transcript | May 4, 2009

Religion and Science: Conflict or Harmony?

Some of the nation’s leading journalists gathered in Key West, Fla., in May 2009 for the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life’s Faith Angle Conference on religion, politics and public life. Francis S. Collins, the former director of the Human Genome Project, discussed why he believes religion and science are compatible and why the […]

report | Apr 30, 2009

Public Takes Conservative Turn on Gun Control, Abortion

Overview Public attitudes on a pair of contentious national issues – gun control and abortion – have moved in a more conservative direction over the past year. In both cases, the changes have been driven in part by relatively large shifts among men, while opinions among women have not changed very much. For the first […]

report | Apr 30, 2009

Obama, Catholics and the Notre Dame Commencement

Most Catholics who have heard about the issue support the University of Notre Dame’s decision to invite President Barack Obama to speak and receive an honorary degree at its May 17 commencement, even though he supports abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research. But a new poll conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on […]

feature | Apr 29, 2009

The Religious Dimensions of the Torture Debate

Updated May 7, 2009 Amid intense public debate over the use of torture against suspected terrorists, an analysis by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life of a new survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press illustrates differences in the views of four major religious traditions in […]

report | Apr 27, 2009

New Pew Forum Poll Explores Why Americans Change Religious Affiliation

Diverse Reasons, but Distinct Patterns Emerge A new survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life finds that Americans change their religious affiliation early and often, and the reasons they give for changing—or leaving religion altogether—differ widely depending on the origin and destination of the convert. CONTACT Mary SchultzCommunications Manager202.419.4556mschultz@pewresearch.org/religion “Faith […]

report | Apr 27, 2009

Faith in Flux

Revised February 2011* Americans change religious affiliation early and often. In total, about half of American adults have changed religious affiliation at least once during their lives. Most people who change their religion leave their childhood faith before age 24, and many of those who change religion do so more than once. These are among […]

feature | Apr 23, 2009

Religion in South Africa 15 Years After the End of Apartheid

On April 27, 1994, South Africa held its first democratic elections after the fall of the apartheid system of racial segregation. Religion played an important role in bringing about this change: Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his outspoken opposition to apartheid, and many of South Africa’s churches were […]

report | Apr 16, 2009

Religious Groups’ Views on Global Warming

The unaffiliated (58%) are the most likely to say there is solid evidence the earth is warming because of human activity while white evangelical Protestants (34%) are the least likely to believe in man-made global warming.

feature | Apr 9, 2009

Christians’ Views on the Return of Christ

For many Christians, Easter is the most important religious holiday of the year – a time to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and look forward to the Second Coming. According to a 2006 survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People & […]

feature | Apr 2, 2009

Not All Nonbelievers Call Themselves Atheists

American Atheists, a group that advocates on behalf of atheists in the U.S., will hold its national convention later this month. According to the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, 5% of American adults say they do not believe in God or a universal spirit, […]

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Signature Reports

data essay | Dec 21, 2022

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.

report | Jun 29, 2021

Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation

Indians see religious tolerance as a central part of who they are as a nation. Across the major religious groups, most people say it is very important to respect all religions to be “truly Indian.”

report | Feb 16, 2021

Faith Among Black Americans

Today, most Black adults say they rely on prayer to help make major decisions, and view opposing racism as essential to their religious faith.

report | May 12, 2015

America’s Changing Religious Landscape

The Christian share of the U.S. population is declining, while the share of Americans who do not identify with any organized religion is growing. These changes affect all regions in the country and many demographic groups.

Features