Written by Don Byrd
Polls consistently show a majority of Americans believe in the separation of church and state. They also believe strongly in supporting free religious exercise. But as Michelle Boorstein at the Washington Post writes, when faced with the tension that often arises between the separation of church and state on one hand and the freedom to exercise religion on the other, Americans are sharply divided according to a new poll from the Public Religion Research Institute.
Boorstein suggests this may be a new front in the culture war.
The question: Are you more concerned with the government interfering with the ability of people to freely practice their religion, or with religious groups trying to pass laws that force their beliefs on others? The answer: 46 percent on one side, 46 percent on the other.
…
[Chief Executive Robert] Jones notes that when PRRI asks about the two values separately, “you see fairly high support for both.” Two-thirds of Americans agree that there must be a strict separation of church and state, and about the same amount say they are concerned about protecting religious liberty. “The left-right divisions aren’t really there, except when you put those two things head to head.”
Religious liberty works best for all when both the Establishment Clause, which protects the separation of church and state, and the Free Exercise Clause, which protects religious exercise, are strong. Advocates and politicians should recognize the importance of maintaining both, rather than cynically pit one against the other.
