61% of Slovaks support the separation of church and state, according to the results of an online survey carried out by NMS Market Research Slovakia agency. The survey further showed that less than one fifth of the Slovak population views the current model of financing churches and religious communities from the state budget as the most suitable.
The separation of church and state is most often supported by males (66 percent), older people aged above 65 years (71 percent), people with secondary (64 percent) and university (71 percent) education and people living in Bratislava (70 percent).
Meanwhile, 26 percent of the respondents disagree with the separation of church and state, and 13 percent declined to express an opinion on the issue.
Slovak society sees the church as having a positive influence primarily in its role during important life events, such as births, weddings, and funerals (53 percent). A similar proportion see a positive influence in the church's charitable activities (51 percent). Some four in ten Slovaks praise the church's activities in nursing services or in the field of spiritual counselling.
Slovaks often see the church as having a negative influence on public life mainly in light of its human rights-related attitudes. Many people perceive a negative influence of the church on society-wide debates on the rights of sexual minorities (41 percent). A similar share of the population see a negative influence on the debate concerning reproductive rights (39 percent). A third of the population thinks that the church has a negative influence on the debate on women's rights.
The online survey was carried out on a sample of 1,000 respondents between January 17-22.
Source: TASR
