3. Religion in public life

Religious expression by political leaders Currently, 27% of Americans say there has been too much discussion of religious faith and prayer by political leaders, while 40% say there has been too little religious discussion. At a similar point in the 2012 presidential campaign, the balance of opinion on this question leaned in the opposite direction […]

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2. Religion and other candidate traits

Candidate traits: assets and liabilities The survey asked about a series of hypothetical traits of presidential candidates and whether each would make one more or less likely to support a candidate. The most positive trait among those asked about was having served in the military: Half of Americans say they would be more likely to […]

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1. Religion and the 2016 presidential candidates

Views of candidates’ religiousness In general, more people view the leading Republican candidates for president as being very or somewhat religious than say the same about the Democratic candidates. Roughly seven-in-ten adults say Ben Carson is at least somewhat religious, for example; 65% say the same about Ted Cruz and 61% say this about Marco […]

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Faith and the 2016 Campaign

GOP contender Donald Trump is not widely viewed as religious, even among Republicans. And the share of Americans who say Hillary Clinton is not a religious person has risen sharply since she first ran for president eight years ago.

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Appendix B: Putting Findings From the Religious Landscape Study Into Context

This appendix aims to put the findings from the Religious Landscape Study into a broader context through a comparison of its results with long-term trends from the General Social Survey (GSS), Gallup Organization surveys and results from ongoing polls conducted monthly by Pew Research Center. Generally, these sources indicate that there is a fair amount […]

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Chapter 3: Views of Religious Institutions

Whether religiously affiliated or not, large majorities of Americans say churches and other religious organizations perform important roles in contemporary American society by strengthening community bonds and helping the poor and needy. Most also say religious institutions protect and strengthen morality in society. Even most atheists say religious institutions bring people together and help the […]

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