- 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 WTCOMB (General Social Survey 2014 Cross-Section and Panel Combined)
The Lord's Prayer in public schools by Age
| 18-29 | 30-44 | 45-59 | 60-74 | 75 or older | Missing | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approve | 51.2% 235 | 44.2% 303 | 35.9% 259 | 40.2% 199 | 29.2% 56 | 10 | 41.2% 1052 |
| Disapprove | 42.9% 197 | 51.2% 351 | 60.9% 439 | 56.6% 280 | 66.7% 128 | 2 | 54.6% 1395 |
| No opinion | 5.9% 27 | 4.7% 32 | 3.2% 23 | 3.2% 16 | 4.2% 8 | 4 | 4.2% 106 |
| No answer | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0 | 0.0% 0 |
| Missing | 224 | 345 | 357 | 257 | 79 | 0 | 1262 |
| TOTAL | 100.0% 459 | 100.0% 686 | 100.0% 721 | 100.0% 495 | 100.0% 192 | 16 | 2553 |
The Lord's Prayer in public schools by Worship attendance
| Less than once a year | Once a year | Several times a year | Once to three times a month | Nearly every week | Every week or more | Missing | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approve | 53.9% 459 | 46.5% 153 | 41.5% 112 | 32.9% 122 | 32.7% 34 | 28.5% 181 | 1 | 41.4% 1061 |
| Disapprove | 41.0% 349 | 49.5% 163 | 53.3% 144 | 62.3% 231 | 64.4% 67 | 69.5% 442 | 1 | 54.5% 1396 |
| No opinion | 5.1% 43 | 4.0% 13 | 5.2% 14 | 4.9% 18 | 2.9% 3 | 2.0% 13 | 5 | 4.1% 104 |
| No answer | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0 | 0.0% 0 |
| Missing | 421 | 163 | 135 | 181 | 65 | 301 | 0 | 1266 |
| TOTAL | 100.0% 851 | 100.0% 329 | 100.0% 270 | 100.0% 371 | 100.0% 104 | 100.0% 636 | 7 | 2561 |
The Lord's Prayer in public schools by Political ideology
| Extremely liberal or liberal | Slightly liberal | Moderate | Slightly conservative | Conservative or extremely conservative | Missing | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approve | 61.6% 239 | 55.7% 166 | 37.2% 369 | 37.7% 133 | 28.1% 133 | 21 | 41.5% 1040 |
| Disapprove | 33.0% 128 | 41.3% 123 | 57.4% 570 | 58.6% 207 | 70.9% 336 | 33 | 54.4% 1364 |
| No opinion | 5.4% 21 | 3.0% 9 | 5.4% 54 | 3.7% 13 | 1.1% 5 | 8 | 4.1% 102 |
| No answer | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0 | 0.0% 0 |
| Missing | 204 | 131 | 480 | 169 | 238 | 0 | 1222 |
| TOTAL | 100.0% 388 | 100.0% 298 | 100.0% 993 | 100.0% 353 | 100.0% 474 | 62 | 2506 |
The Lord's Prayer in public schools by Race
| White | Black | Other | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approve | 43.2% 832 | 25.6% 99 | 51.0% 130 | 41.3% 1061 |
| Disapprove | 52.6% 1013 | 71.0% 274 | 43.1% 110 | 54.4% 1397 |
| No opinion | 4.2% 81 | 3.4% 13 | 5.9% 15 | 4.2% 109 |
| No answer | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 |
| Missing | 941 | 176 | 157 | 1274 |
| TOTAL | 100.0% 1926 | 100.0% 386 | 100.0% 255 | 2567 |
The Lord's Prayer in public schools by Religion
| Protestant | Catholic | Jewish | None | Other | Missing | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approve | 31.5% 360 | 37.8% 235 | 66.7% 24 | 64.7% 343 | 40.1% 89 | 12 | 41.2% 1051 |
| Disapprove | 65.5% 748 | 57.2% 356 | 33.3% 12 | 30.2% 160 | 54.1% 120 | 1 | 54.7% 1396 |
| No opinion | 3.0% 34 | 5.0% 31 | 0.0% 0 | 5.1% 27 | 5.9% 13 | 4 | 4.1% 105 |
| No answer | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0 | 0.0% 0 |
| Missing | 531 | 307 | 29 | 277 | 124 | 0 | 1268 |
| TOTAL | 100.0% 1142 | 100.0% 622 | 100.0% 36 | 100.0% 530 | 100.0% 222 | 17 | 2552 |
The Lord's Prayer in public schools by Sex
| Male | Female | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approve | 44.0% 509 | 39.2% 554 | 41.4% 1063 |
| Disapprove | 50.7% 586 | 57.4% 811 | 54.4% 1397 |
| No opinion | 5.3% 61 | 3.4% 48 | 4.2% 109 |
| No answer | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 | 0.0% 0 |
| Missing | 608 | 665 | 1273 |
| TOTAL | 100.0% 1156 | 100.0% 1413 | 2569 |
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 2014 GSS. There are a total of 3,842 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.
