KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Support for religious freedom in America has increased across all six dimensions measured by Becket’s Religious Freedom Index since 2020.
- About 75% of Americans say they personally are accepting of people of faith and their ability to live according to their beliefs, while only about 40% believe society is similarly accepting.
- After learning factual information about religion’s social contributions, respondents in a separate Sutherland Institute study shifted 15 points toward seeing religion as part of the solution. Among religiously unaffiliated respondents, the shift was 23 points.
- Attitudes toward religion and support for religious freedom are distinct. Among religiously unaffiliated respondents, only 11% held a positive view of religion generally, while 46% viewed religious freedom as a net positive.
Religion occupies a complicated place in American public life. About three out of four Americans identify with or are affiliated with a religion, according to data discussed during our recent roundtable, yet attitudes about religion’s role in society remain divided.
That tension framed our recent American Views on Faith in Society roundtable, moderated by Dee Allsop. Derringer Dick shared findings from Becket’s Religious Freedom Index, while Bill Duncan discussed Sutherland Institute research examining how Americans view the social benefits of religion.
WATCH: American Views on Faith in Society roundtable
Together, the studies point to a more nuanced picture of religious freedom in America than the broader public conversation might suggest.
Support For Religious Freedom In America Is Growing
Becket’s annual Religious Freedom Index is a nationwide poll of about 1,000 respondents. It includes 21 recurring questions organized around six dimensions of religious freedom in America, along with roughly 15 topical questions that can change each year.
The findings show clear movement. From 2020 to 2025, all six dimensions increased by at least three points. Religious pluralism rose nearly 10 points, while the overall index increased five points.
The findings are particularly notable when questions place religious freedom in the context of potentially divisive issues.
For example, 65% supported the Supreme Court ruling that Catholic Charities should receive the same tax exemption granted to other religious charities.
Support for parental opt-outs reached 73%, up 10 points from 2021. Separately, 62% supported the Supreme Court’s decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor, and a majority 53% of respondents who said they did not trust the Supreme Court generally still supported that specific ruling.
Other findings followed a similar pattern. Eighty percent supported the freedom for individuals or groups to believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman without facing government discrimination, penalties or fines for that belief. Seventy percent supported the freedom of healthcare workers with religious objections to abortion not to participate in abortion procedures.
“Americans really do… support religious freedom, and I think that it’s an area of unity that we can actually rally around.”
– Derringer Dick
Americans May Underestimate One Another’s Acceptance
One of the sharpest findings was the gap between Americans’ personal attitudes and what they think society believes.
About 75% said they were personally completely or at least a good amount accepting of people of faith and their ability to live according to their beliefs. Yet only about 40% believed society was comparably accepting, a gap of roughly 35 points.
“Nearly 75% of Americans believe that they personally are accepting and tolerant of people of faith and their ability to live according to their beliefs. And if you add up all of those Americans, they actually make up society. Yet, when you ask all those Americans how they think society is in terms of accepting people and tolerating them for living their beliefs, only about 38% say that society is accepting and tolerant.”
—Dee Allsop
That discrepancy suggests perception is an important part of the conversation around religious freedom in America. Derringer Dick described it as a possible “coordination problem,” with Americans failing to recognize how strongly others support religion and religious freedom.
Information About Religion’s Contributions Can Shift Perceptions
Bill Duncan examined public perceptions from another angle.
Sutherland Institute’s experimental survey involved about 1,100 adults, including many religiously unaffiliated respondents, often called religious “nones.” Researchers captured an initial snapshot of attitudes, provided information about religion’s social contributions, then reassessed attitudes.
Respondents reviewed 15 factual statements about religion’s social contributions. Afterward, the total sample shifted a net 15 points toward viewing religion as part of the solution. Among religiously unaffiliated respondents, the shift was 23 points.
Dee Allsop made that second finding more concrete: among the unaffiliated, the percentage seeing religion as part of the solution moved from 23% to 46%.
“It was the percentage of change among the spiritual nones that was really, really striking.… The dramatic change among that subgroup of spiritual nones, that was the thing that was most striking to me.”
—Bill Duncan
The types of contributions mattered, too. Emergency relief stood out, while economic and healthcare contributions were also widelyrecognized as contributions to the common good. The research found more resistance to messages about personal happiness and moral guidance.
Views Of Religion And Religious Freedom Are Different
Together, the two studies reveal another important distinction: Americans can be skeptical about religion while still supporting religious freedom in America.
Among religiously unaffiliated respondents in the Sutherland research, about 11% held a positive view of religion, while 46% considered religious freedom a net positive.
That distinction sharpens Becket’s findings. Americans may disagree about religion itself while still finding considerable common ground around the freedom to practice it.
The research also shows that perceptions can move when people encounter factual information about religion’s contributions to society. Dee Allsop saw that movement as an indication that some attitudes may be less firmly rooted than they appear: “The amount of movement is big, which tells me that people’s perceptions are not rooted in hardcore things. They’re general perceptions that are malleable.”
The broader lesson from the roundtable is straightforward: measure what people actually believe rather than relying on perceptions of division. These studies find substantial support for religious freedom in America, alongside meaningful opportunities to improve understanding of how religion and religious organizations contribute to society.
A Brief Note On The Research
The two studies discussed here were designed for different purposes. The Becket Religious Freedom Index is an annual tracking study based on an online sample of 1,000 American adults. Heart+Mind Strategies conducts the survey and constructs the Index; Becket contributes subject-matter expertise to the instrument and publishes the results.
The Sutherland Institute study was commissioned by Sutherland Institute and conducted by Heart+Mind Strategies from June 27 to July 15, 2025. Its experimental survey included 1,106 U.S. adults, including 395 religiously unaffiliated respondents.
For methodology, exact question wording and additional findings, review both original reports at the links above.