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Beliefs & Practices

Examination of religious beliefs and practices provides insight into religion’s influence on individuals and communities worldwide. Explore Pew Forum publications—including public opinion polls, demographic reports, research studies, event transcripts and interviews—about religious beliefs and practices:

 

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LEGAL REPORT April 6, 2010
In Brief: Christian Legal Society v. Martinez
On April 19, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, a case that will determine whether a public institution can refuse to officially recognize a religiously based organization that prevents those who do not share its religious and moral values from becoming voting members.
INTERVIEW December 3, 2009
Sikh-Americans and Religious Liberty
With their distinctive appearance and religious practices, Sikh-Americans often find themselves at the center of workplace discrimination cases and other controversies involving their religious rights. To better understand religious liberty and accommodation issues involving Sikh-Americans, the Pew Forum turns to church-state scholar Robert W. Tuttle.
EVENT TRANSCRIPT September 26, 2006
God's Country? Evangelicals and U.S. Foreign Policy
In his recent article in Foreign Affairs, Walter Russell Mead argues that as U.S. evangelicals exert increasing political influence, they are becoming a powerful force in foreign affairs. In recent years, evangelicals have voted overwhelmingly Rep...
INTERVIEW May 26, 2006
Federal Court Sends Back Georgia Evolution Sticker Case
The Pew Forum's legal expert David Masci explains the impact of the latest legal ruling in the battle over teaching evolution in American public schools.
ANALYSIS April 6, 2006
The Supreme Court's Decision in Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita
Unanimous Court Upholds Group's Right to Use Illegal Drug in Worship Services Download the Decision Analysis Download the Legal Backgrounder On Feb. 29, 2006, the Supreme Court ruled that the adherents of a small religious group can continue, for ...
EVENT TRANSCRIPT December 5, 2005
Believing Without Belonging: Just How Secular Is Europe?
Some of the nation's leading journalists gathered in Key West, Florida, in December 2005 for the Pew Forum's biannual Faith Angle Conference on religion, politics and public life. Conference speaker Grace Davie, who has a chair in the Sociology of...
EVENT TRANSCRIPT December 1, 2005
Judicial Faith? Ideology, Religion and the Rule of Law: A Conversation with Noah Feldman
Just weeks before the Senate confirmation hearings of Judge Samuel A. Alito, President Bush's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, the Forum held a discussion for journalists and other policy leaders on the role of religion in the judicial confirma...
LEGAL REPORT September 22, 2005
From Darwin to Dover: An Overview of Important Cases in the Evolution Debate
Download the Legal Backgrounder (533K .pdf) Almost 150 years after Charles Darwin published his groundbreaking theory on the origins of life, Americans are still fighting over evolution. If anything, the controversy is growing in both size and int...
EVENT TRANSCRIPT April 21, 2005
Secular Europe and Religious America: Implications for Transatlantic Relations
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Council on Foreign Relations co-hosted a luncheon roundtable entitled "Secular Europe and Religious America: Implications for Transatlantic Relations" on April 21, 2005 at the Pew Resea...
LEGAL REPORT March 19, 2004
One Nation Under God? Pledge of Allegiance Case
Download full backgrounder The Forum's Pledge of Allegiance Issue Backgrounder, written by legal scholars and published in March 2004, details the history of the Pledge and offers analysis of the legal questions raised in Elk Grove Unified School ...