I was scoping out a bunch of Gallup polls recently and ran across this survey data about Americans' views on a range of moral issues. Thought it was kinda interesting. It's the results of annual survey Gallup conducts about moral issues. They name an issue and ask people whether they think that behavior/action is morally acceptable in their minds or not and a number of related questions. The link shows the survey results from 2001 to the present, so you can see how public opinion has changed over the last couple decades.
Here's the percentage of Americans who view the issues inquired upon as morally acceptable as of May 2020:
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Birth control: 90%
Drinking alcohol: 86%
Divorce: 77%
Sex between an unmarried man and woman: 72%
Gambling: 71%
Smoking marijuana: 70%
Gay or lesbian relations: 66%
Having a baby outside marriage: 66%
Stem cell research using human embryos: 66%
Medical testing on animals: 56%
Buying and wearing clothing made of animal fur: 54%
The death penalty: 54%
Doctor-assisted suicide: 51%
Abortion: 44%
Sex between teenagers: 38%
Pornography: 36% ...Sorry VGC.
Cloning animals: 34%
Polygamy: 20%
Suicide: 18%
Cloning humans: 12%
Married men and women having an affair: 9%
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Personally, I'm mostly in agreement with the majority view in my country on these issues. There are a few exceptions though.
Exception 1: While I recognize teen pregnancy as a real social problem...I just think it's ridiculous to argue that sex itself between teenagers is intrinsically immoral.
Exception 2: I don't view suicide as generally a moral failing on the part of a person who kills themself, I view it as typically a failing of society that they chose to do so. I also can't help but notice the contradiction here between most people being okay with doctor-assisted suicide on the one hand but nonetheless condemning suicide itself on the other. That doesn't make sense to me.
Exceptions 3 and 4: Americans condemn the termination of fertilized eggs by poor women who can't afford more children, but are fine with the state executing actual, inarguable human beings who are also mostly from poor backgrounds. I was about to say that I don't understand that logic, but as I actually write this out, it's actually starting to make rather offensive sense to me.
Anyway, how about you? Is your opinion similar to the prevailing views of Americans shown here? If not, where do you differ?
Last edited by Jaicee - on 05 August 2020
