A front-page article in today's New York Times reports on a "rigid," "austere," "puritanical" version of Islam called Wahhabism. Smartertimes.com certainly carries no brief for Wahhabism, but the Times take on it seems a bit skewed.
The Times tells us that Wahhabism "denies equal rights to women." Well, so, too, do Orthodox Judaism, in which a woman can't be ordained as a rabbi, and Roman Catholicism -- when was the last woman pope? Not exactly dispositive.
The Times tells us that the beliefs of Wahhabism "reject aspects of Western culture that they see as deviating from fundamental teachings of the Koran. Mingling of the sexes, living in a community where alcohol is consumed, eating pork and interacting very closely with non-Muslim society are forbidden." This seems to assert that "eating pork" is an aspect of "Western culture." That's an odd claim, considering that pork is a staple of Chinese cuisine -- Eastern culture. And also considering that Judaism, a cornerstone of Western culture, also forbids eating pork.
The same Times article refers to "the estimated six million to seven million Muslims in this country." The Times does not say who is doing the estimating or what the estimate is based on. But serious surveys indicate a much lower number. As adherents.com reports, "The largest, most comprehensive survey on religious identification was done in 1990: the National Survey of Religious Identification (NSRI), conducted by the Graduate School of the City University of New York (led by Barry A. Kosmin and Seymour P. Lachman). This scientific nationwide survey of 113,000 Americans asked about religious preference, along with other questions." That survey estimated that Islam had 527,000 adult adherents in America.
Adherents.com goes on to report: "Muslim leaders in the United States optimistically estimate that there are approximately 6.5 million Muslims in the country (Aly Abuzaakouk, American Muslim Council, 1999). More recent newspaper accounts (2001) frequently refer to an estimated 8 million American Muslims. This would equate to 3% of the population, or roughly 1 in every 33 people in the country. No comparable figure has been confirmed by independent research similar to the Kosmin or Glenmary studies, or the Gallup, Harris, Barna. polls. Currently, surveys consistently report less than 1% of people surveyed identify themselves as Muslims. Muslim community leaders point out that many American Muslims are relatively recent immigrants who either do not have telephone service, or do not participate in surveys. Researchers generally agree that the estimate of 300,000 Muslims in the Kosmin study (1990) and Kosmin's adjusted estimate (to 500,000) are too small to reflect current (year 2000) numbers of American Muslims. The latest edition (2000) of the annual Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches estimates 3,950,000 Muslims in America."
Loony: An article in the Arts & Ideas section of today's New York Times refers to "False e-mail rumors -- ranging from the loony ('Images of the World Trade Center fire reveal the face of Satan!') to the portentous." The photograph of the World Trade Center fire with what appeared to be demonic features was taken by a reputable news photographer, was neither false nor loony, and shows no evidence of being doctored. Smartertimes.com isn't suggesting it was the face of Satan, any more than the features of the lunar landscape are those of the Man in the Moon. But it wrongly tars a reputable photographer to call his image "false" and "loony." At least the Times could bother to call the photographer for comment.
Senior: A dispatch from Bethlehem in the international section of today's New York Times refers to the assassination of "Rehavam Zeevi, Israeli's tourism minister and its senior right-wing leader." It should say "Israel's," not "Israeli's," but never mind that. Isn't Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Israel's senior right-wing leader? Or former prime minister Yitzhak Shamir? Zeevi was a senior right-wing leader, but he was not Israel's senior right-wing leader.