- Introduction
- Patterns
- Over Time
The Lord's Prayer in public schools (Demographic Patterns)
The United States Supreme Court has ruled that no state or local government may require the reading of the Lord's Prayer or Bible verses in public schools. What are your views on this? Do you approve or disapprove of the court ruling? Results weighted by WTCOMBNR (General Social Survey 2010 Cross-Section and Panel Combined)
The Lord's Prayer in public schools by Sex
| Male | Female | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approve | 45.9% 695 | 40.2% 719 | 42.8% 1414 |
| Disapprove | 49.8% 753 | 56.1% 1002 | 53.2% 1755 |
| No opinion | 4.2% 64 | 3.6% 65 | 3.9% 129 |
| No answer | 0.1% 1 | 0.1% 1 | 0.1% 2 |
| Missing | 743 | 857 | 1600 |
| TOTAL | 100.0% 1513 | 100.0% 1787 | 3300 |
The Lord's Prayer in public schools by Political ideology
| Extremely liberal or liberal | Slightly liberal | Moderate | Slightly conservative | Conservative | Extremely conservative | Missing | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approve | 64.7% 336 | 55.1% 232 | 37.9% 433 | 38.1% 185 | 33.5% 172 | 24.6% 32 | 24 | 43.3% 1390 |
| Disapprove | 32.9% 171 | 42.0% 177 | 56.4% 643 | 59.7% 290 | 63.8% 328 | 73.1% 95 | 51 | 53.1% 1704 |
| No opinion | 2.3% 12 | 2.9% 12 | 5.5% 63 | 2.3% 11 | 2.7% 14 | 2.3% 3 | 14 | 3.6% 115 |
| No answer | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.2% 2 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0 | 0.1% 2 |
| Missing | 259 | 177 | 582 | 184 | 280 | 62 | 0 | 1544 |
| TOTAL | 100.0% 519 | 100.0% 421 | 100.0% 1141 | 100.0% 486 | 100.0% 514 | 100.0% 130 | 89 | 3211 |
The Lord's Prayer in public schools by Age
| 18 to 29 years old | 30 to 44 years old | 45 to 59 years old | 60 to 74 years old | 75 years or older | Missing | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approve | 52.1% 345 | 46.9% 406 | 36.8% 343 | 40.9% 238 | 30.4% 65 | 17 | 42.9% 1397 |
| Disapprove | 42.1% 279 | 47.6% 412 | 60.8% 567 | 56.7% 330 | 66.4% 142 | 25 | 53.1% 1730 |
| No opinion | 5.7% 38 | 5.4% 47 | 2.3% 21 | 2.2% 13 | 3.3% 7 | 3 | 3.9% 126 |
| No answer | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.1% 1 | 0.2% 1 | 0.0% 0 | 0 | 0.1% 2 |
| Missing | 304 | 439 | 478 | 246 | 129 | 0 | 1596 |
| TOTAL | 100.0% 662 | 100.0% 865 | 100.0% 932 | 100.0% 582 | 100.0% 214 | 45 | 3255 |
The Lord's Prayer in public schools by Region
| Northeast | Midwest | South | West | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approve | 50.2% 291 | 42.7% 305 | 33.5% 425 | 53.2% 393 | 42.8% 1414 |
| Disapprove | 45.0% 261 | 54.2% 387 | 62.0% 785 | 43.6% 322 | 53.2% 1755 |
| No opinion | 4.8% 28 | 3.1% 22 | 4.4% 56 | 3.1% 23 | 3.9% 129 |
| No answer | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.1% 1 | 0.1% 1 | 0.1% 2 |
| Missing | 263 | 338 | 610 | 388 | 1599 |
| TOTAL | 100.0% 580 | 100.0% 714 | 100.0% 1267 | 100.0% 739 | 3300 |
The Lord's Prayer in public schools by Religion
| Protestant | Catholic | Jewish | None | Other | Missing | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approve | 32.9% 512 | 42.8% 357 | 80.0% 48 | 67.5% 380 | 41.9% 108 | 10 | 42.9% 1405 |
| Disapprove | 64.1% 999 | 54.0% 450 | 20.0% 12 | 26.3% 148 | 50.8% 131 | 14 | 53.2% 1740 |
| No opinion | 3.0% 46 | 3.1% 26 | 0.0% 0 | 6.2% 35 | 7.4% 19 | 4 | 3.8% 126 |
| No answer | 0.1% 1 | 0.1% 1 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0 | 0.1% 2 |
| Missing | 778 | 410 | 33 | 246 | 126 | 0 | 1593 |
| TOTAL | 100.0% 1558 | 100.0% 834 | 100.0% 60 | 100.0% 563 | 100.0% 258 | 28 | 3273 |
The Lord's Prayer in public schools by Race
| White | Black | Other | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approve | 44.5% 1121 | 30.8% 139 | 46.7% 154 | 42.8% 1414 |
| Disapprove | 52.3% 1317 | 63.3% 286 | 46.1% 152 | 53.2% 1755 |
| No opinion | 3.2% 80 | 5.8% 26 | 7.0% 23 | 3.9% 129 |
| No answer | 0.0% 0 | 0.2% 1 | 0.3% 1 | 0.1% 2 |
| Missing | 1209 | 209 | 183 | 1601 |
| TOTAL | 100.0% 2518 | 100.0% 452 | 100.0% 330 | 3300 |
The Lord's Prayer in public schools by Church attendance
| Less than once a year | Once a year | Several times a year | One to three times a month | Nearly every week | Once a week or more | Missing | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approve | 53.4% 520 | 58.2% 272 | 40.4% 126 | 36.4% 186 | 37.2% 55 | 31.7% 202 | 54 | 44.7% 1361 |
| Disapprove | 41.2% 401 | 39.0% 182 | 54.5% 170 | 59.7% 305 | 59.5% 88 | 66.2% 422 | 187 | 51.4% 1568 |
| No opinion | 5.3% 52 | 2.8% 13 | 4.8% 15 | 3.9% 20 | 3.4% 5 | 2.0% 13 | 11 | 3.9% 118 |
| No answer | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.3% 1 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 1 | 0.0% 1 |
| Missing | 441 | 215 | 199 | 274 | 61 | 278 | 0 | 1468 |
| TOTAL | 100.0% 973 | 100.0% 467 | 100.0% 312 | 100.0% 511 | 100.0% 148 | 100.0% 637 | 253 | 3048 |
Notes
The General Social Surveys (GSS) have been conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) annually since 1972, except for the years 1979, 1981, and 1992 (a supplement was added in 1992), and biennially beginning in 1994. The GSS are designed to be part of a program of social indicator research, replicating questionnaire items and wording in order to facilitate time-trend studies. This data file has all cases and variables asked on the 2010 GSS. There are a total of 4,901 cases in the data set but their initial sampling years vary because the GSS now contains panel cases. Sampling years can be identified with the variable SAMPTYPE.
