Instead, something close to the opposite has happened. A surprising new ABCNews/Beliefnet poll shows that after starting out tolerant, public opinion has turned sharply against Islam.

Why did public opinion shift?

The Bush Factor--The most significant moment in 2001 on this issue was when President Bush stood before the nation just days after the attack and declared, "Islam is a religion of peace." He followed that up with a series of symbolic gestures: hosting a Ramadan dinner at the White House (a first) last November, posing for pictures with the Qur'an on his desk, inviting American Muslim leaders to his office, and visiting a Washington mosque.

Since most Americans knew little about Islam, Bush was, initially, America's teacher. He did it for a mix of practical and idealistic reasons. In diplomatic terms, it was crucial that the United States gain support from government like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. To get that support, it was important that the war on terror not be viewed as a war on Islam.

But conservative Christians were quietly unhappy with Bush's posture. One group, the Virginia-based Family Policy Network, encouraged members to "thank Franklin Graham for his faithfulness to Christ in the face of criticism." That was a reference to comments made by Billy Graham's evangelist son, in which he described Islam as a "wicked, violent" religion-comments he has repeated numerous times in the last year. Slowly, one by one, they started voicing their concerns about Islam. At first, it was that Islam tended to cause violence, then that it was inherently violent. Then came direct, inflammatory attacks on the prophet Muhammad, with the head of the Southern Baptists calling Muhammad a "demon-possessed pedophile," Pat Robertson labeling him a "wild-eyed fanatic" and Jerry Falwell calling him "a terrorist."