Religion & Social Values - Research and data from Pew Research Center

reportMar 27, 2008

A Portrait of American Catholics on the Eve of Pope Benedict’s Visit to the U.S.

When Pope Benedict XVI arrives in the United States on April 15, he will find a Catholic Church that is undergoing rapid ethnic and demographic changes, and whose flock is quite diverse both in their religious practices and levels of commitment, as well as in their social and political views. And, as this portrait of […]
reportJan 17, 2008

Race, Ethnicity and Campaign ’08

Race, ethnicity and politics can sometimes make for a volatile mix, but a poll finds that race relations in this country are on a pretty even keel.
reportJan 17, 2008

Race, Ethnicity and Campaign ’08

Race, ethnicity and politics can sometimes make for a volatile mix, as the presidential field of 2008 has begun to discover. But in the world beyond politics, race relations in this country are on a pretty even keel.
fact sheetJan 17, 2008

From Roe to Stenberg: A History of Key Abortion Rulings by the Supreme Court

Navigate this document Roe v. Wade The Post-Roe Court Casey and Stenberg Reproductive issues were largely a private affair early in American history. Although abortion was deemed illegal under English common law, the state rarely took any interest in prosecuting those cases that became public. Public attitudes changed dramatically in the early 19th century, driven […]
reportDec 19, 2007

Lethal Injection on Trial: An Analysis of the Arguments Before the Supreme Court in Baze v. Rees

On Jan. 7, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Baze v. Rees, a case that challenges the constitutionality of lethal injection as it currently is administered by the federal government and 36 states. In the case, the court will attempt to determine the standard that lower courts should employ when evaluating whether […]
reportDec 19, 2007

An Impassioned Debate: An Overview of the Death Penalty in America

(Updated June 26, 2008) In this article: The role of the courts Lethal injection and the Baze case Child rape and the Kennedy case The history of the death penalty The death penalty worldwide Few public policy issues have inflamed passions as consistently and as strongly as the debate over capital punishment. Religious communities have […]
featureDec 19, 2007

Death Penalty Timeline

Timeline provided by Stateline.org Return to the death penalty issue page The Death Penalty Since 1972 (Links to U.S. Supreme Court decisions provided by oyez.org and the Web site of the U.S. Supreme Court) 1972 Furman v. Georgia: The U.S. Supreme Court effectively voids 40 state death penalty statutes and suspends capital punishment, ruling that […]
reportDec 18, 2007

Science in America: Religious Belief and Public Attitudes

The combination of widespread religious commitment and leadership in science and technology greatly enlarges the potential for conflict between faith and science in the U.S.
reportDec 18, 2007

Science in America: Religious Belief and Public Attitudes

The United States is the most religious of the advanced industrial democracies. At the same time, American scientists are recognized to be leaders in many areas of scientific research and application. This combination of widespread religious commitment and leadership in science and technology greatly enlarges the potential for conflict between faith and science in the […]
reportNov 13, 2007

Blacks See Growing Values Gap Between Poor and Middle Class

African Americans see a widening gulf between the values of middle class and poor blacks, and nearly four-in-ten say that because of the diversity within their community, blacks can no longer be thought of as a single race.