Posted on 06/02/2015 8:03:17 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Believe it or not, this isn’t another article about Bruce / Caitlyn Jenner, though the wider question of gender bending could probably be squirreled away in here somewhere. Gallup took time out from polling people about the presidential candidates they like and asked Americans their annual set of questions on taboo subjects and how accepting we tend to be of actions which have been traditionally shunned. If you only went by the headline (Once Taboo, Some Behaviors Now More Acceptable in U.S.) you might think that we’ve suddenly morphed into a nation of hedonists, but the phrase “more acceptable” doesn’t really translate into “accepted.”
While a select few actions remain deeply taboo for much of the country, there has been an increasing shift to moral acceptability for some of these over time. Such actions include suicide (which 19% of Americans call “morally acceptable”), polygamy (16%) and cloning humans (15%). On the other hand, “married men and women having an affair” has remained at the bottom of a list of 19 moral behaviors Gallup has measured, with only 8% considering it morally acceptable.
To some extent, these changing social mores have affected even behaviors that a vast majority of the country routinely judges as “morally wrong.” Since 2003, the proportion of U.S. adults saying polygamy is morally acceptable has increased by nine percentage points. Since 2001, cloning humans has seen an increase of eight points; and suicide, a six-point gain. Still, each of these items retains its essence of moral repugnancy in the nation’s social consciousness, as resounding majorities describe each of these behaviors as morally wrong.
Here’s their graph which covers only four of the nineteen taboos in question over more than a decade.
The most “popular” taboo (which is an admittedly horrible description) is still suicide, with nearly one in five finding it morally acceptable. But from the wording of the survey I would guess that a lot of respondents are rolling end of life decisions into that as opposed to younger, healthy people taking their own lives. (Then again, as you’ll see in the table at the end of this article, they specifically ask about doctor assisted suicide as a separate question, and it’s now considered acceptably by a majority of Americans, so that may not be the explanation.) The biggest jump over that period, though, is for polygamy, with a ten percent increase since 2003. I’d love to hazard a guess where that one is coming from, but there’s nothing really obvious which comes to mind. It may be the popularity of television shows such as Big Love and Sister Wives. Perhaps if some other shows were produced which depicted life for women in places like Afghanistan, where the practice is widespread, or the young girls escaping the compounds in Utah, the favorability numbers would sag a bit. Or perhaps it’s just that the media depiction of marriage has become rather fluid of late. It could also relate to the rather staggering statistic which shows that more than 60% of people find having a baby out of wedlock to be morally acceptable. It seems challenging to develop any hard metrics on such a question.
The most interesting item on the list for me, though, is adultery. That remains stubbornly unpopular with Americans, with less than one in ten finding cheating to be acceptable. That should be good news if you’re worried about the social fabric, but no matter how much people may frown upon it, there doesn’t seem to be much motivation to punish people like Bill Clinton. He remains wildly popular across America despite being one of the most famous adulterers in the history of the nation since Hester Prynne. Adultery isn’t just a sin from a religious perspective… it’s a fundamental betrayal of trust committed against the one person who should be first and foremost in your life. That’s something that everyone can relate to on a personal level.
Support for human cloning has more than doubled, but I can’t even begin to guess why that would be shifting. Maybe because people are thinking of it in terms of helping infertile couples procreate, rather than visions of organ harvesting farms or man replacing God in the creation game? I’ll toss that one over to the readers for their thoughts. Anyway, here’s the rest of the list for your consideration.
There’s little doubt the US is in collapse. The people, not yet the government. One will lead to the other, and all the telltale signs are there on the other front as band-aids are holding the economy and the government together.
Unfortunately, TATTOS are also beinging increasingly accepted in America.
I’m not a big fan of them. Especially on young ladies.
The only alternative to theism is nihilism. It should come as no surprise then that as Americans turn away from a sincere belief in God they would reject any notion of objective morality.
I understand what’s going on in the background, but...
it’s so obvious to me that I’m screaming inside “why can’t you people see that reality doesn’t change even if you try to redefine right and wrong!!!”
Reality WILL collectively bite everyone in the ass when society abandons traditional morality. There is NO avoiding it, long term...
“And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return! “
You must be a youngster. America is not “in collapse.” America collapsed long ago. Now we’re merely living with the consequences.
 Let's Git-R-Done! |
Gallop is worried people don’t trust polls. And it’s true. How many citizens are afraid to say how they really feel because of the boot of PC Government.
I never answer polls - and living in Florida we get a lot of ‘em.
The philosophies of hedonism and relativism (for lack of a better term) have taken a vicious hold.
America needs a spiritual awakening.
I think the thing that has increase the most is the propaganda intended to cause conservatives to give up.
Each generation is more accepting of crap because they've been told at school that it's really OK, and your mom and dad are old fuddy-duddys.
Just what the founders knew...when Christianity goes so goes our freedoms. This is why dems fight so hard to destroy Judeo/Christian values. Men either will either control their own actions with a moral standard that allows for a free society or they must be controlled by a strong governing hand. Dems want to be in control of you life thus pushing God out of America every opportunity they get.
I would say the most obvious sign that America has already collapsed is when obama got a second term.
Another obvious factor is the GOPe going totally against the voter mandate and funding or approving anything obama wants.
So yes, we are now merely living with the consequences, which will only get worse. The more the political class gets by with, the worse it will get.
Hillary or Bush being elected prez would not surprise me at all. The illegals will be made legal. The degradation of our military and police forces will continue. Baltimore will equate to choir practice compared to the violence perpetrated by our lefties in the next few years.
The consequences will keep on piling up until we are ripe for CWII or invasion - CWII does not mean the good guys will win. Many of the greatest nations on earth fell from within. It’s how history works, and it’s inevitable.
Check out Greece, once one of the greatest cultures in history, now just a piss an country full of gimme gimme whiny babies. Fifty to a hundred years we will be no different, and the ones that voted for it will get screwed the hardest.
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight!
Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine And valiant men in mixing strong drink,
Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!
And once more, Allahpundit is assisting this confusion by blowing his Libertarian trumpet. For those of you who do not like wading into the messy social issues, I will point out without foundational social principles, no economic system will ever be safe.
You cannot separate economics from Social mores. You can appear to do so for a short time, but the right to own money or property is a SOCIAL more. If you can't make thievery immoral, then you won't have your money or property long.
America needs a spiritual awakening.
Which will not happen until mass misery and despair has occurred.
No. The obvious signs came many years before that.
The gods of the copybook headings are licking their chops.
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