U.S. adults are nearly equally divided on how much of a role religion should play in public schools, according to a YouGov poll.
A third (34%) say it doesn’t play enough of a role, a quarter (26%) say it’s involved about the right amount, and a quarter (26%) say religion plays too much of a role.
Christians (45%), those who say religion is very important for them (56%) and Republicans (60%) are most likely to say that religion doesn’t play enough of a role in public schools. Religiously unaffiliated (45%), those who say religion is not at all important to them (56%) and Democrats (48%) are the most likely to say religion plays too much of a role.
Americans are also divided over what religions should be taught or emphasized in schools. Almost 2 in 5 (38%) say schools should teach about all religions equally. More than a quarter (28%) think they shouldn’t teach about any religions. Around 1 in 10 say schools should teach about all religions but give more emphasis to Christianity (12%) or only teach about Christianity (9%).
Among Christians, 11% say schools should teach only about Christianity, 20% teach about all faiths but emphasize Christianity, 34% teach about all religions equally and 22% don’t teach about any religions. Religiously unaffiliated are mostly split between not teaching any religions (41%) and teaching about them all equally (40%).
Religious expression
Most Americans are supportive of students being able to publicly exercise their faith at school but are less supportive of teachers voicing their opinions.
They believe students should be able to wear clothing or jewelry with religious symbols (70% strongly or somewhat support), schools should accommodate students’ religious holidays (67%), schools should allow student-led religious clubs to meet on school property (60%), and schools should allow time for student prayer or religious reflection (55%).
U.S. adults are also less likely to support allowing public charter schools to be operated by religious organizations (43% who oppose vs. 30% who support), allowing school staff to lead students in Christian prayer (43% vs. 38%) and allowing teachers to express their personal religious beliefs to students (56% vs. 29%). But the public also opposes allowing teachers to criticize religion to students (68% vs. 16%).
The Ten Commandments
Americans are more likely to oppose requiring classrooms to display the Ten Commandments (50% vs. 30% who support). Even among Christians, just 41% support such a requirement.
Despite their opposition to their being required for classroom display, most U.S. adults believe the Ten Commandments are relevant to how people should live today (71%), they attempt to follow them in their daily lives (67%), they are a direct expression of God’s will for how people should behave (61%), and they were directly given by God to Moses (54%).
Americans are less likely to agree that the Ten Commandments are only meaningful for people who follow certain religions (35%), were written by people, not given by God (32%), are outdated and no longer relevant to modern society (21%), and have done more harm than good (17%).
Christians are more likely than other religious groups to hold the first four positive opinions of the Ten Commandments, while the religiously unaffiliated are the most likely to hold the four negative opinions.
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Aaron Earls is a writer for LifeWay Christian Resources. This article originally appeared at research.lifeway.com.)
