I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that most Americans believe the First Amendment's guarantees of religious freedom should take precedence over the newfound privileges government has bestowed upon a certain class of people based on their sexual behavior.

The bad news — and it's really disturbing — is it's not by an overwhelmingly popular mandate.

In an Associated Press poll, 56 percent believe religious freedom should prevail over "gay rights" after the Supreme Court decided to legalize same-sex marriage throughout the United States.

Of the religious groups polled, evangelical Christians expressed the biggest disapproval of same-sex marriage, with 7 in 10 respondents disagreeing with the Supreme Court ruling on gay unions. Some 79 percent of evangelicals also said local officials should be allowed not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Fifty-two percent of members of the Protestant denominations that participated in the survey also opposed same-sex marriage. Sixty percent supported the refusal of marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

In terms of partisan divisions, an overwhelming number of Republican respondents — 82 percent in the survey — said religious liberties are more important than "gay rights."

The survey suggests several things that should be of concern to every American who values the Constitution as the law of the land and those who understand the difference between inalienable individual rights and privileges that are granted by government — either legislatively or by judicial fiat.

The Constitution was designed by the founders of this country as a document to strictly limit the power of the federal government. There are means to amend it, but with regard to the First Amendment provisions regarding freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of religion, there has never been any serious attempt to do so. Those individual rights have stood for more than 200 years essentially unchallenged by the amendment process, though there have been more than a few legislative, executive and judicial attacks on them.

So how can it be that there is as much division as this poll suggests as to the sanctity of religious freedom in America?

The answer is actually pretty simple: There has been an intentional dumbing down of basic civics and history in our schools, in our media and in our state-approved churches.

Americans, particularly the youngest, don't understand the importance of individual rights protected from the intrusions of government based on popular cultural trends and the shifting sands of time.

Ten years ago, the very idea of same-sex marriage, something that had not previously existed in the history of the world anywhere, was a preposterous idea. Politicians of every stripe — Democrat, Republican, independent — sought to put themselves on the side of the institution of marriage defined as a union between one man and one woman. That's what marriage was and always had been, despite some aberrations over polygamy at different times and places. No one had really seriously suggested marriage could be between two men or two women or different group combinations.

But with the portrayal of this new "right" as necessary to stop "discrimination" against gays, the idea grew in popularity through a combination of media activism and a vitriolic and hateful — yet skillful — campaign of name-calling against those who disagreed.

Soon cracks began appearing in the wall that had long protected the institution of marriage as first defined in the Garden of Eden.

It became increasingly uncomfortable for Americans to stand firm on marriage, the very foundation of and prerequisite for a self-governing society.

The popular culture characterized the calls for same-sex marriage as a new frontier of freedom, though it was anything but.

It is a radical, fundamental change in the nation's character foisted upon the populace by unaccountable judges.

And it threatens America's most cherished and unique liberties — namely, freedom of religion.

Everyone recognizes that fact, which is why polls are being conducted on the conflict.

One would have expected 99 percent of Americans to line up to support a foundational and inalienable (which means God-given) right over one so recently "discovered." That has not been the case.

As America clearly moves away from God, religious freedom evidently doesn't seem so important to them anymore.

But the consequences of this turning away from God and spiritual things bodes even more dangerous to our nation than does one foolish act by the Supreme Court. We reached a tipping point in popular opinion regarding same-sex marriage. Now we seem to be reaching a tipping point that places that notion ahead of America's most prominent and distinguishing freedoms as enunciated in the First Amendment.

God help us.

To find out more about Joseph Farah and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.