Where Do Religious Groups Stand on Big Government and Morality? This Graph Has the Answer

Examining where denominations and religions stand on the government's role in protecting morality and providing programs and services offers a diverse and fascinating picture — one that is visually captured in a new graph assembled by political science professor Tobin Grant.

Grant, who teaches at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, used data from the Pew Research Center to assess, analyze and graph the beliefs of 44 different religious groups.

Divided into a quadrant, the x axis measures denominational and religious perspective on big government programs, including views on regulation, services and other related issues.

The y axis pertains to how involved the government should be protecting morality, with views on gay marriage and the separation of church and state coming into play.

Consider that the top right corner — the cohorts that embrace more government involvement in sustaining morality while also favoring fewer government services — includes Southern Baptists and evangelicals, among others.

On the opposite side — those who favor less government involvement in instilling morals and more government services — are atheists, Unitarians and Buddhists, among additional groups.

The color of each circle corresponds to specific religious views, with the size corresponding to how large each religion is in America.

See the graph and Grant's complete analysis here.

(H/T: Tobin Grant)

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