Gallup: Americans' views on most moral issues now liberal to a record extent

It’s easy to get depressed that we’ve all but lost the battle for fiscal conservatism, but look on the bright side. The battle for social conservatism is … no, looks like that one’s pretty much a rout too.

Advertisement

One of the Internet’s recent misfortunes is the explosion of overheated liberal takes about the resemblance of modern American culture to “The Handmaid’s Tale,” the series on Hulu about a Christian theocratic takeover of the country in which women are enslaved by the patriarchy. Behold the state of the looming theocracy, via Gallup:

Of the 19 issues tested, not a single one has moved towards the traditional social conservative position since Gallup first began asking about them in 2001. Thirteen of the 19 have seen opinions grow more liberal/libertarian over time — among them biggies like premarital sex, single moms having kids, doctor-assisted suicide, and gay and lesbian relations — and six have seen no significant change. For some reason they haven’t yet added legalizing marijuana to their list of cultural hot buttons. If you want to toss that one in there, it’s another win for the liberal-tarian position. And there’s every reason to believe that some numbers will continue to shift. With pornography and social isolation ubiquitous in the Internet age and younger Americans who oppose the death penalty and medical testing on animals replacing older adults who are more supportive of those practices, it can’t be very long until porn passes capital punishment and animal testing in acceptability. Within 15 years, the only sex/marriage issues that may lack majority moral approval are adultery and polygamy.

Advertisement

The silver lining for social cons is abortion, which has barely budged since Gallup first began testing it 16 years ago. It stood at 42 percent acceptable back then and stands at 43 percent acceptable today. A life-and-death issue this politically supercharged may simply be not all that susceptible to movement over time. Pro-lifers should take heart that, unlike with so many other issues, the needle isn’t moving left on this as senior citizens die and millennials take their place in the adult population. The kids are alright on life — so far.

Exit question: Abortion is significantly more morally acceptable than “cloning animals”? Um, what?

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement