Academic

BYRON YORK: Egypt?s Conflicting Views of Democracy And Religion. Last year the Pew Research Cent?

By Glenn Reynolds

BYRON YORK: Egypt’s Conflicting Views of Democracy And Religion.

Last year the Pew Research Center Global Attitudes Project conducted a survey of opinion in several Muslim countries. The subject was the proper role of Islam in politics and society. One of the countries surveyed was Egypt, and among other discoveries, the Pew researchers found that 84 percent of Egyptians favor the death penalty for people who leave the Muslim religion.

In another survey, Pew found that 90 percent of Egyptians say they believe in freedom of religion. Pew also found that a majority of Egyptians think democracy, with protections of free speech and assembly, is “preferable to any other kind of government.”

How can those attitudes fit together in a democratic post-Mubarak Egypt? It’s no wonder so many people can’t figure out what is next.

Read the whole thing.

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on February 01, 2011 (boomark / email).