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In this conversation, Will Wright and Pastor Josh Bertram interview Gregory A. Smith, an associate director of research at Pew Research Center, about religion in America. They discuss the methodology behind Pew's research, including the importance of representative sampling and question design. They also explore the rise of the religiously unaffiliated (or 'nones') in America, which is largely driven by generational change. The conversation emphasizes the transparency of Pew's research and the need for consumers to interpret survey results with an understanding of margin of error. The conversation explores the findings and methodology of the Pew Research Center's survey on religion and politics in the United States. The survey examines topics such as the influence of the Bible on US laws, the interaction between religion and politics, and the concept of Christian nationalism. The survey reveals that about half of Americans see a conflict between their religious beliefs and mainstream American culture. It also shows that while many Americans want a president who lives a moral and ethical life, the religious beliefs of the president are not as important to them. The survey also delves into the topic of Christian nationalism, with a small percentage of the public expressing support for closer intermingling of church and state.

Read the full report here: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2024/03/15/8-in-10-americans-say-religion-is-losing-influence-in-public-life/

Guest Bio:
Gregory A. Smith is associate director of research at Pew Research Center. He helps to coordinate the Center’s domestic polling on religion. Smith also writes reports and provides information to news media and others about religion and public opinion, religion and American politics, and the political views of Catholics. Smith holds a doctorate in government from the University of Virginia, where he was a fellow at the Center on Religion and Democracy. He is an author of the 2007 and 2014 U.S. Religious Landscape Studies, the 2010 U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey, the 2007 and 2011 Pew Research Center surveys of Muslim Americans, the 2012 Mormons in America report and the 2012 report “Nones” on the Rise. He also wrote Politics in the Parish: The Political Influence of Catholic Priests (Georgetown University Press, 2008). Smith has been interviewed as an analyst by a variety of broadcast media, including ABC, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, MSNBC and NPR, and by The New York Times, The Washington Post and USA Today, among other print media.

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