Poll: Can suicide bombing be justified?

The Pew Research Center just released the results of the first, nationwide random-sample survey of Muslim Americans (pdf) and has found them to be largely assimilated. But some findings are nonetheless troubling.

The good news: The survey found that the U.S. Muslims surveyed were middle class and mostly mainstream. A strong 71 percent believe you can get ahead in the United States by working hard. They also reject extremist Islam by larger margins than their counterparts in European countries.  

But when asked the question, "Can suicide bombings of civilian targets to defend Islam be justified?", 13 percent of those ages 18-29 said "sometimes," 11 percent said "rarely," and 2 percent said "often." In all, one in four young U.S. Muslims surveyed agreed that suicide bombing of civilians was at times acceptable. (In contrast, among Muslims 30 and older, 6 percent said "sometimes" or "often," and 3 percent said "rarely.")

The survey report doesn't suggest reasons why there is a gap between younger and older Muslims' attitudes about suicide bombing, but it does say that similar gaps have been found among Muslims in European countries. The president of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, a U.S. organization that advocates the compatibility of Islam and democracy, suggests that the Internet and television may be exposing impressionable young people to extreme ideologies. Or perhaps it's a function of age: Young people, and young men in particular, tend to have more violent attitudes.

Whatever the reason, it's just plain unsettling.