Free Republic

A strong majority of U.S. adults believe religion is losing its influence in public life, a new Pew Research Center survey found. Overall, 80 percent of U.S. adults say religion’s role in American life is shrinking, “a percentage that’s as high as it’s ever been,” according to the poll report. Nearly half (49 percent) say the decline of religious influence in public life is a “bad thing.” Eight percent say religious influence is “growing and this is good.” Only 6 percent say religious influence is “growing and this is bad,” and 13 percent say religious influence is “shrinking and this...

A new Pew Research Center survey finds that just 20% of Americans view the coronavirus as a major threat to the health of the U.S. population today and only 10% are very concerned they will get it and require hospitalization. This data represents a low ebb of public concern about the virus that reached its height in the summer and fall of 2020, when as many as two-thirds of Americans viewed COVID-19 as a major threat to public health.Just 28% of U.S. adults say they have received the updated COVID-19 vaccine, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)...

A growing number of U.S. adults regularly get their news from TikTok, with almost a third of adults between 18 and 29 relying on the video-sharing platform, according to a survey from the Pew Research Center—even as fewer people get news from social media sites like X and Facebook. KEY FACTS Between 2020 and 2023, the percentage of U.S. adults who reported regularly getting their news from TikTok has increased four-fold from 3% to 14%, according to Pew Research, which surveyed 8,842 adults in late September and early October. Fifteen percent of U.S. adults between the ages of 30 and...

Pew Research Center published the results of its new survey on June 28. While climate alarmists’ predictions have been consistently and wildly wrong for 50 years now, with one unscientific claim after another proven false, the media, government, and institutions continue pounding in the narrative — and with some apparently considerable effects: 74% of Americans say they support the country’s participation in international efforts to reduce the effects of climate change. 67% of U.S. adults prioritize the development of alternative energy sources such as wind, solar and hydrogen power over increasing the production of fossil fuel energy sources. I have...

PHOENIX (AP) — … After experiencing global warming’s firsthand effects, U.S. Latinos are leading the way in activism around climate change, often drawing on traditions from their ancestral homelands. “There has been a real national uprising in Latino activism in environmentalism in recent years,” said Juan Roberto Madrid, an environmental science and public health specialist based in Colorado for the national nonprofit GreenLatinos. “Climate change may be impacting everyone, but it is impacting Latinos more.” U.S. Latinos often live in ignored, lower income neighborhoods that are degrees hotter than nearby areas because they have a higher population density and limited...

The 2020 presidential election was historic in many ways. Amid a global pandemic, with unprecedented changes in how Americans voted, voter turnout rose 7 percentage points over 2016, resulting in a total of 66% of U.S. adult citizens casting a ballot in the 2020 election. Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump 306-232 in the Electoral College and had a 4-point margin in the popular vote. While Biden’s popular vote differential was an improvement over Hillary Clinton’s 2016 2-point advantage, it was not as resounding as congressional Democrats’ 9-point advantage over Republicans in votes cast in the 2018 elections for the U.S....

White evangelicals are the least likely faith group in the United States to get vaccinated for COVID-19, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center. Additional data sent to The Christian Post from a Pew survey conducted in February of 10,121 U.S. adults found that 54% of white evangelicals “definitely or probably” plan on getting vaccinated or already have received at least one vaccination shot, the lowest of any religious demographic surveyed. Overall, 64% of black Americans surveyed said they would “definitely or probably” get vaccinated or already have been, along with 77% of Catholics and 71% of...

Official Church teaching describes homosexuality as ‘intrinsically disordered’ and something that ‘can in no case be approved of.’WASHINGTON, D.C., November 19, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — A report released by the Pew Research Center (PRC) shows that a majority of Catholics surveyed in Western Europe, the Americas, and across the world support either homosexual “marriage” or homosexuality as such — contrary to the official teaching of the Catholic Church. The comprehensive report, released earlier this month, focuses on Catholics’ view on homosexuality. Compiling the results of studies conducted over the past few years, the figures demonstrate a wide-scale rejection of Catholic teaching...

Views of China have grown more negative in recent years across many advanced economies, and unfavorable opinion has soared over the past year, a new 14-country Pew Research Center survey shows. Today, a majority in each of the surveyed countries has an unfavorable opinion of China. And in Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United States, South Korea, Spain and Canada, negative views have reached their highest points since the Center began polling on this topic more than a decade ago. Negative views of China increased most in Australia, where 81% now say they see the country...

The Pew Research Center published the results of a survey of advanced countries which found views of China have become far less favorable thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, for many of the countries surveyed including the Unites States, the unfavorable view of China is the highest ever recorded: Views of China have grown more negative in recent years across many advanced economies, and unfavorable opinion has soared over the past year, a new 14-country Pew Research Center survey shows. Today, a majority in each of the surveyed countries has an unfavorable opinion of China. And in Australia,...

