Today’s moral standards—the basis for determining right from wrong—are increasingly defined by sources other than biblical principles. That is a finding of a recent survey by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University.
Seven out of ten adults (71%) claim they support traditional moral values in America today, according to the survey. However, the same survey underscores a significant change in the role the Bible plays in defining those values.
In fact, less than half of all those who say they support traditional moral values also embrace biblical morality as a core value. According to the survey results, 42% say that “what you feel in your heart” provides the best moral guide for life.
“Americans have become comfortable with the idea of being the arbiters of morality. In the same way that most Americans contend that there is no absolute moral truth, they now believe that there is no divine guidance required or even available to define right and wrong.”
George Barna, Director of the Survey
What Are “Traditional Moral Values”?
According to the study, no official source exists for what we commonly refer to as traditional moral values. In the study, those traditional values were based upon the consensual values adopted by three major spiritual segments in America. Those segments are self-identified Christians, those who identify with a non-Christian faith, and those who reject religious faith altogether.
The resulting moral values are integrity, justice, kindness, non-discrimination, trustworthiness, free expression, property ownership, individual growth, and self-control. The majority of the general public that claims to support traditional moral value also accepts these values.
The Calamity of Moral Values Void of Biblical Principles
Based on the findings of this study, it should be no wonder that America currently experiences the social ills it does. Forty-two percent of those who say they support traditional moral values regard “what you feel in your heart” as the best moral guide for life. That in effect means to do what is right in your own eyes, or should I say what is right in your own heart.
According to the book of the Proverbs, “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12). This verse underscores our amazing ability to be deceived. What looks so right to us can turn out to be so wrong. That is how we are wired.
This Bible verse warns of the disastrous fate of those who claim to embrace traditional moral values but at the same time believe that what they feel in their heart provides the best moral guide for their life. “The research indicates that people are now more likely to take their moral cues from government laws and policies than from church teachings about biblical principles,” Barna says.
Based upon the findings of the survey, most adults in America will realize the fate the proverb writer warns about. Moreover, I am certain that the current trend to dismiss biblical morality will continue with time. I say to you by the word of the Lord that this very trend will be the undoing of America as we currently know it.
Copyright ©2022 by Frank King. All rights reserved.