Well, this is comforting:

WASHINGTON — Americans place a higher priority on preserving the religious freedom of Christians than for other faith groups, ranking Muslims as the least deserving of the protections, according to a new survey. […]

How does one become “deserving” of constitutional protections? Are they not protections afforded to every U.S. citizen? Are the same protections not extended even to non-citizens in most cases (except for those things the Constitution expressly reserves for citizens, like voting & holding/running for federal elective office)?

Eighty-two percent said religious liberty protections were important for Christians, compared with 61 percent who said the same for Muslims. About seven in 10 said preserving Jews’ religious freedom was important, while 67 percent said so of Mormons. People who identified with no religion were ranked about even with Muslims in needing support to live out their beliefs. […]

So much for the Judeo-Christian B.S. people are always touting, huh? Looks like the Jews & Mormons fare only slightly better than us Muslims. It’s no big surprise to see atheists are at the bottom of the heap with Muslims. Oh look, there’s Sam Harris and Bill Maher, “Hey guys— [lifts hands and waves with middle fingers]—fancy meeting you here!”

Democrats didn’t do much better than Republicans:

In the survey, 88 percent of Republicans said it was important to protect the religious liberty of Christians, while only 60 percent said so for Muslims. Democrats also ranked religious freedom for Muslims as a lower priority. Eighty-three percent of Democrats said the protections were important for Christians, while only 67 percent said so for Muslims. […]

More: Poll: Americans place high value on religious freedom, but rank Muslims as least deserving

So much for that Christian persecution we keep hearing about.

Here’s the AP-NORC Center’s page showing their data. The poll was conducted December 10-13, 2015, after the attacks in Paris & San Bernardino. Sadly, it also indicates that many Americans have learned almost nothing since 9/11 and are still willing to let fear mongering politicians convince them that they need to trade their freedoms for (the illusion of) safety. It’s truly disheartening.

*SIGH* I’m going to go read a book or something.