Most Americans believe it should be legal to have voluntary student-led prayers at public school events, display the Ten Commandments inside a court building and allow religious displays on city-owned property, according to research released by Ellison Research of Phoenix.
As part of the survey, Ellison presented a number of scenarios to a representative sample of 1,007 American adults and asked whether various modes of religious expression generally should or should not be legal in the United States.
Results indicated that 90 percent said the law should support religious groups renting public property, such as a public school gym or a library room; 89 percent said it should be legal for a public school teacher to permit a moment of silence for prayer or contemplation for all students during class time; and 88 percent believe it should be legal for public school teachers to wear religious symbols, such as a Star of David or a cross, during class time.
Ellison also found that 87 percent believe voluntary student-led prayers at public school events, such as football games or graduation ceremonies, should be legal; 83 percent believe the display of a nativity scene on city property, such as city hall, should be legal; and 79 percent said it should be legal to display a copy of the Ten Commandments inside a court building.
Those who responded were less unified in their answers to three specific scenarios. Sixty percent believe the display of a scene honoring Islam on city property, such as a city hall, during the Muslim holiday Ramadan should be legal, even though 83 percent thought a nativity display should be legal.
Also, 52 percent believe it should be legal for a religious club in a high school or university to determine for itself who can be in their membership, even if certain types of people are excluded, and 33 percent said it should be legal for a landlord to refuse to rent an apartment to a homosexual couple.
While highly religious Americans – as well as those who have a conservative political viewpoint – strongly support individual religious and moral rights, Ellison found that a high proportion of non-religious Americans and those who have a more liberal political viewpoint share a similar perspective.
For instance, 92 percent of people who regularly attend religious worship services believe voluntary student-led prayers at public school events should be legal, while 83 percent of those who do not regularly attend worship services also believe this.
Solid majorities of people who do not attend religious services agree it should be legal to have a moment of silence in public school classes, for teachers to wear religious symbols during class, for religious displays to be allowed on city property, for religious groups to have equal access to public facilities, and for the Ten Commandments to be displayed inside a court building.
Some of the scenarios are positioned in the mainstream media as issues championed by evangelical Christians, but Ellison said that is only part of the truth.
Evangelicals are significantly more likely than other Americans to believe most of the scenarios should be legal in the United States today, but non-evangelicals usually have the same perspective as evangelicals – just with majorities that are not as strong.
For instance, while 97 percent of evangelicals believe it should be legal for the Ten Commandments to be displayed inside court buildings, 77 percent of non-evangelicals also believe it should be legal.
What may be most surprising is when the scenarios are viewed according to political affiliations and beliefs. Ninety-five percent of those who describe themselves as politically conservative believe voluntary student-led prayers at public school events should be legal. The same perspective is held by 90 percent of self-described moderates and even 73 percent of those who call themselves liberal.
Meanwhile, 88 percent of conservatives believe nativity scenes on city property should be legal, as do 88 percent of moderates and 70 percent of liberals.
The picture doesn’t change when party affiliation is substituted for political viewpoint. Ninety-five percent of Republicans believe voluntary student-led prayers at public schools should be legal, along with 87 percent of independents and 82 percent of Democrats. Ninety-two percent of Republicans believe teachers should legally be allowed to wear symbols of their religious faith during class time, along with 88 percent of independents and 85 percent of Democrats.
The majority of Democrats and self-described political liberals believe the law should allow nativity scenes on city property, displays honoring Islam on city property, displays of the Ten Commandments in court buildings, teachers wearing religious symbols, moments of silence for prayer or reflection during class times, equal access to public facilities for religious groups and voluntary student-led prayers at public school events.
In addition to the finding that 83 percent of Americans say a nativity scene on city property should be legal while only 60 percent say a display honoring Islam during Ramadan should be legal, 58 percent of the overall sample said both should be legal, while 15 percent said both should be illegal. One percent believe honoring Islam should be legal while a nativity scene should be outlawed. At the same time, 25 percent of all Americans surveyed said a nativity scene should be legal but not a display honoring Islam.
Americans who believe a nativity display should be legal but not a display honoring Islam tend to be women age 35 or older who are either conservative or moderate politically. This perspective does not hinge on religious belief or practice. Evangelicals, born-again Christians and people who attend worship services are not significantly more or less likely than others to say a nativity scene on city property should be legal but not a display honoring Islam.
Ron Sellers, president of Ellison Research, said this research shows that the labels placed on people often don’t accurately define who they are and what they believe.
“On most of these issues, these different groups have a lot more in common than the stereotypes would suggest,” he added. “Most people simply support the right to individual religious expression, even if another person may not like that expression.”
Sellers also noted that the study can be seen as being about individual freedoms rather than just religion.
“By definition, giving rights to one person means taking rights away from another,” he said. “If I have the right to paint my house any color I want, my neighbor loses the right not to have to look at a purple house. Americans clearly come down on the side of freedoms and rights for individuals and groups, and against restrictions.
“They believe in the right of a student to express herself at graduation, or the right of a church to rent a public school gym for its services or the right of a public school teacher to wear a Star of David on his lapel,” Sellers said. “The majority feels those who don’t wish to listen to a prayer at graduation or see the Ten Commandments in a court building have the right to ignore these things but not the right to stop others from expressing themselves.”
He also cautioned that the findings from the study do not say Americans support individual rights and freedoms at all costs.
“This research is not a legal document with exact definitions of individual cases, but a generalized idea of what Americans believe,” Sellers said. “Because people believe in a teacher’s right to wear a religious symbol does not necessarily mean that would apply no matter what the symbol, how it’s displayed, etc.
“It means in general, they believe teachers should have that right of personal expression. But Americans also take into consideration how their own freedoms impact others,” he said. – BP
Based on information provided by Ellison Research.