Americans’ support for religious liberty hits 7-year high

The only poll that tracks Americans’ support for religious freedom showed its strongest result since launching seven years ago.

The score of 71 out of 100 demonstrates “Americans are increasingly unified in supporting religious liberty for people of all faiths,” said the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which released the results this month.

The far-reaching survey of 1,000 U.S. adults found three main trends: increased support for Americans’ freedom to bring their faith into the public square, continued backing for parents’ rights to guide their children’s education, and broad approval of Supreme Court decisions that protect religious freedom, said Becket.

Derringer Dick, a senior research associate at Becket, told The Lion that support for people’s right to share their faith and express it publicly increased three points this year, while the “idea that faith is meant to be public” is up five points since 2020.

“It’s risen to 57% of Americans agreeing that faith is something that’s in the public square,” Dick said. “It’s not something that’s meant to be hidden in your home or something that stops at the church doors.” 

Support for school choice continued to surge, the poll also showed. 

The Catholic organization received near-identical support for versions of a question about allowing parents to use public funds for their child’s education, even if it is at a private or religious school, with 75% or more of respondents answering yes. 

School choice support was strongest among millennials and Gen Z, which Dick said bodes well for the policy’s future politically. 

“School choice and support for religious parents to be able to make the best possible decisions for their children tells me that’s not something that’s going to go away,” he said. 

More than 60% of those surveyed backed the Supreme Court’s decisions to allow parents to opt their children out of material they deem inappropriate (in Mahmoud v. Taylor) and its unanimous decision in Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin that ministries can receive a tax exemption even if they serve people outside their faith without trying to convert them. 

Support was also high for maintaining the confidentiality of the Sacrament of Confession from government intrusion, which Becket has defended in court. 

Becket President and CEO Mark Rienzi said the nation’s founders wanted people to bring their beliefs into the public square “without fear, even when those beliefs cut against the grain.” 

“Year after year, the Index has made clear that religious liberty remains one of our most cherished values,” Rienzi said. “Even amid deep divisions, our nation still believes that our first freedom belongs at the heart of our culture – not as a source of conflict, but as a foundation for overcoming it. The work before us is to see that freedom protected for our children and theirs in the years to come.”