Fewer Americans now think churches are important to solving social problems

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Religious leaders and institutions have taken part in efforts to address important social issues throughout American history, from slavery to civil rights to today’s advocacy in areas such as reducing poverty.

But Americans appear to be growing more skeptical of how much of a difference churches and other houses of worship make in tackling social concerns. A majority of U.S. adults still say religious institutions contribute either “a great deal” (19%) or “some” (38%) to solving important social problems. But the combined figure of 58% has fallen significantly in recent years, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. About four-in-ten Americans (39%) now say religious institutions make little to no contribution in this area.

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Chart shows the surprising links between faith and evolution and climate denial

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For a long time, the discussion about the relationship between religious beliefs and the rejection of science, has been pretty confused, especially its two most prominent U.S. incarnations, evolution denial and climate change denial.   Continue reading… “Chart shows the surprising links between faith and evolution and climate denial”

Top religion in the U.S. is christianity. Here’s the second-top in each state.

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In the U.S., Christianity is the largest religion by a wide margin: more than three-quarters of Americans identify as Christians. Buddhism is second. The data comes from a 2010 census sponsored by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies.

 

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Scientists have no faith in science

Why do scientists have no faith in science?

Those who claim that science and religion are compatible tend to argue that science, like religion, rests on faith: faith in the accuracy of what we observe, in the laws of nature, or in the value of reason. Daniel Sarewitz, director of a science policy center at Arizona State University and an occasional Slate contributor, wrote this about the Higgs boson in the pages ofNature, one of the world’s most prestigious science journals: “For those who cannot follow the mathematics, belief in the Higgs is an act of faith, not of rationality.”

There is more depression among clergy than the general population: Study

Clergy members are at a higher risk of depression.

Using phone surveys and written questionnaires, researchers from the Clergy Health Initiative at Duke Divinity School decided to look into the mental health of members of the clergy.  They interviewed over 1,700 United Methodist pastors, and found that depression is about 1.6 times higher in that group compared to the general population (8.7% versus 5.5%).

 

 

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Almost half of U.S. adults say growth of nonreligious bad for American society

Forty-eight percent of Americans say the growing number of “people who are not religious” is bad for American society. But a similar share say either that this trend is good or that it does not make much difference, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center.

 

 

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50% of Americans find Atheism ‘threatening’: Survey

The U.S. loves religion and spirituality.

A German non-profit, the Bertelsmann Stiftung, researches, publishes, and “stimulates debate” on a variety of societal issues. They just released the results of their 2013 Religion Monitor in which they analyzed responses to a 100-question survey regarding religion/politics completed by 14,000 individuals in 13 countries.

 

 

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Seventy-seven percent of Americans see religious influence decreasing, but most want more: Gallup

The survey represents some of the lowest ratings Americans have given to religious influence in the U.S. in 40 years.

Seventy-seven percent of Americans believe that religion’s influence in the nation is waning, yet also think society would be better off if more Americans were religious, according to a new survey.

 

 

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Can scientific breakthroughs lead to faith?

Leading scientists employ science itself in arguments for believing in a kind of supernatural.

Science and religion has had a relationship that has always been vexed. Most scientists are nonbelievers, convinced that there is no deity, or at least that there is no convincing evidence of one. Even those who are believers, like Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, see their religion and their science as largely separate. (“If God is outside of nature, then science can neither prove nor disprove his existence,” he once wrote.)

 

 

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More Americans than ever before “have no religious affiliation”: Survey

Americans in almost every demographic group increasingly claim “no religion.”

The number of Americans who are not religious is on the rise. Researchers from University of California, Berkeley and Duke University went through the recently-released results of the biennial General Social Survey and found that…

 

 

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