Social hostilities toward religion declined in 2013, while government restrictions on religious beliefs and practices remained level. Harassment of Jews, however, reached a seven-year high.
The Jewish population in Europe has dropped significantly over the last several decades – most dramatically in Eastern Europe and the countries that make up the former Soviet Union.
U.S. Christians, as a whole, express negative feelings toward atheists, and the chilliness is reciprocated, according to a Pew Research survey on how Americans rate eight religious groups.
When asked to rate religious groups on a “feeling thermometer” ranging from 0 to 100, Americans rate Jews, Catholics and evangelical Christians warmly and atheists and Muslims more coldly.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews have been at the center of a controversy in Israel over whether they should be subject to the draft. Their counterparts in the U.S. tend to be more insular than other Jews.
Highlights from the Pew Research Survey on Jewish American attitudes on Jewish identity, marriage patterns, child rearing, attitudes towards Israel, and Jewish religious beliefs and practices.