Most Americans say religion plays positive role in society: Pew

May 15, 2026

A new study from the Pew Research Center shows that a majority of American adults see faith in public life as a positive thing, even though more than half of them think conservative Christians go too far in pushing their values in government and school.

The Christian Post reports that the study also reveals that an almost equal share believes that secular liberals have gone too far in opposing religion in public life as America gets ready to rededicate the country as “One Nation to God” on Sunday.

Data for the latest Pew Research Center study came from a survey of 3,592 U.S. adults who are part of the center’s American Trends Panel.

According to Pew researchers, 52% of U.S. adults think “conservative Christians have gone too far in trying to push their religious values in the government and public schools.”

At the same time, some 48% of survey respondents say “liberals who are not religious have gone too far in trying to keep religious values out of the government and public schools.”

The survey also shows that eighteen percent of American adults say both conservative Christians and secular liberals have gone too far in pushing their respective points of view.

According to the Christian Post, researchers say, “Republicans are considerably more likely than Democrats to say religion has a positive influence on American life and to support religion having a prominent role in government and lawmaking.”

Seventy-five percent of Republicans surveyed say they have a positive view of religion’s influence in American life compared to 38% of Democrats.

Researchers report that support for religion in public life appears to be fueled by a concern that religion is losing influence with 61% of adults saying that religion is losing influence in American life compared to 37% who say it’s gaining influence.

Researchers stated, “Although views of religion’s influence lean positive, most Americans are uneasy with the idea of churches getting directly involved with politics.”

The survey was conducted April 6-12 and has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 1.9%. 

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