The Christmas Wars: Religion in the American Public Square
Every year as the holiday season gets underway, debates break out across the country over the appropriateness of religious displays in public spaces. But the so-called “Christmas Wars” are only a small part of a much larger debate concerning the proper place of religion in public life, a debate that began at the nation’s founding.
Religion’s Role in the 2006 Election
Pew Forum Senior Fellow John Green and American Enterprise Institute Resident Fellow Karlyn Bowman analyze polling data to address such issues as whether Democrats closed the “God gap,” which religious groups were “in play” this election, and whether or not religion polarizes voters.
Religion in a Globalizing World
Scholar Peter Berger argues that the peaceful coexistence of different racial, ethnic and religious groups has become a global phenomenon and the resulting emergence of religious choice is the best model for understanding religion in a today’s world.
Israel and the Future of Zionism
An American scholar and an Israeli journalist discuss the origins and evolution of Zionism and its implications for the future of the Israeli state.
Religious Groups React to the 2006 Election
The religious divide in voting that has characterized American politics over the last several elections largely persisted in the 2006 election. But people in most religious groups say they are happy that the Democrats won.
Legislating International Religious Freedom
In a Pew Forum roundtable event, four experts discuss the wisdom and success of U.S. legislation that makes the promotion of religious freedom an explicit goal of America’s foreign policy and ways to make that policy more effective.
U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Partial Birth Abortion Cases
Revisiting a set of issues it last considered in 2000, a U.S. Supreme Court that has since become more conservative will hear oral arguments next week in two partial birth abortion cases. The changes in the court’s composition raise the possibility of a different outcome this time.
In Pursuit of Values Voters: Religion’s Role in the 2006 Election
In a Pew Forum roundtable conversation, Forum senior fellow John Green and two prominent journalists speculate that it will be difficult for the Republican Party to mobilize evangelicals to go to the polls in great numbers next month. They also discuss challenges faced by the Democratic Party in appealing to this segment of the electorate.
The Vatican and Islam
Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to visit Turkey on Nov. 28-30, a trip that has already attracted exceptionally close attention because of the pope’s use of an inflammatory 14th-century quote about Islam during a September speech in Regensburg, Germany. Pew Forum Senior Editor Robert Ruby examines the issues and challenges in interviews with George Weigel, an expert on Catholicism, and John Esposito, a scholar of Islam.
God’s Country?
In recent years, evangelicals have helped to put conservatives at the helm of U.S. foreign policy, while focusing their energies on a few issues including support for Israel and promotion of religious freedom abroad. Now, they are showing interest in global warming and other issues traditionally seen as liberal.
