Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Countries with very high social hostilities have severe levels of violence and intimidation on many or all of the 13 measures that make up the Social Hostilities Index. In Iraq, for example, ongoing sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shia Muslims frequently led to terrorist acts, including attacks on important religious sites in the country. For instance, more […]
In December 2009, the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life published its first report analyzing the extent to which governments and societies around the world impinge on religious beliefs and practices. The report found that about 70% of the world’s population was living in countries where governments imposed high restrictions on religion […]
All of the 730 survey respondents work as professional prison chaplains or religious services coordinators in state prisons, including privately run prisons that operate under state contracts. Their workplace environs vary, with most serving in facilities designed for male inmates and housing an average of about 2,000 inmates (mean = 1,965 inmates). The chaplains are […]
Religion and religious people have always been a presence in American prisons. Indeed, some of the country’s first prisons were established at the urging of and with help from people of faith, who hoped that inmates could be reformed during their confinement.1 Today, religious people still play an important role in the U.S. criminal justice […]
Restrictions on religious beliefs and practices rose in 23 of the world’s 198 countries (12%), decreased in 12 countries (6%) and remained essentially unchanged in 163 countries (82%) between mid-2006 and mid-2009, a new Pew Forum report shows. More than 2.2 billion people – nearly a third of the world’s population – live in the 23 countries with increasing government restrictions or social hostilities involving religion.
Muslim Americans appear to be highly assimilated into American society and they are largely content with their lives. More than six-in-ten do not see a conflict between being a devout Muslim and living in a modern society, and a similar number say that most Muslims coming to the U.S. today want to adopt an American […]
In a conference call with journalists, Pew Forum staff members discussed the findings of a Pew Forum survey, Mormons in America: Certain in Their Beliefs, Uncertain of Their Place in Society. The survey examines Mormons’ religious beliefs and practices, political ideology, and attitudes toward their faith, family life, the media and society.
During the three-year period from mid-2006 to mid-2009, national, provincial or local governments harassed or attempted to intimidate religious groups in 142 of the 198 countries or territories included in this study (72%). Harassment of religious groups by individuals or groups in society was even more widespread, occurring in 153 countries (77%). Harassment and intimidation […]
Most Muslim Americans say religion is very important in their lives, two-thirds pray every day (including 48% who pray all five salah daily), and nearly half attend religious services at a mosque at least once a week. U.S. Muslims’ religious beliefs tend to be highly orthodox; for example, 92% believe in the Day of Judgment […]