• A recent survey of likely Utah voters found very strong support for the proposition that religious freedom is a net benefit for society, even among those who are not religious.
• Majorities also believe religious organizations have a net positive benefit for society. Seeing practice of personal faith in public as a net positive, by contrast, depends on the religiosity of the respondent, with the more religious being more supportive.
• Most Utah voters believe that the specific claims for religious freedom made by religious organizations and people of faith are core freedoms worth protecting.

​Utah is a religious state. In fact, measured in terms of the proportion of religious adherents in the state’s population, Utah is the most religious state in the United States. So it is not surprising that the Sutherland Institute 2024 Religious Freedom Survey of 642 likely Utah voters, conducted by Y2 Analytics, found overwhelming support (82%) for the belief that religious freedom is a net positive for society.

Religious freedom

Only 3% of the likely voters in Utah believed religious freedom was a net negative for society. There was some variation in attitudes based on the respondent’s religious and political beliefs.

For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, belief that religious freedom was a net positive was extremely high (94%). For those of other faiths, it was still very high (85%). Although those who identified as not religious were less likely to have that positive view (62% saying it was a net positive), support was still quite strong among this group.

When grouped by personal religious devotion (measured by church attendance and involvement in religious practices), the positive view of religious freedom was very similar – 96% of the very religious, 89% of the somewhat religious, and 62% of the not at all religious.

Grouped by political ideology, support was still quite strong among all categories. Conservative voters endorsed the positive view overwhelmingly (94% among strong conservatives and 90% among moderate conservatives). Moderately liberal voters had almost the same rate of support (87%), while “middle of the road” voters (76%) and strongly liberal voters (67%) were somewhat less likely to view religious freedom as a net positive, though voters in these categories still gave strong support.

Almost all age groups endorsed religious freedom as a net positive. All were around 79% except for one – young people ages 18-34, 95% of whom reported a net positive perception.

Many of these breakdowns are not surprising, since religious voters who would be expected to benefit from protection of their freedom to practice their religion would also be expected to endorse that protection. Many of the most widely reported religious freedom conflicts have involved religious teachings that have some overlap with conservative views, so the ideological breakdown might have been predicted.

By contrast, there is evidence that young people are less likely to be religious, so their overwhelming support for religious freedom might be surprising. Perhaps, though, they just have a healthy support for allowing others to practice their beliefs. Possibly, they are also more likely to have seen religious disputes up close and thus recognize the need to mediate those challenges.

Religious organizations and society

Likely voters believe religious organizations are a net positive (54% versus 23% saying net negative) to society. The divisions based on religion are more significant than those about religious freedom. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints strongly endorsed religious organizations as a net positive (83%), but only 46% of other-religion voters and 12% of those who are not religious did.

The report that less than half of those with a religious affiliation other than The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reported seeing religious organizations as a net positive may reflect denominational differences – the members of this group may belong to churches with less formal structures.

Very religious voters were even more positive (87%), as were the somewhat religious (55%), but only 13% of nonreligious voters saw religious organizations as a net positive.

These findings suggest that religious belief and adherence is strongly associated with positive views of religious organizations. Those who are not religious, either in adherence or practice, are significantly more likely to see religious groups as having a net negative impact on society.

People of faith and society

Likely voters in Utah were less likely to see religious individuals publicly acting on their beliefs as a net positive (39% versus 31% net negative) than either religious organization involvement or religious freedom in the abstract.

The breakdowns by religiosity were similar in kind to the view of religious organizations, but all were less likely to report that acting on personal beliefs is a net positive for society. Among the very religious, 69% said acting publicly on religious beliefs is positive, compared with 35% of the somewhat religious and 7% of the not at all religious.

As regards religious affiliation, 63% of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe open individual religious practice was positive, compared with 37% of members of other faiths and a mere 7% of those who are not religiously affiliated.

The reason for the divergence between the belief that religious organizations are a net positive and the belief that people of faith acting on their beliefs is a net positive is not clear. Some of the responses to open-ended questions about this topic suggest that people who are religious consider the question to be about whether religious teachings are good for society, while those who see personal practice as a net negative seem to focus on shortcomings of individual believers, such as a sense that these believers are judgmental.

Specific religious freedom protections

Voters were asked about nine different individual practices for which people of faith have sought legal protection. They were asked to identify which were core freedoms. A majority identifies six as core freedoms. A majority considered two as not covered by freedom of religion. The ability to take a Sabbath day off from work was considered semi-core (important but not as essential as the core rights).

In a list of 13 rights of religious groups, eight were designated as core by respondents. Five were considered not covered by religious freedom in this perspective.

This breakdown is not all that surprising, because most of the activities the majority felt were not covered are not typical practices of churches. One exception is the ability to access funding for religious schools. The U.S. Supreme Court has recently held that governments cannot discriminate against parents who want to use scholarship funds if those parents choose religious schools.

Conclusion

The four topics highlighted here suggest that Utahns are broadly supportive of religious freedom and consider specific claims for religious freedom to be valid. They also believe that religious organizations are a net positive for society, though they are more ambivalent about private individuals acting on their faith in the public square.

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For this survey, likely Utah voters were sampled from the Utah state voter file. Survey invitations were sent via email and text message, and interviews were completed online. The data were weighted to reflect the demographics of likely voters in the Utah 2024 general election, specifically in regard to gender, age, race, political party registration, and probability of voting in the election.

Before drawing the sample, a model of general election turnout was estimated using age, party registration status, length of registration, permanent absentee status, and past election turnout. This model produces a sampling pool of registered voters that can be randomly sampled based on their likelihood of voting. A Probability Proportionate to Size (PPS) sample was drawn using this predicted turnout estimate such that voters with a higher probability of voting have a higher probability of being selected in the sample. Thus, the final sample accurately approximates a population of general election voters.

For more information about survey methodology, please contact Kyrene Gibb or Quin Monson at:

Kyrene Gibb, [email protected]

Quin Monson, [email protected]

Y2 Analytics

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Salt Lake City, UT 84111

801-486-7877