Most Icelanders Against Free Plots For Houses Of Worship

A new poll from Market and Media Research (MMR) shows that the majority of respondents are against free plots of land for the building of houses of worship.

Respondents were asked how they felt about the practice of municipalities giving free plots of land to religious organisations for building houses of worship. According to the results, the percentage of respondents who said they were very opposed increased from 45.5% in September 2013 to 51.8% today. At the same time, those who said they were moderately opposed decreased from 25.8% to 21.9%.

Very few respondents said they supported the practice. Those who were moderately supportive decreased from 7.2% to 4.4%, while those who were very supportive – the smallest group by far – increased from 2.8% to only 3.7%.

Overall, responses did not vary much according to gender, age, income or location. Political affiliation, however, did show a distinct contrast.

Voters of the Progressive Party were the most opposed to free plots for houses of worship, with 80.4% voicing their opposition. Followed close behind were Independence Party voters, at 79.4%. The most in favour of these plots were Social Democrats, 21% of whom said they were moderately or very supportive of them, and they also had the lowest levels of opposition, at 55.4%.