Occupy Wall Street Protests Inspire Digital Defense
A pepper-spraying incident at UC Davis set off a viral video on YouTube and critical commentary on blogs. In addition, conservative commentator David Frum received rare kudos from liberal bloggers.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Respondents’ thoughts In this survey about the likely future of the Internet, a majority of technology experts and stakeholders expressed confidence that by 2020 most people will have embraced and fully adopted the use of smart-device swiping for purchases they make, nearly eliminating the need for cash or credit cards. These experts feel that the […]
Most Muslim Americans say religion is very important in their lives, two-thirds pray every day (including 48% who pray all five salah daily), and nearly half attend religious services at a mosque at least once a week. U.S. Muslims’ religious beliefs tend to be highly orthodox; for example, 92% believe in the Day of Judgment […]
The Government Restrictions Index (GRI) measures limits imposed by governments on religious beliefs and practices. The 10-point index is based on 20 questions used by the Pew Forum to gauge the extent to which governments at any level – national, provincial or local – try to control religious groups or individuals, prohibit conversions from one […]
Muslim and Western publics continue to largely agree that relations between them are poor, and disagree about who is at fault – Muslims largely blame Westerners, while those in the West generally blame Muslims. However, in both Western and predominantly Muslim nations, there is a shared concern about the threat posed by Islamic extremism.
Muslims and Westerners offer mixed views of each other. Majorities in Britain, France, Russia and the U.S. express favorable views of Muslims, but opinions are divided in Germany and negative in Spain. Similarly, Muslims in Lebanon, Jordan and Indonesia have positive opinions of Christians, while views are overwhelmingly unfavorable in Turkey and Pakistan; attitudes toward […]
No candidate had more of a roller coaster ride in the 2012 campaign media narrative than Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. In five months, Bachmann went from a long-odds outsider to a surprise top tier candidate to long shot again. In between, she was subjected to one of the modern pitfalls of a suddenly rising candidate—a […]
Restrictions on religious beliefs and practices rose in 23 of the world’s 198 countries (12%), decreased in 12 countries (6%) and remained essentially unchanged in 163 countries (82%) between mid-2006 and mid-2009, a new Pew Forum report shows. More than 2.2 billion people – nearly a third of the world’s population – live in the 23 countries with increasing government restrictions or social hostilities involving religion.
No Signs of Growth in Alienation or Support for Extremism Washington, D.C. — As the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaches, a comprehensive public opinion survey by the Pew Research Center finds no indication of increased alienation or anger among Muslim Americans in response to concerns about home-grown Islamic terrorists, controversies about the building […]