report | Dec 3, 2007

Religion and Secularism: The American Experience

Professor Wilfred McClay argues that America’s particular brand of secularism, together with some features of Christianity, have produced a unique if imperfect mingling of religion and government in the country’s public life.

transcript | Dec 3, 2007

Religion and Secularism: The American Experience

Pew Forum Faith Angle Conference Key West, Florida Watch more event video on the multimedia page. More from the December 2007 Faith Angle Conference Religious Literacy: What Every American Should Know The Religion Factor in the 2008 Election More: Research, news, blogs Some of the nation’s leading journalists gathered in Key West, Fla., in December, […]

report | May 4, 2007

Can Secular Democracy Survive in Turkey?

by Robert Ruby, Senior Editor, Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life By nominating an observant Muslim for the Turkish presidency, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan inadvertently highlighted deep-rooted tensions about the role of religion in the nation’s political life. These tensions were already evident in recent Pew Global Attitudes surveys that found growing doubts […]

report | Apr 4, 2006

God is Alive and Well in America

Forty years after a Time cover famously asked, "Is God Dead?" polls find the Almighty thriving in the nation's collective consciousness.

report | Dec 9, 2005

100th Anniversary of Secularism in France

Introduction December 9, 2005, marks the 100th anniversary of secularism in France, known as “laïcité.” In 1905 the French government passed a law stipulating “the separation of churches and the state,” thus enshrining secularism as a national principle. The law, which barred the state from officially recognizing, funding or endorsing religious groups, represented a major […]

transcript | Dec 5, 2005

Believing Without Belonging: Just How Secular Is Europe?

Key West, Florida Some of the nation’s leading journalists gathered in Key West, Florida, in December 2005 for the Pew Forum’s biannual Faith Angle Conference on religion, politics and public life. Conference speaker Grace Davie, who has a chair in the Sociology of Religion at the University of Exeter and is the director of the […]

transcript | Apr 21, 2005

Secular Europe and Religious America: Implications for Transatlantic Relations

Pew Research Center Washington, D.C. The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Council on Foreign Relations co-hosted a luncheon roundtable entitled “Secular Europe and Religious America: Implications for Transatlantic Relations” on April 21, 2005 at the Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C. According to a 2002 Pew Global Attitudes survey, there are […]

report | Jul 1, 2004

One Electorate Under God? A Dialogue on Religion and American Politics

Pew Forum Dialogues on Religion & Public Life E.J. Dionne Jr., Jean Bethke Elshtain, Kayla Drogosz, Series Editors Executive Summary (.pdf) Read about the Pew Forum Dialogues Series The United States has been described as a nation with the soul of a church. Religion is discussed more explicitly and more urgently in American politics than […]

report | Jun 14, 2004

Supreme Court Upholds ’Under God’ in Pledge of Allegiance

Court Overturns Lower Court Ruling on Legal Technicality The Supreme Court today preserved the term “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, reversing an earlier ruling by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that teacher-led recitation of the Pledge, when it contained the words “under God,” was unconstitutional. CONTACT Mary SchultzCommunications Manager202.419.4556mschultz@pewresearch.org/religion The Court […]

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