A study conducted by Rasmussen Reports and Summit Ministries indicated that majority of those polled think that religious freedom is a critical component of a healthy American society.
Summit.org, in connection with Rasmussen Reports, published the findings of a poll of 1,000 likely voters conducted from June 16 and 17. The results were released on Tuesday.
A whopping 82% of Americans believe religious freedom is important to a healthy society, whereas only 9% believe that it is not important.
Broken down further, 67% believe that religious freedom is very important to a healthy American society. This is followed by 15% who believe religious freedom is somewhat important. Of all respondents, 5% believe it is not very important, while 4% think it is not at all important.
Still in the subject of religious freedom, there was only a slight difference based on political endorsement, with 86% of Republican respondents stating that it is very important or somewhat important, compared to 83% of Independents and 79% of Democrats who said it is very or somewhat important.
Of all polled, 20% believe that churches and faith-based organizations should be required by law to hire people who disagree with their religious beliefs, while 50% believe they should not be required to do so. The remaining 30% are not sure about the matter.
Among Republican voters, 60% agreed with the proposition that churches and faith-based organizations should not be required by law to hire people who disagree with their religious beliefs. 57% Independent voters affirmed the proposition, as did the 37% Democratic voters.
The opposite view was held by 14% of Republicans, 16% of independent voters, and 28% of Democrats, who all said they should be required by the government.
The data may be accessed in its entirety by visiting their page.
In conclusion, Dr. Jeff Myers of Summit.org said: "This research affirms that the American people overwhelmingly support the continued protection of the Constitutional right of freedom of religion, and oppose policies requiring churches and faith-based charities and organizations to compromise their deeply-held religious beliefs."
"Yet, leaders in Washington, DC are aggressively pushing forward on legislative measures such as the mislabeled Equality Act, which specifically strips away religious freedom protections," he added. " In an era of hyper-partisanship, freedom of religion retains broad, bi-partisan support among Democrats, Republicans, and Independents."
The Christian Post reported on the Fulton v. City of Philadelphia case, in which the Supreme Court ruled that city officials were completely mistaken to terminate their partnership with Catholic Social Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia because the agency refused to put children with same-sex couples.
After deliberation, the Supreme Court decided that a Christian foster agency could not be compelled to put children in same-sex homes.
"Government fails to act neutrally when it proceeds in a manner intolerant of religious beliefs or restricts practices because of their religious nature," said Chief Justice John Roberts for the court.
"The refusal of Philadelphia to contract with CSS for the provision of foster care services unless it agrees to certify same-sex couples as foster parents cannot survive strict scrutiny, and violates the First Amendment," he declared.
