Religion & Government

The Census Bureau has collected data on Americans’ income, race, ethnicity, housing and other things, but it has never directly asked about their religion.

While there has been a decades-long decline in the Christian share of U.S. adults, 88% of the voting members in the new 118th Congress identify as Christian. That is only a few points lower than their share in the late 1970s.

There has been a jump in the share of U.S. adults who see the Supreme Court as “friendly” toward religion.

Our study analyzes 198 countries and territories and is based on policies and events in 2020, the most recent year for which data is available.

Nearly a quarter of countries used force to prevent religious gatherings during the pandemic; other government restrictions and social hostilities related to religion remained fairly stable.

But they hold differing opinions about what that phrase means, and two-thirds of U.S. adults say churches should keep out of politics.

Here are key findings from our research on the relationship between religion and government in the U.S. and Americans' views on the issue.

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.