL = LF?
Like sands through the hourglass, so are the trolls of our lives.
“SL = LF?”
As if, they delete LF’s comments on sight now. They delete comments that look like they may be LFs.
LF tried, CR. Don’t say he didn’t try and he didn’t warn you.
“, so are the trolls of our lives.”
You’ve been admonished repeatedly by the Maclean’s staff for being a troll, sweetie, not LF.
[...] The full report is available here. [...]
This article draws a lot of unwarranted conclusions.
For example, the fact that many Canadians think mainstream Islam encourages violence is used to suggest a “troubling” prejudice against Moslems. It’s not prejudice, it’s at worst ignorance of Islamic doctrine. I’m not even sure that mainstream monetary policy doesn’t foster violence; I have had many interesting debates on the subject. Does that make me prejudiced against money?
Similarly, Geddes speaks in finger-wagging terms of all those who object to a child marrying a Moslem. Prejudice? Maybe. Or perhaps they are inclined to think that inter-faith marriages are less likely to succeed. This is neither unreasonable nor prejudiced. I’ll bet most Moslems wouldn’t be too happy if one of their children came home with a Christian, and I wouldn’t blame them! Prejudice? Or common sense?
Come on Geddes. It’s not enough to read the stats. You have to think a little more carefully about what they imply rather than jumping to conclusions.
I completely agree! When it says that 44% don’t want their child to marry a Jewish person, that does not mean that 44% of people polled are anti-semitic. There are many other reasons for not supporting an interfaith marriage besides intolerance.
I don’t think the questions on the survey were a valid measure of the conclusions MacLeans made.
I also think more information on the people who complete the survey is needed. What percentage of the people who have a positve view of Christianity are Christian? What percentage identify as nonbelievers? Before conclusions can be drawn about these numbers, it’s important to understand where the numbers came from.
I am glad to see that only 4% - think Buddhism teaches violence as I honestly can not think of another religion that is so against it, and for obvious reasons if they know anything about it. In point of fact depending upon the flavour of Buddhism I sometimes wonder whether it really should be defined as a religion at all! The thing is Canada may like to think of itself as open minded and multicultural but that is more myth than reality - more of a wish and an ideal rather than reflection of reality.
A garbage article. Surprise! Canadians can think for themselves and will not be spoon-fed the liberal multi-culti illusion. Surprise! Canadians care about their religion and would prefer to see their kids follow in their footsteps when getting married rather than throw their religious and cultural heritage out the window in favour of a mut-culti undefined nullity. Surprise! Most muslim-majority countries around the world are almost uniformly prejudiced against rival faiths, gays and women, and Canadians notice!
Well be thankful you have the time to comment even on garbage!
It’s not surprising that Canadians are more comfortable with their kids marrying into faiths that are more familiar to them or have a better media profile. Your argument implies that those who wouldn’t have a problem with it can’t think for themselves and are only mindlessly thinking “Trudeau Trudeau Trudeau” instead of reacting to their own experiences adjusting their outlook. It’s the hysterical can’t-get-over-Trudeau-after-all-these-years conservatives who use this “multi-culti” terminology. Nothing more important to worry about?
I agree though that Canadians do notice when other countries– Muslim majority or not, but to concede, it’s mostly Muslim majority countries– display deep hostility and active rights violation against rival faiths, gays and women. Er, but that’s not a surprise either.
I found the article to be elusive on its statistics. What political and religious views lended one to be disapproving of which religion? Who makes up the 10% that finds Christianity encourages violence? Who makes up the 28% who thinks that Islam is a religion that encourages peace? Is Quebec less favourable to minority religions and religion in general because they are less religious, or is monocultural Catholicism skewing the numbers?
If all the polls with graphs were provided, and perhaps a few more questions were asked, we might get a better idea of where the negative and positive feelings are coming from. As it is, we just have to guess.
Opinon polls…investigative journalism at its finest.
I’m taking out three subs to MacLean’s right now. To triple the enjoyment when I cancel them.
I have no amosity towards any religion. Just keep them out of my back yard. I do not need their perception of religious beliefs that has been the cause of most of the the worlds deaths over the last 2000 years. All religion is a tool for the enslavement of different cultures. Only the weak minded in the world need religion. The rest of us are just find with our own conscience and morality.
Sounds like a bit of animosity to me or is hypocrisy the word I’m thinking about?
What we have inherited in Canada is the Roman perception of the “barbarians,” that the short haired, clean shaven face is civilized while the bearded fellow with the funny hat is not. That’s why Buddhism ranks so highly among Canadians. It is the only Asian religion (aside from Christianity) that does not aspire to holiness through a beard and a hat. Buddhists look and act like us and their work ethic and philosophy in life are very similar to our own, which allows them to assimilate into their host country much more quickly. On the other hand, the fellows with the beards and funny hats, all seem to be much more concerned about creating their “own” religious/race specific state/country to the exclusion of others. Their marches of protest always include weapons either in hand or on their flags. An AK-47or a sword embedded within a flag show that they have no intention of playing nice with others so it is no wonder that we view them with suspicion.
Once again, the self-appointed and so-called “elite” of Canadian society are trying to tell the “unwashed masses” that we are not tolerant enough, not liberal enough for their liking. Afterall, it’s for our own good, right? Wrong. I don’t buy it, not in the least. Especially when the article looks to quote Bernie Farber who sees anti-semites around every corner. Talk about loading and opion poll!
You’re not tolerant enough, not liberal enough for my liking.
On the other hand, you’re not tolerant enough, nor liberal enough for my liking.
All well and good, but you’re not tolerant enough, not liberal enough for my liking.
You are both too tolerant and too liberal for my liking.
It would be cool to have all the people who are too tolerant face off against all the people who are too liberal in some crazy tagteam mudbowl UFC event.
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