Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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During the Arab Spring, many world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, expressed hope that “this season of change” would lead to greater freedoms for the people of the Middle East and North Africa, including fewer restrictions on religion.1 But a new study by the Pew Research Center finds that hopes for greater religious freedom […]
This is the fourth in a series of reports by the Pew Research Center analyzing the extent to which governments and societies around the world impinge on religious beliefs and practices. As part of the original study, published in 2009, Pew Research developed two indexes – a Government Restrictions Index and a Social Hostilities Index […]
This is the fourth time the Pew Research Center has measured restrictions on religion around the globe.24 This report, which includes data for the year ending Dec. 31, 2011, follows the same methodology as Pew Research’s September 2012 report, “Rising Tide of Restrictions on Religion.” Pew Research uses two 10-point indexes – the Government Restrictions […]
As Canadians prepare to celebrate Canada Day on July 1, a new Pew Research Center analysis of Canadian census and survey data finds that more Canadians belong to minority faiths than ever before. In addition, the number of Canadians with no religious affiliation has been rising, and attendance at religious services has been dropping.
About half of Americans say the growing number of “people who are not religious” is bad for American society. But a similar share say either that this trend is good or that it does not make much difference, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center.
Government Restrictions on Religion To assess the level of restrictions on religion by governments around the world, the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life selected the following 20 questions for the Government Restrictions Index (GRI). The Pew Research staff then combed through 19 published sources of information, including reports by the U.S. […]
The share of the world’s countries with high or very high restrictions on religion has increased significantly in recent years, as documented in this study and previous Pew Research Center reports.1 Governments and societies around the world have attempted to address the rising tide of restrictions through a variety of initiatives and actions, from encouraging […]