"It is for God to judge" 1

Understanding Why and When Islamic Religiosity Inhibits Homotolerance

Bibliographic Data

ID3645658
AuthorsN Geurts (0000-0002-6252-3638, Department of Sociology, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, corresponding author), Saskia Gla (0000-0002-0666-9288, Department of Sociology, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands), Saskia Glas (Radboud University Nijmegen), N Spierings (0000-0002-3116-3262, Department of Sociology, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands)
Year2024
Volume71
Issue13
Pages2901-2926
Publication date2024-11-09
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Homosexuality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0091-8369 • E-ISSN: 1540-3602
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00918369.2023.2267723
PMID37888948
OpenAlexW4387966533
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited60

In Western Europe, Muslims' cultural attitudes take center stage in debates in media and politics. In these debates, the claim that Muslims' religious interpretations cause them to be intolerant of homosexual people is often repeated. While previous public opinion studies have time and again shown that Muslims are indeed on average more homonegative than other people, the present study theoretically explores and empirically tests whether those differences are because of Islamic religiosity. This assumption is often made but has yet to be empirically addressed. Using unique data on young Muslim adults in the Netherlands and more direct measurements of religious interpretations on homosexuality, we find that Islamic religiosity as such hardly fuels intolerance of homosexual people. In fact, our results show that even believing that Islam forbids homosexuality does not necessarily fuel Muslims' intolerance of homosexual people. Rather, what is pivotal, is whether such beliefs are coupled with a willingness to judge, rather than leaving judgment to Allah. We conclude that only among young adult Dutch Muslims who believe it is up to them to judge homosexuality, do homonegative interpretations of Islam feed into intolerance of homosexual people

Homosexuality · Islam · Political science · Politics · Psychoanalysis · Public opinion · Religiosity · Theology · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Psychology · Social Psychology

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