They say comparison is the thief of joy, but when it comes to politics, culture, religion, or economics, comparisons can be damaging, motivating, and even life-changing.
Just as the Heritage Foundation’s economic freedom index is meant to help us understand the role economic freedom plays in different countries worldwide, so too Becket’s new Religious Freedom Index, launched today, hopes to provide us with an understanding of public opinion on different issues of religious freedom and the role of religion in the public square.
The first new annual Religious Freedom Index is a comprehensive study that aims to dig a little deeper into the seemingly increasing culture war between church and state. It helps answer the preeminent question when it comes to the First Amendment: What religious differences does our society have, and how are we coping with them?
It’s easy for proponents and opponents of religious liberty alike to get distracted by the latest lawsuit and make assumptions about the state of religious freedoms in America. Is religious liberty being quashed by progressives? Or are Americans enjoying religious liberty more than ever? It’s hard to actually know.
Becket’s index polled Americans in six areas of religious freedom: religious pluralism, religion and policy, religious sharing, religion in society, church and state, and religion in action. The index then created a baseline for future trends. This year’s composite score was 67 out of 100.
The index is, of course, brand new, so the findings are straightforward but surprisingly positive. In short, the public seems to support religious freedom, despite regular attacks from the Left, the state, and groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, that have tried to either undermine religious liberty altogether or have attacked people and organizations of faith as bigots when really they were exercising their religious freedom.
Thankfully, more than 70% of the public favored many of the dimensions of religious freedom measured. Respondents most strongly supported “religious pluralism,” the freedom for all to believe in God, or not believe, while living peacefully side by side. Most importantly, the study revealed that people prefer the government to remain neutral on religious liberty issues — the way the Founding Fathers intended.
It’s a relief to know that even though there has generally been an uptick in religious liberty violations nationwide, from minor grievances to Supreme Court cases, the concept of religious liberty, one of the basic foundations upon which this country was built, remains strongly supported by millions of Americans. Let’s just hope these public sentiments are shared by a majority on the Supreme Court.
Nicole Russell (@russell_nm) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.
