Most Americans favor teaching about religion and using the Bible in public school classes, according to a recent Gallup poll. The survey also found that most Americans approve of student religious groups being allowed to use school facilities.
According to the poll, 75 percent of adult Americans do not object to using the Bible in literature, history, and social studies classes and offering Bible study courses; 79 percent do not object to teaching about the world’s major religions; and 74 percent favor making school facilities available during nonclass hours for use by student religious organizations.
The survey also found that one-third of adult Americans read the Bible at least once a week, with one in nine reading it daily. The results of the survey, based on in-person interviews with 1,559 adults, are virtually unchanged from similar Gallup polls conducted in 1978 and 1982.
In another poll, involving telephone interviews with 504 teenagers ages 13 to 17, the Gallup Youth Survey found that 58 percent of American teens read the Bible at least monthly. Ten percent read it daily, and 30 percent read it at least once a week. Twenty percent of the teenagers surveyed said they rarely or never read the Bible.
