&%%#*@&%(+=$^*^&)@!
Image by Ben Kerckx
One of us (Definitely not Father Tobin; he’s the nice one.) has a unique technique used with especially recalcitrant counseling clients: “I’m tempted to say ‘You’re a &%%#*@&%(+=$^*^&)@!’ but I won’t.’”
Words have power. And genuinely stupid, hate-motivated and fear-driven words have way too much power.
Sadly, in the vitriol of American political life, we’re too often tempted to tell folks “You’re a &%%#*@&%(+=$^*^&)@!”
Certainly, that would be our response to the xenophobic author of a post that recently popped up in our emails:
“In twenty years there will be enough Muslim voters in the U.S.to elect the President. I think everyone in the U.S. should be required to read this, but with the ACLU, there is no way this will be widely publicized, unless each of us sends it on! This is your chance to make a difference.”
What pure *&#@(*%@)$)!#&@(*&!!!!
Section 1 of the Twenty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States declares:
“The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.”
Image by zibik
We don’t know what the author of that irrational post was smokin’, but let’s try some rational thinking.
Founded in 2002 and with offices in Dearborn, Michigan and Washington, D.C., the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding is described on its Web site as
“…the go-to source for anyone seeking information about Muslims in America and issues that impact them… we envision and America where Muslims are thriving and equal. And we believe that relevant, rigorous research in the right hands will help us get there….”
Using the University of Chicago headquartered National Opinion Research Center standard gender question, ISPU reports that 2017 and 2022 surveys found that more than half (56%) of Muslims in the U.S are male, compared to 44% who are female – in contrast to the U.S. general public, which is 48% male and 52% female.
One quarter (26%) of U.S. Muslims are between 18 and 24 years old, making Muslims the youngest religious group in the nation where 15% are Jews, 12% Catholics, 5% Protestants, 7% white Evangelicals, and 14% not affiliated with a religious group.
“It means Muslims are more likely to be active in the workforce and contribute to tax revenues. Additionally, because a greater portion of the community is in their childbearing years, the population is expected to grow more rapidly than older groups with fewer births. For many young American Muslims, this also means they’ve grown up entirely in the post-9/11 era - a time when their religious community has frequently faced scrutiny, securitization, and stereotyping…
“… of all the religious and non-religious groups we surveyed, Muslims were the only group without a majority from a single racial or ethnic background. The plurality of Muslims identify as Black or African American (28%), followed by 24% who identify as Asian, 20% who identify as white, 12% who identify as Arab, and 9% who identify as Hispanic. Less than one percent of Muslims identify as Native Americans or Indigenous…
Image by Mario Vogelsteller
“Despite being younger, 36% of Muslims hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, on par with 36% of the general public, 30% of Catholics, 37% of Protestants, and 42% of the non-affiliated. Muslims are less likely than Jews (59%) to hold a college degree or higher…
“At the time our poll was fielded, 47% of Muslims reported being a current student, more likely than 12% of Jews, 15% of Catholics, 6% of Protestants, 6% of white Evangelicals, 13% of the non-affiliated, and 11% of the general public. We define student as someone who is in a four-year degree program, graduate school, a two-year associate’s program, or technical training. Among Muslims, 26% are in a four-year degree program, 14% are in graduate school, 4% are in a two-year associate’s program, and 2% are in technical training. Given the younger age of Muslims, we would expect a higher proportion of Muslims to be current students. Among Muslims, Asian (54%), Arab (62%), white (30%), and Black Muslims (31%) are more likely than the general public (7%) to be college or graduate students . Given current national attention on limiting freedom of speech on college campuses, cuts in federal spending on higher education, and immigration crackdowns on international students, we are likely to see disproportionate impacts on Muslim students…”
Now that we have some perspectives on the American Muslim population, let’s consider other important factors in the pure *&#@(*%@)$)!#&@(*&!!!! we cited earlier.
According to the exact state-by-state electoral distribution published by the National Archives, it is theoretically possible – but whatever-is-beyond-“highly-improbable” – to win a presidential election by capturing the votes of eleven states: California (54), Texas (40), Florida (30), New York (28), Illinois (19), Pennsylvania (19), Ohio (17), Georgia (16), North Carolina (16), Michigan (15), and New Jersey (14).
In any consideration of Muslim percentages of the population, Illinois (3.7%) ranks first, followed by New York (3.6%), New Jersey (3.5%), Maryland (3.1%), and Michigan ((2.4%). While North Dakota (0.1%) South Dakota 0.1%) and Alaska (0.1%) join West Virginia, Wyoming, Montana, and Hawaii as states with fewer than 1,000 Muslim residents.
