What % of people in the US know what a Shiite is?
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  What % of people in the US know what a Shiite is?
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Author Topic: What % of people in the US know what a Shiite is?  (Read 2687 times)
phk
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« on: September 14, 2005, 05:34:49 PM »

What % of people in the US know what a Shiite is?
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Alcon
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« Reply #1 on: September 14, 2005, 05:35:59 PM »

Over what age?

I'd say about 80% of the public could identify it with the Middle East, 70% as a form of religion, 60% as a branch of Islam, and maybe 30% explain the Sunni-Shi'ite conflict.
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opebo
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« Reply #2 on: September 14, 2005, 05:39:06 PM »

I would imagine only about 10% at the very most have anything like an accurate knowledge of the unfortunate and repulsive Shiite.
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Cashcow
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« Reply #3 on: September 14, 2005, 05:50:28 PM »

Over what age?

I'd say about 80% of the public could identify it with the Middle East, 70% as a form of religion, 60% as a branch of Islam, and maybe 30% explain the Sunni-Shi'ite conflict.

HAHA! Good one!

40% at most, probably less. Polls like this have been taken. They yield very depressing results.
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Joe Republic
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« Reply #4 on: September 14, 2005, 06:05:04 PM »

Sure I know what a Shiite is.  I left one in the toilet this morning.
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Alcon
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« Reply #5 on: September 14, 2005, 06:26:55 PM »

Over what age?

I'd say about 80% of the public could identify it with the Middle East, 70% as a form of religion, 60% as a branch of Islam, and maybe 30% explain the Sunni-Shi'ite conflict.

HAHA! Good one!

40% at most, probably less. Polls like this have been taken. They yield very depressing results.

I was going to say voting public, but in retrospect, you're right.  Even that's generous.

I don't really have a good sample to judge this on, to be honest.  I don't talk politics outside of any circle that is fairly well-educated (and neither do most people here) so I'm not exactly sure how we could know this in the first place.

EDIT:  I make no damn sense today.
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Jake
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« Reply #6 on: September 14, 2005, 06:32:31 PM »

I doubt that 75% could associate it with the Middle East, maybe 50% could identify it as some sort of religion, while only 25% or less could identify it as a Muslim sect. Even more sadly, only 5% or less could identify the differences between Sunnis and Shiites. I was ignorant of the differences until about a year ago, so I doubt very many know about it.
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Alcon
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« Reply #7 on: September 14, 2005, 06:34:17 PM »

It would be very generous of everyone to summarily ignore the post I made earlier today.  Education has drained me of logical thought power.
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Dave from Michigan
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« Reply #8 on: September 14, 2005, 06:43:33 PM »

very few I had to look it up myself a few years ago when this iraq war started.  I still don't understand all the sunni Shiite conflict.  My guess is under 20% could identify it as middleastern and Islam. 
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ag
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« Reply #9 on: September 14, 2005, 07:22:29 PM »

And well under one tenth of one percent would recall that the Shi'is can be "twelvers", "seveners" (Ismailis)or "fivers". When you talk about Iraqi or Iranian Shi'is, you are really talking about the "twelvers", not just any Shi'is. They all differ about who exactly were the legitimate Imams.
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phk
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« Reply #10 on: September 14, 2005, 07:23:16 PM »

And well under one tenth of one percent would recall that the Shi'is can be "twelvers", "seveners" (Ismailis)or "fivers". When you talk about Iraqi or Iranian Shi'is, you are really talking about the "twelvers", not just any Shi'is. They all differ about who exactly were the legitimate Imams.

There are 4ers too.
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© tweed
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« Reply #11 on: September 14, 2005, 07:29:59 PM »

I don't really know what sh**ttes/sunnis fight about, but I know that they are branches of Islam and they fight each other.  I think most Americans have a similar knowledge of the civilizations as I do.
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MODU
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« Reply #12 on: September 14, 2005, 07:34:00 PM »

We need a harder hitting education system.

The majority of Americans are not in school, so that would not benefit most in this aspect.  People will spend a lifetime trying to learn everything there is out there.  At my age, I'm still learning US History, let alone international history.
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Platypus
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« Reply #13 on: September 14, 2005, 09:17:37 PM »

And well under one tenth of one percent would recall that the Shi'is can be "twelvers", "seveners" (Ismailis)or "fivers". When you talk about Iraqi or Iranian Shi'is, you are really talking about the "twelvers", not just any Shi'is. They all differ about who exactly were the legitimate Imams.

There are 4ers too.

I'd only heard about 12 imams, and something about brothers or uncles or something...

