A new survey reveals that most Americans reject the idea of an absolute moral truth, as the prominent Christian researcher behind the report warns that the absence of this concept has wide-ranging implications for societal harmony.
Arizona Christian University professor and Cultural Research Center Director Dr. George Barna maintained that there is a direct correlation between Americans’ views on absolute moral truth and the volatile political, social and cultural climate the US finds itself engulfed in.
It is impossible to separate America’s core values — such as honesty, respect, service, responsibility, trustworthiness — from beliefs about moral truth,” Dr. Barna asserted.
DATA REVEALS LESS TRUST AND LESS RESPECT
“New data shows that Americans trust each other less, are disappointed in the lack of respect shown toward others, a growing emphasis upon being served rather than serving others, and the generational divide over commitment to personal responsibility,” he revealed.
“These are all outgrowths of the increasing belief that there are no absolute moral truths that bind us together and should shape our life choices for both personal and communal benefit.”
“Accepting all truths as equally valid cannot help, but dig a deep foundation of chaos, confusion and helplessness.”
“In the absence of strong, consistent, logical, and compassionate opposition to philosophies that reject moral absolutes, cultural gravity will lead to the acceptance of an authoritarian political saviour or powerful elitist group as the arbiter of truth for the masses.”
IDEOLOGY PENDULUM SWINGS BACK TO MASSES CRAVING A RETURN TO MORAL ABSOLUTES
While stressing that “such leaders have claimed to reject moral absolutes in favour of policies that are good for the people,” Dr. Barna warned that “objective analyses indicate that more often than not, they simply impose their own absolute moral code under the guise of looking out for the best interest of the masses.”
“Those situations never bode well for the public, and the ideology pendulum typically swings back to the masses yearning for a return to moral absolutes based on a standard of individual freedom within defined, compassionate, and proven moral boundaries,” he insisted.
The Christian researcher declared that: “Churches that fail to persistently teach reasons why the Bible can be trusted, what moral truth is, why it must be understood as absolute rather than situational, and facilitate accountability for the application of Biblical truth in our personal lives, are not churches with Biblical purpose and power, but merely pawns of the culture.”
WHAT THE CHRISTIAN RESEARCHERS DISCOVERED
When asked whether they agreed that “a mature human accepts different truth views to be just as valid as their own views,” two-thirds of respondents answered in the affirmative.
Majorities of non-Christians (69%), those without any particular faith (68%), self-identified Christians (67%) and theologically identified born-again Christians (56%) agreed with this statement.
Thirty-one percent of integrated disciples agreed with this view, making them the only group where less than half rejected the idea of an absolute moral truth.
The survey defines a Theologically Identified Born-Again Christian as someone who believes “they will go to Heaven after they die, but only because they confessed their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their saviour.”
Integrated Disciples refers to “adults who possess a Biblical worldview, based on answers to worldview-related questions.”
OVERWHELMING SUPPORT FOR MULTIPLE, CONFLICTING MORAL TRUTHS
Most respondents (58%) also agreed that “there can be multiple, conflicting moral truth views in any given situation without anyone being wrong.”
Larger majorities of non-Christians (64%) and non-religious respondents (61%) ascribed to this view, as did most self-identified Christians (56%).
Less than half of theologically identified born-again Christians (47%) and a minuscule share of integrated disciples (6%) embraced this idea.
