Americans and Social Trust: Who, Where and Why
Social trust is a belief in the honesty, integrity and reliability of others – a “faith in people.” It’s a simple enough concept to describe. But it’s never been easy to figure out who trusts, or why.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Pew Research Center Ten years ago, the U.S. Congress launched a debate on U.S. international religious freedom policy that ultimately resulted in the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. Foreign policy actors continue to debate how religious freedom – and religion itself – should be factored into U.S. foreign policy. Has the State Department interpreted […]
Origins and Growth 1920s-1940s: In 1921, missionaries from the pentecostal United Free Gospel Church, headquartered in Pennsylvania, arrive in the Philippines. An American Assemblies of God (AG) missionary arrives in 1926, followed by Filipinos converted in the U.S. The first resident missionary from the Church of God (Cleveland, Tenn.) establishes the church in the Philippines […]
Predictions and Reactions Prediction: By the year 2020, virtual reality on the internet will come to allow more productivity from most people in technologically- communities than working in the ‘real world.’ But the attractive nature of virtual-reality worlds will also lead to serious addiction problems for many, as we lose people to alternate realities. An […]
Key West, Florida Some of the nation’s leading journalists and distinguished scholars gathered in Key West, Fla., in December 2006 for the Pew Forum’s biannual Faith Angle Conference on religion, politics and public life. Peter Berger, professor emeritus of religion, sociology and theology at Boston University, examined the globalization of religious pluralism and how the […]
Washington, D.C. For much of the 20th century, social scientists and policymakers argued that democratization and modernity would render religion insignificant and irrelevant. They were wrong, says Timothy Shah, senior Pew Forum fellow in religion and world affairs, who contends religion is booming in many countries and democracy has given religious leaders a growing political […]
Washington, D.C. Recent violence between Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim guerrilla group, and Israel; sectarian conflict in Iraq and escalating tensions around Iran’s nuclear ambitions have drawn urgent attention to the resurgence and politicization of Shiite Islam and its relationship to Sunni Islam. The Pew Forum and the Council on Foreign Relations invited Vali Nasr, author […]