All posts tagged: pew research center

Abortion, Israel and homosexuality top clergy’s political topics, survey finds

Abortion, Israel and homosexuality top clergy’s political topics, survey finds

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — Two-thirds of U.S. adults who regularly attend religious services say their clergy have spoken about at least one key political issue — most prominently, abortion, Israel or homosexuality — in recent months. But what clergypersons say about such topics varies depending on their viewpoint, and sometimes, their religious affiliation, the Pew Research Center found in a survey published Wednesday (May 27). Researchers asked about a total of seven political or social topics — including immigration, U.S. military action in Iran, the environment and people who are transgender. “When people do hear the clergy speak about these topics, they report that they tend to hear more about opposing abortion than supporting abortion rights, opposing homosexuality than encouraging acceptance of people who are gay or lesbian, supporting Israel than criticizing it,” Becka Alper, a senior researcher at Pew, told Religion News Service. The findings are based on a survey conducted in April of 1,391 U.S. adults who say they attend religious services at least once or twice a month. Certain topics figured more prominently in …

We traded church for wellness. Now, we’re paying for it.

We traded church for wellness. Now, we’re paying for it.

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — A new Pew Research Center survey finds that 37% of Americans now say religion is gaining influence in public life, the highest percentage since 2002, up 19 points in just two years. And no group is more alarmed than the spiritual-but-not-religious. Among the religiously unaffiliated, 46% view religion’s growing influence negatively, the survey found. That’s more than double the rate of the general public. Here’s the thing, though. I think we are partly to blame. We helped create a void in public life that is now being filled in ways we didn’t anticipate and frankly don’t like. I know because I’m one of the spiritual-but-not-religious Americans who have been trying to find alternatives to organized religion. I’m also a religion scholar and I study this stuff for a living: yoga studios, mindfulness apps, sound baths, ayahuasca retreats and the vague but sincere conviction that you can be deeply spiritual without identifying with any particular tradition. We’re not cynics. We’re seekers. We just decided to seek on our own terms. The spiritual-but-not-religious crowd has …

Many churches, synagogues and mosques are built around families – and they’re struggling to respond to rising singles

Many churches, synagogues and mosques are built around families – and they’re struggling to respond to rising singles

Published by Sam Flores

(The Conversation) — When a couple marry in a church, synagogue or mosque, the ceremony does more than sanctify a union. Often, it binds two families to an institution. For centuries, marriage and child-rearing have been among the main ways adults are integrated into congregational life. Couples who share the same faith tend to be more observant, and they often raise children within that tradition – bringing the next generation into congregational life. More marriages mean more families in pews and more children raised in the faith. That helps explain why the rise of single adults is so unsettling for many faith communities today. In the United States, 42% of adults were not married or living with a partner in 2023, up from 38% in 2000. This shift is unlikely to change soon: A quarter of 40-year-olds have never been married, and a third of Gen Z are projected to never marry. At the same time, the share of unmarried Americans who belong to a religious congregation has fallen well below that of married Americans. …

The US is the only country where most say fellow citizens’ morality is bad, survey finds

The US is the only country where most say fellow citizens’ morality is bad, survey finds

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — Out of 25 countries, the United States was the only one where most people said their fellow citizens’ morality was generally bad, new research has found. A Pew Research Center report examining morality and ethics, released on Thursday (March 5), also found self-identified Christians are more likely to view abortion, using marijuana, homosexuality, having extramarital affairs and other behaviors as “morally unacceptable” than other religious groups. The report marks the first time Pew researchers asked respondents about their views on the morality of their fellow citizens. In total, more than half of American adults – 53% – said the morality and ethics of people in their country were somewhat bad or very bad, while 47% rated their morality as good or very good, according to the study. Still, the findings “don’t support that Americans are overarchingly more judgmental or moralistic than in other countries” based on responses to other questions, Jonathan Evans, senior researcher at Pew, told RNS on Wednesday. Partisan politics seems to play a role in Americans’ response to that question. …

Catholicism continues sharp decline in Latin America

Catholicism continues sharp decline in Latin America

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — Over the last decade, Catholicism has continued to decline sharply in Latin America, as the share of adults who are religiously unaffiliated rises, according to a new survey looking at religiosity in six countries. The survey, fielded in 2024 and released Wednesday (Jan. 21) by the Pew Research Center, studied Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru and found declining rates of Catholicism in every country. Colombia saw the largest drop, where 6 in 10 (60%) adults identified as Catholic in 2024 compared with 8 in 10 (79%) in the 2013-2014 survey. The smallest drop in Catholicism was in Peru — the country where Pope Leo served for more than two decades before being elected pope — with a 9-point decrease over the decade between surveys (76% in 2013-2014 down to 67% in 2024). Meanwhile, the survey found the religiously unaffiliated nearly doubled or saw even larger gains in every country. In Brazil, where the gains were the smallest, the unaffiliated grew from 8% to 15% of the population. In Peru, 12% of …

How to be an extraordinary Christian during Ordinary Time

How to be an extraordinary Christian during Ordinary Time

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — With Christmas season over, Christians move into what the church refers to as “Ordinary Time.” This is the time outside of Christmas season, Lent and Easter season. “Ordinary” in English means “routine, usual, common.” In other words, nothing special. But the name “Ordinary Time” originally comes from the fact that the weeks are numbered using ordinal numbers — like first, second or third. For example, last Sunday was the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. This year, there are six Ordinary Sundays before we reach Lent. We then do not return to Ordinary Time until after Pentecost; Ordinary Time then continues until Advent, for a total of 34 weeks in Ordinary Time this year. But there is no reason that Ordinary Time must be ordinary. It can be special if we use it to deepen our experience of the Scriptures and prayer. Catholics should be embarrassed by how little they read the Scriptures. According to Pew Research Center, only 12% of Catholics read the Scriptures at least once a week, compared with 52% of evangelical …

Trump Admin Slammed After Bonkers Homeland Security Message

Trump Admin Slammed After Bonkers Homeland Security Message

Published by Sam Flores

Critics are calling out President Donald Trump and his Homeland Security Department for a social media post threatening to deport millions of people ― including, by implication, millions of American citizens. The agency posted an image of a vintage car on a beach with “America After 100 Million Deportations” written across it. “The peace of a nation no longer besieged by the third world,” the agency added as it shared the image, which is a detail of the painting “Impender Beach,” by Japanese pop artist Hiroshi Nagai. There is no indication that Nagai approved of the use of his work, nor is even aware of the social media message, which the agency posted on Wednesday afternoon, then reposted a few hours later. Trump during the 2024 campaign repeatedly promised to deport millions. However, deporting 100 million people would mean far more than the undocumented. The Pew Research Center said there were 14 million undocumented migrants in the country in 2023, along with nearly 38 million who have legal status, including naturalized citizens. That’s a total …