WASHINGTON — Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe the Founding Fathers meant for the United States to be a Christian nation, and more than half believe the U.S. Constitution establishes a Christian nation, a national survey revealed.
The survey also showed 28 percent believe freedom to worship never was meant to apply to groups that a majority of Americans would consider on the fringe.
The State of the First Amend-ment 2007 report revealed only 19 percent of the people who responded to the survey could name “freedom of religion” as one of the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment, down from a high of 22 percent in 2003. The First Amendment Center has conducted the survey every year since 1997.
Similarly, only 16 percent named “freedom of the press,” 16 percent named right of assembly and 3 percent named “right to petition.” Almost two-thirds — 64 percent — named “freedom of speech.”
Only 56 percent agreed freedom of worship applies to all religious groups, regardless how extreme their beliefs are, compared to 72 percent who agreed with the statement in 2000.
Most of the people who responded to the survey said they believe teachers and other public school officials should be allowed to lead prayers in public school — 42 percent strongly agree, and 16 percent said they mildly agree.
The survey also revealed more than one-third of Americans believe the press has too much freedom.
Other findings include:
• 46 percent strongly agree the country's founders intended the United States to be a Christian nation, and 19 percent mildly agree.
• 38 percent strongly agree the U.S. Consti-tution establishes a Christian nation, and 17 percent mildly agree.
• 57 percent strongly agree a public school teacher should be allowed to use the Bible as literature in an English class, and 23 percent mildly agree.
• 71 percent strongly agree a public school teacher should be permitted to use the Bible as a text in comparative religion class, and 17 percent mildly agree.
• 33 percent strongly agree a public school teacher should be allowed to use the Bible as a factual text in a history or social studies class.
Charles Haynes, senior scholar with the First Amendment Center, noted the survey shows Americans highly value religious freedom, but they interpret it in terms of freedom for the religion held by a majority.
“The strong support for official recognition of the majority faith appears to be grounded in a belief that the United States was founded as a Christian nation, in spite of the fact that the Constitution nowhere mentions God or Christianity,” Haynes said.
“Of course, people define ‘Christian nation' in various ways, ranging from a nation that reflects Christian values to a nation where the government favors the Christian faith. But almost one-third of respondents appear to believe the religious view of the majority should rule.”
Actually, the First Amendment — and all the Bill of Rights — are “counter-majoritarian,” said Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious
Liberty.
In a column in the “Report from the Capital” newsletter, Walker lamented the survey findings that revealed many Americans display “woeful ignorance of the Constitution and history.”
“It does not matter what the majority thinks. The protection for religious liberty in the First Amendment protects against the tyranny of the majority,” he wrote.
“But, we must do a better job in convincing the culture. Eventually, it does matter what the majority thinks. They can elect new members of Congress and vote for presidents that will make new appointments to the Supreme Court and, in rare cases, a super-majority can amend the Constitution. So, ironically, for this counter-majoritarian understanding of the First Amendment to survive challenges, it must be embraced by a majority, if not a consensus, of the American people.”
The survey of 1,003 respondents was conducted by phone between Aug. 16 and Aug. 26 by New England Survey Research. Sampling error was plus or minus 3.2 percent.