Most matters enjoy too little moral agreement to make fertile ground for government intervention
The moral argument for not making laws about many—especially victimless—activities is that people have a right to live their own lives so long as they don’t hurt anybody else. That’s a convincing case for those of us who naturally gravitate to a live-and-let-live take on life. But it’s unpersuasive to the growing ranks of those inclined to control freakery in these illiberal times, and who believe the state should step in to control bad things. The strongest rebuttal to the authoritarian case is that people so vigorously disagree as to what constitutes “bad” that efforts to regulate a whole host of activities invite noncompliance. Recent polling provides evidence that Americans disagree on many issues.
First, a Little Common Ground
When it comes to what constitutes an immoral activity, Americans have some common ground. According to recent Pew Research polling, 90 percent of us believe it’s immoral for married people to have an extramarital affair. Two percent say it’s morally acceptable and 7 percent believe it’s not a moral issue at all. That low opinion of cheating is shared by 93 percent of Republicans and 88 percent of Democrats. At least 90 percent of Catholics, Protestants, and Jews agree. Eighty-nine percent of men and 91 percent of women concur, and at least 89 percent of all age groups also morally disapprove of stepping out on a marriage. The weakest disapproval comes from atheists, “only” 84 percent of whom call extramarital affairs immoral, and 5 percent of whom say they’re morally acceptable.
That’s as close to universal agreement as you’ll ever get on anything, though it raises some interesting questions about who opened all those Ashley Madison accounts. It’s also the only issue Pew asked about that Americans generally agree is immoral.
“Across a wide range of issues, Americans express morally permissive views,” notes Pew.
Americans Don’t Agree That Many Things Are Immoral
After infidelity, the issue seen as the next most immoral by Americans is viewing pornography, though only 52 percent of us say it’s wrong; 47 percent disagree, with 15 percent saying it’s morally acceptable and 32 percent believing it’s not a moral issue.
Abortion is considered immoral by 47 percent of Americans. Fifty-two percent disagree, with 21 percent calling it acceptable and 31 percent saying it’s not a moral issue.
After that, we drop below 40 percent, with 39 percent of Americans calling homosexuality immoral. Thirty-five percent say it’s immoral for …
And we wonder why things are so messed up in this country whether it is any of the topics in this article or just what you see daily.
Without morals, social cooperation would be nearly impossible, leading to chaos and a lack of trust among people.
Civilization relies on shared principles to function, and without them, fairness, justice, and mutual respect would collapse.
Even when a law makes something legal, it can have devastating, philanthropic ramifications.
Slavery used to be legal in America-it was legal, but morally, and humanly wrong.
Morality is concerned with the judgment of right or wrong of human action and character, and should not be based on each upon each one’s own individual persuasion of what is harmful or what is not to another human..
Friedrich Nietzsche is known for arguing that there is no absolute truth, only perspectives and interpretations shaped by individual experiences and interests.
My question to him and to those who espouse this belief is:
‘So then, is it true there is no absolute truth??’
What is immoral to some, may not be immoral to others? Maybe we should stop trying to tell people what they should do and just adopt the Golden Rule and allow people free will.
This is a part of the article that I found funny:
“Underlining the point: Not only do people disagree about the morality of many issues, but Americans are more likely than the citizens of other countries to view each other as immoral.”
Shocker.
It continues:
“When large factions disagree about the morality of an issue and the opponents see each other as just flat-out bad, a very strong case can be made for just leaving people alone to make independent decisions. That is, unless somebody really wants an unwinnable fight.”
I absolutely see the majority of Registry A**holes/Supporters/Terrorists (RASTs) as immoral and “flat-out bad”. So, you know, f*ck them every day. They aren’t my fellow U.S. citizens. They aren’t my neighbors. They are dangerous enemies. So are their enabling agents.
But I do LOVE to see the RAST idiots flail about with their giant pile of feces that they call the “SEX Registries”. They are constantly trying to polish up that pile of feces and make it shinnier and prettier. The RASTs are so ineffective and pathetic that it is sad.
Every day, I prove how worthless the SEX Registries are. It’s a goal and hobby of my life. But I ensure they aren’t just worthless, but a lot worse. As long as Registries exist, they’ll keep harming EVERYONE in Amerika. Just has to be. All so some immoral a**holes can feel a little better.