Are Americans Immoral? by Brad Miner

Yes. But so have many people been throughout history. And now some good news, although it’s the only good news.

The Pew Research Center recently released a report, What Do Americans Consider Immoral? (We should be cautious about that verb, consider. I suppose pollsters can’t really ask the more pointed question, “What actions do you engage in that you know to be morally wrong?”)

And the good news is that a whopping 90% of Americans believe adultery (“Married people having an affair”) is wrong. Let’s look at Pew’s chart:

As I say, good news. Yet we might compare this with recent reports from the General Social Survey and the Institute for Family Studies that say 20% of married men and 13% of married women have cheated on their spouses, and that these data have been consistent for three decades. Of course, opinion doesn’t necessarily comport with behavior. This is called hypocrisy.  ….