Curt Flewelling, FISM News
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A recent Pew Research Center survey on morality and values has some troubling results for those who hold traditional religious values near and dear. The vast majority of respondents in 17 countries reported that a belief in God was not necessary to lead a moral life or have good values.
The countries that had the highest percentage of citizens that responded this way were the United Kingdom (76%), the Netherlands (76%), France (77%), and Sweden, with a whopping 90% of all respondents saying that a belief in God was not necessary to have good moral values.
The countries in which respondents were less dismissive of God were Israel (50% viewed belief in God as irrelevant), Singapore (46%), and Malaysia, which only had 22% of respondents say that a belief in God was of no relevance in moral issues.
The number of respondents who seem to be indifferent to the influence of God on these affairs continues to plummet, even when pollsters ask the same question to individuals with conservative political views or to congregants who attend a traditional Christian church on a regular basis.
Pew has chronicled the decline in a belief in God for years. However, a new and perhaps more concerning phenomenon for the faithful is the verbiage that is now being used when polls such as these are conducted.
As a troubling sign of the times, various polling groups no longer even ask questions about a belief in God. Verbiage such as that has been replaced with “religion” and even the term “higher power”, as young people are reporting that they do not relate to the God of the Bible.
Agnostic theist Desmond Adel told the Wall Street Journal, “I’m not 100% convinced that there is a higher power, but I lean toward the existence of one that isn’t tied to one denomination. I don’t think it’s like any Gods described by major religions.”
There is no shortage of polls like these, but none contain the question; “Who or what is defining morality or good values if not a “God”, “religion”, or even a “higher power”? For Christians, the answer is found in the Bible.
Perhaps the most glaringly famous example of moral absolutes to live by would be the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20:2-17. These principles largely relate to ethics and worship of the God who articulated them. Even the irreligious respect many of these principles without even acknowledging their source.