Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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More than two-thirds (68%) of Hispanics are Roman Catholics. The next largest category, at 15%, is made up of born-again or evangelical Protestants. Although their numbers are increasing, the share of Latino evangelical Protestants is smaller than it is in either the white or black communities.[1. In this report, the terms “white” and “black” are […]
Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925) Guaranteed parents the right to enroll their children in private schools, whether religious or secular. West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) Upheld right of students who were Jehovah’s Witnesses to refuse to salute the American flag, affirming right of students to resist compulsory recitation of official […]
Twenty years after a landmark Supreme Court decision, Americans are still fighting over the teaching of creationism and other alternatives to evolution in the nation’s schools.
by David Masci, Senior Research Fellow, Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life Twenty years ago, on June 19, 1987, the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling that dramatically reshaped the debate over teaching evolution in public schools. In Edwards v. Aguillard, the high court struck down a Louisiana law requiring that schools teach creation […]
Hispanics are transforming the nation’s religious landscape, especially the Catholic Church, not only because of their growing numbers but also because they are practicing a distinctive form of Christianity.
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 […]
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 […]