SNIP - Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, will begin holding hearings Thursday on "the extent of the radicalization of American Muslims." Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, has characterized the hearings as "a witch hunt." Are they?
As the congressional hearings on the alleged radicalization of Islam approach, one key question is how Rep. Peter King's justifications for holding the hearings stack up to what the American public thinks about Islam and the place of American Muslims in society. The recent PRRI/RNS Religion News Survey, to date the only barometer for public opinion on the hearings, gives us a window into the differences between King and the public. The poll, conducted by Public Religion Research Institute in partnership with Religion News Service, reveals that while a majority (56%) of the public may think the hearings are a good idea, they don't see eye-to-eye with Rep. King on his justifications for the hearings.
King sees the singular focus on Muslims as justified and has dismissed calls to broaden the hearings as "political correctness at its worst." But an overwhelming majority of the public say the hearings should be broadened to focus on religious extremism wherever it may be found rather than focusing on Muslims alone.http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/Robert_P_Jones/2011/03/peter_king_vs_the_american_public.html
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