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    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 […]

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    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 […]

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    Religious Groups’ Views on Global Warming

    Earth Day takes place on April 22 each year. One issue at the center of public discussions about the environment is global warming: whether it is occurring and what its causes might be. An analysis by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life of a 2008 survey conducted by the Pew Research […]

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    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 & […]

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    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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    Most Mainline Protestants Say Society Should Accept Homosexuality

    Members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, two mainline Protestant denominations, are considering whether to allow the ordination of non-celibate gays and lesbians as members of their clergy. The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, finds that majorities of […]

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    Is a Bad Economy Good for Church Attendance?

    Contrary to recent media reports suggesting that the country’s economic troubles have led to higher levels of church attendance, a Pew Forum analysis of polls by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press finds that while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has shed over half its value since October 2007, there has […]

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    Religious Groups Agree: Fixing the Nation’s Economy Is Job One

    In a Feb. 24 address to Congress, President Barack Obama vowed to tackle the problems at the root of the nation’s faltering economy. While there is general agreement among religious groups that strengthening the economy should be a top policy priority for the government, people of different faiths are divided in their support for addressing […]

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    The Stronger Sex — Spiritually Speaking

    March is Women’s History Month. A new analysis of data from the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, finds that women are more religious than men on a variety of measures. Data: Pew Forum U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted in 2007, released in 2008.

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    Religiously Mixed Couples: Cupid’s Arrow Often Hits People of Different Faiths

    The U.S. Religious Landscape Surveyfinds that more than one-in-four (27%) American adults who are married or living with a partner are in religiously mixed relationships. If people from different Protestant denominational families are included – for example, a marriage between a Methodist and a Lutheran – nearly four-in-ten (37%) couples are religiously mixed. The survey, […]