Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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 […]
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 […]
Two Leaders in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Discuss the Tenets of Their Faith and its Role in Today’s Political Life The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is increasingly in the spotlight, thanks in part to Mitt Romney’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. Attention has also come from television […]
Origins and Growth 1910s-1920s: Around 1910, an Anglican deacon launches an indigenous prophetic movement that later becomes the Christ Army Church. Following an influenza epidemic in 1918, revivals flare within the mission churches and the Christ Army Church. Spirit-filled groups also expand, including those known by the Yoruba word Aladura (“praying people”). Early Aladura churches […]
Pentecostalism has become an increasingly prominent feature of Africa’s religious and political landscape. The movement’s growth has been particularly dramatic since the era of decolonization in the 1950s and 1960s. According to recent figures from the World Christian Database, pentecostals now represent 12%, or about 107 million, of Africa’s population of nearly 890 million people. […]
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting….All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them….’In […]
Introduction December 9, 2005, marks the 100th anniversary of secularism in France, known as “laïcité.” In 1905 the French government passed a law stipulating “the separation of churches and the state,” thus enshrining secularism as a national principle. The law, which barred the state from officially recognizing, funding or endorsing religious groups, represented a major […]
Akbar Ahmed to Lead Exploration of Islam in the Age of Globalization The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, and American University’s School of International Service are pleased to announce the launch of a new joint initiative: Islam in the Age of Globalization. […]
Introduction Throughout Europe today, it is not uncommon to see women wearing headscarves and men with skull caps and beards. On many European streets, shops now sport signs in Arabic and other Near Eastern languages and sell an array of exotic looking products from the Middle East and other parts of the Islamic world. Indeed, […]
Pew Forum and Pew Research Center Resources | News | Other Resources This month the European Union will enter into membership negotiations with Turkey, a country whose population is almost entirely Muslim. This critical venture brings to the forefront profound questions about the cultural and religious identity of Europe, and of Islam’s place on the continent. The Pew […]