Survey reveals America's 'moral, spiritual confusion'

Survey reveals America's 'moral, spiritual confusion'

In the face of news this week on yet another hate crimes bill heading through the House of Representatives, a spokesman for a cultural watchdog group says a recent major survey doesn't support the notion that the majority of Americans believe civil rights of homosexuals are in danger -- or for that matter, that their lifestyles are even morally right.

News alerts from pro-family organizations like Traditional Values Coalition, Faith2Action, Family Research Council, and American Family Association have warned against HR 1592, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which is moving through House subcommittee and committee steps this week.

Peter LaBarbera is president of Americans for Truth, an Illinois-based grassroots group that monitors the homosexual culture. He contends it is the assistance of the approving media with several facets of the homosexual population's perception by society -- including general acceptance and alleged suppression of rights -- that keeps their agenda moving forward.

LaBarbera does not believe backing for the homosexual movement is as pervasive as the media portrays. "The support for the homosexual movement is a mile wide and an inch deep," says the pro-family leader, who notes the media has been successful in framing the movement around such issues as discrimination, equality, and sexual orientation.

"But the reality is, when people are confronted with the actual behavior, they oppose it -- I mean, something in their gut says homosexual behavior is wrong," he says. "And yet the media is just treating this like a civil rights issue."

And LaBarbera says the results from a 2,000-participant survey released last month raise questions about the general population's supposed overwhelming support for homosexuality -- results that included 61 percent of those questioned, opposing homosexual "marriage."

"The Culture and Media Institute of Media Research Center did a poll -- 49 percent of the people polled said they oppose homosexuality [and] homosexual behavior," says LaBarbera. "So the media cannot purport to say that there's only one side to this issue. There's two sides, there is a debate -- and it's not fair for the media to come down on one side."

But at least one area of questioning in the just-released "National and Cultural Values Survey [PDF]," published by the Culture and Media Institute (CMI), shows many people think that is exactly what various media have done. Some 64 percent polled agreed entertainment and news media exercise "powerful influence" over American moral values; and 68 percent agreed the same media are having a "detrimental effect" on those moral values.

"Another interesting thing about the Culture and Media Institute poll was it showed a very small percentage of people think homosexual behavior is right," LaBarbera points out. "So [roughly] 50 percent of people said it's wrong, but I think something in the teens (14 percent) said it was right. Somehow we have to get a grip on the media ignoring half the country."

CMI's "Values Survey" appears to support LaBarbera's observation. Its Executive Summary concludes: "If the media continue to singularly promote 'Progressive' values and a secular worldview, while undermining 'Orthodox' faith and values, reversing America's moral decline will be very difficult. Americans who care about the nation's moral condition should insist that the media strive to more fairly represent all views, including those of the Orthodox."