Strongest anti-Muslim attitudes are found among the nonreligious in secularized countries

Secular Tolerance? Anti-Muslim Sentiment in Western Europe. Egbert Ribberink, Peter Achterberg and Dick Houtman. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jssr.12335/abstract

Abstract: The literature about secularization proposes two distinct explanations of anti-Muslim sentiment in secularized societies. The first theory understands it in terms of religious competition between Muslims and the remaining minority of orthodox Protestants; the second understands it as resulting from value conflicts between Muslims and the nonreligious majority. The two theories are tested by means of a multilevel analysis of the European Values Study 2008. Our findings indicate that, ***although more secularized countries are on average more tolerant towards Muslims and Islam, strongest anti-Muslim attitudes are nonetheless found among the nonreligious in these countries***.