01: Although many pundits and analysts have questioned the view that the “moral values” vote gave George W. Bush the 2004 election, there may be some truth to this position, particularly when regional and religious differences are taken into account,, according to a new analysis. In Religion in the News (Spring), John C. Green and Mark Silk write that […]

01: Evolutionary theory is met with disfavor by the registered voters in the state of Kansas, the epicenter of a national controversy on the teaching of science and religion in the public schools. The poll, conducted in the mid June by The Kansas City Star and The Wichita Eagle, asked 625 registered voters what they think about the teachings […]

01: There are more megachurches than originally thought, according to a new survey. Megachurches–those congregations exceeding 2,000 in attendance–were thought by researchers to number only about 850. However, a new survey by Scott Thumma of Hartford Seminary and Leadership Network, now estimates that there are at least 1,200 and perhaps as many as 1,500 to 1,600 […]

01: Faculty at religious colleges are sharply divided between those pressing for the integration of faith and learning and “separatists” who are against bringing faith perspectives into the classroom and the curriculum, according to a new study. The study, in the March issue of Sociology of Religion,  is based on a survey of 1,902 faculty respondents at […]

01: Declining Catholic school enrollment and the closing of inner-city parochial schools are largely due to the skeletal structure of these institutions that turn away young teachers and burden graying administrators, according to a recent study in Commonweal magazine (March 25). The steady closings of these schools and the reversal of growing  enrollment of just a decade ago has […]

01: American youth tend to espouse a generic and practical faith that has little relation to particular beliefs and practices, according to a major research project. In an interview with Books & Culture (January/February), sociologist Christian Smith discusses findings from the National Survey of Youth and Religion he conducted, one of the largest studies of its kind. Smith […]

01: A recent survey comparing religious Americans in 2000 and 2004 finds a decreasing willingness to support political compromise. The survey, conducted by the public policy group Public Agenda,  found  a smaller number of Americans who believe that devout elected officials sometimes have to compromise in the political arena, with “major decreases among those who attend […]

01: Political platforms in both parties are increasingly moving to the extremes on religious issues such as abortion because Americans are neither too religious nor too secular. That is the provocative finding of Harvard economist Edward L. Glaeser.  In a recent working paper (found at:http://post.economics.Harvard.edu/faculty/glaeser/papers.html), Glaeser writes that conventional wisdom might suggest that on such divisive issues […]

01: The line between members and non-members is blurring in congregations, as regular attenders are found to have similar patterns of attachment to their church and religious devotion as those on church rolls, according to a recent study. The first comparative data of active non-members, collected by John Marcum of the Presbyterian Church (USA), finds that […]

01: The attempt to prove the healing efficacy of prayer is proving increasingly controversial among medical and scientific researchers, reports the New York Times (Oct. 10). Findings in 2001 by a Columbia University fertility expert, showing that women undergoing fertility treatment who had been prayed for by Christian groups were twice as likely to have a successful pregnancy as […]