Despite their deep differences over the causes and consequences of the terror attacks, opinion leaders in every region agree that Sept. 11 marked the beginning of a new chapter in world history. About eight-in-ten (78%) U.S. respondents, and virtually the same number elsewhere, believe that the terrorist attacks and subsequent conflict opened a new era. […]
Despite their deep differences over the causes and consequences of the terror attacks, opinion leaders in every region agree that Sept. 11 marked the beginning of a new chapter in world history. About eight-in-ten (78%) U.S. respondents, and virtually the same number elsewhere, believe that the terrorist attacks and subsequent conflict opened a new era. […]
Personal accounts An eyewitness account johnreinan on The Well Tue 11 Sep ’01 This is an eyewitness account from a friend of mine. He e-mailed it to another friend, who forwarded it to me. I’m not able to contact my friend to get his permission to post this, so I’m leaving off his name. But […]
In response to the recent introduction of legislation in Congress to prohibit human cloning, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life hosted a “rapid response” discussion of religious perspectives on the issue. Forum Co-Chair Jean Bethke Elshtain explained that the purpose was to allow scientific experts “to address the ethical underpinnings their own religious […]
In general, the public is not unduly concerned over the nation’s growing religious diversity. However, certain groups are worried about a rise of secularism. More generally, there is fairly broad dissatisfaction with the way the news media and Hollywood treat religion and religious people. Less than half of Americans (45%) say the news media is […]
The public acknowledges that religious organizations play a constructive role in American life. Three-quarters of Americans say churches, synagogues and other houses of worship contribute to solving important social problems. Roughly one-quarter say churches contribute a great deal to solving important problems, and those who hold this view are among the most likely to strongly […]
Introduction and Summary As religion plays a more prominent role in public life, sharp divisions of opinion about the mixing of church and state are apparent. Most notably, while the public expresses strong support for the idea of faith-based groups receiving government funding to provide social services, in practice, it has many reservations. Most Americans […]
Religion and Politics: The Ambivalent Majority Americans embrace a role for religion in the nation’s political life, but they are conflicted over the extent and contours of that involvement. Compared to a generation ago, more people are comfortable with churches expressing opinions on social and political matters, yet a solid majority of voters say they […]
Design of the Influential Americans Survey Sample The results of the Opinion Leaders survey are based on Americans who are influential in their chosen field. The sample was designed to represent these Influentials in ten professional areas of expertise: media; business and finance; foreign affairs; defense; state and local government; think tanks and academia; religious […]
Network TV News Credibility Slips In a separate survey by the Center, the public perception of the believability of two network news anchors eroded significantly, as did the believability of two news networks, compared to three years ago. Tom Brokaw, NBC News, and CBS News were the exceptions, experiencing only statistically insignificant decreases in this […]