DATA SAYS: Survey Shows Public’s View of Faith’s Importance to Society Rebounded in 2023

Americans appear to be reinvigorating their view that religious faith is a key element in finding practical and workable solutions to the many problems facing this nation, according to the latest edition of the Religious Freedom Index: American Perspectives on the First Amendment published annually by the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty.

“The 2023 Index marked the highest overall score in the Index’s history, showing that Americans are increasingly unified in supporting religious liberty for people of all faiths. This year’s poll demonstrated strong support for parental rights, broad trust in people of faith, and insights into how Gen Z thinks about religious freedom,” Beckett said in a statement releasing the results.

“Support for religious freedom hit its highest score ever of 69 on a scale of 0 to 100. The 2023 results found that Americans strongly back the right of parents to raise their children consistent with their faith and believe that religion is part of the solution to America’s problems — up nine percentage points from last year,” the statement continued.

In addition, the survey found:

• 67% of Americans support opt-outs from school curriculum that parents think is morally objectionable or inappropriate.
• 59% of Americans (+9 since 2022) believe that religion is part of the solution to America’s problems.
• 58% of Americans (+12 since 2021) oppose school policies requiring students and employees to use preferred pronouns.

The survey is based on responses received from a nationally representative sample of 1,000 American adults.

Another key finding of the survey is that a huge majority of Americans continue to support the fundamental principles underlying the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFFA) of 1993. Ironically perhaps, the RFRA was first introduced by then-Rep. Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat who is now the Senate Majority Leader.

“Becket asked Americans about the RFRA standard, which says that the federal government cannot burden religious freedom unless they have a 1) a compelling reason or 2) have chosen the option least restrictive of religious freedom. An overwhelming 88% of Americans favored RFRA or an even stronger standard for religious freedom,” the Beckett statement explained.

Among the conclusions in the survey, the following captures the fundamental significance of the 2023 results:

“Although much ink has been spilled on claims of declining religiosity and the crisis of American institutions, this year’s data shows that Americans still value their religious liberty, despite divisions over important issues. This year’s increasing Index score and rebounding confidence in faith and religion as the solution to America’s problems should dispel sky-is-falling narratives about American culture.

“With nearly two-thirds of Americans believing that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act sets the right standard … it seems clear that Americans are not as divided on the issue of religious freedom as some might think. This is true even on hot-button questions: we found that more than 60 percent of Americans believe that otherwise lawful speech should not be prohibited around abortion clinics, and that most Americans support the rights of religious Americans to raise their children in their faith tradition.”

Another observation humbly offered by this author: Adoption of the Bill of Rights was insisted upon by the states and were written to guarantee protection of the American people as individuals against abuses of their God-given rights by men in government.