A recent survey conducted by the Barna Group showed that while a majority of Americans believe religious institutions and clergy should not be forced to perform same-sex marriages against their beliefs, a larger minority of Americans believed that for-profit businesses should be required to provide services for same-sex weddings.
Only about one-fifth (19 percent) of Americans agreed with the statement that clergy and religious institutions should be compelled to perform same-sex weddings. A majority of Americans also agreed that religious groups should remain free to teach and practice the traditional definition of marriage, with 73 percent of Americans younger than 40 agreeing with the statement, and 86 percent of Americans 40 years old or older agreeing.
However, a greater proportion of Americans in the younger cohort -- 26 percent -- agreed that clergy and religious institutions should be legally required to perform same-sex weddings.
An even greater proportion of Americans agreed that a legal requirement is necessary for for-profit businesses to provide services for same-sex weddings. 44 percent of Americans younger than 40 agreed with the statement, and 35 percent of Americans 40 years old or older agreed as well.
According to David Kinnaman, the president of Barna Group, these findings may have implications for the future in terms of religious freedom.
"While it is a minority of Americans who believe clergy should be legally compelled to perform same-sex marriages, one in five is not an insignificant number," Kinnaman said. "And two in every five Americans contend that businesses should be made to provide services to same-sex weddings. These represent points of view that -- given their prevalence among younger Americans -- could represent shifts in how Christians are able to exercise their religious freedoms."
Religious freedom has been one of the major concerns raised by evangelicals in response to the Supreme Court's ruling on gay marriage. Advocacy groups and religious organizations have provided guidelines and templates for certain bylaws that churches should include in their policies to avoid legal issues.
Many for-profit businesses run by Christians have faced litigation in recent months for refusing services for same-sex weddings, including a bakery, a gallery, a family farm, and a photography business, all of which have lost the cases, and have had to face fines. A chapel that was used as a for-profit business as a wedding venue also faced litigation for refusing services to a same-sex couple late last year.
