Private Verdicts (Guilty!) on Public Morals

Do we live in a culture where anything goes? Turn on the TV or walk down a big-city street and it’s hard to feel otherwise. But while society now condones behavior that once was forbidden, this doesn’t mean people have ceased to feel disapproving. The findings of a new Gallup poll make this clear. Forty percent of adults said the overall state of moral values in this country is “poor.” Another 41 percent said it’s “only fair,” while just 1 percent said it’s “excellent” and 17 percent called it “good.”