How Distrust in the Media Creates a Political Knowledge Gap Between Religious and Secular Americans

Religion has long been examined for its effects on political engagement, with decidedly mixed results. While many writers—going back to Alexis de Tocqueville—argue that religion promotes civic engagement, others assert that in many circumstances, religion may lead to political disengagement, distrust, and cynicism. Of the many ways that religion can […] Read more »

Polls show sour views of race relations in Trump’s America

Even before President Donald Trump’s racist tweets toward four Democratic congresswomen of color, Americans considered race relations in the United States to be generally bad — and said that Trump has been making them worse. On Sunday, Trump tweeted that the congresswomen should go back to the “broken and crime […] Read more »

Why Are Americans Losing Confidence in Organized Religion?

Americans’ confidence in organized religion is down again this year, continuing the gradual deterioration evident over the past several decades. … Organized religion has lost its exceptionalism, and Americans now view it little differently than they view a number of other institutions in contemporary U.S. society. Confidence in organized religion […] Read more »

Actually, Trump and his party don’t care about the kids in cages

… The question — do Republicans care about the suffering of asylum seekers? — should not be considered rhetorical. It is becoming increasingly clear that Republicans and evangelical conservatives specifically don’t care about “the stranger” fleeing oppression. That’s effectively what the data tell us. In a recent CNN poll, 93 […] Read more »