By: E&P Staff Gallup's annual Values and Beliefs poll finds Americans very concerned about the current state of moral values in the United States. Only about one in six Americans describe the state of moral values in the country in positive terms, and perceptions that moral values are "poor" in the country are at their highest point ever, edging close to the 50% mark.
Exactly 1% rate the state of moral values as "excellent," with just 16% choosing "good," and 44% poor.
More than 8 in 10 Americans think morality is getting worse, representing a slight increase in the past three years. Only 11% say it is getting better.
On homosexuality, 49% still find it morally not acceptable while 47% do accept it. Just over half (51%) find abortion morally wrong with 42% accepting it.
"The groups of Americans who are most negative about moral values in this country include senior citizens, blacks, women, conservative Republicans, Protestants, and weekly churchgoers," Gallup reports. Eight in 10 consevatives are dissatisfied, compared with 6 in 10 liberals who feel that way.
Agreement on what represents moral behavior varied widely. Two in three find the death penalty moral acceptable and nearly as many feel that way about divorce (an interesting commentary in itself). In the category are using stem cells in medicine and gambling.
At the other end come low approval marks for suicide (16%), clonining humans (11%), polygamy (8%) and adultery (6%).
Just over 1,000 adults were surveyed for this annual poll.
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