Monday (July 5th) I listened to a broadcast on the Diane Rehm Show of an interview with James T. Patterson, author of Freedom Is Not Enough: The Moynihan Report and America’s Struggle over Black Family Life from LBJ to Obama. That title was already on my long (long…) wish-list of books I’d like to buy if I had a few thousand bucks to spare (and a few years of leisure time I could spend to read them) so of course I listened with interest. But if what I heard was any indication of the kind of self contradictory ‘logic’ to be found in his book, then it’s probably no longer one of the must-have titles on my list. (So don’t take this as a review of Professor Patterson’s book, which I haven’t read. This is just my reactions to some of the assertions he made in his interview.) Read more…
Dr J’s interview on Issues, Etc. this week deals with Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey. According to their findings, Americans are most likely to disagree over four issues: physician-assisted suicide, gay/lesbian relations, abortion, and out-of-wedlock childbearing. (The others on the list we’re more and more likely to agree on, culminating in condemnation of adultery.)
All of the findings are interesting, and some are surprising. For example–many of us apparently think physician-assisted suicide is okay but suicide (without a physician) isn’t. If I’m interpreting this correctly, that means that there’s a section of the populace who wouldn’t condone self-suicide but would be fine with a physician ending lives. Did they assume the question included them, or were they applying it only to others? Is this some sort of attempt at checks and balances? It comes across as muddled thinking.
Also, when the respondents were grouped by gender, men tended to be more accepting [of these hot-button issues] than women. However, there was one category where men were less accepting than women: out-of-wedlock childbearing. More women viewed this as “morally acceptable” (55%) than did men (52%).
The interview is now up on our podcast page (and iTunes) for your listening pleasure.
Four Moral Issues
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