The Supreme Court’s decisions about officially sponsored religious expression in schools consistently draw a distinction between religious activities such as worship or Bible reading, which are designed to inculcate religious sentiments and values, and “teaching about religion,” which is both constitutionally permissible and educationally appropriate. On several occasions, members of the court have suggested that […]
More than nine-in-ten Hispanics identify with a specific religion. That, along with several other measures of belief and behavior, means that Hispanics as a group are highly religious. How does this affinity for spirituality vary among Latinos with different demographic characteristics or religious affiliations? And how precisely do the religious beliefs of Latinos set them […]
Landmark survey documents distinctive religious practices among fast-growing population and explores how Latinos’ religious beliefs affect their political thinking Hispanics are transforming the nation’s religious landscape, especially the Roman Catholic Church, not only because of their growing numbers but also because they are practicing a distinctive form of Christianity. A study released today by the […]
by Robert Ruby, Senior Editor, Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life In Mitt Romney’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, one key issue is his Mormon faith. Surveys by the Pew Research Center and other national polling organizations show strong public misgivings about the religion as well as about any presidential candidate who also […]
by John C. Green, Senior Fellow in Religion and American Politics For the presidential candidates and the pundits who write about them, one concern in the 2008 campaign is the “religion gap” – shorthand for the religious differences between Republican and Democratic voters. An analysis of national exit polls from 2004 shows there is not […]
At the time of its school prayer decisions in the early 1960s, the Supreme Court had never ruled on whether students have the right of free speech inside public schools. By the end of that decade, however, the court began to consider the question. And the results have made the rules for religious expression far […]