Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Religion

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    Being Good for Goodness’ Sake?

    This holiday season, the American Humanist Association has launched a campaign featuring ads on Washington, D.C., buses that proclaim, “Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness’ sake.” But a 2007 survey by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project found that a majority of Americans say it is necessary to believe in […]

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    America and Islam After Bush

    Some of the nation’s leading journalists gathered in Key West, Fla., in December, 2008, for the Pew Forum’s biannual Faith Angle Conference on religion, politics and public life. Vali Nasr, author of the 2006 book, The Shia Revival, surveyed the geo-political landscape of today’s Middle East, arguing that the 2003 invasion of Iraq has fundamentally […]

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    Religion and Race: A Historical and Contemporary Perspective

    Some of the nation’s leading journalists gathered in Key West, Fla., in December 2008 for the Pew Forum’s biannual Faith Angle Conference on religion, politics and public life. Eddie S.Glaude Jr., author of In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America, discussed religion and race in America. Specifically, he described historical […]

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    The Importance of Pilgrimage to Muslim Americans

    The Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, takes place in early December this year. Every able-bodied Muslim is expected to make the pilgrimage at least once in his or her lifetime, and the Hajj attracts millions of believers every year. The Pew Research Center’s 2007 Muslim American survey found […]

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    How the News Media Covered Religion in the General Election

    Religion played a much more significant role in the media coverage of President-elect Barack Obama than it did in the press treatment of Republican nominee John McCain during the 2008 presidential campaign, but much of the coverage related to false yet persistent rumors that Obama is a Muslim. Meanwhile, there was little attempt by the […]

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    States With Voter-Approved Constitutional Bans on Same-Sex Marriage, 1998-2008

    On Nov. 18, 2003, Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage following a ruling by the state’s highest court. In the five years since the Massachusetts decision, 26 states have amended their constitutions to ban gay marriage. Before the Massachusetts ruling, only three states had passed constitutional amendments prohibiting the practice – Alaska […]

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    Conference Calls: Analyzing the 2008 Election

    The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life hosted three press conference calls for journalists starting at midnight on election night and continuing through Wednesday, Nov. 5. Pew Forum experts analyzed religion’s role in the election, examined how the religious public voted and more. Senior Fellow John Green answered questions from members of the media […]

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    How the Faithful Voted

    Updated Nov. 10, 20081 President-elect Barack Obama made a concerted effort to reach out to people of faith during the 2008 presidential campaign, and early exit polls show that this outreach may have paid off on Election Day. Among nearly every religious group, the Democratic candidate received equal or higher levels of support compared with […]

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    Religion and Politics ’08: New Jersey

    Religious Profile Margin of error: ± 4.0% Sample size: 932 Data from the Pew Forum’s U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. 2008 New Jersey Primary Exit Poll Results Source: 2008 National Election Pool Exit Poll as reported by MSNBC 2004 New Jersey General Election Results No worship attendance polling information was collected for this state. Data on “All Voters”: CNN […]