I do not think that it is fair and I think that it is redundant. With the vast majority of Muslims, it is quite obvious what they are, especially the women who wear the scarf.

I think it amounts to religious persecution. Not all Muslims are terrorists, for crying out loud. Most are kind and peaceful. I think it goes against everything our constitution stands for: Freedom of Religion.

You're kidding, right? This would go against everything this country was founded on. It is so obviously discriminatory that the ACLU should have shot this one dead at the gate!

I think the survey is flawed. And that 78% of statistics are made up on the spot. Where'd you hear this?

I don't know who conducted this survey, but no one I am acquainted with would think this is a good idea. It flies in the face of the 1st amendment, and it is none of my business what someone's beliefs are unless they decide to share that information with me. And it certainly is not the business of any government institution on any level. I cannot state strongly enough how wrong this would be. Nazi Germany! It's exactly the same thing. It's completely unacceptable, genocidal and evil.

No I don't think it is fair. Muslims are becoming the new African Americans in my opinion. More and more they are being discriminated against for no valid reason. I studied the Koran and had friends years ago who were Muslim. Islam is not the religion it is portrayed to be every time you hear about another terrorist attack. The Islam you hear about in the news is created by sick twisted individuals who take certain passages from the loran and twist them around to their own liking and pervert the religion in the name of Allah.So there is no misunderstanding I am not a Muslim. I am Christian. I rode the subways every day for 5 months after 9/11 in NYC til I moved to Philadelphia. I watched as people would get up and move to another car as soon as someone who even appeared to be of midlle eastern origin entered the train. I watched some get beat up for no reason other than they appeared to be arabs.It is truly disgusting what we are doing to these people in the name of national security.

That's a little insane.

I think if one American is forced to carry a I.D. then all of us should be forced to carry an I.D. I have no objection if it applies to all of us. :)

It is only fair if all the population carry ID showing their religious faith. Otherwise it is a racist idea and a very stupid one!

Look at the statistics: According to polls taken this year, nearly 65 percent of the public doesn't know that Congress has banned partial-birth abortion. Seventy percent is unaware that a massive drug benefit has been added to Medicare. At least 58 percent say they have heard "nothing" or "not much" about the Patriot Act, notwithstanding the enormous amount of coverage the controversial law has drawn. The ignorant can be found in the highest reaches of academe. Of more than 3,100 Ivy League students polled for a University of Pennsylvania study in 1993, 11 percent couldn't identify the author of the Declaration of Independence, half didn't know the names of their US senators, and 75 percent were unaware that the classic description of democracy -- "government of the people, by the people, and for the people" -- is from the Gettysburg Address Gallup found in January 2000 that while 66 percent of the public could name the host of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" only 6 percent knew the name of the speaker of the House. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/10/24/the_ignorant_american_voter/ Basically my point is people can be ignorant. This is no exception to the rule. I just hope our government isn't stupid enough to start something like this. Or else it's prone to become like Jew identifying back in Germany.

It is not fair. If they do, we all do. And then, who would have the right to ask for this form of identification? Ridiculous.

Only those who were not born or moved to this country at a young age. I think that is not going to help one bit in the least. That is religious bigotry just like the Nazis made the Jews wear yellow stars of David. I say no to this rule.

so how should we punish poor people?

I think it is counter to what America is supposed to stand for.

ID badges would be nice, but it would be even better if it was something more obvious. Maybe make them wear stars on their clothing or something. /sarcasm

No. Note that 'racism' and 'nationalism', both of which this idea are (racist and nationalist) are prominent: Fascism: 1. (sometimes initial capital letter) a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism. (Random House) often Fascism 1. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism. (New American Dictionary) Wiki: Fascism is an authoritarian political ideology (generally tied to a mass movement) that considers individual and other societal interests subordinate to the needs of the state, and seeks to forge a type of national unity, usually based on, but not limited to, ethnic, cultural, or racial attributes. Various scholars attribute different characteristics to fascism, but the following elements are usually seen as its integral parts: nationalism, authoritarianism, statism, militarism, totalitarianism, anti-communism, collectivism, corporatism, populism, and opposition to economic and political liberalism.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

yes an example of the worst thing you have seen

I just so happened to be having this conversation earlier. My argument was that if a bunch of short blond women (my general description)went around threatening people, I would have no problem with the idea of proving that I wasn't one of "those" short blond women. It would be common sense to suspect me, and I think it would also be common sense for me to expect to be suspected. I also think it would be my obligation to protect the safety of those who were being threatened. Call me what you like, but political correctness tends to get out of hand and sometimes goes against obvious truths

I think it's pure bigotry and goes against the Constatution. That 39% must belong to the KKK.

nice move 39% of Americans... way to potentially start world war 3 don't you know that you have a president who should never be given ideas or statistics? it was the prejudice of the Nazi party gainst Jews and the persecution of Jews that started world war 2 didn't you 39% learn that in history at school? jeez! the 39% of the US population who think that should be forced to watch Fiddler on the Roof and write about it persecution on religion grounds is wrong in Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables Jean Valjean had to wear a yellow paper around his neck just so people would know he was a convict in Germany during the cold war Berlin was divided by a wall and many people lost their lives because they tried to cross that wall in Northern Ireland during the troubles the whole of the North was segregated and some of it still is today Catholic kids go to different schools from Protestant and that irritates me because religion should not be taught in school we are all human beings we should be educated equally despite religion or disability race creed or colour or what we have done... "we share the same biology regardless of ideology" that's a quote from a song by Sting (Gordon Sumner) i reckon he wrote it during the cold war those words are true though think about it

I think it's a load of crap and definitely not the kind of thing this country should be doing! I bet the numbers would be different if it were christians who had to carry religious identification! This is exactly what Hitler did to the jews...

