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A recent survey has revealed that American Christians generally identify with their faith before their country – a finding that critics say is alarming.
The Pew Research Survey compared American Christians with that of their Western European counterparts, and found that 46 percent of American Christians value their faith over nationality.
The findings also revealed that 70 percent of white American Christians identify with their religion before nationality, which demonstrates a significantly higher rate.
Critics suggested the findings could result in Christians being perceived as Un-American, and questioned their degree of national loyalty.
One critic explained that some American Muslims are often feared and labeled extremists, when they are deemed too closely associated with their faith.
Author David Sirota suggested there is a double standard for Islamophobes, who are too quick to condemn Muslims whom they consider closely aligned with the Islamic faith.
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Many Christians do not see anything wrong with the findings, and argue that there is not necessarily always a correlation between a person's faith and their degree of national loyalty.
Sirota argued that some might interpret the findings as showing a lack of assimilation among Christians.
On Salon.com he wrote, "Christianity is seen as the dominant culture in America".
He continued, "Christianity and America are often portrayed as being nearly synonymous, meaning expressing loyalty to the former is seen as the equivalent to expressing loyalty to the latter."
Since 9/11 terrorism has been closely linked with extremists, and some people often make the mistake of associating extremists with the Islamic faith.
Although it may be perceived as reckless to automatically associate Christians and Islamophobes, Siorta raises a legitimate concern about the double standards that some religious groups often face.
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