pewforum.org Topics Beliefs & Practices

Belief in God

Explore the way members of different religious traditions conceive of God, and the certainty and nature of people’s belief in God.

 

Asian Americans: A Mosaic of Faiths
When it comes to religion, the Asian-American community is a study in contrasts, encompassing groups that run the gamut from highly religious to highly secular. A new survey report examines the Asian-American population from the angle of religious affiliation, highlighting the beliefs, practices and views of Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, the religiously unaffiliated and other faiths. 
Can Civilization Survive Without God?
The Pew Forum invited brothers Christopher and Peter Hitchens to address the question of whether civilization needs God.
Religion Among the Millennials
By some key measures, Americans ages 18 to 29 are considerably less religious than older Americans. Yet in other ways, Millennials remain fairly traditional in their religious beliefs and practices.
How Religious Is Your State?
Which of the 50 states has the most religious population? Since there are many ways to define "religious," there is no single answer to this question. But to give a sense of how the states stack up, the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life used polling data to rank them on four measures. 
The "Zeal of the Convert": Is It the Real Deal?
A recent Pew Forum analysis finds that people who have switched faiths (or joined a faith after being raised unaffiliated with a religion) are indeed slightly more religious than those who have remained in their childhood faith.
A Portrait of Mormons in the U.S.
This report, based on data from the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, explores Mormons' unique place in the American religious landscape and is divided into three parts: demographic characteristics, religious beliefs and practices, and social and political views.
Not All Nonbelievers Call Themselves Atheists
According to the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, 5% of American adults say they do not believe in God or a universal spirit, but only about a quarter (24%) of these nonbelievers actually call themselves atheists.
The Stronger Sex -- Spiritually Speaking
An analysis of data from the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, finds that women are more religious than men on a variety of measures.
A Religious Portrait of African-Americans
While the U.S. is generally considered a highly religious nation, African-Americans are markedly more religious on a variety of measures than the U.S. population as a whole, including level of affiliation with a religion, attendance at religious services, frequency of prayer and religion's importance in life.
African-Americans and Religion
A new analysis by the Pew Forum finds that African-Americans are markedly more religious on a variety of measures than the U.S. population as a whole.
Being Good for Goodness' Sake?
A 2007 survey by the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project found that a majority of Americans say it is necessary to believe in God in order to be moral and have good values.
One Nation Under God? Pledge of Allegiance Case
Download full backgrounder The Forum's Pledge of Allegiance Issue Backgrounder, written by legal scholars and published in March 2004, details the history of the Pledge and offers analysis of the legal questions raised in Elk Grove Unified School ...