Fair, not at all no one should have to identify themselves as one religion or another. All I can see as I type this are the yellow stars Hitler made Jews wear...This is so not okay, if we did this it would only encourage further racism and hate.

No it is a breach of civil rights. Not that, that ever happens in America.

No, I don't think it's fair. A typical comment. If they have to carry a card, then every other religious American should have to carry a card. Smells a 'little' bit like 'cards' that had to carried around during WWll....

No it's not! It's just like the time when Nazi Germany required Jews to wear a Star of David to identify them as Jews.

*Sarcastic* Ya that's a great idea. And let's put yellow stars back on all the Jews while we are at it.

was the genocied committed by the nazis fair???? -NO- so neither is this idea!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aside from the fair/unfair issue - it's just a stupid idea. What exactly is it supposed to achieve? the majority of Muslims are hardly shy about admitting to their faith anyway - and if they were planning on any terrorist activities surely it wouldn't be all that difficult for them to just - er- not carry the ID?

this isn't fair AT ALL! Like the person before me said not all muslims are terrorists! and also when we have wars, and we should learn from our mistakes, if the american government did do something like this it would show they haven't learnt ANYTHING at all about the Jews in Germany and all horrors an innocent group of people who have done nothing wrong other than believe in a religion that people think are causing all their problems can become subject to. Who does this 39% think they are?

Is that really true? I cannot quite believe that 39% of Americans would think of anything quite so absurd -- particularly as we have Holocaust survivors living amongst us. Freedom of religion has to be a fundamental principle of our society, and I fear that the Christian far right has begun to undermine that very American value. In the present context, I see signs of this in the McCain campaign. While I am sure that McCain does not condone it, his failure to refute it once and for all shows that he cannot really lead his supporters -- another reason for not voting for him.

No, this is definitely an unfair proposition because it targets a specific segment of society. Such discriminatory exercise should never be thought of in the first instance. A need for identification should be across the board.

What percentage of Americans think that all Terrorists (regardless of race/religion/sex/age etc) should carry some form of identification that declares them terrorists - that is the implication here, is it not? I think it is idiotic, extremely unfair and incredibly naive, such a move would achieve absolutely nothing and potentially alienate people who otherwise support the American Dream!

Muslims have there own radio stations and there trying to force this disgusting sharia law onto everyone that no one wants. They want different laws to everyone else and again this is blatantly disrespectful. From what I can see muslims are like parasites who infect a country better than there own then try and force there beliefs onto the people who never wanted them here in the first place. If the white people say anything like this on tv they are immediately branded racist yet what im saying is all fact and there's plenty of evidence to support what im saying so it does not make me a racist, it makes me a realist.

They usually look different. Most men don't shave, their women cover their heads etc.

I bet its the same 39% of Americans who think that torture is ok as well... they are fools and bigots and you can bet they wouls squeal like pigs if they had to carry ID around to show they are bigoted Americans

You're going to have to cite a reference to say something like that. Personally, I don't believe that. It's irrelevant, though. I don' have to carry a card stating my religion, even if I'm a fundamentalist Christian who goes around plotting abortion clinic bombings (I'm not). The problem is not the religion, it's the extremists.

1) "ABC News has reported that "[p]ublic views of Islam are one casualty of the post-Sept. 11, 2001 conflict: Nearly six in 10 Americans think the religion is prone to violent extremism, nearly half regard it unfavorably, and a remarkable one in four admits to prejudicial feelings against Muslims and Arabs alike." They also report that 27 percent of Americans admit feelings of prejudice against Muslims. According to Gallup polls, 40 percent of Americans admit to prejudice against Muslims, and 39 percent believe Muslims should carry special identification." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamophobia 2) I don't exactly know what they imagine as a special identification. Maybe they mean a green Star of David. Or a green Crescent? "You know, sometimes, I don’t even know what country I am living in anymore. Special I.D.?! While we’re at it why don’t we make the Jews wear the Star of David too? You’ve got senators saying things like, “Every major Islamic leader, from heads of states to al-Qaida has openly identified the United States as their prime target and repeatedly promises the creation of a new global caliphate, where Islamic fascism will rule mankind.”" Source and further information: http://jdallen.org/politics/2-out-of-5-americans-believe-muslims-should-carry-special-id/

No. +5. Consider the fact that the vast majority of American Muslims are Black. The vast majority of Arab Americans are Christians -- not all of course, but most. Setting aside the Constitutional question about requiring people to publicly disclose their religious beliefs, which actually can't be set aside, and shouldn't be, the bad guys would just lie.

Do you have a link?

+5 It is a great idea for them. I carry my Baptist ID card and I get 10% off at most chicken restaurants. I also get the Baptist discount at the movie theaters if it is not a R rated movie. Also I got a nice photo of myself on the Baptist ID card from the neck up.

No. In fact, it reminds me of how Hitler treated the Jews, although not as extreme.

Perhaps we could have them wear, say a yellow star to identify them eh? Let's see..where did I hear of this before? Nazi Germany perhaps?