Sunny Hundal states:
The poll marks a sharp contrast to findings by Gallup in 2009 that 0% of British Muslims were tolerant towards homosexuality. But the two results are not contradictory: Muslims can agree that Islam does not tolerate homosexuality, while celebrating gay rights enshrined in the law.
This is possible. But honestly it just doesn’t pass the smell test. This is a tenable position for very religious people, and the norm among inward looking sects derived from Anabaptism, in part because they believe that they are islands of virtue in a fallen world. But this is a minority position usually. Passionate religious views generally entail passionate espousal of policy prescriptions, whether you think it is good or ill. And Muslims as a whole have not been keen on the extreme church-state separationism which radical Protestant sects have advocated. I double checked in the World Values Survey, and 28 out of the 41 Muslims, 68%, agreed that homosexuality was “never justifiable,” as opposed to 25% of the general British population.
So what’s going on? I suspect that the poll is aggregating a host of divergent views and reactions. How many dollars/pounds are you will bet that non-religions Britons are more tepid toward gay rights as than the median British Muslim? I’m willing to be $250 dollars that this is not so. Rather, I suspect that some of the lukewarm responses are probably to those who on the far cultural Left who want much more radical sexual orientation anti-discrimination legislation passed, in particular in regards to marriage rights.
Via thabet’s twitter.