Slideshow: World Trends in 2012
The Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project conducted public opinion surveys in 21 countries in over 30 languages in 2012. The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life also conducted major studies on public opinion, demography and restrictions on religion around the world. Here are our top findings from 2012.
The Global Religious Landscape
A comprehensive demographic study of more than 230 countries and territories estimates that 84% of the 2010 world population of 6.9 billion is religiously affiliated.
America’s ‘Mormon Moment’ is Over, and Public Opinion is Little Changed
Eight-in-ten Americans (82%) say they learned little or nothing about the Mormon religion during the presidential campaign. Three-in-ten Americans continue to consider the Mormon religion a non-Christian faith, though there appears to be some warming of attitudes toward Mormonism.
“Nones” on the Rise
The number of Americans who do not identify with any religion continues to grow at a rapid pace. One-fifth of the U.S. public – and a third of adults under 30 – are religiously unaffiliated today, the highest percentages ever in Pew Research Center polling.
Map: Controversies Over Mosques and Islamic Centers Across the U.S.
This interactive map provides a brief overview, based on news reports, of 35 proposed mosques and Islamic centers that have encountered community resistance in the last two years.
Rising Tide of Restrictions on Religion
Three-quarters of the world’s approximately 7 billion people now live in countries with high government restrictions on religion or high social hostilities involving religion, up from 70% a year earlier.
Slideshow: Mormonism in the 2012 Election
A new slideshow highlights recent Pew Research Center data on voters’ views of the Mormon religion and Mormons’ opinions on their place in society.
Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion
A new Pew Research Center poll finds that voters have limited awareness of Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith and Barack Obama’s religion. And there is little evidence to suggest that concerns about the candidates’ respective faiths will have a meaningful impact in the 2012 fall elections.
Partisan Polarization Surges in Bush, Obama Years
Americans values and basic beliefs are more polarized along partisan lines than at any point in the past 25 years. Party has now become the single largest fissure in American society, with the values gap between Republicans and Democrats greater than gender, age, race or class divides.
Religion in Prisons
Professional prison chaplains see America’s state penitentiaries as places bustling with religious activity, ranging from efforts by inmates to proselytize or convert other inmates to religious switching by prisoners, according to a survey of chaplains in all 50 states.
