Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on some recent surveys
on religion and morality:
The moral state of America is in deep trouble. That’s not an
opinion—it’s what the American people believe.
In March, a Marist poll, conducted for Deseret News titled, “Faith in
America,” found that 72 percent of Americans think the nation’s moral
compass is pointed in the wrong direction.
In June, a Gallup poll revealed that a record-high 50 percent of
Americans rated the overall state of moral values as “poor,” and
another 37 percent said it was “only fair.” The public is also
pessimistic about the future: 78 percent say morals are getting worse.
Why is this? While the surveys did not tap this measure directly, the
Gallup poll asked respondents to name the most important moral problem
in the country today. It was open-ended, i.e., they did not select
from a list of moral issues—they simply voiced what they believed to
be the most important one.
Six issues garnered a double-digit response. “Consideration of others”
topped the list, followed by “racism/discrimination,” “lack of faith
or religion,” “lack of morals,” “sense of entitlement,” and “lack of
family structure.” These responses in 2022 were compared to those in
2012.
Ten years ago, “consideration of others” was not even mentioned, and
“racism/discrimination” was barely cited. Regarding the latter, given
the steady drumbeat emanating from the media, the schools and the
corporations that America is irredeemably racist, it is hardly
surprising to learn that racial matters have deteriorated. We reap
what we sow.
When we pair “consideration of others” with a “sense of entitlement,”
we have a strong indictment of radical individualism. Selfishness and
narcissism are commonplace: from texting while driving to character
assaults online, our society has been badly coarsened. The “Me
Society” that Tom Wolfe talked about in the 1970s has never been more
pronounced.
What about the other three issues? “Lack of faith or religion,” “lack
of morals,” and “lack of family structure” make for an interesting
cluster. The first and last are not effects of a moral breakdown—they
are causes of it.
The American people intuitively know that religious beliefs and
practices are an important ingredient in the formation of a moral
society. The same is true of families where there is a father and a
mother. In fact, the data bear them out—religion and intact families
matter greatly.
The Marist poll found that 70 percent of Americans believe in God
(more than half citing God as described in the Bible), and that figure
jumps to 85 percent if we include those who believe in a higher power.
The Gallup poll found that 81 percent of Americans believe in God,
down significantly from 1944 when the figure was 98 percent.
This is not a coincidence: The increase in secularism accounts for our
moral slide. The public knows it.
A Rasmussen poll taken in March found that 60 percent of voters think
people who live according to their religious beliefs are good role
models for the rest of us to follow; only 14 percent did not believe
this; 26 percent weren’t sure.
The American people know that our moral compass is going in the wrong
direction, and they also know that the declining role of religion has
something to do with it.
When the Judeo-Christian ethos that has undergirded our society
enervates—it used to form the heart of our moral code—it perpetuates a
condition where our moral compass is directed more by individual whim
than sacred tenets. That is a recipe for disaster.
J Young
jdyo...@ymail.com