Most Americans Support Supreme Court Decision Protecting Parents’ Religious Freedom

January 22, 2026

The newly released Becket 2025 Religious Freedom Index shows that a majority of Americans support recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that strengthen parental rights and religious freedoms.

Christianity Today reports that the new study offers insight into how Americans view a wide range of church–state and religious liberty issues, particularly regarding instruction related to LGBT issues.

The results were drawn from a survey of 1,002 adults conducted last fall by Heart+Mind Strategies.

62% of respondents said they supported the Supreme Court’s decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor, which held that a Maryland public school violated parents’ religious freedom by refusing to allow opt-outs from LGBT-related lessons.

In the case of Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin, the study found 65% of those surveyed agreed with the justices’ ruling overturning a lower court decision that had found Catholic Charities’ service to the poor did not qualify as religious activity under state unemployment law.

According to Christianity Daily, Becket’s overall Religious Freedom Index studies responses across six categories: religious pluralism, religion and policy, religious sharing, religion and society, church and state, and religion in action.

The composite index for 2025 reached 71, the highest score recorded since Becket began conducting the survey in 2019.

Other categories showed religious sharing scored 75, religion and policy reached 69, and church and state climbed to 60. Religious pluralism again posted its highest-ever score at 86 for the second consecutive year.

The study also showed that the religion in action score declined slightly from 70 to 69, while religion and society fell from 67 to 65, suggesting some softening in those areas despite an overall upward trend.

Photo: top, Credit: Facebook/First Baptist Dallas