Views about size of government among adults who say religion is very important by interpretation of scripture (2014) Switch to: Interpreting scripture among adults who say religion is very important by views about size of government

% of adults who say religion is very important who would rather have…

Interpreting scriptureSmaller government; fewer servicesBigger government; more servicesDependsDon't knowSample size
Word of God; should be taken literally50%44%2%3%8,472
Word of God; not everything taken literally59%36%2%3%6,158
Word of God; other/don't know53%30%7%10%816
Not the word of God46%46%5%3%2,020
Other/don't know43%39%8%10%1,259
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