A Bare Majority of Protestants
The number of Americans who report that they are members of Protestant denominations now stands at 51%.
Revised February 2011* Becoming Unaffiliated The biggest gains due to change in religious affiliation have been among those who say they are not affiliated with any particular faith. Overall, the 2007 “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey” found that 16% of the adult population is unaffiliated, with the vast majority of this group (79%) reporting that they […]
Diverse Reasons, but Distinct Patterns Emerge A new survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life finds that Americans change their religious affiliation early and often, and the reasons they give for changing—or leaving religion altogether—differ widely depending on the origin and destination of the convert. CONTACT Mary SchultzCommunications Manager202.419.4556mschultz@pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/religion “Faith […]
Navigate this Report: Accounting for Differences in Coverage Scope and Timing of the Coverage Response to the Initiative Becomes the Narrative Faith Traditions Highlighted in 2001 and 2009 An Inside-the-Beltway Story Methodology When he took over the White House in January 2009, President Barack Obama quickly adopted much of the “faith-based initiative” put into place […]
Overview Public attitudes on a pair of contentious national issues – gun control and abortion – have moved in a more conservative direction over the past year. In both cases, the changes have been driven in part by relatively large shifts among men, while opinions among women have not changed very much. For the first […]
The Republican Party is in the weakest position it has been in two decades of Pew Research Center polling. Interviews with more than 7,000 respondents nationwide so far this year found just 23% identifying themselves as Republicans. This is down from 25% in 2008 and 30% as recently as 2004. In total, the GOP has […]
The shooting of a controversial abortion provider triggered far more attention in social media last week than in the mainstream press, with advocates on both sides of the polarizing issue weighing in on the implications. Meanwhile, the most viewed news video on YouTube put the spotlight on an unlikely overnight sensation.
The United States remains a highly religious nation. A large majority of Americans say they belong to a particular faith, and similarly large numbers express agreement with statements about key religious beliefs and behaviors. There have been only modest changes in the level of agreement with these statements over the past decade. About eight-in-ten (83%) […]
Overview Most Americans believe that the nation’s health care system is in need of substantial changes. But there is less support for completely rebuilding the health care system than there was in April 1993, during the early stage of the Clinton administration’s unsuccessful effort to revamp health care. Still, the public continues to favor the […]