Today, July 4, the United States of America celebrates its national Independence Day. It comes amid renewed questions about American identitty, as President Trump repeats his promise to 'Make America Great Again' - and Christians join in with their hymns.
But what do Americans think makes their nation 'great'? The Christian research group Barna probed the question in a new survey ahead of Independence Day.
Asked 'what makes America great?', the highest proportion of respondents (24 per cent) said it was 'the opportunity to become who you want to be' or 'the American dream'.
Behind that, those surveyed chose what Barna called 'four pillars of the American political apparatus', favouring the Constitution (21 per cent), free speech and a free press (21 per cent), freedom of religion (20 per cent) and democracy (20 per cent).'
Christians, and particularly evangelicals, see things slightly differently. Few evangelical place great value on America's Bill of Rights (2 per cent) or the freedom of speech or the press (21 per cent). Instead they valued the freedom of religion far more than the average American (53 per cent compared to 20 per cent), and the same was true of America's Christian roots (40 per cent rated compared with an 11 per cent average).
Those described as 'practising Christians' took more pride in the Bill of Rights (ten per cent) and the freedom of press and speech (13 per cent), whilst placing a more moderate value on religious freedom (34 per cent) and America's Christian legacy (23 per cent).
The survey also shows predictable ideological/political divides. Conservatives are far more likely than liberals to value the Constitution (30 per cent compared to 15 per cent), military might (12 per cent compared to 3 per cent) and America's Christian values (21 per cent compared to 3 per cent). In contrast, liberals favoured free speech and press more than conservatives (27 per cent compared to 15 per cent), as with diversity (22 per cent compared to 4 per cent).
