US Muslims called more assimilated
After the thwarted plot by a few British Muslims to blow up US-bound jets, which followed last year's more tragically successful bombing of the London subway, it's only a matter of time before a Muslim in the United States tries violence, right? Not necessarily, says Boston College political scientist Peter Skerry, who is writing a book about American Muslims.
Substantial numbers of American Muslims -- there are as many as 3 million of them -- oppose initiatives such as the antiterrorism USA Patriot Act as hostile to Islam, Skerry says, and there's no guarantee that a disgruntled handful won't attempt terrorism. But his book, which he previewed in a recent Time magazine essay, will argue that America's religious traditions and the diverse strains of Islam that Muslims here follow are powerful motors for assimilation ``in ways that aren't so different from what we've seen with other immigrants," he said in a recent interview. Excerpts follow:
Q: If American Muslims are less prone to terrorism than their European cousins, does that mean that they're less religious, that Islam is not as big a factor?
A: Muslims in America are probably more religious, because it's likely Muslims, like most people, adapt to their environment, and America is a much more religious society than any European society that I can think of. The religiosity of American society elicits that kind of response from Muslims. Muslims here seem much more integrated into society and have fewer grievances that lead to the kinds of things we've seen in Europe. And I think that's because they revel in the religious liberty they experience in the United States.
I've been to lots of meetings of Muslim political organizations. Invariably, there are complaints about the Patriot Act and racial profiling and so forth. That's the first thing they'll say. The second thing is, ``This is what America has done to other minorities in its past." They'll cite African-Americans, Jews, wartime Japanese and the internments. They'll say, ``We're going to overcome it the way other minorities have done and emerge full-fledged American citizens." Other groups fighting for rights are the example that adheres them to the American system.
Q: The vast majority of Americans profess to be Christian. Does that make Muslims feel threatened? I'm thinking of the Sikh gentleman who was gunned down after 9/11 because someone mistook him in his turban for a Muslim.
A: I don't want to come across as if it's all rosy. There are all sorts of ways in which the expression particularly of evangelical or fundamentalist Christianity causes them anxiety. Most Muslims I've talked to will reel off the statements that have been made not only by [evangelist] Franklin Graham but [Army Lieutenant General William G.] Boykin [who criticized Islam generally].
Q: There are many Muslim schools in the United States. That might worry some about indoctrination in virulent schools of Islam, but you say that's not necessarily the case.
A: No one has comprehensive data. All I can tell you is I have visited several dozen Muslim schools in different parts of the country, and the overwhelming majority are basically college prep schools for Muslims that meet statewide requirements in science and history and math and then include religious instruction and instruction in the Arabic language. A notable exception is the school run by the Saudi embassy in Alexandria, Va. There's an emphasis on the religion of the home country, the Wahabist strain. There's rigid segregation of the sexes. I was in classrooms where the windows were painted so the girls couldn't look out and see the boys playing basketball.
Outsiders see [such extreme behavior] and exaggerate its influence. The example I use, growing up an Irish Catholic in Boston in the 1950s -- Father [Leonard] Feeney, the famous priest who didn't believe that you could find salvation outside the Catholic Church. That struck home with me, because my mother wasn't Catholic. I'm sure you could have found objectionable literature stashed away at the CYO center or the rectory. That's unfortunate, but how much of an influence did it have? Catholicism in Boston today is a different world.
Q: American Muslims, unlike their European counterparts, practice different versions of Islam. Why does that mitigate intolerant extremism?
A: The striking thing about Muslims in America is that [they include] so many strands, whether different sectarian tendencies or ethnic origin tendencies. There's a kind of leveling process that goes on among religions, within them and among them. The rough edges get filed off, because individuals see so many different options. Kids ask their fathers, ``Gee, what is the difference between a Sunni Muslim and a Shi'ite Muslim? They seem similar to me, compared to other groups in America."
Questions, comments or story ideas can be sent to spiritual@globe.com. 
