Some major U.S. religious groups differ from their members on the death penalty
Many large religious groups have taken positions in opposition to the death penalty even though that stance is sometimes at odds with the opinions of their adherents.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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Jindal followed a rare path, from Hinduism to Catholicism
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a newly declared Republican candidate for president, is hoping to attract support from conservative evangelical Christian voters. Jindal himself is a Catholic, and, as the son of immigrants from Hindu-majority India, was raised in the Hindu faith.
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U.S. Catholics less positive toward pope on environment, sex abuse scandal than other issues
55% of Catholics rated Francis positively on addressing sex abuse, and 53% gave him high marks on environmental issues. But these were two out of nine areas in which Francis drew the least positive ratings.
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A look at popes and their encyclicals
Popes have written encyclicals on an array of topics, ranging from the nature of work to the virginity of Jesus’ mother, Mary.
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Lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans differ from general public in their religious affiliations
A majority of LGB adults are religiously affiliated, but they are much less likely to be Christian than the general public and are more drawn to smaller, non-Christian denominations.
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Mormons more likely to marry, have more children than other U.S. religious groups
Two-thirds (66%) of U.S. Mormon adults are currently married, down slightly from 71% in 2007 – but still high compared with current rates among Christians overall (52%) and U.S. adults overall (48%).
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Growing share of U.S. immigrants have no religious affiliation
One-in-five immigrants identified themselves as unaffiliated in 2014, an increase of 4 percentage points from the 16% who said so in 2007.
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Mainline Protestants make up shrinking number of U.S. adults
In recent years, the share of Americans who identify with mainline Protestantism has been shrinking significantly, a trend driven partly by generational change.
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Compared with other Christian groups, evangelicals’ dropoff is less steep
One big reason evangelical Protestants have not declined at the same rate as other major Christian groups is that they are gaining new converts at a greater rate than they are losing people who were raised in the tradition.
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Muslims expected to surpass Jews as second-largest U.S. religious group
If current demographic trends hold, by 2050, Muslims are projected to be more numerous in the U.S. than people who identify as Jewish on the basis of religion.
