Sunday, February 15, 2009

Right & wrong is not about religion   posted by Razib @ 2/15/2009 10:25:00 PM
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At least according to most Americans. The full report of the Pew Religious Landscape Survey has some data not available on the website. There is a question of the form: When it comes to questions of right and wrong, which of the following do you look to most for guidance? I think the results will surprise....

  Religious teachings & beliefs Philosophy & reason Practical experience & common sense Scientific Information Don't know/Refused
Evangelical 52 4 39 2 3
Mainline 24 9 59 4 4
Historically Black 43 4 47 3 3
Catholic 22 10 57 7 5
Mormon 58 4 33 2 3
Orthodox 25 11 52 8 5
Jehovah's Witness 73 3 19 1 5
Other Christian 19 25 42 7 4
Jewish 10 15 60 9 6
Muslim 33 10 41 14 2
Buddhist 4 27 51 12 5
Hindu 9 15 55 18 4
Other Faiths 5 25 58 8 4
Unaffiliated 6 16 66 10 3


America is the land of pragmatism I guess.

Addendum: I want to make clear that I'm not assuming a Blank Slate model where the sources of moral intuition or reason that people offer up is actually the real source, as opposed to a post facto confabulation. The survey is simply interesting to me as a window into the public's own self-perception.

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