Publications

LEGAL REPORT January 11, 2012

In Brief: Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC

On Oct. 5, 2011, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a case that could help determine how much latitude religious organizations have in making employment decisions about clergy and others who perform religious duties.

ANALYSIS January 11, 2012

Religion and the 2012 New Hampshire Republican Primary

Interviews conducted as voters left the polls in the 2012 GOP primary show that Mitt Romney was the winner among born-again evangelical Christians as well as among non-evangelical voters.

ANALYSIS January 6, 2012

Majority Continues to Support Death Penalty

A November 2011 survey finds continued majority support for the death penalty in the U.S. Compared with 20 years ago, however, there is more concern today among death penalty opponents about flaws in the justice system and the possibility that innocent people could be put to death.

ANALYSIS January 4, 2012

Religion and the 2012 Iowa Republican Caucuses

Polling conducted as voters entered the 2012 Iowa caucuses shows a clear split between born-again evangelical Christians, who favored Rick Santorum, and other voters, who favored Mitt Romney.

ANALYSIS December 19, 2011

Global Christianity

A comprehensive demographic study finds that there are 2.18 billion Christians of all ages around the world, representing nearly a third of the estimated 2010 global population of 6.9 billion. Christians are also geographically widespread, and no single region can indisputably claim to be the center of global Christianity.

EVENT TRANSCRIPT December 19, 2011

Global Christianity: Event Transcript

In a conference call with journalists, Pew Forum staff members discussed the findings of a new report, Global Christianity: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Christian Population.

ANALYSIS December 16, 2011

Religion and the GOP Nomination Race: December Update

Newt Gingrich currently holds a 35% to 21% lead over Mitt Romney among Republican and Republican-leaning voters who say they are very likely to vote in the GOP primaries or caucuses, and his lead is even larger among white evangelical GOP voters.

POLL November 23, 2011

Romney's Mormon Faith Likely a Factor in Primaries, Not in a General Election

A new survey finds that there has been virtually no change in Americans' impressions of the Mormon faith over the past four years. Meanwhile, about half of all voters, and 60% of evangelical Republicans, know that Mitt Romney is a Mormon. Romney’s religion has implications for his nomination run but not for the general election should he be nominated as his party’s standard bearer.

ANALYSIS November 21, 2011

Lobbying for the Faithful

A new report gives a brief history of organized religious advocacy in Washington, D.C., and examines the major characteristics of religion-related advocacy. A related online directory includes profiles of 216 groups currently or recently active in the nation’s capital.

EVENT TRANSCRIPT November 21, 2011

Lobbying for the Faithful: Event Transcript

A November 2011 Pew Forum report gave a brief history of organized religious advocacy in Washington, D.C., and examined the major characteristics of religion-related advocacy. The Pew Forum hosted an event to discuss the report’s key findings with journalists, policymakers and representatives from organizations that advocate on religion-related issues in Washington.

ANALYSIS November 8, 2011

Presidential Preferences of Religious Groups: Early Polling

One year out from the presidential election, Romney and Perry had roughly equal support among registered Republican and Republican-leaning evangelicals, and both led Obama in a hypothetical matchup.

ANALYSIS September 23, 2011

Public Opinion on the Death Penalty

A 2010 Pew Research Center survey found that most Americans (62%) continue to express support for the death penalty for persons convicted of murder, while 30% oppose it. This is nearly identical to the level of support in 2007 but somewhat lower than earlier in the 2000s and especially the 1990s.

POLL August 30, 2011

Muslim Americans: No Signs of Growth in Alienation or Support for Extremism

As the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaches, a comprehensive public opinion survey by the Pew Research Center finds no indication of increased alienation or anger among Muslim Americans in response to growing concerns about home-grown Islamic terrorists, controversies about the building of mosques and other pressures on this high-profile minority group in recent years. Nor does the new polling provide any evidence of rising support for Islamic extremism among Muslim Americans.

GRAPHIC August 30, 2011

Infographic: Muslim Americans

This slideshow highlights some of the findings from the new report, Muslim Americans: No Signs of Growth in Alienation or Support for Extremism.

ANALYSIS August 9, 2011

Rising Restrictions on Religion

Restrictions on religious beliefs and practices rose in 23 of the world’s 198 countries (12%), decreased in 12 countries (6%) and remained essentially unchanged in 163 countries (82%) between mid-2006 and mid-2009, a new Pew Forum report shows. More than 2.2 billion people – nearly a third of the world’s population – live in the 23 countries with increasing government restrictions or social hostilities involving religion.

POLL June 22, 2011

Global Survey of Evangelical Protestant Leaders

Evangelical Protestant leaders who live in the Global South generally are optimistic about the prospects for evangelicalism in their countries: 71% expect that five years from now the state of evangelicalism in their countries will be better than it is today. But those who live in the Global North expect that the state of evangelicalism in their countries will either stay about the same (21%) or worsen (33%) over the next five years.

GRAPHIC April 28, 2011

National Day of Prayer

A federal appeals court recently overturned a lower court ruling that had declared the National Day of Prayer to be unconstitutional. The day of prayer, established by Congress in 1952, occurs annually on the first Thursday in May, which this year falls on May 5.

LEGAL REPORT March 31, 2011

Churches in Court

Whenever churches or religious organizations find themselves involved in civil litigation, courts first must determine whether the First Amendment’s religion clauses bestow a unique legal status on religious organizations that puts some of their decisions and actions beyond the reach of civil laws.

POLL February 28, 2011

Resources on the Future of the Global Muslim Population

Explore the Future of the Global Muslim Population report and related resources.

ANALYSIS February 24, 2011

Religion in the News: Islam Was No. 1 Topic in 2010

Events and controversies related to Islam dominated U.S. press coverage of religion in 2010, bumping the Catholic Church from the top spot, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

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