Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
The first half of this chapter provides details on the assumptions and results of each of the four main scenarios. These are not predictions for the future. Rather, projections show what would happen under a number of hypothetical scenarios. Some scenarios are intentionally implausible and meant only to illustrate the impact of different demographic forces. […]
Most Buddhists and Muslims in the countries surveyed support basing laws on religious doctrine. In Buddhist-majority countries – where Buddhism is embedded in the constitutions – a majority of Buddhists favor basing the law on Buddhist dharma, with support ranging from 56% of Buddhists in Thailand to nearly all in Cambodia (96%). And most Muslims […]
Most Americans say religion’s influence in society is declining, and for many people, this is a lamentable development. Americans are much more likely to express positive than negative views of religion in this way. Moreover, just under half of U.S. adults say the Bible should have at least some influence on the laws of the […]
Since the 1990s, large numbers of Americans have left Christianity to join the growing ranks of U.S. adults who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.” If recent trends in religious switching continue, Christians could make up less than half of the U.S. population within a few decades.