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How the Media Have Handled Palin’s Faith
Who is Sarah Palin? The question has dominated campaign coverage in the weeks since her nomination as John McCain’s running mate. In the mainstream media at least, the answer has focused almost as much on her family life as on her public record. But despite that focus, and the debate over her beliefs, coverage of […]
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Pastors To Protest IRS Rules on Political Advocacy
On Sept. 28, pastors from 20 states will give politically based sermons from the pulpit as part of a protest organized by the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative legal-advocacy group. The protest will challenge an Internal Revenue Code restriction that limits the political activities of charitable organizations – including churches and other religious groups – […]
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Unfavorable Views of Jews and Muslims on the Increase in Europe
Growing numbers of people in several major European countries say they have an unfavorable opinion of Jews, and opinions of Muslims also are more negative than they were several years ago. These findings are from a new Pew Global Attitudes Project report, based on data gathered from 24 countries from regions throughout the world, that examine worldwide religiosity and take a close look at Muslim publics’ attitudes toward terrorism, Osama bin Laden, Hamas, Hezbollah and more.
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Palin V.P. Nomination Puts Pentecostalism in the Spotlight
From the time she was a teenager until 2002, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin attended a church affiliated with the Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal Christian denomination in the U.S. Pentecostalism emphasizes such practices as speaking in tongues, prophesying, divine healing and other miraculous signs of the Holy Spirit, which it believes are […]
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Analyzing the Fall Campaign: Religion and the Presidential Election
With less than two months before the presidential election in November, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life invited two senior researchers and a group of leading journalists to discuss recent findings on the role religion is playing in the presidential race. Scott Keeter, director of survey research at the Pew Research Center, said […]
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On Ceremonial Occasions, May the Government Invoke a Deity?
School children utter the phrase “one nation under God” as part of the Pledge of Allegiance. The national motto, “In God We Trust,” appears on U.S. currency. Congress and many state legislatures start their sessions with prayers, and the U.S. Supreme Court opens oral arguments with the invocation “God save the United States and this […]
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More Americans Question Religion’s Role In Politics
Overview Some Americans are having a change of heart about mixing religion and politics. A new survey finds a narrow majority of the public saying that churches and other houses of worship should keep out of political matters and not express their views on day-to-day social and political matters. For a decade, majorities of Americans […]
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More Americans Question Religion’s Role in Politics
Some Americans are having a change of heart about mixing religion and politics. A new survey finds a narrow majority of the public saying that churches and other houses of worship should keep out of political matters and not express their views on day-to-day social and political matters. For a decade, majorities of Americans had […]
Signature Reports
47% of U.S. Adults Have a Personal or Family Connection to Catholicism
Nearly half of U.S. adults are connected to Catholicism. Read about going to Mass, Communion, confession and more.
How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020
Christians remain the largest religious group, and Muslims grew the fastest from 2010 to 2020. Read how the global share of Buddhists, Hindus, Jews and the religiously unaffiliated changed.
Decline of Christianity in the U.S. Has Slowed, May Have Leveled Off
After years of decline, the U.S. Christian share now shows signs of leveling off. The new Religious Landscape Study explores trends in identity, beliefs and practices.
Key Findings From the Global Religious Futures Project
The Global Religious Futures (GRF) project is jointly funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and The John Templeton Foundation. Here are some big-picture findings from the GRF, together with context from other Pew Research Center studies.
