A recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey found that nearly half of Americans (46 percent) have an unfavorable opinion of “the Muslim world.” Another recent survey, this one from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, found that almost four in ten Americans will admit to having “unfavorable views of Islam.” And an ABC News Poll once found that more than one-third of Americans believe that mainstream Islam “encourages violence as a basic teaching.”

QUESTION: Why do such large percentages hold negative views despite limited direct contact with Muslims? What factors drive these perceptions? XREF: Connects to post-9/11 attitudes and media coverage of Islam in the United States, as well as broader patterns of religious prejudice.

Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Gl…, loc. 754