from The Pew Research Center

Benedict XVI Viewed Favorably But Faulted on Religious Outreach

Summary of Findings

The Muslim and Mormon religions have gained increasing national visibility in recent years. Yet most Americans say they know little or nothing about either religion’s practices, and large majorities say that their own religion is very different from Islam and the Mormon religion.

A new national survey reveals some notable similarities, as well as major differences, in the ways that Americans view these faiths and their followers. Public impressions of both religions are hazy - 58% say they know little or nothing about Islam’s practices, while 51% have little or no awareness of the precepts and practices of Mormonism. The number of people who say they know little or nothing about Islam has changed very little since 2001.

Most Americans believe that their own religion has little in common with either Islam or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Fully 70% say that their religion is very different from Islam, while 62% say this about the Mormon religion. The proportion who say that Islam has little or nothing in common with their own religion has increased substantially since 2005 (from 59% to 70%).

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, conducted Aug. 1-18 among 3,002 adults, finds that overall evaluations of Mormons and Muslim Americans are on balance positive: 53% say they have a favorable opinion of Mormons, while an identical percentage views Muslim Americans favorably. As in past surveys, more people have a positive impression of “Muslim Americans” (53%) than of “Muslims” (43%).

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from BBC Online

The Pakistani army says it has found 73 bodies inside a mosque compound in Islamabad, after fierce battles between soldiers and gunmen inside.

Officials said the Red Mosque, or Lal Masjid, complex had been cleared of militants but troops were combing the area for booby traps and explosives.

The mosque’s radical chief cleric, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, was among the dead, the army said.

The operation followed a week-long siege of the compound by troops.

The mosque had been the focus of spiraling tensions between the government and radical students, who had waged a campaign for the adoption of strict Islamic sharia law.

It had been feared that women and children might be among the casualties, but army spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad said none had been found among the bodies.

Scores of civilians, and some militants, emerged from the complex after troops launched an all-out assault in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

read more at BBC ONLINE

By Kamran Haider
from YAHOO! News

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani forces stormed a mosque compound in the capital on Tuesday after talks to end a week-long standoff with militants broke down. Initial reports put casualties at 26 killed and many wounded.

Big blasts and gunfire rang out over the capital as the assault began an hour before dawn, and more than three hours later the sounds of the battle were still being heard, though firing had become more sporadic.

By 7:50 a.m. (0250 GMT), military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad said more than half the mosque’school complex had been cleared.

Twenty children escaped as commandos overran Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, but a military spokesman said fierce fighting raged at the religious school and library in the compound, where hundreds of women and children were believed to be hunkered down.

Early information indicated 23 militants and three members of the security forces were killed in the assault, with many wounded, the military said.

“Progress is very slow because they’re using women and children as human shields. The area is heavily mined and we’re facing stiff resistance,” a security official told Reuters.

“The mosque has been cleared. Commandoes are now clearing the madrasa. They have cleared (the) rooftop of the madrasa and now trying to get down into the madrasa,” an intelligence officer said..

The militants put up strong resistance, using rockets and grenades as well as automatic weapons, the military said.

The attack began immediately after talks to end a week-long standoff with the rebel cleric inside Lal Masjid broke down.

Thick smoke shrouded the compound troops have surrounded since clashes erupted between armed student radicals and government forces on July 3.

There are fears the militants may resort to suicide bombs. Officials said on Monday that suicide vests had been distributed among the defenders.

read more at YAHOO! NEWS