Asked whether “the First Amendment requires a clear separation of church and state,” 67 percent of respondents said yes (with 48 percent “strongly” agreeing). Only 28 percent disagreed (with just 17 percent saying they “strongly” disagree).
Now, I’ll be the first to say that I wish the affirmation number was even higher. But it’s a good thing that two-thirds of Americans recognize that our Constitution provides for a “clear separation” between religion and government.
The survey also found widespread support for broadly based religious freedom.
Pollsters asked “Do you feel that the freedom to worship as one chooses applies to all religious groups regardless of how extreme their views are, or was it never meant to apply to religious groups that most people would consider extreme or fringe?”
Two-thirds of Americans said religious liberty applies to all groups.
Charles C. Haynes, director of the Religious Freedom Education Project at the Newseum, hailed Americans’ endorsement of church-state separation.
“This is somewhat surprising,” he said, “given the decades-old culture-war fight over the meaning and scope of separation. For decades now, Christian-nation advocates have tried to convince Americans that ‘separation of church and state isn’t in the First Amendment.’ They have peddled a revisionist account of a ‘Christian America’ that should (at best) tolerate other faiths to reside here.
“Apparently,” Haynes said, “the American people aren’t buying the propaganda. It’s true that the actual words ‘separation of church and state’ aren’t in the Constitution. But as the majority of Americans understand, the principle of separation clearly is.”
Exactly.
The poll results, however, must not be a signal for civil liberties activists to rest on their laurels. Even though Religious Right activists are in the minority, they are well-funded, well-organized and aggressive – fired by the kind of religious zeal that doesn’t give up easily. Those of us who believe in separation of church and state must be ever-alert and ready to thwart their theocratic agenda.
Source: Americans United
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Note: It may seem impossible for the masses to support some kind of theocracy, but prophecy says it's going to happen. It may be that religious laws will be passed under a secular guise with the pretext that it will be for the greater good of society, which is quite possible if you notice the European Sunday Alliance. From the way things are going with natural disasters and economic melt down, it's very likely that the governments of the world will turn to "religious" values out of fear as a last resort (which will only end in national ruin). When the masses are panic and paralyzed in fear, that's when the minority can easily push their agenda forward and easily convince everyone to go along with it. The result is dictatorship, which is no surprise if you understand history repeats itself and most of all, if you know bible prophecy.
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