The Council for America’s First Freedom commissioned a national survey of 1,000 Americans to gauge their opinions on issues related to religious freedom. The results show a citizenry that fervently values its religious liberty (ranking it higher than most other Constitutional guarantees), places a high premium on religious tolerance and rejects the idea of an “official” religion for the country. And yet, the findings also indicate that Americans are not willing to fight for their freedom to worship and are split evenly on the merits of maintaining strict separation of church and state.

Among the more positive results:
  - 52% said they value freedom of religion over freedom of the press (19%), the right to bear arms (16%) and freedom of assembly (10%).
  - 84% indicated that religious liberty is as important or more important today as it was at the time religious freedom became guaranteed by law in the late 1700s.
  - 83% said they would not support a national religion.
  - 59% believe that it is important to understand the religious beliefs of others.

The survey did reflect some ambivalence on the topic, notably:
  - 49% said that there is either no need for separation of church and state in the U.S. or that it should be less strictly interpreted.
  - 11% indicated that they would be willing to fight to maintain their religious freedom.
  - 53% did not know the source of religious freedom (i.e. U.S. Constitution).

And the findings pointed to a knowledge gap with respect to the place of various religions in the world, such as:
  - 43% of respondents said that Christianity was the fastest-growing religion in the world, with 37% correctly identifying Islam.
  - 32% knew that Christianity was practiced by one in three people in the world, with 45% believing about half or two-thirds were Christian.
  - 37% said "religious differences" were the primary root cause of armed conflict around the world.

There were few differences in the responses among men and women or by race, although the education level of respondents was a significant factor in the value placed on religious freedom and religious tolerance.

Other findings of interest:
   The single most important variable throughout the survey was a person’s level of education.
  - Less educated people thought that an official religion was a much better idea than those with more education. Twenty-five percent of people without a high-school diploma would support legislation establishing an official religion compared with only 9 percent of those with a college degree.
  - Those with a college degree were also more likely to support the separation of church and state, believe religion is the primary source of world conflict and believe it is more important to understand the religious beliefs of others.
  - As might be expected, people with more education also answered the knowledge-based questions correctly a higher percentage of the time.

   Blacks are more likely to value religious freedom than whites:
    Most important freedom other than speech
      Religion- Blacks 67%; Whites 50%
    Religious freedom is more important today than ever
      Blacks- 60%; Whites- 46%

   Also a few male/female differences:
    Most important freedom other than speech
      Women- 61%: Men- 41%
    Important to understand the beliefs of others
      Women-64%: Men-55%