Nonpartisan Survey: Majority Believe Islam Incompatible with American Values, Culture

A majority of Americans—including a majority of independents—believe that Islam is incompatible with American values and culture.

According to the Public Religion Research Institute’s American Values Survey, 56% of Americans believed that “the values of Islam are at odds with American values and way of life” while 41% disagreed.

The survey found that 57% of independents, 76% of Republicans, 77% of Tea Party members, and even 43% of Democrats believe that “Islam is incompatible with American culture.” Among whites, “two-thirds (67%) of white working-class Americans agree that Islam is incompatible with American values and way of life, while white college-educated Americans are evenly divided (50% agree, 50% disagree).” A plurality of blacks (48%-47%) believe that Islam is incompatible with American values while a plurality of Hispanics (49% disagree, 46% agree) disagreed.

The nonpartisan nationwide survey also found that “majorities of every major Christian religious group say that Islam is incompatible with American values and way of life, including 73% of white evangelical Protestants, 63% of white mainline Protestants, 61% of Catholics, and 55% of black Protestants.” But “among Americans who identify with non-Christian religious groups (including Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and other world religions),” 37% agree, while 58% disagree. In addition, religiously unaffiliated Americans are also far less likely to believe that Islam is incompatible with American values (41% agree, 58% disagree).”

The survey, which was conducted between September 11 and October 4, has a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points.