Cav's Place

I’m looking at the Gallup “moral acceptability” survey results and shudder. It might just be about the United States, but what makes it worse is that I’m sure the results would have been even more worrying in a very large number of other countries. Don’t even want to think about the results of such a survey here in Romania, for example…
But let me go through the results and try to analyze them. I’ll also say what I think about each issue, of course.

Divorce. 62% of Americans feel that it is morally acceptable and 30% feel that it is morally wrong. It is seen as being significantly less acceptable than last year, when 70% saw it as such.
I think I’d have had to skip answering this one, because it deals with a broad issue and doesn’t specify the circumstances. That means I can’t comment on the results either, because I can understand both points of view, depending on how each person interpreted the question. I see breaking up as one of the most morally wrong things a person can do when it causes significant and long-term suffering to their former partner and said partner didn’t do anything to deserve such pain, such as being a repeat abuser. However, if it’s done as a result of such heinous acts or if it’s simply on common agreement, it’s not wrong. And, either way, it doesn’t matter whether that relationship was a marriage or not, so I don’t like that they were referring specifically to a divorce.

The death penalty. 62% feel that it is morally acceptable and 30% feel that it is morally wrong. There is no change in acceptability since last year.
The average American seems to be for the death penalty but against abortion. Some consider that to be logically inconsistent, but I don’t necessarily see it as such. The thing is that a person isn’t given the death penalty for no reason, so people can consider that some crimes justify such a punishment. However, I oppose it not because it seems too harsh, but because it seems too lenient. I have no problems with killing a person caught in the act or even someone who is obviously a threat to the safety of others, even without catching them in the act, but death is a release and those who are guilty of crimes which could be punishable by it usually deserve far worse. It’s morally acceptable but, if you can catch and jail the person, it’s just pointless.

Buying and wearing clothing made of animal fur. 61% think it is acceptable and 35% see it as wrong. This is seen as being significantly more acceptable than last year, when only 54% saw it as such.
It’s certainly disturbing, considering what those animals have to go through in order for people to wear clothes made out of their fur and that technology has long since advanced to the point where we can manufacture better materials for clothing than animal fur. It is wrong and no longer a necessity, so there’s no excuse for it.
I’m not surprised that more Americans see it as more acceptable now than last year though. It could be a result of the economic crisis, because displays of wealth and status become even more desirable under such conditions and, unfortunately, fur clothes are still seen as such a display.

Gambling. 58% think it is acceptable and 36% see it as wrong. 63% considered it to be acceptable last year.
I don’t exactly see why this is a moral issue. I actually find it rather sad that it is included among the others. It can be argued that it’s rather stupid, potentially addictive, certainly dangerous once it becomes an addiction, but morality has nothing to do with it.

Medical research using stem cells obtained from human embryos. 57% think it is acceptable and 36% see it as wrong. 62% saw it as acceptable last year, so there is a noticeable drop.
The drop is rather worrying, considering all the diseases that could be cured thanks to this research and that nobody is harmed in the process. Still, the percentage is reasonably high and there is hope for the future. The fact is that even if embryos are created specifically for these stem cells and then destroyed, everything happens at a very early stage, so we’re just talking about a bunch of cells. There is no harm done because it’s not done on an actual being.
As for the reason for the drop, I think it has to do with party lines. Even the Gallup analysis says as much. Some Republicans might have thought it through and decided that they were going to support it while their party ruled, even if that was against their party’s policies, but now that the situation has changed they want to show their support for their party and therefore support all of its policies.

Medical testing on animals. 57% think it’s acceptable and 36% think it’s wrong. 56% saw it as acceptable last year.
This is extremely disturbing! Yes, it can help people, but those animals are put through a tremendous amount of suffering for it! They’re living, thinking, feeling beings just like us; we can’t keep doing this to them! Especially now that most of the technology required to perform these tests without the use of animals and make them even more valid in the process already exists. That technology should be developed even further, to completely eliminate the need for animal testing and thefore get rid of any excuse its supporters might have. Unfortunately, so many animals have to go through so much suffering just because some people want to give “human rights” to a bunch of cells simply because they contain human DNA. I’m talking about those who oppose stem cell research, of course.

Sex between an unmarried man and woman. 57% think it’s acceptable and 40% think it’s wrong. It is seen as being somewhat less acceptable than last year, when 61% saw it as such.
Are those 40% serious? As someone put it after I gave her the link to these results, “welcome to the 21st century, we hope you’ll enjoy your stay”. What do some papers have to do with sex? It can be a great thing or a terrible thing, depending on the people involved and on how they choose to view it, but marriage has nothing to do with it. Not even religious marriage, seeing as for the right people the sex itself could almost be considered a spiritual experience…
The drop is likely also explained by party lines, Republicans supporting the party’s official policies more than before because they’re no longer the ones in charge and have to appear more united if they want to regain that position.

