Thursday, June 04, 2015

Is Morality Declining in America? Most Americans Think So



A new survey has found that a majority of Americans think America is morally declining:

'In the poll, taken in early May, 72 percent of respondents said that “the state of moral values” in America is “getting worse.” Only 22 percent said it is “getting better.”'

That's good news and bad news.

The bad news is that the majority of Americans are right about the decline in morality. The good news is that they still have enough sense of morality to know that it's declining.

As I pointed out in my essay earlier this year in Canon and Culture, it's the point at which you start feeling warm that is the signal you are about to freeze to death. At least Americans are still moral enough to realize how threatened their morality is.


9 comments:

Rob Mattheu said...

The creepy interview with the Duggars is a clear indication that the morality of the "moral majority" is a disturbing one.

Martin Cothran said...

Rob,

So you think a man shaving his legs, getting breast implants and a nose job and declaring he is a woman is less creepy than the Duggars?

Really?

Rob Mattheu said...

Do I think a grown person making those changes is less creepy than a couple that purposely isolates their children from outside contact, creates babies like they're a factory, puts their children on a reality series after having a traumatic and ruining secret in their past, and does little of note to help or protect their children in an abusive situation, especially their female ones.

I can't believe you have to ask that question.

Martin Cothran said...

Rob,

I have my own issues with the Duggars which I have already mentioned. but the crocodile tears I'm hearing are a little much. "Traumatic and ruining?" By the victims own accounts what Josh did to them was all forgiven and in the past. The only thing that threatens to be "traumatic and ruining" is the criticism of people like you.

I hear all of this rhetoric about how the Duggars are hypocritical and judgmental and yet the most judgmental language I've heard has been from their critics, which is, of course, manifestly hypocritical.

Rob Mattheu said...

Don't criticize the people who have been criticizing others for their supposedly anti-family and anti "traditional" marriage when their own family life is exposed as an abusive mess.

Gotcha, Martin. And we have their parent's word that the abuse was dealt with. Why shouldn't we believe them.

Ask any abused person and see what they say.

Martin Cothran said...

Rob,

You keep giving me the same sermon using the word "abuse" without telling me what the actual harm is, other than that it bothers you.

By every account I have heard the Duggar kids were just fine until people like you started getting on the family's case.

What I don't get is how critics of the Duggar family can take these girls who have already been victimized once by their brother, victimize them again by humiliating them in public and then lecture other people on hypocrisy.

Is really is pretty shameless.

Rob Mattheu said...

Yes. Please define shameless for me, oh Duggar defending champion of family values and "traditional marriage" between a man and his submissive wife.

After all, gay marriage leads to kids who don't get proper parental attention like they would in a house with 19 kids, and could lead to kids being warped emotionally and sexually like Josh Duggar, right?

Shameless indeed.

Here are some of the experiences that one might have in the Duggar's movement. Abusive? Maybe not to you. But read them. I wouldn't want my daughter growing up in that physical, mentally, intellectually, and emotionally abusive hell. But maybe that's because I'm shameless.

http://micahjmurray.com/bill-gothard-homeschool-cult/

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/heres-how-the-duggars-patriarchal-homeschool-world-teaches-kids-to-shame-sex-abuse-victims/

http://defamer.gawker.com/police-report-reveals-the-duggar-discipline-method-th-1707154965

https://homeschoolersanonymous.wordpress.com/2015/05/23/gothards-ati-and-the-duggar-familys-secrets/

Martin Cothran said...

Rob,

So you don't have any other criterion for "abusive" except Rob doesn't like it. Okay.

"I wouldn't want my daughter growing up in that physical, mentally, intellectually, and emotionally abusive hell." Umhmm. Getting your judmentalism on there just a little heavy there aren't you?

Maybe social services should have placed the kids in the Kardashian home which you don't seem to have much of a problem with, where they could have been neglected by their father.

In fact, you seem to have a rather warped view--well, of a lot of things--but particularly of abuse. Have you been in a family court or a DNA court? Do you have any clue about what happens to children in the families with values very different from the Duggars?

In fact, can you even remotely compare the two girls interviewed on Fox News tonight to even the best case that a family court sees?

You are just clueless on this issue. Sorry to have to say it, but it's true.

Rob Mattheu said...

What exactly are the values of the Duggars, Martin? Are you defending them now, or still denying it.

As to being "clueless on the issue", why not solicit the opinions of some psychologists. I'm guessing you'll find more experts who see signs of concern than those who think the Duggars handled it accurately. The parents lied, made claims that weren't explored (such as using licensed counselors) and parents and daughters made statements that were just plain odd. They kept playing down what Josh did, but playing up how much they protected their daughters from any sort of contact with him. If it wasn't a big deal, why go overboard?

I'm not sure about the Duggar girls. Maybe they're 100%, or maybe they are good at faking it. Or maybe they're somewhere in between and simply said they were okay. If you know anything about mental health, you'd know all are possible. Kids that fear or have a warped desire to please can do a lot of things. But what I saw tonight had the appearance of performance. And it's not clear why it was necessary for either to appear tonight.

Question though. Would you let your kids spend the night at Josh or Jim Bob Duggar's house?