{"id":10048,"date":"2020-04-13T11:00:15","date_gmt":"2020-04-13T16:00:15","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2024-08-14T14:30:07","modified_gmt":"2024-08-14T18:30:07","slug":"half-of-americans-say-bible-should-influence-u-s-laws-including-28-who-favor-it-over-the-will-of-the-people","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2020\/04\/13\/half-of-americans-say-bible-should-influence-u-s-laws-including-28-who-favor-it-over-the-will-of-the-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Half of Americans say Bible should influence U.S. laws, including 28% who favor it over the will of the people"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/FT_20.03.30_bibleUSlaw_featured.jpg\" alt=\"(Ericsphotography via GettyImages)\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Ericsphotography via GettyImages)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. Constitution does not mention the Bible, God, Jesus or Christianity, and the First Amendment clarifies that \u201cCongress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.\u201d Still, some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lawliberty.org\/book-review\/the-founders-go-to-text\/\">scholars have argued<\/a> that the Bible heavily influenced America\u2019s founders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, about half of Americans (49%) say the Bible should have at least \u201csome\u201d influence on U.S. laws, including nearly a quarter (23%) who say it should have \u201ca great deal\u201d of influence, according to a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2020\/03\/12\/white-evangelicals-see-trump-as-fighting-for-their-beliefs-though-many-have-mixed-feelings-about-his-personal-conduct\/#half-of-americans-say-the-bible-should-influence-u-s-laws\">Pew Research Center survey<\/a>. Among U.S. Christians, two-thirds (68%) want the Bible to influence U.S. laws at least some, and among white evangelical Protestants, this figure rises to about nine-in-ten (89%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2020\/04\/13\/half-of-americans-say-bible-should-influence-u-s-laws-including-28-who-favor-it-over-the-will-of-the-people\/bible640px\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/bible640px.png\" alt=\"Americans split on how much Bible should sway laws\" class=\"wp-image-361686\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the other end of the spectrum, there\u2019s broad opposition to biblical influence on U.S. laws among religiously unaffiliated Americans, also known as religious \u201cnones,\u201d who identify as atheist, agnostic or \u201cnothing in particular.\u201d Roughly three-quarters in this group (78%) say the Bible should hold little to no sway, including 86% of self-described atheists who say the Bible should not influence U.S. legislation <em>at all<\/em>. Two-thirds of U.S. Jews, as well, think the Bible should have not much or should have no influence on laws.<!--more--><\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"border-width:1px;padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);--block-gap: inherit\" class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible has-background has-ui-beige-very-light-background-color has-border-color has-ui-beige-dark-border-color\" id=\"how-we-did-this\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/collapsible&quot;}\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;collapsibleId&quot;:&quot;how-we-did-this&quot;,&quot;isOpen&quot;:false}\" data-wp-class--is-open=\"context.isOpen\" data-wp-init--scroll-into-view=\"callbacks.onInitScrollIntoView\"><div class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__title\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.onClick\"><div>How we did this<\/div><button class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__icon\"><span data-wp-bind--hidden=\"context.isOpen\"><i class=\"icon icon-library__light icon__circle-plus\"><svg style=\"width: 1em; height: 1em;\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/plugins\/prc-icon-library\/build\/icons\/sprites\/light.svg#circle-plus\"><\/use><\/svg><\/i><\/span><span data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!context.isOpen\" hidden><i class=\"icon icon-library__light icon__circle-minus\"><svg style=\"width: 1em; height: 1em;\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/plugins\/prc-icon-library\/build\/icons\/sprites\/light.svg#circle-minus\"><\/use><\/svg><\/i><\/span><\/button><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__content\">\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The findings in this post are drawn from a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2020\/03\/12\/white-evangelicals-see-trump-as-fighting-for-their-beliefs-though-many-have-mixed-feelings-about-his-personal-conduct\">new survey<\/a>&nbsp;exploring the intersection of religion and politics in the U.S. The survey of 6,395 U.S. adults was conducted Feb. 4 to 15. All respondents to the survey are part of Pew Research Center\u2019s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/u-s-survey-research\/american-trends-panel\/\">the ATP\u2019s methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/03\/PF.03.12.20_religion.politics.TOPLINE.pdf\">the questions used<\/a> for this report, along with responses, and its <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2020\/03\/12\/methodology-32\">methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There also are differences on this question by age and political party. Older Americans are much more likely than younger adults to want biblical influence on U.S. laws, while Republicans \u2013 by a two-to-one margin \u2013 are more likely than Democrats to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All survey respondents who said the Bible should have at least \u201csome\u201d influence on U.S. laws were asked a follow-up question: When the Bible and the will of the people conflict, which should have more influence on U.S. laws?