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Explore Pew Forum publications—including public opinion polls, demographic reports, research studies, event transcripts and interviews—on key issues at the intersection of religion and public affairs:

 

Abortion Education Politics & Elections
Church-State Law Gay Marriage & Homosexuality Science & Bioethics
Death Penalty Government Social Welfare

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ANALYSIS July 9, 2009
Public Opinion on Gay Marriage: Opponents Consistently Outnumber Supporters
Based on an April 2009 poll, this report includes a discussion of public opinion on gay marriage, same-sex unions and adoption by same-sex couples.
ANALYSIS July 9, 2009
Gay Marriage Around the World
In many countries around the globe, the institution of marriage is in flux as governments consider whether to allow gay and lesbian couples the right to marry or enter into other legally recognized forms of domestic partnership. Currently, countries around the world, mostly in Europe, offer varying levels of marriage rights to gay couples.
GRAPHIC July 9, 2009
State Policies on Same-Sex Marriage
This graphic illustrates the states with constitutional amendments banning gay marriage as well as states where gay marriage is legal. 
EVENT TRANSCRIPT June 11, 2009
Government Partnerships With Faith-Based Organizations: Looking Back, Moving Forward
The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, established by President Barack Obama, plans to expand partnerships between the government and faith-based and community organizations for the delivery of social services.
INTERVIEW May 21, 2009
A Clash of Rights? Gay Marriage and the Free Exercise of Religion
The Pew Forum turns to professors Robert W. Tuttle and Ira "Chip" Lupu of The George Washington University Law School to discuss how some states are trying to reconcile potential conflicts between the legalization of gay marriage and the free exercise of religion.
LEGAL REPORT May 14, 2009
Shifting Boundaries
The debate over government funding of religious institutions raises some thorny issues in the discussion about the appropriate relationship between church and state. Most legal scholars agree that the Constitution limits at least some government funding of religion but disagree sharply on exactly what is permissible.
ANALYSIS May 14, 2009
Catholic Opinion on Notre Dame Controversy Differs by Church Attendance
A recent survey by the Pew Forum found that about half of American Catholics have heard at least a little about the controversy over the University of Notre Dame's decision to invite President Barack Obama to speak at the university's May 17 commencement and receive an honorary degree.
ANALYSIS May 7, 2009
The Torture Debate: A Closer Look
A web graphic published April 29, 2009, by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life has generated a great deal of attention and interest. Religion is only one of many factors correlated with views on the justifiability of torture.
EVENT TRANSCRIPT May 4, 2009
Religion and Science: Conflict or Harmony?
Leading journalists gathered in Key West, Fla., in May 2009 for the Pew Forum's Faith Angle Conference. Francis S. Collins, former director of the Human Genome Project, discussed why he believes religion and science are compatible and why the current conflict over evolution vs. faith is unnecessary.
EVENT TRANSCRIPT May 4, 2009
Obama's Favorite Theologian? A Short Course on Reinhold Niebuhr
 Journalists gathered in Key West, Fla., in May 2009 for the Pew Forum's biannual Faith Angle Conference on religion, politics and public life. Wilfred McClay, a historian specializing in American intellectual history, offered an overview of Reinhold Niebuhr's unique form of progressive Christianity.
POLL April 30, 2009
Obama, Catholics and the Notre Dame Commencement
Most Catholics who have heard about the issue support Notre Dame's decision to invite President Obama to speak at its May 17 commencement even though he supports abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research. But a poll finds a deep division on this issue between the most-observant Catholics and those who are less observant.
ANALYSIS April 29, 2009
The Religious Dimensions of the Torture Debate
An analysis by the Pew Forum 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 the U.S. about whether torture of suspected terrorists can be justified.
ANALYSIS April 16, 2009
Religious Groups' Views on Global Warming
An analysis by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life of a 2008 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press examines views on global warming among major religious traditions in the U.S. 
ANALYSIS March 19, 2009
Most Mainline Protestants Say Society Should Accept Homosexuality
The Pew Forum's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey finds that majorities of members two mainline Protestant denominations say that homosexuality is a way of life that should be accepted by society.
EVENT TRANSCRIPT March 17, 2009
The Political Obligations of Catholics: A Conversation With the Most Rev. Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Denver
What should we expect from Catholic leaders with respect to the policy decisions of President Obama and those of future administrations? To discuss this issue and others, the Pew Forum invited Archbishop Chaput, appointed by Pope John Paul II and the first Native American archbishop to be ordained in the U.S. 
ANALYSIS March 16, 2009
Religion in the News: 2008
This report is a special segment of A Year in the News, an analysis of the mainstream media in 2008 conducted by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. This segment of the analysis was written in collaboration with the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life.
ANALYSIS March 12, 2009
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, there has been no increase in weekly worship service attendance.
INTERVIEW March 6, 2009
Stimulus Package Stimulates Church-State Debate
Economic stimulus legislation has brought on a church-state debate regarding school funding. The Pew Forum turns to church-state scholar Robert Tuttle.
ANALYSIS March 4, 2009
Religious Groups Agree: Fixing the Nation's Economy Is Job One
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 other policy issues.
ANALYSIS February 4, 2009
Overview: The Conflict Between Religion and Evolution
Almost 150 years after Charles Darwin published his groundbreaking work On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, Americans are still fighting over evolution.
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