Religion and Society 
06.03.03
Introduction and Summary The speed of the war in Iraq and the prevailing belief that the Iraqi people are better off as a result have modestly improved the image of America. But in most countries, opinions of the U.S. are markedly lower than they were a year ago. The war has widened the rift between [...]
03.19.03
Introduction and Summary Americans Hearing about Iraq from the Pulpit, but Religious Faith Not Defining Opinions Most American churchgoers are hearing about the issue of war with Iraq at their places of worship. But most say their ministers are not taking a position for or against the war, and relatively few people say their own [...]
12.19.02
Introduction and Summary Religion is much more important to Americans than to people living in other wealthy nations. Six-in-ten (59%) people in the U.S. say religion plays a very important role in their lives. This is roughly twice the percentage of self-avowed religious people in Canada (30%), and an even higher proportion when compared with [...]
09.05.02
In March, 2001, the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life began a partnership to conduct a series of national public opinion surveys on religious attitudes. With the events of September 11, we accelerated our agenda to investigate how religious beliefs shaped public reactions [...]
03.20.02
Introduction and Summary As a religious people, Americans are unsure about how to judge a world that seems increasingly in conflict along religious lines. The public overwhelmingly sees religion’s influence in the world and the nation as a good thing. And by 51%-28%, Americans think the lesson of Sept. 11 is that there is too [...]
12.06.01
Introduction and Summary The Sept. 11 attacks have increased the prominence of religion in the United States to an extraordinary degree, but not at the expense of acceptance of religious minorities. Fully 78% now say religion’s influence in American life is growing up from 37% eight months ago and the highest mark on this [...]
04.10.01
Introduction and Summary As religion plays a more prominent role in public life, sharp divisions of opinion about the mixing of church and state are apparent. Most notably, while the public expresses strong support for the idea of faith-based groups receiving government funding to provide social services, in practice, it has many reservations. Most Americans [...]