Poll: Americans overwhelmingly support religious rights and freedoms this Thanksgiving

By Bethany Blankley | The Center Square

The majority of Americans, 73%, say their rights come from God, not government, and say government can’t force Americans to violate their religious beliefs, according to a poll conducted by Summit.org and McLaughlin and Associates.

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Heading into Thanksgiving, 73% of American voters polled said they agree with America’s founders that their rights come God, not government; 27% polled said they don’t.

“There’s a widening gap between the dominant media narrative and what the American people actually believe,” Dr. Jeff Myers of Summit.org said in a statement accompanying the poll results. “We’re seeing that in these numbers. As we approach a holiday established to thank God for His blessings on our nation, the American people still believe that our rights come from God, not from government, and that the right to believe and practice our religion must be respected.

“Despite everything, it is encouraging to see that Americans still acknowledge the freedoms that made this nation great.”

Heading into Thanksgiving, 73% of American voters polled said they agree with America’s founders that their rights come God, not government; 27% polled said they don’t.

The majority, 75%, say the government doesn’t have the right to force Americans to participate in practices that violate their religious beliefs, compared to 16% who say it does and 10% who said they don’t know or don’t have an answer.

The poll comes at a time when the federal government is rejecting religious exemptions for federal employees who don’t want to comply with an executive order requiring COVID-19 shots as a condition of employment, and members of the military in all branches face dishonorable discharge or other consequences for submitting religious accommodation exemptions.

Liberty Counsel, which has sued the Biden administration over religious freedom violations, argues the administration wants to eliminate religious freedoms in America, which is protected by the First Amendment.

“Religious freedom is more than the ‘freedom to worship’ at a synagogue, church, or mosque,” Liberty Counsel argues. “It means government cannot force people to go against their core values and beliefs. Religious freedom protects people’s right to live, speak, and act according to their beliefs peacefully and publicly.”

In another survey conducted by Rasmussen and Summit Institute of 1,000 likely voters, 82% said freedom of religion was “important to a healthy American society;” 67% said it was “very important,” 15% said it was “somewhat important.”

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “Our Founders established this nation on religious freedom, and the Constitution protects it. They sacrificed everything so we might live in a free country and help other innocent people around the world who are imprisoned, tortured and persecuted for their faith.”

The Summit/McLaughlin poll was conducted among 1,000 likely general election voters nationwide between October 14-18.

All interviews were conducted online; survey invitations were distributed randomly within predetermined geographic units structured to correlate with actual voter turnout in the general election. The poll has an accuracy of +/- 3.1% at a 95% confidence interval.

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/BenSam and Public domain

5 thoughts on “Poll: Americans overwhelmingly support religious rights and freedoms this Thanksgiving

  1. Our north star should be liberty and tolerance: these are the foundations of our country.

    We were not founded on the hatred and intolerance now being spread everywhere by those who insist the medical opinions should only follow one way, and medical practice should only follow one way “for the greater good.” Those who refuse to go “the one way” are being censored, demonized, isolated, and even stripped of their livelihoods and licenses. This is the way of intolerance and hatred.

    Intolerance has squashed the true path out of Covid and substituted a path that enriches tech giants, pharma giants, and government control and (medical) dictatorship over its citizens and has boosted the egos of petty tyrants. That path has destroyed livelihoods and free thought and expression: that path is the path of the jackboot.

    We are free, and we are tolerant. This is the natural state of people living peacefully together. We do not belong in this manufactured realm of hate and fear.

    We will fight, and we’re thankful for all those who join in the fight. We will not succumb to despair and we will not succumb to their threats. We will resist for the sake of the future, even if it costs us today. This is the only path forward.

  2. The US Constitution states people have inalienable RIGHTS, such as the right to remain silent.

    These rights were not GIVEN by the Constitution
    The Constitution merely states each person HAS them

    If a person is mandated to appear before a Committee, all you have to do is appear on time, to ensure you are not being held in contempt.

    After that, you can just sit there and not respond to any and all questions, i.e., remain silent

    The Committee cannot force you to answer, such as by water boarding, or electric shock, or any incarceration, etc.

    You cannot be held in contempt by the Committee for freely exercising your Constitutional right.

    If a Committee member calls you a “witness”, which implies you heard and saw things, etc., you are not obligated to tell what you heard or saw, because you have a right to remain silent.

    After a while, the Committee members will give up.

    • Agree with everything except your last sentence – the Commissariat never gives up. They’ll use their corrupt black-robed tyrants to illegally toss you in a cell with no private access to an attorney, no access to medical care, no hope of bail. They’ll break you and your family.

      • Zeke,

        You mean, the Committee would have me harassed by the FBI, or Antifa, or the Media, vigilantes, or I would lose my job, or I would be besmirched, or I would have an “accident”, etc., and make my life unbearable?

        Oh well, what else is new in the LAND OF THE FREE?

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