Morality poll turns up some surprises

Americans may not agree about much these days, but they do see eye-to-eye about extramarital sex and polygamy: A whopping nine out of 10 of us say both are immoral. We're more divided about premarital sex: Only 38 percent of us say that's a no-no, the exact same number who think people shouldn't buy or wear animal fur.

A Gallup Poll released this week about the morality of 16 "social issues" also reveals that a large majority of Americans approve of the death penalty and gambling but not human cloning or suicide. Respondents were asked to label the issues "morally acceptable" or "morally wrong."

Some of the issues raised in the poll are political flashpoints, and the answers sometimes surprising. Nearly half of Americans give a thumbs-up to doctor-assisted suicide. Americans who consider abortion immoral outnumber those who think it's OK: 51 to 40 percent. And 64 percent of Americans think embryonic-stem-cell research is morally acceptable, up 12 points since 2002.

Of all 16 issues, as a nation we're the most conflicted about what the poll described as "homosexual relations": Nearly equal numbers of us answered "acceptable" as answered "wrong." The percent finding those relationships acceptable jumped seven points since 2001 — from 40 to 47 percent — showing a "clear change in attitudes," according to the Gallup News Service.

But the numbers also reveal a chasm between liberals and conservatives, especially on the questions of homosexuality, premarital sex and unwed pregnancy. All of which leads University of Utah philosophy professor and ethicist Peggy Battin to wonder "why are sex issues so polarizing? If the same survey was taken in other developed world cultures, I think the gulf between liberal and conservative would be very different."

Not surprisingly, the way we read the results reflects our world view.

"The more visible lesbian and gay people have become in their communities, the less they are seen as immoral," concludes Mike Thompson, executive director of Equality Utah. "They are seen as hard-working women and men who love their families, who attend church and who serve their communities."

That doesn't make the "homosexual lifestyle" any less wrong, argues Utah conservative activist Gayle Ruzicka. "Everyone knows someone living a homosexual lifestyle, often one of their family members," she concedes. "And as they become accepting they decide it's moral. But just because we have family members who are living a homosexual lifestyle doesn't mean it's moral, it just means we have family members who have chosen immoral lifestyles."