This Might Be Fun: A Morality Poll on PBS Ranked Top 10 Sins-Do Your Own Rank

In My Humble Opinion
1

As reported on PBS’s Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, the Christian based Barna Research Group, polled 1,024 Americans on what they consider to be ‘Morally acceptable behavior’.

I was kinda surprised by the results – almost like they were inverted. Anyway, for those of you who don’t wanna click the link, here are the results amongst all adult respondents:

Percent who consider the following activities acceptable moral behavior:

Gambling 61%
Co-habitation (sans marriage) 60%
Enjoying sexual thoughts 59%
Having an abortion 45%
Extra (or pre-) marital sex 42%
Enjoying porn 38%
Cursing 36%
Getting drunk 35%
Homosexual sex 30%
Illegal drug use 17%

OK, I’m never one to bash those who follow their religious teachings and I feel everyone is entitled to their own person opinion. But what surprised me were the results amongst self-labeled agnostics & atheists:

Co-habitation (sans marriage) 87%
Enjoying sexual thoughts 78%
Gambling 75%
Having an abortion 71%
Enjoying porn 70%
Extra (or pre-) marital sex 69%
Cursing 68%
Getting drunk 61%
Homosexual sex 55%
Illegal drug use 38%

Granted, the poll demographics don’t indicate if the agnostic / atheists were from Utah, NYC or CA, but I can’t get over the fact

39% consider getting blotto in a barroom or
45% consider getting blown in the men’s steam room
morally unacceptable.

Shit, a typical Saturday night for me includes at least 7 out of 10 of those activities.

If I had been asked, all (with the exception adultery – which is worked into part of one of the behaviors) would have passed muster with me.

But I’ll go a step further and rank them from most, to least acceptable (IMHO)

  1. Enjoying sexual thoughts
  2. Cursing
  3. Getting drunk
  4. Co-habitation (sans marriage)
  5. Homosexual sex
  6. Enjoying porn
  7. Illegal drug use
  8. Gambling
  9. Extra (or pre-) marital sex
  10. Having an abortion

It’s silly but not as easy it sounds.

Go ahead, give it a crack if you like.

2

All sounds fine by me.

3

From most to least acceptable:

  1. Enjoying sexual thoughts
  2. Cursing
  3. Enjoying porn
  4. Extra (or pre-) marital sex[sup]*[/sup]
  5. Co-habitation (sans marriage)
  6. Homosexual sex
  7. Gambling
  8. Having an abortion
  9. Getting drunk
  10. Illegal drug use

[sup]*[/sup]I wish this one listed “pre-marital” and “extra-marital” separately. For the latter, I’d rank it lower.

4

You mean if I happen to go to a casino, excuse myself from the blackjack table to take a leak and do a little blow in the bathroom, all the while thinking lascivious thoughts about the cocktail waitress, come out of the bathroom and head to the bar where I drink a few too many martinis, then pick up a transvestite hooker and enjoy a blowjob while watching “Cum Sluts From Akron” on the hotel movie channel, all while co-habitating with my SO, I’m a bad person?

Oh, well. I guess I’m a bad person.

5
  1. Enjoying sexual thoughts
  2. Homosexual sex
  3. Co-habitation (sans marriage)
  4. Getting drunk
  5. Gambling
  6. Illegal drug use
  7. Enjoying porn
  8. Cursing
  9. Having an abortion
  10. Extra (or pre-) marital sex

of course, I only find the last three at all unacceptable, and those depend on the circumstances,so 1-7 would be pretty close to each other.

6

All are equally acceptible to me, except that extra-marital sex comes with an asterisk saying “… without the consent of your spouse.”

When I opened the thread I thought it was something to do with the Seven Deadly Sins, three of which are my favourite activities !

Lust
Sloth
Gluttony
Greed
Wrath
Pride
Envy

7

If you’re the type that likes resurrecting old threads (that fell flat on their face) you may wanna try:

The seven deadly sins re-pondered in a secular fashion from June 2002.

8

I’m baffled by you sometimes, John. You’ve said you’re gay. Yet you list homosexual acts as worse than shacking up. You’ve also said the celebrity you’d most like to sleep with is a woman. Are you still struggling with the issue?

9

They’re all pretty much the same to me.