Having a baby outside of marriage. 51% think it’s acceptable and 45% think it’s wrong. It is seen as being somewhat less acceptable than last year, when 55% saw it as such.
I for one say that having a baby, considering how overpopulated the world is, is the worst crime anyone can commit. But if I were to ignore that and just focus on the question, whether you should only have a child after the wedding or not, then the answer is very obvious. Once again, marriage has nothing to do with it; a person’s right or ability to have or raise a child is not determined by it in any way.
Once again, the drop is explained by the Republicans closing ranks.

Gay or lesbian relations. 49% see them as morally acceptable and 47% think they’re wrong. 48% considered them to be acceptable last year.
This is tight, and it’s quite disturbing. Still, the trend seems to be positive, so perhaps there will come a day when people will no longer care about sexual orientation, seeing same-sex relationships the same way as male-female relationships. I can only hope we won’t need to wait too long for that day to come, because this intolerance they exhibit towards those who cause no harm says a lot of bad things about humans as a whole.

Abortion. 36% of Americans feel that it is morally acceptable and 56% feel that it is morally wrong. 40% saw it as morally acceptable last year, but the change is even more significant than that, as an in-depth analysis reveals. This is the first time since the issue of pro-life vs. pro-choice was introduced in Gallup surveys, in 1995, when more Americans are pro-life than pro-choice. It also seems to be the first time since 1975 when there are more who think that abortions should be completely illegal than those who think they should be legal in all circumstances.
I find this extremely worrying, considering the huge overpopulation problem that we have. The way I see it, it’s not living until it’s born alive and with organs developed enough to sustain that life, and you can’t accuse anyone of killing something unless it was living prior to their intervention! And during the first three months of pregnancy, before any real brain structure starts to develop, it’s certainly nothing more than a lump of cells growing inside of you. So is a tumor. I doubt many people would have any moral issues regarding the removal of one of those…
But the morality of it isn’t even an issue anymore. The world is so terribly overpopulated that it’s crucial not to add even more people! Even if you consider a fetus to be a person, it’s quite obvious that Earth is far more important than any one person. Seeing as the birth of that person would harm Earth, there’s no question regarding what needs to be done. It’s a necessity more than it is a question of right or wrong.

Cloning animals. 34% think it’s acceptable and 63% think it’s wrong. 33% thought it was acceptable last year.
I can’t say too much about this because I can understand both points of view. Personally, I don’t think it’s wrong to clone animals which aren’t too high on the evolutionary scale, but I’m leaning towards being against cloning great apes, dolphins or exceptionally intelligent individuals from other mammal species. Cloning itself isn’t wrong, after all some species use it as a form of reproduction, but those species are very simple. Once you get to highly developed and intelligent animals, it just doesn’t feel right anymore, because those animals tend to have much more complex and clearly defined personalities and therefore making an exact copy of the body might have troubling consequences. I’m thinking about those animals becoming aware of the multiple copies of themselves, or of the fact that they’re an exact copy of another, even if it died before their birth, and don’t like the idea.

Suicide. 15% see it as morally acceptable and 80% see it as morally wrong. There is no change in acceptability since last year.
I find this result appalling, though unfortunately not unexpected. My stance on this issue is very clear: Everyone should have the right to die when they wish it. The right to die should be as much a human right as the right to live. People should also be able to ask a doctor to help them die just as much as they’re able to ask one to help them live. What’s immoral is forcing people to continue living if they no longer wish to do so! We’re talking about a person’s right to choose what to do with their own body, their own life. It should be one of the fundamental human rights and freedoms, so how can those people say it’s morally wrong?

Cloning humans. 9% think it’s acceptable and 88% think it’s wrong. 11% saw it as acceptable last year.
As I said above, when the question was about cloning animals, I have problems with the idea of cloning animals which are high on the evolutionary scale and have complex and clearly defined personalities. Humans are one such animal; nothing more, nothing less. So I seem to be in agreement with the majority when it comes to this…

Polygamy, when one husband has more than one wife at the same time. 7% of Americans think it’s acceptable and 91% think it’s wrong. 8% saw it as acceptable last year.
The wording ruins this question. Even the word “polygamy” bothers me, but the definition they chose to give for it makes it even worse. Even I would have to say that the concept described here is morally wrong, simply because it gives one gender power over the other. If they would have asked about “polyamory, when a romantic relationship involves more than two people”, I’d have said that it’s not only morally acceptable, but something which should be strongly encouraged, as long as everyone involved knows exactly what’s going on and agrees with it. I doubt that this would have changed the results significantly, but it would have certainly made far more sense.

Married men and women having an affair. 6% see it as being acceptable and 92% see it as being wrong. 7% saw it as acceptable last year.
If you think about it, this could theoretically be a case of polyamory. The question is whether the affair is hidden from their spouse or not. If it’s hidden then it’s morally wrong, but what’s wrong is the lying, not the secondary relationship. If it’s not hidden then it’s a very clear case of polyamory and therefore completely acceptable. But people had to choose an answer based strictly on the information they were given, so I can’t blame them for their choice.

Overall, people are far too conservative in areas where they should be liberal and far too liberal in areas where they should be restrictive. But everyone already knows that and sees the results of this attitude in the world around them… I only wonder when will they also realize the connection between the two and do something to change these attitudes, because things certainly can’t go on like this much longer!