Sources of guidance on right and wrong by religious denomination (2014) Switch to: Religious denomination by sources of guidance on right and wrong

% of adults who say they look to…most for guidance on right and wrong

Religious denominationReligionPhilosophy/reasonCommon senseScienceDon't knowSample size
African Methodist Episcopal Church49%2%39%7%3%117
American Baptist Churches USA41%7%46%6%1%467
Anglican Church34%13%44%4%4%111
Assemblies of God74%3%21%2%1%460
Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)72%2%21%3%1%111
Church of God in Christ61%3%32%2%3%165
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints65%3%24%4%3%641
Church of the Nazarene57%3%25%7%8%101
Churches of Christ53%6%36%3%1%498
Episcopal Church18%15%54%9%4%494
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)31%7%53%6%2%641
Independent Baptist (Evangelical Trad.)52%4%38%3%2%825
Interdenominational (Evangelical Trad.)64%5%29%1%1%206
Interdenominational (Mainline Trad.)24%22%47%6%1%139
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod41%8%45%4%2%459
National Baptist Convention49%5%41%3%1%462
Nondenominational charismatic70%3%23%2%1%187
Nondenominational evangelical75%5%18%1%1%684
Nondenominational fundamentalist61%13%26%< 1%< 1%107
Nothing in particular (religion important)18%13%56%9%3%2,015
Nothing in particular (religion not important)3%16%63%16%2%2,969
Presbyterian Church (USA)37%12%41%6%4%428
Presbyterian Church in America45%7%41%5%2%158
Seventh-day Adventist66%4%24%3%2%165
Southern Baptist Convention60%4%32%2%2%1,845
Spiritual but not religious18%18%50%11%2%128
Unitarian4%29%39%22%6%165
United Church of Christ20%13%57%8%2%227
United Methodist Church37%8%47%5%2%1,637
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: Religion, Philosophy/reason, Common sense, Science