Hey, I have an idea. Let’s put “enjoying” before all of them, like so:

  1. Enjoying sexual thoughts (or maybe enjoying enjoying sexual thoughts)
  2. Enjoying Cursing
  3. Enjoying Getting drunk
  4. Enjoying Co-habitation (sans marriage)
  5. Enjoying Homosexual sex
  6. Enjoying porn
  7. Enjoying Illegal drug use
  8. Enjoying Gambling
  9. Enjoying Extra (or pre-) marital sex
  10. Enjoying Having an abortion

Eh?

10

I’d have to go at differently.

Putting ‘cursing’ after ‘enjoying sexual thoughts’ might imply that I think either of them are morally reprehensible and that one is more so than the other. Actually, some of those I have no moral objection to whatever. That doesn’t mean I don’t have health or other objections that have nothing to do with what I think is moral.

Enjoying sexual thoughts, I have no moral objections to this at all. It’s your mind, have fun with it. It’s the only place where you can make all the rules.

Cursing, 6 years in the Navy, 25 years as a construction worker. I know that cursing, for men at least, is just a way to express emotion, that’s all. Anyway, most of what people call ‘cursing’ is really just earthy anglo-saxonisms or scatalogial phrases. I’m pretty sure the lord knows that people shit and piss and fuck and doesnt’ take it too personally. Those aren’t curses, just impolite words. Morally, I have no problem with it. But if you talk like that in from of my mom she’ll mash your mouth.

Getting drunk, drug use (legal or illegal), gambling. I would have to lump these together as behaviors that can quickly degrade your health and/or quality of life. BUT…taken in moderation, I’ve enjoyed every one of these, in fact, I’ve enjoyed them all in every possible permutation. I have moral objections to people indulging in any of these behaviors to the point that they harm themselves or their familys.

Co-habitation (sans marriage), Homosexual sex, both of these are about sex. People screw, the lord knows it, have fun!! As long as it’s between informed, consenting people. I have moral objections to screwing animals, I think it’s because I like most animals more than I like most people, plus the animals can’t give any kind of informed consent.

Enjoying porn, isn’t that the point of porn? To enjoy it? It’s certainly not written or read for it’s literary worth. Seriously, I have moral objections to porn involving animals or children. Adults, do what you would be done by.

  1. Extra (or pre) marital sex, These are not the same thing. Pre, or post, marital sex is the business of the ones involved and no one else. I do have moral objections to extra marital sex.

Having an abortion, this has always been the hardest one for me. I feel like abortion isn’t wise, but…I’m not a woman. Maybe I would feel differently if I was the one facing pregnancy. I’m uncomfortable making value judgements for 1/2 the human race that I’m not a member of.

11

I just want to be invited to hang with John next Saturday night.

12

All right, I’ll give it a shot. I’ve divided things into categories because within the categories, I’d be hard pressed to say which is worse and I don’t choose to do so.

[ul]Not inherently sinful at all:
[li]Enjoying sexual thoughts [/li][li]Gambling[/li][li]Homosexual sex[/li][li]Cursing[/li]
Not sinful, but stupid if done to excess:
[li]Getting drunk[/li][li]Illegal drug use[/li][li]Enjoying porn[/li]
Likely to be sinful
[li]Co-habitation (sans marriage)[/li][li]Premarital sex[/li]
Always sinful
[li]Having an abortion[/li][li]Extramarital sex without spouse’s consent[/li][/ul]

I have no problem whatsoever, and to me having sexual thoughts is as inherently human as having any kind of thoughts. My problem with swearing is if I say “Shoot!” with the same intention and though I would if I were saying “Shit!” why is the former sinful and the latter not?

I am firmly and staunchly opposed to adultery; on the other hand, two very dear friends of mine have an open marriage and I’ve seen it work very well for them. Among other things, it’s pretty much removed the issue of sexual or any other sort of jealousy because they know that they are each other’s primary partner and love. I was opposed to sex outside of marriage once. Then my engagement to a man I loved very dearly ended. I do not regret the things we did then; in fact, I’m very glad we did them, and I intend to make the next gentleman who enters my life and -er- other things very glad of them too. After wrestling with the issue for some time, I’ve come to the conclusion that sex without commitment is what I consider wrong. Both (or all) parties must know and agree to what they are consenting to, including the consequences, including the possiblity of pregnancy.

I’m never going to be a conventional type, am I? :rolleyes:
CJ

13

I don’t find any of them sinful as I don’t believe in sinning.