Here’s a (not the only) problem: Given the American two-party system and the possible rise of “independent” candidates, even if it were possible to capture all the Muslim votes in the eleven states noted above (or every state in the nation), the numbers and percentages of Muslims in the American population would not be large enough to capture or determine a presidency. [EDITORS’ NOTE: We would have said “The numbers and percentages of Muslims in the American population will never be large enough…”, but we strive for accuracy.]
Image by Makalu
Consider the findings of the Pew Research Center (“The Future of World Religious: Population Projections, 2010-2050,” April 2, 2015):
“Christians are projected to remain the largest religious group in North America in the decades ahead, and their numbers are expected to increase from 267 million as of 2010 to 287 million in 2050. But North America’s Christian population is forecast to grow at a much slower rate (8%) than most other religious groups in the region, leading to a decline in the share of North America’s total population that is Christian…
“The number of Muslims is expected to nearly triple, from more than 3 million as of 2010 to more than 20 million in 50 million in 2050, making Muslims the third-largest religious group in the region by mid-century…By mid-century, North America’s Muslim population is expected to be larger than its Jewish population (10 million vs. about 6 million Jews)….
“While the absolute number of Christians in North America is projected to rise in the decades ahead, the Christian share of the region’s population is expected to decrease from 77% in 2010 to 66% in 2050. That decline correlates in large part with an increase in the unaffiliated share of North America’s population, from 17% in 2010 to 26% in 2050….”
NOTE: Pew Research Center (“New estimates show U.S. Muslim population continues to grow,” January 3, 2018, Besheer Mohamed.) notes “…by 2050, the U.S. Muslim population is projected to reach 8.1 million, or 2.1% of the nation’s total population — nearly twice the share of today.” Given the make-up of the Electoral College and America’s two-party system, unless every Muslim man, woman and child voted for the same candidate, we ain’t gonna bet on Muslim’s electing an American president a quarter century from now.
Image by Olga Ozik
We were simply disappointed by the inadequately math-and-statistics-trained bigot’s initial assertions; the second half of the post – “with the ACLU, there is no way this will be widely publicized” – left us mind boggled. Our response: Let the ACLU post (“9/11’s Legacy of Religious Discrimination,” September 15, 2011, Heather L. Weaver) explain and speak for the ACLU: :
“It's no secret that, after 9/11, a wave of anti-Muslim washed over the country. The intensity of that prejudice has sustained it for a decade, and, in many ways, anti-Muslim sentiment and fear of Islam seem even stronger and more deeply rooted today than in the months and years after the attack. In the last few years, for instance, a number Muslims or people perceived to be Muslims have been violently assaulted; and scores of mosques and Islamic Centers have been vandalized, with attacks ranging from racist and anti-Muslim graffiti to arson and firebombing.
“When the public succumbs to this type of hysteria, we — more than ever — need our government to push back against the tide of intolerance and to redouble its efforts to protect members of the targeted group and preserve their civil rights and liberties. As the ACLU detailed… in our report, A Call to Courage: Reclaiming Civil Liberties Ten Years After 9/11, our government has failed to live up to this responsibility. Instead, federal, state, and local governmental bodies have exploited the events of 9/11 and the resulting fear of Islam to systematically target Muslims for unfair scrutiny.
"By allowing - and in some cases actively encouraging - the fear of terrorism to divide Americans by religion, race, and belief, our political leaders are fracturing this nation’s greatest strength: its ability to integrate diverse strands into a unified whole on the basis of shared, pluralistic, democratic values. "
“For example, both the Bush and Obama administrations have given the FBI the authority to engage in racial and religious profiling - which disproportionately impacts Muslims - in national security investigations and to protect ‘border integrity.’ What does this profiling look like in practice? Yesterday, Wired reported that FBI counterterrorism trainings have instructed agents that “’main stream' [sic] American Muslims are likely to be terrorist sympathizers; that the Prophet Mohammed was a 'cult leader'; and that the Islamic practice of giving charity is no more than a 'funding mechanism for combat.'" But as our report explains, this approach is wildly inappropriate and harmful to our national security: Terrorism is not a "Muslim" phenomenon. Extremist violence comes from myriad sources. By profiling Muslims in the national security context, the government risks missing threats from those who do not fit within the profile and it alienates and stigmatizes millions of law-abiding American citizens who happen to be Muslim….”
Image by Javad Esmaeili
[EDITORS’ NOTE: For ease of reading and continuity, several links in the ACLU quote have been replaced by simple text. The links to the report “A Call To Courage” and the Wired report were retained.]
If per chance, someone knows the author of the “be afraid of Muslims” quote in paragraph four, please tell him/her/them that Father Flynn will make time for counseling for him/her/them. However, he/she/they should be prepared to hear “I’m tempted to tell you ‘You’re a &%%#*@&%(+=$^*^&)@!’ but I won’t.’”
Truthfully, Father Flynn will probably go directly to the punch line: “You’re a &%%#*@&%(+=$^*^&)@!’”