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The more common answer to this question is that the Bible should take priority over the will of the people. This view is expressed by more than a quarter of all Americans (28%). About one-in-five (19%) say the Bible should have at least some influence but that the will of the people should prevail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two religious groups stand out for being especially supportive of biblical influence in legislation, even if that means going against the will of the American people: Two-thirds of white evangelical Protestants (68%) say the Bible should take precedence over the people, and half of black Protestants say the same. Among Catholics (25%) and white Protestants who do not identify as born-again or evangelical (27%), only about a quarter share this perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The survey did not ask people what they had mind when thinking of biblically influenced laws. It\u2019s possible some were thinking of \u201cbiblical marriage,\u201d defined by some Christian leaders as a marriage between one man and one woman, precluding same-sex unions. Recent surveys by the Center find that most white evangelical Protestants (63%) and half of black Protestants (50%) <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2019\/05\/14\/attitudes-on-gay-marriage-2019-appendix-charts\/\">continue to oppose<\/a> legal same-sex marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2020\/04\/13\/half-of-americans-say-bible-should-influence-u-s-laws-including-28-who-favor-it-over-the-will-of-the-people\/ft_2020-04-13_biblelaws_01\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ft_2020.04.13_biblelaws_01.png\" alt=\"About seven-in-ten white evangelicals say the Bible should have more influence on U.S. laws than will of the people\" class=\"wp-image-361687\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Note: Here are&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/03\/PF.03.12.20_religion.politics.TOPLINE.pdf\">the questions used<\/a> for this report, along with responses, and its <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2020\/03\/12\/methodology-32\">methodology<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About half of Americans say the Bible should have at least \u201csome\u201d influence on U.S. laws; 23% say it should have \u201ca great deal\u201d of influence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":584,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0},"categories":[179,24,84,113,171,172],"bylines":[854],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[520,517],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-10048","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-christianity","category-religion","category-religion_government-3","category-religion-government-2","category-religion-government-1","category-religion-politics-1","bylines-michael-lipka","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-politics","research-teams-religion"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":609,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2020\/04\/13\/half-of-americans-say-bible-should-influence-u-s-laws-including-28-who-favor-it-over-the-will-of-the-people\/","art_direction":{"A1":{"id":18002,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/04\/FT_20.03.30_bibleUSlaw_featured-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/04\/FT_20.03.30_bibleUSlaw_featured-jpg.webp?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":18002,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/04\/FT_20.03.30_bibleUSlaw_featured-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/04\/FT_20.03.30_bibleUSlaw_featured-jpg.webp?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"A3":{"id":18002,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/04\/FT_20.03.30_bibleUSlaw_featured-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/04\/FT_20.03.30_bibleUSlaw_featured-jpg.webp?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"chartArt":false},"A4":{"id":18002,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/04\/FT_20.03.30_bibleUSlaw_featured-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/04\/FT_20.03.30_bibleUSlaw_featured-jpg.webp?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"XL":{"id":18002,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/04\/FT_20.03.30_bibleUSlaw_featured-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/04\/FT_20.03.30_bibleUSlaw_featured-jpg.webp?w=720&h=405&crop=1","width":720,"height":405,"chartArt":false},"social":{"id":18002,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/04\/FT_20.03.30_bibleUSlaw_featured-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/04\/FT_20.03.30_bibleUSlaw_featured-jpg.webp?w=1200&h=628&crop=1","width":1200,"height":628,"chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Half of Americans say Bible should influence U.S. laws, including 28% who favor it over the will of the people","description":"About half of Americans say the Bible should have at least \u201csome\u201d influence on U.S. laws; 23% say it should have \u201ca great deal\u201d of influence.","og_title":"Half of Americans say Bible should influence U.S. laws, including 28% who favor it over the will of the people","og_description":"About half of Americans say the Bible should have at least \u201csome\u201d influence on U.S. laws; 23% say it should have \u201ca great deal\u201d of influence.","schema_type":"Article","noindex":false,"canonical_url":"","primary_terms":{"formats":467,"regions-countries":515,"research-teams":520},"custom_schema":[],"twitter_title":"Half of Americans say Bible should influence U.S. laws, including 28% who favor it over the will of the people","twitter_description":"About half of Americans say the Bible should have at least \u201csome\u201d influence on U.S. laws; 23% say it should have \u201ca great deal\u201d of influence.","og_image":18002,"twitter_image":361685,"indexnow_submitted_at":null,"gsc_index_status":null},"prepublish_checks":{},"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"relatedPostsOrdered":[],"bylinesOrdered":[{"key":"8501f648822e97159d40e0da1c94a68e","termId":854}],"acknowledgementsOrdered":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read\/10048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/short-read"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/584"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10048"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read\/10048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":184847,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read\/10048\/revisions\/184847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10048"},{"taxonomy":"bylines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bylines?post=10048"},{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=10048"},{"taxonomy":"datasets","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/datasets?post=10048"},{"taxonomy":"_post_visibility","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_post_visibility?post=10048"},{"taxonomy":"formats","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/formats?post=10048"},{"taxonomy":"_fund_pool","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_fund_pool?post=10048"},{"taxonomy":"languages","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/languages?post=10048"},{"taxonomy":"regions-countries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions-countries?post=10048"},{"taxonomy":"research-teams","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-teams?post=10048"},{"taxonomy":"workflow-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/workflow-status?post=10048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}