Publications

The controversy ignited by the Massachusetts High Court ruling allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry continues to rage in state courts and legislatures as well as in churches across the nation.

U.S. Catholics Occupy Something of a Middle Ground in the Catholic Faith

Timeline provided by Stateline.org « Return to the gay marriage issue page  A history of same-sex marriage laws Important events are listed in red  1993 Hawaii Supreme Court rules the state must show a compelling reason to ban same-sex marriage and orders a lower court to hear a case seeking the right of same-sex couples […]

Updated Nov. 21, 2008 In this article: The Debate Begins The Goodridge Case and Its Aftermath The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ignited a nationwide debate in late 2003 when it ruled that the state must allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. Almost overnight, same-sex marriage became a major national issue, pitting religious and social […]

Washington, D.C. Pope Benedict XVI’s first visit to the U.S. as pontiff comes amid a turbulent election year. He has planned stops at the White House, the U.N. and the Sept. 11 “Ground Zero” site. How should we assess the first three years of Pope Benedict’s papacy? How has the global role and influence of […]

Democrats are finding out that being in the news isn’t necessarily good news. A week after Barack Obama was besieged by the Rev. Wright furor, Hillary Clinton’s memory and veracity came under fire. Does all this make John McCain the big winner?

Summary of Findings Barack Obama’s March 18th speech on race and politics is arguably the biggest political event of the campaign so far. Fully 85% of Americans say they heard at least a little about Obama’s speech, and most (54%) say they heard a lot about it. Not surprisingly, Barack Obama has been far and […]

Summary of Findings The videos of Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s controversial sermons and Barack Obama’s subsequent speech on race and politics have attracted more public attention than any events thus far in the 2008 presidential campaign. A majority of the public (51%) said they heard “a lot” about the videos, and an even larger percentage (54%) […]

In a week in which the campaign overwhelmingly dominated the talk airwaves, the hottest issue was Obama’s speech aimed at dampening the Rev. Jeremiah Wright controversy. In the talk show universe, the response was impassioned, but the verdict was far from unanimous.