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Short-form data and analysis from Pew Research Center writers and social scientists. To view all our reports and publications, visit our main Publications page.

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Stockton, Alabama, USA - April 22, 2023: Montpelier Methodist Church is pictured in Baldwin County Bicentennial Park in Stockton, Alabama. The church was built in 1895.

How religion declines around the world

Religion in a country tends to decline in three transitional stages that unfold across generations, a new paper using Center data proposes.

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  • short reads

    Countries Worry About China’s Military Power

    That’s the number of countries, among the 47 nations covered in the 2007 Pew Global Attitudes survey, in which majorities or pluralities called China’s growing military power a “bad thing.”

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    Muslim Americans Who Favor Big Government

    That’s the percentage of Muslim Americans who say they prefer a bigger government that provides more services (70%) over a smaller government providing fewer services (21%).

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    Say Government Responsible for the Helpless

    That’s the large share of the public that now agrees that the government has a responsibility “to take care of people who can’t take care of themselves” — up from 61% in 2002.

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    Going to the Dogs…and Cats

    Nearly six-in-ten (57%) of all adults in this country own a pet or pets of one kind or another, with dog owners (39% of all adults) outnumbering cat owners (23%) — and owners of all other pets trailing far behind, a Pew survey finds.

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    Political Preaching from the Pulpit

    That’s the small percentage of churchgoing voters who said they were urged to vote for particular candidates or parties by their clergy or other religious groups. However, among regular churchgoers, nearly three-in-ten (27%) say that information about political parties or candidates in the recent election was available at their place of worship in 2006.

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    Support Stem Cell Research

    That’s the proportion of the U.S. public that believes that it is more important to conduct stem cell research that may result in new medical cures than to avoid destroying the potential life of embryos involved in such research.

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    Should Mosques Express Political Views?

    That’s the percentage of Muslim Americans who say that mosques should express their views on day-to-day social and political matters, 49% of U.S. Muslims take the opposite view.

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    Support Public Library Book Banning

    That’s the percentage of U.S. adults who completely (30%) or mostly (16%) agree that “books that contain dangerous ideas should be banned from public libraries” — the lowest level of support in 20 years.

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    Support the Death Penalty

    That’s the number of Americans who support the death penalty for persons convicted of murder, somewhat fewer than in the late 1990s, but little changed since 2001.

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    Americans Living Comfortably

    That’s the number of adults in this country who say they are living comfortably; another three-in-ten (28%) say they have enough money to meet expenses with a little left over for extras.