Separation Of Church And State: Vast Majority Disagree With Santorum

On the separation of church and state, the vast majority of Americans disagree with Rick Santorum, who made headlines this weekend when he said John F. Kennedy’s speech supporting the separation of church and state “makes me want to throw up.” 67% of Americans, two-thirds, and certainly the vast majority, do think the First Amendment requires a clear separation of church and state. Only 28% of Americans agree with Santorum, who says that he sees no “absolute” separation between the first estate and government.

Watch: This Is What Makes Rick Santorum “Throw Up”

Evan Hurst at Truth Wins Out notes that “when you consider that we deal with a constant contingent [which is shrinking, yes, but grows louder every year to compensate] of people who are primarily concerned about denying gay people rights and about controlling women’s sex lives, 28% sounds about right. The fact that we’re actually having an argument about contraception in the year 2012 should resolve any questions over whether there is a significant portion of the electorate that simply doesn’t have any respect for the way this secular nation works.”

The numbers, by the way, one from the First Amendment Center’s July 2011 poll, which also finds that 22% of Americans think the First Amendment’s freedom of religion provision does not apply to all religions, just the mainstream ones. Probably a strong overlap in those 22% and the 28% who see no clear separation of church and state to begin with.

This is the think that leads to people like Bryan Fischer saying Islam is not protected by the First Amendment.

Image via Joe.My.God.