The following is from Barna Research Group, “Practical Outcomes Replace Biblical Principles As the Moral Standard,” September 10, 2001
…a new survey by the Barna Research Group (Ventura, CA) suggests that a major share of the struggle pertains to the basis on which people make moral choices.
Note the point; it is “the basis,” that is, “the basis on which people make moral choices” that makes the difference and not merely the outcomes: this is not about pragmatism.
In the past I have made this point:
…But why is ethical grounding important, if not necessary or essential? After all, if someone withholds from punching me in the schnoz why should I care why they did not punch me? Am I not pleased enough that my schnoz remains intact? In an immediate sense, yes. But as regards the issue of morality, no. Why not? Because: If you have no moral grounding then you do good for no good reason (pun intended). Thus, when you do not do good, you violate nothing. If you have moral grounding then you do good for good reason.
Thus, when you do not do good, you are violating the moral grounding upon which you distinguish between good and not good in the first place.
When asked the basis on which they form their moral choices, nearly half of all adults (44%) cited their desire to do whatever will bring them the most pleasing or satisfying results. Roughly one-sixth of the adult public (17%) bases its moral decisions on what they believe will make other people happy or minimize interpersonal conflict. The same percentage (17%) credits the values they were taught by their family as the dominant influence on their moral considerations.
About one out of four adults (24%) lean primarily upon religious principles and teaching or Bible content when making moral decisions…
The study showed that there are several segments of the population that are more removed from traditional Christian values than others…young adults were substantially more likely than their elders to adopt a nouveau moral view were in supporting homosexuality, cohabitation, the non-medicinal use of marijuana, voluntary exposure to pornography, profane language, drunkenness, speeding and sexual fantasizing…majorities of atheists (64%) and people aligned with non-Christian faiths (59%) condoned such speech [“profane language”].
The results of the study caused George Barna, who oversaw the research project, to remark,
“Americans are correct in suggesting that the moral state of the country is in decline, but they may be looking in the wrong place to find the genesis of the problem. Almost half of the population – 47% – holds a non-biblical moral view on at least four of the eight core behaviors we tested, suggesting that perhaps the moral problems of the nation are not always attributable to other people but often relate to our own attitudes and actions…
The emerging generation of parents is the least likely of any demographic subgroup in the nation to possess – and, therefore, to transmit – biblical moral values. They will naturally impart to their children their own beliefs, and model and reinforce behaviors that fit their own values. Within the next quarter century we will likely see a state of radical moral amnesia in America.”
Barna also noted a “shift away from biblical principles and Christian values as the basis of modern law. Increasingly, Americans are looking for the law to reflect their personal preferences and desires rather than a universal set of absolutes based on God’s dictates.”
This is due to “a large gap between what people say is morally acceptable and what they say should be legal.”
When asked why this change has occurred, Barna stated that religious institutions have failed to present a compelling case for a biblical basis for moral truth.
Indeed, when YHVH and His Word are set aside, the natural man looks to the next, highest, thing: government. This is clearly seen in Communist regimes wherein the Most High God was replaced by the Most High State and wherein since the state gives freedoms it can likewise take them away.
With YHVH out of the way, the very height of humanity and evolution is the ruling class. The way this plays out in a majority theistic society such as the USA is that people end up “reasoning,” “Well, if it is legal, it must be moral.”