Research into American attitudes about welcoming Afghan, Ukrainian and other refugees into the nation confirms how closely religion, race and politics have become intwined in the United States. “For instance, Hispanic evangelicals, Black Protestants and white nonevangelical Protestants are all…
Christians could be a distinct minority in America by 2070
If current trends continue, Christians will become a distinct minority in America and the “nones” will make up more than half the population by 2070. “Nones” are those people who when asked their religious affiliation reply, “none,” although most are…
‘Reverend, they ain’t ever coming back’: Confronting churchly realities 2022
Early on in the COVID crisis, I had a long conversation with a close pastor friend about changes in American church life occurring before our eyes. We talked about what I call “the changing sociology of Sunday,” a demographic-cultural reality…
American attitudes on transgender persons remain conflicted and highly partisan
Widening acceptance of gay and lesbian people in American life is not as easily translating to understanding of transgender persons, a new national survey by Pew Research shows. Despite the rapid change in American attitudes on same-sex attraction, the fundamental…
Women of childbearing age are least likely to see strict abortion laws as best deterrent against abortion
There is the question of whether abortion should be legal in the United States, but there’s also a separate question about whether restricting abortion effectively reduces the number of procedures done. Abortion opponents believe outlawing abortion is the best way…
The European option: Why we need a third way on abortion
Since learning of Samuel Alito’s leaked draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, I have emersed myself in the resulting tidal wave of news reports, opinion pieces, blogs and podcasts. The New York Times podcast The Daily has been one of…
‘It’s still the economy, stupid’
Think what you will about the raging culture wars, but that’s not the major driver of public opinion today any more than it was when Bill Clinton first ran for president in 1992. That’s when Clinton campaign analyst James Carville…
The return to church has hit a plateau
The post-COVID return to church has plateaued, according to new nationwide data from Pew Research. After most houses of worship closed to in-person gatherings in mid-March 2020 due to the initial threat of coronavirus, there has been a slow return…
One in 10 Black Americans are now foreign-born; here’s why that matters to the right-wing backlash against immigration
When Americans debate about immigration, they most often think of people coming from Mexico and other Latin American countries. Seldom do they first think of Black migrants. Yet Pew Research Center reports that today one in 10 Black people in…