In a nation that based its Declaration of Independence on the principle that all men “are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights,” a record 58 percent now say they would vote to elect “a generally well-qualified” atheist as president if their political party nominated such a person.

In a poll conducted June 2-7, Gallup asked 771 adults living in the United States this question: “Between now and the 2016 political conventions, there will be discussion about the qualifications of presidential candidates–their education, age, religion, race, and so on. If your party nominated a generally well-qualified person for president who happened to be an atheist, would you vote for that person?”

58 percent said, yes, they would; 40 percent said, no, they would not; and 1 percent had no opinion.