The percentage of Democrat and Democrat-leaning voters who identify as Christian has sharply declined since 2008, according to a new report by the Pew Research Center.A report by Pew published in its U.S. Politics & Policy section found that while 73% of Democrat voters were Christian in 2008, by 2019 the percentage had dropped to 52%.The large decline came for the subset of white Christians, who went from 45% of Democrat voters to 26%; nonwhite Christians had a smaller decline of 28% to 25% during the same time period. Republican and Republican-leaning voters also saw a drop in self-identified Christians...

There is a disconnect between citizens of Germany and the United States when it comes to their perceptions of the relationship between the countries, according to a survey released Tuesday. The survey, carried out by the Pew Research Center in Washington and the Hamburg-based nonprofit Körber Foundation, reveals that Americans view their country’s relationship with Germany far more positively than Germans view their country’s with the United States. Three-quarters of Americans saw the relationship as good, while nearly two-thirds of Germans (64%) saw the relationship as bad. Despite the gap in opinion, the latest data indicates that views in Germany...

The share of adults who have lived with a romantic partner is now higher than the share who have ever been married; married adults are more satisfied with their relationships, more trusting of their partners.As more U.S. adults are delaying marriage – or forgoing it altogether – the share who have ever lived with an unmarried partner has been on the rise. Amid these changes, most Americans find cohabitation acceptable, even for couples who don’t plan to get married, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Even so, a narrow majority says society is better off if couples in...

"The rise of the nones" is the attention-grabbing phrase used to describe the well-documented increase in the percentage of Americans who, when queried by survey researchers about their religious identification, say "none." This remarkable social trend has received significant publicity in recent years, based on generally similar research produced by Gallup, Pew Research Center, NORC's General Social Survey and others.The research shows that between about 20% and 25% of U.S. adults are now "nones" and — in a finding emphasized in many news reports — that this percentage is higher among younger adults than those who are older. One opinion...

Somewhere Bill Maher is smiling. A new Pew Survey (October 17, 2019) has come out, reporting a decline of Christianity in America and the rise of the “nones.” The nones are those who have no religious affiliation.The report states, “65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians when asked about their religion, down 12 percentage points over the past decade. Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or ‘nothing in particular’ now stands at 26%, up from 17% in 2009. Both Protestantism and Catholicism are experiencing losses of...

Do recent polls really tell the full story here in America? Is it true that Christianity is experiencing a serious, ongoing, numerical decline? Those polls could well be accurate, speaking of a major spiritual crisis in our nation. But there may be a different way to understand what is happening, one that points to separation and refining more than to backsliding and apostasy.First, let’s look at the results of the most recent Pew Research Center poll.As reported on October 19, “The religious landscape of the United States continues to change at a rapid clip. In Pew Research Center telephone surveys...

An update on America's changing religious landscapeThe religious landscape of the United States continues to change at a rapid clip. In Pew Research Center telephone surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019, 65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians when asked about their religion, down 12 percentage points over the past decade. Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,” now stands at 26%, up from 17% in 2009. Both Protestantism and Catholicism are experiencing losses of population share. Currently, 43% of U.S. adults identify...

Four words: Glide path to reelection.Well, no. But there is some encouraging news — emphasis on “some.” If you thought Trump being cleared on collusion might free up some “soft” opponents to change their minds about him, there’s early evidence you were right. Reuters: The Reuters/Ipsos poll measured the public reaction in the United States on Monday and Tuesday, after the report summary was released, gathering online responses from 1,003 adults, including 948 who said they had at least heard of the summary findings…Trump’s approval rating got a slight boost, with 43 percent of Americans saying they approved of...

The number of unauthorized immigrants living in the United States was lower in 2016 than at any time since 2004. This decline is due mainly to a large drop in the number of new unauthorized immigrants, especially Mexicans, coming into the country. The origin countries of unauthorized immigrants also shifted during that time, with the number from Mexico declining and the number rising from only one other region, Central America, according to the latest Pew Research Center estimates. Here are five facts about the unauthorized immigrant population in the U.S.: 1. There were 10.7 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S....

Recent polls and surveys are delivering, at best, mixed news for Republicans regarding the upcoming midterm elections. The good news is that prospects have turned positive for Republicans to win Senate seats currently held by Democrats in Florida, New Jersey and Wisconsin. But looking for good news in the House is a bigger challenge. Probability assessments from various sources give Republicans a 25 to 50 percent chance of keeping control of the House. A survey from Pew Research points to greater engagement from Democratic voters -- by measures such as participating in rallies and making political contributions -- than Republicans....