Americans are more likely now than in the early 2000s to find a variety of behaviors morally acceptable, including gay and lesbian relations, having a baby outside of marriage and sex between an unmarried man and woman. Moral acceptability of many of these issues is now at a record-high level.
The upward progression in the percentage of Americans seeing these issues as morally acceptable has varied from year to year, but the overall trend clearly points toward a higher level of acceptance of a number of behaviors. In fact, the moral acceptability ratings for 10 of the issues measured since the early 2000s are at record highs.
Of course as you can see from the graphic Americans are not becoming more accepting of EVERYTHING.
Americans have become less likely to say that two issues are morally acceptable: the death penalty and medical testing on animals. But Americans' decreased acceptance of these practices actually moves them in a more liberal direction.
This change may have much to do with the fact that fewer and fewer Americans self identify as religious and are no longer accepting the definitions of morality forced upon them by their local church, temple, or synagogue.
And in another recent study researchers found that one of the main driving forces behind this new morality, the millenials, are not simply embracing the left due to their age:
"Unlike previous studies, ours is able to show that millennials' lower religious involvement is due to cultural change, not to millennials being young and unsettled."
In other words Americans are becoming freethinkers, and with that comes a less judgmental attitude towards others, a more personal sense of morality, and far less shaming for what happens between two consenting adults in the bedroom.
Damn, it is a good time to be alive!
Imagine how different and how much better this country could be if they actually got involved or at least VOTED.
ReplyDeleteAdd in the old farts that skew everything right are dying like flies and we have a perfect storm. Of course some folks will get more conservative as they age and have families but I don't think they will ever be as rabidly nuts as the Fox News crowd of 67 and older.
ReplyDeleteFactor in also how the extreme right is messing things up and that people are waking up to that FINALLY.
ReplyDeleteM from MD
I guess I'm not a total leftie. I would like to see more people understand the importance of making the commitment of marriage before having children, polygamy seems like an institution just begging for problems, cloning animals and people seems like playing with fire, buying and wearing animal fur just seems ridiculous and I can't get on board with married men and women having affairs. But I do love the acceptance of gay marriage. My daughter is marrying her girlfriend in Arizona today. Yes, Arizona! I love that!
ReplyDeleteTHIS IS A GOOD READ FOR THE BRAIN:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/mutiny-of-the-soul/
I think it's great, and the best part is they're making informed decisions regardless of the pushback from organized religion. There's a young single mother, about Bristol's age, who's done and excellent job paying rent, bills, going to school part time, working, and raising a child who knows his boundaries and manners. I've offered several times to watch her son if she needs help, the few times it happened, it was a sheer pleasure. At two, he'd pick up his towel, diaper, wipes, and a book to read. The towel went on the sofa cushion and everything was in it's place. He wanted little to do with television, he wanted to be read to, trace letters, draw, and play with his toys. If I had any gardening to do, he'd drop everything to "help".
ReplyDeleteHis mom is on speaking terms with her ex boyfriend for her son's sake. She doesn't speak ill of him, use him as a weapon, withold visitation, etc.
Polygamy? seriously?
ReplyDelete