But didn’t we know that already?

*

According to a Gallup report from 2011, Muslim Americans are the biggest opponents of attacks on civilians. As a matter of fact, only Muslims rejected attacks on civilians at a high rate. Atheists were the only group to have expressed a timid, yet somewhat similar sentiment.

The results of the polls, which were conducted throughout 2010, indicated a sharp difference between Americans who identify as Muslims and Americans who identify with other faith groups. During the surveys, those who identified as Muslims were more likely to respond military attacks on civilians are indefensible, while most Americans who identified themselves with the Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish faiths were more likely to say such attacks are sometimes justified.

Mormon Americans were the only group to show a sharp difference in that aspect. According to Gallup, 64 percent of Americans who identified with the Mormon faith claimed attacks against civilians are sometimes justified as opposed to only 21 percent of Muslim Americans who claimed the same.

Atheists were the closest to the Muslim group with 56 percent claiming attacks against the innocent are unjustifiable.

Muslim Americans were also much more likely to say that “attacks on civilians by individuals or small groups are never justified.”

While it’s hard to see polls and believe all members of a particular faith group are being well represented, it’s important to note that the popular myths concerning the Muslim faith and their collectivized stance regarding the value of life are exactly that; just myths.

The fear toward a group of individuals sharing similar religious characteristics truly is irrational.

The more we talk about and undo the harm brought upon us by pundits and politicians making fear their number one bread winner, the closer we’ll be to cutting through the fog of misleading Middle East reports coming from Washington.