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Shock statistics
April 16th, 2015 (April 17th, 2015)
Shock statistics
(to ponder while some Americans would still argue for war against Iran rather than for a more cooperative approach)

   47% of people in USA and Canada think military attacks on civilians are "sometimes justified", while only 13% of people in Middle East and North Africa agree.
   "Sometimes" as in "when the civilians are not American"?

   And while individual attacks on civilians are broadly condemned worldwide, the USA and Canada again lead the justification narrative, with no less that 21% (!!!) considering such attacks are "sometimes justified"! Only 9% of people in Middle East and North Africa agree.

   Many Americans have already made clear that they forgot the ethical basis of "quality of life" when discussing "life": they therefore reach the conclusion that it's ethically wrong (for others, not just themselves) to have an abortion but it's ethically okay to let children (of others) live in abject poverty and without any chance of proper education, nutritious food or health care…
   Such a disrespect for life can hardly be clearer though than when people believe it's morally acceptable (for the military or even for an individual!) to kill civilians.
   Wake up!


   Amazingly, people in America and Canada were those most believing (26%) that tensions between Muslims and the West were due to "culture".

   As it happens, the violent culture is not that of the Muslims! [And, for starters, to put all Muslims within one single culture would be extremely simplistic…]
   Other statistics recently showed that Americans understand that locking guns away reduces the probability of it being misused, that gun control reduces the probability of guns falling in the wrong hands, that storing ammunition away from the gun reduces the probability of it being used for suicide… When people exhibit common sense, there should be hope for progress (i.e. reduction in the incredible number of deaths by guns in the USA) but apparently it's all about "others should do so, I don't need to"  (a bit like everyone believes the bad drivers are the other drivers), because they don't do it themselves!


   One may note that half of Americans believe that "most Americans"  are prejudiced against Muslim Americans…  One might hope that such an awareness could trigger some positive reflection and reforms, but apathy reigns: apparently, well, it's just okay to be collectively prejudiced (?!?!).

   Those who can see selflessness —the "emptiness of essence" of identity based on race, religion, 'culture' or gun ownership— need to step up and get themselves heard more.

   Non-violence never meant complicit silence.


#engagedBuddhism  
Figures aggregated between 2008 and 2010.
sources:
1. www.gallup.com/poll/157067/views-violence.aspx
2. www.gallup.com/poll/157082/islamophobia-understanding-anti-muslim-sentiment-west.aspx
To assess whether Muslims have recently endorsed violence, or have instead become more concerned with their small violent minorities, more recent figures figures can be seen at www.pewglobal.org/2014/07/01/concerns-about-islamic-extremism-on-the-rise-in-middle-east/
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Views of Violence