If new medical treatments could slow the aging process and allow people to live to age 120 and beyond, would you want to? Most Americans say “no” – they would not want a radically extended life span. But roughly two-thirds think that most other people would.
With falling birthrates and rising life expectancies, the U.S. population is rapidly aging. Research aimed at unlocking the secrets of aging is underway at universities and corporate labs, and some biomedical researchers think future medical treatments might be able to slow, stop or reverse the aging process and allow people to live decades longer than […]
No religious group in the United States has released an official statement on radical life extension. However, here are brief summaries of how some clergy, bioethicists and other scholars from 18 major American religious groups say their traditions might approach this evolving issue.
The prospect of dying has always fascinated, haunted and, ultimately, defined human beings. From the beginnings of civilization, people have contemplated their own mortality – and considered the possibility of immortality.
Washington, D.C. — The Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life has been renamed the “Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project.” It also relaunched its website, which has been integrated into the main Pew Research Center site and redesigned to be more accessible and easier to use on mobile devices. While […]
As young Catholics gather in Brazil, awaiting Pope Francis' visit in celebration of World Youth Day, an analysis of census data finds that the share of Brazil’s population that identifies as Catholic has been dropping steadily in recent decades. Over the same period, the percentage of Brazilians who belong to Protestant churches has been rising.