Trends in Global Restrictions on Religion
Religion in Everyday Life
A new Pew Research Center study of the ways religion influences the daily lives of Americans finds that people who are highly religious are more engaged with their extended families, more likely to volunteer, more involved in their communities and generally happier with the way things are going in their lives.
Restrictions on Women’s Religious Attire
Many countries have laws that ban or limit women from wearing religious attire in public places. By comparison, far fewer countries require women to wear particular types of attire for religious reasons.
The Gender Gap in Religion Around the World
Standard lists of history’s most influential religious leaders – among them Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) – tend to be predominantly, if not exclusively, male. Many religious groups, including Roman Catholics and Orthodox Jews, allow only men to be clergy, while others, including some denominations in the evangelical Protestant tradition, have lifted that restriction only in recent decades. Yet it often appears that the ranks of the faithful are dominated by women.
Israel’s Religiously Divided Society
There are deep divisions in Israeli society over political values and religion’s role in public life — not only between Jews and the Arab minority, but also among the religious subgroups that make up Israeli Jewry.
Republicans Prefer Blunt Talk About Islamic Extremism, Democrats Favor Caution
Half of Americans say the next president should be careful not to criticize Islam as a whole when speaking about Islamic extremists, while four-in-ten want the next president to speak bluntly about Islamic extremists even if the statements are critical of Islam as a whole.
Faith and the 2016 Campaign
GOP contender Donald Trump is not widely viewed as religious, even among Republicans. And the share of Americans who say Hillary Clinton is not a religious person has risen sharply since she first ran for president eight years ago.
Event: Is the American Public Becoming Less Religious?
U.S. Public Becoming Less Religious
There has been a modest drop in overall rates of belief in God and participation in religious practices. But religiously affiliated Americans are as observant as before.
Positive Impact of Pope Francis on Views of the Church, Especially Among Democrats and Liberals
Pope Francis has generated goodwill toward the Catholic Church among many Americans across the political spectrum. But Democrats and liberals are especially likely to say they have a more positive view of the Church because of Francis.
