Some Americans clearly long for a more avowedly religious and explicitly Christian country, a March survey finds. However, a clear majority of Americans do not accept these views.
Social hostilities around the world involving religion declined in 2019 to the lowest level in five years.
Social hostilities involving religion, including violence and harassment against religious groups by private individuals and groups, declined in 2019, according to Pew Research Center’s 12th annual study of global restrictions on religion, which examines 198 countries and territories.
Apart from its political makeup, the new Congress differs from prior ones in other ways, including its demographics.
Although Catholicism has long been one of the largest U.S. religious groups, John F. Kennedy and Joe Biden are the only Catholic presidents.
When it comes to religious affiliation, the 117th U.S. Congress looks similar to the previous Congress but quite different from Americans overall.
Government restrictions in 2018 were at their highest level since 2007, when Pew Research Center began tracking these trends.
In 2018, the global median level of government restrictions on religion – that is, laws, policies and actions by officials that impinge on religious beliefs and practices – continued to climb, reaching an all-time high since Pew Research Center began tracking these trends in 2007.
The separation of church and state has come under scrutiny again after the Supreme Court sided with religious conservatives in several rulings.
When it comes to abortion, members of Congress are starkly divided by party. Yet the partisan divide among Americans themselves is less stark.
