Most Canadians think “irreconcilable” differences exist between Western and Muslim societies, according to polling to be revealed at this week’s Metropolis conference in Vancouver.
Whether it’s the rise of Islamic State zealots, the killing of free-speech advocates in Paris and Copenhagen or disputes over niqabs, the polling shows Canadians are not immune to global anxiety about religion-fuelled conflict.
The Leger Marketing polls found 63 per cent of Canadian Protestants, 62 per cent of Jews, 60 per cent of Catholics and 46 per cent of the non-religious believe Western and Islamic societies are “irreconcilable.”
Even 42 per cent of Canadian Muslims believe the contrast between the West and Islamic cultures was irreconcilable.
The subject of religion and social tension — and how to counteract it — is on the minds of more than 1,000 people attending two related conferences this week in Vancouver.
“It’s quite disconcerting that our poll results consistently show about 60 per cent of Canadians see the West and Islamic society as ‘irreconcilable.’ It puts you up against a dead end,” said Jack Jedwab, vice-president of the Association for Canadian Studies, which commissioned the Leger polls.
The widespread suspicion many Canadians are expressing about religion “is a huge blow to interfaith dialogue,” said Jedwab, who took part Tuesday in Our Whole Society: Bridging the Secular Divide, which aims to create openings for religion to become a more positive force in Canada’s secular society.
With Canadians embroiled in national debates over face-covering niqabs, “self-radicalized” homegrown terrorists and border security, Jedwab will on Thursday afternoon present the findings of his two extensive polls on how Canadians view religion and its potential for tension or reconciliation.
He’ll be doing so as part of the 17th national Metropolis conference, titled Broadening the Conversation: Policy and Practice in Immigration, Settlement and Diversity, which runs Thursday to Saturday.
The belief of a majority of Canadians that the West and Islamic society are locked in inevitable antagonism, Jedwab said, echoes the thesis of political scientist Samuel Huntington, author of The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of Political Order.
The Harvard professor argued people’s cultural and religious identities will be the primary source of conflict in the post-Cold War world.
The Pew Research Centre also reported this year that worldwide social hostilities involving religion reached a six-year peak in 2012 and have remained basically stuck at that level.
Almost three in four global citizens, Pew reports, live in countries where religion-fuelled conflicts run the gamut from vandalism of property and desecration of sacred texts to violent assaults resulting in deaths and injuries.
Jedwab’s polling revealed Canadians’ concerns about religion-related conflict is leading many to yearn for tighter border restrictions, even in this era of high immigration.
Asked whether governments should deal with security concerns by “making it more difficult for people to come across national borders,” 68 per cent of Canadian Catholics agreed.
So did 62 per cent of Canadian Protestants and Jews, as well as 51 per cent of the non-religious. Only 42 per cent of Muslims agreed.
The two Leger polls of 2,000 people in Canada, including 500 born outside the country, were conducted in 2013 and 2014. They have an accuracy of plus or minus 2.9 per cent 19 times out of 20.
In general the polling results did not show marked differences between the responses of native-born Canadians and immigrants.
Asked if Westerners’ perceived rivalry with Islamic societies might replace the Cold War-era conflict with the former Soviet Union, Jedwab said, “I’d like to think we’re not there yet.”
But he acknowledged attitudes in the West began hardening after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York.
Jedwab urged politicians and other leaders “not to exploit anxieties about religious differences.”
Asked if he believed Prime Minister Stephen Harper was exploiting Canadians’ fears with his denunciation of Muslim terrorists, Iranian leaders and a Pakistani immigrant’s campaign to wear her face-covering niqab during Canada’s citizenship ceremony, Jedwab declined to comment.
Jedwab said tolerance-oriented Canadians are caught in an ethical bind over the way married Ontario resident Zunera Ishaq, 29, is going to court to fight for what she considers her religious freedom to cover her face when she’s sworn in as a citizen.
“As a liberal you struggle with her choice. Patriarchal views are repugnant to many of us in the West,” Jedwab said.
In Saudi Arabia and parts of Pakistan, Jedwab said even Western women would be expected to cover their faces in public.
So why wouldn’t a woman in Canada, Jedwab wondered, be expected to not cover her face? He acknowledged, however, that “liberalism isn’t in the vocabulary” in certain patriarchal nations.
“Some people say the niqab reflects the oppression of women. Others say it’s just a piece of clothing. My view is it does represent the oppression of women.”
However, Jedwab generally feels sympathy for Canadian Muslims. Whenever Muslim terrorists launch an attack someplace in the world, Jedwab urged people in the West not to immediately demand so-called moderate Muslims condemn their actions.
Since the world’s diverse Christians, Jews and Buddhists are not normally pressured to denounce the despicable acts of fellow members of their religion, Jedwab said it’s a double standard to require Muslims to do so.