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  "path": "/2026/02/25/gen-z-religious-liberty/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-25T17:11:31.000Z",
  "site": "https://juicyecumenism.com",
  "tags": [
    "Domestic Religious Liberty",
    "Becket",
    "2025 Religious Freedom Index",
    "Religious Merchants Still at Risk",
    "Overturning Chevron Deference: Good News for Religious Liberty",
    "Becket: Gen Z Men, Women Diverge on Religious Liberty",
    "Juicy Ecumenism"
  ],
  "textContent": "While Americans’ overall attitudes towards religious liberty remain positive, a new report from a law firm specializing in religious freedom highlights an emerging divide between the men and women of Generation Z.\n\n“Religious freedom means little if it means nothing most waking hours,” the new report from the non-profit, public interest law firm Becket states about the importance of religious acceptance in the public square.\n\nBecket’s 2025 Religious Freedom Index released in January comprises six sections: Religious Pluralism, Religious Sharing, Religion and Policy, Religion in Action, Religion and Society, and Church & State. Respondents were surveyed on 21 questions that do not change year-to-year as well as additional questions on current events. The index is ranked on a scale from 1-100, with 1 meaning respondents were completely opposed to religious liberty and 100 meaning respondents were completely in support.\n\nThis year’s index saw an all-time high of 71, up one point from last year. Key findings show that, despite the controversy seen within the media, a plurality or majority of Americans support religious freedom issues such as parents’ right to choose their child’s education and small business owners’ right to refuse service to customers asking them to go against their own morals. Additionally, Gen Z, the youngest generation on the poll, stood at the forefront of support for religious liberty in several areas – as well as a “widening split…based on gender.”\n\nIn regards to Religious Pluralism, the tolerance and acceptance of others to practice their own religion, Gen Z men fell below Gen Z women at 82 to 89. Additionally, as in many other places throughout the report, there was a noticeable “enthusiasm gap” wherein Gen Z women were more likely to completely support a specific aspect of religious freedom, while Gen Z men were more likely to mostly support the same aspect.\n\nThe trend reverses with Religion and Policy, which includes questions around business owners running organizations according to their religious beliefs, as well as individuals using religious beliefs to guide voting behavior and beliefs about sex and marriage.\n\nGen Z on the whole scored lower than any other generation at 66, and this time Gen Z women were the reason: 64 to Gen Z men’s 68. One large divide appeared on the question of whether individuals believing same-sex marriage to be immoral should face fines, discrimination, or government penalities. 84 percent of Gen Z men disagreed, believing such individuals should be protected from discrimination. However, only 68 percent of Gen Z women felt similarly.\n\nThe section on Religious Sharing saw Gen Z at the forefront. Having maintained a steady score of 72 for the past three years, Religious Sharing jumped up to 75 this year, in large part due to Gen Z. Gen Z scored above average for the topic at 78, the highest of any other generation. Notably, Gen Z also displayed a gap between their support for people sharing their religious beliefs versus preaching, with their support of preaching much lower.\n\nSeveral interesting trends appeared in Religion in Society. When asked how accepting they personally are towards religion versus how accepting they believe society is towards religion, people’s responses showed a clear discrepancy. Seventy-three percent of respondents believed themselves accepting of people of faith, while only 38 percent of respondents thought that society was accepting of people of faith. The report concluded, “either…Americans are too cynical about their fellow citizens, or…they believe there are…impediments to society’s full appreciation of faith and its benefits.”\n\nThe section also highlighted a more concerning statistic. In polling about which mediums respondents use for news and information, online news websites consistently scored highly as regular sources of news – although notably lower across Gen Z. However, social media usage as a means of gathering news surged among Gen Z, and – most concerningly – 31 percent of Gen Z respondents reported using ChatGPT or other AI tools at least weekly to gather news or information.\n\nChurch and State showed broad support for public government displays of religion – although non-Christian people of faith markedly opposed it.\n\nThe final section of the report was Religion in Action, containing questions on religious acceptance in the public square. As the report put it, “Whether or not Americans can bring their beliefs into the workplace is a major test of America’s commitment to religious freedom…religious freedom means little if it means nothing most waking hours.”\n\nThis section declined slightly from last year, dipping from 70 to 69. Oddly, Gen Z was once again responsible for the drop: every other generation’s support for the religious liberty principles in question stayed stable or rose, while Gen Z’s support fell markedly from last year. This drop is mainly due to Gen Z men, who disproportionately disagreed with individuals having the freedom to wear religious garments, take off certain days of the week, and other public displays of faith. Said drop is a flip from last year, where Gen Z men were actually slightly more supportive of these freedoms than women. While Becket does not believe the change to be statistically significant, it nonetheless marks a potential dynamic within Gen Z to keep watch over.\n\nOverall, surveyed Americans supported religious liberty and have remained steady in their support of it year after year. Trends in Gen Z’s polling behavior showed an overall enthusiastic support of religious freedom, while maintaining an interesting, and perhaps concerning, gender gap between men and women. Whether that gap will increase or decrease, only time will tell.\n\n**More from IRD** :\n\nReligious Merchants Still at Risk\n\nOverturning Chevron Deference: Good News for Religious Liberty\n\nThe post Becket: Gen Z Men, Women Diverge on Religious Liberty appeared first on Juicy Ecumenism.",
  "title": "Becket: Gen Z Men, Women Diverge on Religious Liberty"
}