A recent New York Times graphic had a few stunning stats about changes in public opinion since 2001 according to Gallup surveys.
Out of Wedlock Birth — The majority of the public now believes that it’s morally acceptable for babies to be born outside of wedlock (55% in May 2008 vs 45% May 2002). It’s hard to think of any particular cultural event that would have moved the needle this much. There’s probably a snowball effect: the more people who know others who had babies out of wedlock, the more acceptable it seems, leading others to follow suit. This strikes me as a truly stunning development which ought to be a big topic amidst the presidential campaign.
Divorce — 70% now view divorce as acceptable compared to 59% in May 2001. It’s not that 70% seems higher or lower than expected; I just can’t for the life of me figure out why this number would have grown so dramatically during this period when there was virtually no debate about divorce. Perhaps that’s the point. A few decades back when clergy would talk about the breakup of families they’d talk about divorce. Now they talk about homosexuality. In part this is because religious conservatives, it turns out, had high divorce rates, perhaps leading preachers to go more lightly chastising their congregants. I also wonder whether this was a side effect of the Catholic Church pedofilia scandals. The Catholic Church opposed divorce more strongly than other religions. Perhaps the Church has less moral authority across the board as a result of their handling of the child abuse cases.
Religion — The percentage of people who said religion has lost influence on American life jumped from 39% to 62% — and the number saying it should have less influence rose from 22% to 34%. What happened during these six years to have turned the public against religion? The studies don’t say. Here are two guesses: the Catholic Church scandal and the close alliance between the Republican Party and conservative Christians, at a time when the Republican brand became unpopular.
Your theories?