However, if I had to do the poll, it would be: [1 - most ‘sinful’, 10 - 'least ‘sinful’]

  1. Extra-marital sex
  2. Gambling [excessively]
  3. Enjoying porn
  4. Illegal drug-use
  5. Cursing
  6. Getting drunk
  7. Having an abortion
  8. Enjoying sexual thoughts
  9. Co-habitation (sans marriage)
  10. Homosexual sex
14

I can’t see ANY correlation between extra-marital sex and pre-marital sex.

I think pre-marital sex should be a PREREQUISITE to getting married. There would probably be fewer divorces.

I don’t think any of those things are sinful (in moderation) except extra-marital sex without spouses consent. Nothing excuses cheating. Ever.

15

I like sinning…

16

Things that don’t bother me
Cursing, fuckall, not enough of it. :slight_smile:
Homosexual sex
Premarital sex
Enjoying sexual thoughts
Shackin’ up. (Find out why you hate each other before you force your friends and family to wear uncomfortable clothes and eat crappy reception hall food.)
Things that make me uneasy
Getting drunk (Ok once in awhile.)
abortion (personal decision, none of my business.)
porn (viewing it as exploitative.)
Cher
Gambling (I’ve see it get out of hand.)

Stuff that I definately have a problem with

Extramarital affair. If you are that unhappy in the marriage, leave it then. Don’t torture your spouse and screw up your kids any more than you already have.

Illegal drug use. (I’m high on life, man. Ok, no. I can barely afford my RX drug co-pay, I don’t understand the power of the addiction and it frightens me. That, and if my mom found out…whooo boy…I’d be grounded.)

17

I put these in groups, the things within each group would be at about the same level of acceptability.

  1. Cursing
    Sexual thoughts

  2. Getting drunk
    Enjoying porn
    Illegal drug use

  3. Premarital sex
    Homosexual sex
    Gambling
    Co-habitation (sans marriage)

  4. Having an abortion
    Extramarital sex (unless the person you are married to knows about it and doesn’t mind, in which case it would be back in group 3)

I don’t actually find anything on this list unacceptable.

18

I need to make a correction to my previous post. I’d rank extra-marital sex below pre-marital sex, not the other way around. Cheating on one’s spouse is wrong, IMO, but to “try before you buy” is acceptable.

Also, as others have done, I think my original rankings would have been better had they been grouped together, so I’ll re-submit my list:

Perfectly acceptable:
[ul]
[li]Enjoying sexual thoughts- there’s no harm done, and hey, they’re your thoughts. Besides, we’re all hard-wired to think such things anyway.[/li][li]Cursing- again, no harm done, except to those who are offended by such language in the first place.[/li][li]Enjoying porn- Assuming nobody else is around, I say go for it.[/li][li]Pre-marital sex- As I stated above, there’s nothing wrong with “try before you buy.”[/li][li]Homosexual sex- They have just as much of a right to have sex as everyone else, as long as each side consents to it.[/li][/ul]
Acceptable, but with certain stipulations:
[ul]
[li]Co-habitation (sans marriage)- While this may be similar to “try before you buy”, I feel there is a greater risk of making yourself or the other person unhappy if things don’t work out, and it’s more difficult to back out of this sort of commitment.[/li][li]Gambling- As long as a person handles this responsibly I don’t see anything wrong with it. Too often, though, people get themselves into trouble because of gambling.[/li][li]Having an abortion- I’m not comfortable with the idea of preventing a child from being born, but I do feel there should be some allowances made under certain circumstances, namely if the child to be born or the mother’s health is in danger. Also, if the pregnancy occurred as the result of rape.[/li][/ul]
Unacceptable:
[ul]
[li]Extra-marital sex- The emotional toll on the spouse and the families from getting caught having an affair makes me too uncomfortable to ever think about doing it if I were married. I’ve seen this sort of thing ruin families.[/li][li]Getting drunk and illegal drug use- I personally cannot justify either of these as they put one’s health at risk and these also have the potential to make oneself a risk to others. Again, these things can easily destroy families, jobs and even lives.[/li][/ul]

19

All of the ten are morally acceptable to me. Some of them can be hazardous to the “sinner.”

Gambling, to excess, can leave you broke.

Illegal drugs can lead to incarceration. A few of them can be addictive.

Cursing, to excess, can make you look like a fool with a small vocabulary.

20

Some of these activities are good things (homosexual sex, for example), some are dangerous (gambling), but I only consider one of them “wrong.” Extra-marital sex if, as has been said, it isn’t agreed to by the spouse.

Julie