Reading the American Bible : its role in liberal morality, criminal justice attitudes, and attitudes about religion and science.

The Bible has had a large impact on American culture, but thus far very little research has looked at the impact that reading the Bible may have. Research shows that religion has the tendency to have a conservative influence upon those who are more highly religious, but using the 2007 Baylor Religion Survey, this study finds three different areas where reading the Bible has a liberalizing effect on the reader. The three domains where reading has a liberalizing effect deals with liberal morality issues, various criminal justice attitudes, and attitudes about the interaction between science and religion. This liberalizing effect is in opposition to the effect of Biblical literalism. Three mechanisms are suggested for how reading the Bible has this effect on the reader.