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'07 survey shows Americans' views mixed on basic freedoms
Nearly two-thirds say nation’s founders intended ‘Christian nation’; support rises for limits on campaign contributions
First Amendment Center
09.24.07
Survey tables
WASHINGTON — Sixty-five percent of Americans believe that the nation's
founders intended the U.S. to be a Christian nation and 55% believe that the
Constitution establishes a Christian nation, according to the “State of the
First Amendment 2007” national survey released Sept. 11 by the First Amendment
Center.
The survey also found that 71% of Americans would limit the amount a
corporation or union could contribute to a political campaign, with 64% favoring
such a limit on individual contributions. Sixty-two percent would limit the
amount a person could contribute to his or her own campaign. Support for such
limits increased from the 2000 survey in all three areas: by nine percentage
points in favor of limits on self-funding, by seven points concerning limits on
individual contributions to someone else; and by three points on limits on
corporations and unions.
The First Amendment Center has conducted the annual survey since 1997. This
year’s survey, being released to mark both annual Constitution Day (Sept. 17)
activities and the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, also
found:
- Just 56% believe that the freedom to worship as one chooses extends to all
religious groups, regardless of how extreme — down 16 points from 72% in 2000.
- 58% of Americans would prevent protests during a funeral procession, even on
public streets and sidewalks; and 74% would prevent public school students from
wearing a T-shirt with a slogan that might offend others.
- 34% (lowest since the survey first was done in 1997) think the press “has
too much freedom,” but 60% of Americans disagree with the statement that the
press tries to report the news without bias, and 62% believe the making up of
stories is a widespread problem in the news media — down only slightly from
2006.
- 25% said “the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees,”
well below the 49% recorded in the 2002 survey that followed the 9/11 terrorist
attacks in 2001, but up from 18% in 2006.
“Americans clearly have mixed views of what First Amendment freedoms are and
to whom they should fully apply,” said Gene Policinski, vice president and
executive director of the First Amendment Center. “To me the results of this
year’s survey endorse the idea of more and better education for young people —
our nation’s future leaders — about our basic freedoms.”
The right to practice one’s own religion was deemed “essential” or
“important” by nearly all Americans (97%); as was the right to “speak freely
about whatever you want” (98%) and to “assemble, march, protest or petition the
government (94%),” Policinski said. “Still, Americans are hard pressed to name
the five freedoms included in the First Amendment,” he said. Speech is the only
one named by a majority of respondents (64%), followed by religion (19%), press
and assembly (each 16%) and petition (3%).
Comments on the survey by other First Amendment Center experts:
First Amendment Center Senior Scholar Charles Haynes: “While the
survey shows Americans highly value religious freedom, a significant number
support privileging the religion of the majority, especially in public schools.
Four decades after the Supreme Court declared state-sponsored religious
practices unconstitutional in public schools, 58% of respondents support
teacher-led prayers and 43% favor school holiday programs that are entirely
Christian. Moreover, 50% would allow schools to teach the Bible as a factual
text in a history class.
“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. 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 that the religious views of the majority should rule: 28%
would deny freedom to worship to any group that the majority considers ‘extreme
or on the fringe.’”
First Amendment Center Scholar David Hudson: “The survey results
indicate the public does not have strong support for student expression — an
unfortunate reality given that students may not appreciate our constitutional
democracy if they live in an environment that does not respect their rights to
freedom of expression. We all would do well to remember the words of Justice
Robert Jackson many years ago: ‘That boards of education are educating the young
for citizenship is reason for scrupulous protection of Constitutional freedoms
of the individual, if we are not to strangle the free mind at its source and
teach youth to discount principles of our government as mere platitudes.’”
Free-press and freedom of information expert Paul McMasters:
“Media-industry reports seem to be telling us that many Americans don’t need the
press, and this survey seems to be telling us they don’t trust it, either. While
more than 9 of 10 do say the right to be informed by a free press is essential
or important, significant numbers want to limit that freedom. A third think the
press has too much freedom and 60-plus percent believe the press is biased in
its reporting or, worse, falsifies or makes up stories. These responses are far
too chilling for a healthy democracy.”
First Amendment Center Scholar Ronald Collins: "The survey reveals a constant and firm support for robust free speech in wartime. This suggests that, with increasing frequency, Americans may no longer hold firm to the belief that patriotism is always synonymous with endorsing our government’s involvement in this or that war or military conflict. If so, that is a most promising sign for a democracy truly committed to First Amendment principles. When it comes to the press, however, the survey suggests a more complicated, even nuanced, attitude about First Amendment freedoms. This could well be due to contemporary notions of the meaning of “the press.” As the public perception of 'the press' changes — to encompass, for example, bloggers and TV pundits — so, too, do our attitudes about press freedom and responsibility. In that world, it may necessary, now more than ever, for the traditional press to take steps to buttress its own credibility and thus distinguish itself from its stepchildren. Unfortunately, far too often the momentum seems to move in the other direction."
The State of the First Amendment 2007 survey is available online at the First
Amendment Center’s Web site, www.firstamendmentcenter.org. (See results.)
Methodology: The 2007 survey was conducted by New England Survey
Research Associates. It was directed by Dr. Kenneth Dautrich and Dr. David Yalof
and commissioned by the First Amendment Center. Commissioned annually by the
center since the project began in 1997, the study examines public attitudes
toward freedom of speech, press, religion and the rights of assembly and
petition. The 2007 national survey of 1,003 respondents was conducted by
telephone between Aug. 16 and Aug. 26. The sampling error is plus-or-minus
3.2%.
The First Amendment Center works to preserve and protect First Amendment
freedoms through information and education. The center serves as a forum for the
study and exploration of free-expression issues, including freedom of speech, of
the press and of religion, and the rights to assemble and to petition the
government.
The center, with offices at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and
Washington, D.C., is an operating program of the Freedom Forum and is associated
with the Newseum. Its affiliation with Vanderbilt University is through the
Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies.
# # #
Media contact: Gene Policinski 615-727-1600 or
gpolicinski@fac.org
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