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Evolution and Religion
A Pew Forum research package gives an overview of the debate, examines its social and legal dimensions and reviews the life and ideas of Charles Darwin.
 

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LEGAL REPORT October 19, 2010
In Brief: Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn and Arizona Department of Revenue v. Winn
On Nov. 3, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a pair of related cases involving a constitutional challenge to an Arizona tax policy aimed at providing scholarships for children to attend private – often religious – schools.
LEGAL REPORT June 28, 2010
High Court Rules Against Campus Christian Group
A divided Supreme Court today ruled, 5-4, that a public law school can deny recognition to a student group that excludes gays and lesbians. The Court said the school could enforce a policy requiring official student organizations to accept all students who want to join.
EVENT TRANSCRIPT May 4, 2009
Religion and Science: Conflict or Harmony?
Leading journalists gathered in Key West, Fla., in May 2009 for the Pew Forum's Faith Angle Conference. Francis S. Collins, former director of the Human Genome Project, discussed why he believes religion and science are compatible and why the current conflict over evolution vs. faith is unnecessary.
ANALYSIS February 4, 2009
Overview: The Conflict Between Religion and Evolution
Almost 150 years after Charles Darwin published his groundbreaking work On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, Americans are still fighting over evolution.
LEGAL REPORT February 4, 2009
The Social and Legal Dimensions of the Evolution Debate in the U.S.
As with many social and political controversies in the United States, the battle over evolution has been largely fought in courtrooms.
ANALYSIS February 4, 2009
Darwin and His Theory of Evolution
At first glance, Charles Darwin seems an unlikely revolutionary. Growing up a shy and unassuming member of a wealthy British family, he appeared, at least to his father, to be idle and directionless. But even as a child, Darwin expressed an interest in nature.
ANALYSIS February 4, 2009
Religious Groups' Views on Evolution
A breakdown of 13 major religious groups' views on the issue. 
ANALYSIS February 4, 2009
Evolution: A Timeline
This timeline highlights key events in the debate surrounding evolution. 
POLL February 4, 2009
Religious Differences on the Question of Evolution
The Pew Forum's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey found that views on evolution differ widely across religious groups.
ANALYSIS February 4, 2009
Fighting Over Darwin, State by State
In recent years, voters, educators and policymakers in a number of states have become involved in the debate over whether - or how - public school students should learn about evolution and the origins of life.
LEGAL REPORT August 28, 2008
On Ceremonial Occasions, May the Government Invoke a Deity?
Opponents of these religious invocations say such proclamations promote religion and thus violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, which prohibits all laws "respecting an establishment of religion."
LEGAL REPORT July 24, 2008
The Blaine Game: Controversy Over the Blaine Amendments and Public Funding of Religion
More than two-thirds of states have constitutional provisions restricting state aid to religious organizations; these state constitutional provisions are collectively known as the Blaine Amendments.
LEGAL REPORT May 9, 2007
School Graduations, Religion and the Courts
Spring is the season for school graduations, and graduation ceremonies play a featured role in the national debate over the place of religion in public education. Is a clergyman's benediction at a public school event a violation of the separation of church and state?
LEGAL REPORT May 9, 2007
Religion in the Public Schools
Nearly a half-century after the Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling striking down school-sponsored prayer, Americans continue to fight over the place of religion in public schools.
ANALYSIS November 1, 2006
Is There a Culture War? A Dialogue on Values and American Public Life
James Davison Hunter and Alan Wolfe Pew Forum Dialogues on Religion & Public Life E.J. Dionne Jr. and Michael Cromartie, Series Editors Executive Summary (.pdf) Order the book In the wake of a bitter 2004 presidential campaign and in the face ...
LEGAL REPORT March 29, 2006
Biology Wars
The Religion, Science and Education Controversy Download the Discussion Read the original Transcript The current legal and political battles surrounding the teaching of evolution in American schools are part of an 80-year-old debate stretching bac...
LEGAL REPORT December 5, 2005
The Biology Wars: The Religion, Science and Education Controversy
Some of the nation's leading journalists gathered in Key West, Florida, in December 2005 for the Pew Forum's biannual Faith Angle Conference on religion, politics and public life. Conference speaker Edward J. Larson, Talmadge Chair of Law and Russ...
LEGAL REPORT December 1, 2005
Judicial Faith? Ideology, Religion and the Rule of Law: A Conversation with Noah Feldman
Just weeks before the Senate confirmation hearings of Judge Samuel A. Alito, President Bush's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, the Forum held a discussion for journalists and other policy leaders on the role of religion in the judicial confirma...
EVENT TRANSCRIPT September 22, 2005
From Scopes to Dover : Should the Courts Permit Public Schools to Teach Intelligent Design?
In late September 2005, Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District et al. went to trial in federal district court in Pennsylvania. Shortly before the trial, the Pew Forum held an event to discuss the current state of the law and panelists' predictions for a ruling.
LEGAL REPORT September 22, 2005
From Darwin to Dover: An Overview of Important Cases in the Evolution Debate
Download the Legal Backgrounder (533K .pdf) Almost 150 years after Charles Darwin published his groundbreaking theory on the origins of life, Americans are still fighting over evolution. If anything, the controversy is growing in both size and int...
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