Views about size of government among who do not believe in Heaven by interpretation of scripture (2014) Switch to: Interpreting scripture among who do not believe in Heaven by views about size of government

% of who do not believe in Heaven who would rather have…

Interpreting scriptureSmaller government; fewer servicesBigger government; more servicesDependsDon't knowSample size
Word of God; should be taken literally50%46%1%2%438
Word of God; not everything taken literally52%44%1%3%588
Not the word of God47%47%4%3%6,487
Other/don't know44%37%10%9%409
Sample sizes and margins of error vary from subgroup to subgroup, from year to year and from state to state. You can see the sample size for the estimates in this chart on rollover or in the last column of the table. And visit this table to see approximate margins of error for a group of a given size. Readers should always bear in mind the approximate margin of error for the group they are examining when making comparisons with other groups or assessing the significance of trends over time. For full question wording, see the survey questionnaire.

Learn More: Smaller government; fewer services, Bigger government; more services