I'm not all that knowledgable about it, but, depressingly, i'm better then the majority of Australians.
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ATFFL
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« Reply #14 on: September 14, 2005, 09:49:51 PM »

It would be very generous of everyone to summarily ignore the post I made earlier today.  Education has drained me of logical thought power.

Not a problem.  Some of us ignore all your posts. 


Tongue
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The Vorlon
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« Reply #15 on: September 14, 2005, 10:05:35 PM »

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We need an harder hitting education system.
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J. J.
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« Reply #16 on: September 14, 2005, 10:31:16 PM »

If I recall correctly, Shiites were a group that followed the Son-in-law of Muhammad, Ali.  Ali was assassinated after reaching an agreement with the majority Sunni's.  My understanding is that Shi'a puts less emphasis of fate [Kismet], and more on individual obedience by choice, to the will of God.

How'd I do?
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Cashcow
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« Reply #17 on: September 14, 2005, 10:44:15 PM »

If I recall correctly, Shiites were a group that followed the Son-in-law of Muhammad, Ali.  Ali was assassinated after reaching an agreement with the majority Sunni's.  My understanding is that Shi'a puts less emphasis of fate [Kismet], and more on individual obedience by choice, to the will of God.

How'd I do?

Congratulations, you are in the top 0.001% of Americans.
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« Reply #18 on: September 14, 2005, 10:58:36 PM »

What I get the jist of is that Shiites are more like Catholic, while Sunnis more Protestant. That being Shiites have a centralized body and organized heirarchy and all that, while Sunnies are not centralized.

I also know that Shiites are the worse branch of Islam, which is saying a lot. Just look at Lebanon or Iran. They f'uck up everything they get involved in and soon will do the same to Iraq. Hell, I was actually told in elementary school once something along the lines of "not all Muslims are terrorists, just the Shiites"
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phk
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« Reply #19 on: September 15, 2005, 11:16:56 AM »

Hell, I was actually told in elementary school once something along the lines of "not all Muslims are terrorists, just the Shiites"

Things have changed quite a bit.
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Filuwaúrdjan
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« Reply #20 on: September 15, 2005, 12:12:40 PM »

What I get the jist of is that Shiites are more like Catholic, while Sunnis more Protestant.

Not at all. Neither is really like either. I suppose you could argue a certain similerity between the Shia and the Greek Orthodox Church and *maybe* Sufism and Pentecostalism (although both comparisions are stretching things a lot) but that's about it really.

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Neither group is really centralized at all; besides the "Sunnis" are traditionally split into three groups (I forget the names) and a hell of a lot of other groups have split off from all the other groups from both Sunni and Shia etc. etc.
Very complicated.

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Um... define "worst" please... most reactionary? most repressive? Nope neither is true of Shia Islam (which has traditionally been fairly liberal and "above" politics... Khomenism is a strange exception). The people you want for that are the Wahabbis.

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Dealt with Khomenism above and I don't think that anyone involved in the Lebanon covered themselves with glory (IMO the worst involved was Syria).

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Uh huh...

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That Iraq is currently in a mess is the collective fault of the former Ba'athist regime and of the various terrorist groups (and what a diverse bunch of psychotic murderers they are...) not the Shia/Shiites.
In fact the people who have been killed (from little children looking for sweets to casual labourers looking for work) in their thousands have been overwhelmingly Shiite; that there hasn't been a *very* bloody revenge campaign against the Sunnis yet is actually quite suprising. But I suspect a line was crossed the other day.
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J. J.
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« Reply #21 on: September 15, 2005, 01:25:19 PM »

I would argue that Sunni beliefs and traditional Calvanism (and to a lesser extent, modern Presbyterianism) have a similar view of destiny.  Shi'a on the other hand has a more open view to free will.  I could often "argue" free will my Sunni friends in the same way I could with my Presbyterian father.  ;-)
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phk
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« Reply #22 on: September 15, 2005, 01:30:01 PM »
« Edited: September 15, 2005, 01:32:35 PM by phknrocket1k »

Al, the groups of the Sunnis are as follows

Hanafi - practed in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Egypt; is the most liberal Sunni sect.

Hanafi split into
-----Deobandi - the Conservative Wing (HQ based in India and a branch in Dewsbury, UK; for those in the know Dewsbury is where one of the London bombers lived, Muhammad Siddique Khan; but I'm not trying to make a connection or anything)
-----Bralevi - Normal Hanafi's I'd presume

Shafii - practed in Malaysia, Indonesia and a few Arab countries

Hanbali - practed in the Arab Penninsula, most conservative Sunni sect.

Maliki - practiced by North Africa and by African Muslims

There are the Wahhabis, a Saudi-based religion and has gained steam among discontented Sunnis following other sects.
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