Shocker: Morality Goes Out the Window, Americans Embrace Social Liberalism

Same-sex relationships, having children outside of wedlock, having sex while you’re not married, having an affair with someone who — like you — is married, and even polygamy are now more acceptable to Americans than ever before. See here the results of Gallup’s  Values and Beliefs survey:

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Gallup explains:

The upward progression in the percentage of Americans seeing these issues as morally acceptable has varied from year to year, but the overall trend clearly points toward a higher level of acceptance of a number of behaviors. In fact, the moral acceptability ratings for 10 of the issues measured since the early 2000s are at record highs.

Now, I could pretend to be shocked by this, but I’m not. There’s a growing trend in the entire Western world toward social liberalism. This is especially true with regard to issues like homosexual relationships, but also with regard to abortion and a host of other supposedly moral issues. These social liberal issues are pushed relentlessly down people’s throats by activists, politicians and even popular culture. He who can resist it is very strong — or very stubborn.

As a libertarian, I’m in favor of legalizing gay marriage, allowing people to have children outside of marriage, and — yes — of not punishing them when they have an affair. It’s not up to the government to intervene in such matters. Gallup’s research shows most of you will agree with that.

There’s a “but,” however: that certain behavior has to be legal doesn’t mean it’s morally OK to indulge in it. With the exception of homosexual relationships (I truly don’t see how anyone can consider that “immoral”), many of these issues are morally unacceptable, or at the very least, highly questionable — and members of society should have the courage to say so.

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Yes, you can have a child outside of wedlock, and no, you don’t deserve to be ostracized for it. But that doesn’t mean it’s morally on a par with having a child while married. There are major differences between the two, the most important one being that it’s good for children to have both a father and a mother who are involved in their lives. It’s of vital importance for society to make that clear — to defend marriage as the cornerstone of society.

The same can be said for abortion. There are people, like me, who’d allow abortion up to a certain number of weeks into the pregnancy, but who disapprove of it privately nonetheless. It’s not an illogical position to take: it’s immoral, but that doesn’t mean it’s up to the government to intervene. Lying to your wife about where you were last night isn’t illegal either, but it’s not exactly evidence of having great principles and values.

Sadly, increasingly more Americans don’t seem to understand this. They make the mistake to think that whatever is or should be legal is also morally acceptable. Bad news, folks: it’s not. A real moral society isn’t forced to act virtuously, but chooses to do so. While a lot of behavior may be legal, members of society have to understand that it’s nonetheless immoral to indulge in it. That’s what makes a society truly virtuous.

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If current trends continue, it won’t be long before America has lost its compass altogether. Obama, Hollywood, and all the other radical leftists can be proud of themselves: they’ve truly radically transformed American culture.

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