Americans value religious freedom, but mostly for Christians

by Cathy Lee Grossman

Eight in 10 Americans say it’s very or extremely important for people like themselves to be allowed to practice their religion freedom, but support for religious freedom plummets when people were asked about other traditions, a new survey found.

The survey of 1,042 U.S. adults , made public Wednesday by by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) for Public Affairs Research and The Associated Press, found that overall:

82% called religious liberty protections important for Christians
72% prioritized it for Jews
67% for Mormons
61% for Muslims

For Christians, the percentages were nearly identical when asked about people like themselves.The AP-NORC poll was conducted online and by phone. The overall margin of error is plus or minus 3.9%.

Charles Haynes, director of the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum Institute, told AP that ideas of religious liberty have become politicized and polarized.

“Religious freedom is now in the eye of the beholder. People in different traditions, with different ideological commitments, define religious freedom differently,” Haynes said.

Republicans and Democrats were statistically tied in prioritizing religious freedom for Christians but not for Muslims in the survey, conducted Dec. 10 to Dec. 13, while campaign rhetoric about Muslims was intense.

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