Netherlands: What do you think of when you hear of Ramadan?
A news article in the Dutch media announced a couple of days ago that about 75% of the Dutch don't know what Ramadan means. Asked what they think of when they hear of Ramadan: 25% thought of other Muslims issues and another 25% said they don't think of anything in particular. Only a sixth knew to answer that Ramadan is a month of fasting. And 55% answered that Islam is a threat to democracy in the Netherlands.
The only problem? That wasn't exactly the question. The site watgeloofu.nl (what do you believe?) was set up specifically to check what the Dutch know about the Ramadan. And yet, their very first question is:
By the celebration of Ramadan, what do you think of first?
1. The pillars of Islam
2. A 3 day feast of abundant eating
3. The holy book of the Muslims
4. A month in which Allah revealed the Koran
5. One of the suras of the Koran
6. Eating many sweets
7. A free day
8. Nothing in particular
9. Something else (fill in)
10. I don't know
For some reason, fasting does not appear in the list. In fact, though one answer might be more correct, most of the answers are correct in some way.
As for the democracy question: the question was whether Islam could form a danger to Dutch democracy, and not whether it's a current danger.
What's the point of setting up a site to see how much the Dutch know about Islam, if you later advertise misleading results?
A news article in the Dutch media announced a couple of days ago that about 75% of the Dutch don't know what Ramadan means. Asked what they think of when they hear of Ramadan: 25% thought of other Muslims issues and another 25% said they don't think of anything in particular. Only a sixth knew to answer that Ramadan is a month of fasting. And 55% answered that Islam is a threat to democracy in the Netherlands.
The only problem? That wasn't exactly the question. The site watgeloofu.nl (what do you believe?) was set up specifically to check what the Dutch know about the Ramadan. And yet, their very first question is:
By the celebration of Ramadan, what do you think of first?
1. The pillars of Islam
2. A 3 day feast of abundant eating
3. The holy book of the Muslims
4. A month in which Allah revealed the Koran
5. One of the suras of the Koran
6. Eating many sweets
7. A free day
8. Nothing in particular
9. Something else (fill in)
10. I don't know
For some reason, fasting does not appear in the list. In fact, though one answer might be more correct, most of the answers are correct in some way.
As for the democracy question: the question was whether Islam could form a danger to Dutch democracy, and not whether it's a current danger.
What's the point of setting up a site to see how much the Dutch know about Islam, if you later advertise misleading results?
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