Americans Negative About United States' Moral Values, Poll

Americans Overwhelmingly Negative About Country's Moral Values
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Gallup's annual Values and Beliefs survey revealed that Americans are overwhelmingly negative about the future of moral values in the United States with 73 percent believing that moral values are deteriorating and are likely to continue getting worse.

According to Gallup, Americans today are slightly more negative about the state of moral values than they were last year, but less than they were in the 7 years prior.

What precisely do Americans mean by lack of moral values? Lack of tolerance, respect, or consideration for others was the top ranking problem. Overall, Gallup found that Americans believe the most important moral problems centered around matters of civility, family structure, and religion rather than popular political issues such as abortion and gay marriage.

The poll also asked about political party affiliation with 82 percent of Republicans, 72 percent of independents and 53 percent of Democrats have a negative opinion of U.S. moral values.

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Before You Go

Most and Least Religious Cities
Salt Lake City, UT(01 of51)
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73,487 religious adherents per 100,000 persons. (credit:Fotosearch via Getty Images)
Birmingham, AL(02 of51)
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Metro area Birmingham-Hoover, AL
70,990 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:John Cardassis via Getty IMages)
Oklahoma City, OK(03 of51)
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60,249 religious adherents per 100,000 persons. (credit:Walter Bibikow via Getty Images)
Memphis, TN-MS-AR(04 of51)
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Metro area: Memphis, TN-MS-AR
58,847 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Amie Vanderford Photography - www.amie.org via Getty Images)
Pittsburgh, PA(05 of51)
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57,695 religious adherents per 100,000 persons. (credit:David Coleman via Getty Images)
Chicago, IL-IN-WI(06 of51)
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Metro area: Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WI
57,162 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Thomas Kurmeier via Getty Images)
Providence, RI-MA(07 of51)
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Metro area: Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA
56,840 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Denis Jr. Tangney via Getty Images)
Boston, MA-NH(08 of51)
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Metro area: Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH
56,765 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Huntstock via Getty Images)
New York, NY-NJ-PA(09 of51)
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Metro area: New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA
55,595 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:- Fotosearch via Getty Images)
Dallas, TX(10 of51)
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Metro area: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
55,536 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Michael Fitzgerald Fine Art Photography of Texas via Getty Images)
Houston, TX(11 of51)
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Metro area: Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
55,144 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:bullcreekstudio.com via Getty Images)
Buffalo, NY(12 of51)
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Meto area: Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY
54,706 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Hisham Ibrahim via Getty Images)
Philadelphia, PA-NJ-DE-MD(13 of51)
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Metro area: Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
54,668 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Original photo here.
(credit:(c) Swapan Jha via Getty Images)
San Antonio, TX(14 of51)
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Metro area: San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
54,093 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Johnny Stockshooter via Getty Images)
New Orleans, LA(15 of51)
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Metro area: New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA
53,479 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:John Coletti via Getty Images)
Minneapolis, MN-WI(16 of51)
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Metro area: Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
52,061 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Ryan/Beyer via Getty Images)
Milwaukee, WI(17 of51)
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Metro area: Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Alis, WI
51,823 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Anne Rippy via Getty Images)
Charlotte, NC-SC(18 of51)
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Metro area: Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC
51,764 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Don Klumpp via Getty Images)
Los Angeles, CA(19 of51)
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Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA
51,382 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Hisham Ibrahim via Getty Images)
Cleveland, OH(20 of51)
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Metro area: Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH
51,185 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Henryk Sadura via Getty Images)
Nashville, TN(21 of51)
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Metro area: Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN
50,694 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Malcolm MacGregor via Getty Images)
Louisville, KY-IN(22 of51)
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Metro area: Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN
50,445 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Jeremy Woodhouse via Getty Images)
Richmond, VA(23 of51)
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50,113 religious adherents per 100,000 persons. (credit:John Cardasis via Getty Images)
Jacksonville, Florida(24 of51)
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50,093 religious adherents per 100,000 persons. (credit:John Coletti via Getty Images)
Atlanta, GA(25 of51)
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Metro area: Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA
49,721 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Ryan Murphy via Getty Images)
Kansas City, MO-KS(26 of51)
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49,702 religious adherents per 100,000 persons. (credit:John Coletti via Getty Images)
St. Louis, MO-IL(27 of51)
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48,889 religious adherents per 100,000 persons. (credit:James Montgomery via Getty Images)
Hartford, CT(28 of51)
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Metro area: Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
47,226 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Jumper via Getty Images)
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN(29 of51)
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Metro area: Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN
44,672 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Anne Rippy via Getty Images)
Detroit, MI(30 of51)
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Metro area: Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI
44,583 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
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Washington, DC-VA-MD-WV(31 of51)
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Metro area: Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
44,576 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
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Raleigh, NC(32 of51)
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Metro area: Raleigh-Cary, NC
44,469 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
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San Jose, CA(33 of51)
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Metro area: San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
44,189 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
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Rochester, NY(34 of51)
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44,066 religious adherents per 100,000 persons. (credit:Education Images/UIG via Getty Images)
Austin, TX(35 of51)
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Metro area: Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX
43,921 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Walter Bibikow via Getty Images)
San Diego, CA(36 of51)
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Metro area: San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA
43,917 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Arco Images / Meissner Daniel via Getty Images)
Riverside, CA(37 of51)
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Metro area: Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
42,293 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Richard Cummins via Getty Images)
Indianapolis, IN(38 of51)
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Metro area: Indianapolis-Carmel, IN
42,213 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Jeremy Woodhouse via Getty Images)
Baltimore, MD(39 of51)
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Metro area: Baltimore-Towson, MD
42,077 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
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Virginia Beach, VA-NC(40 of51)
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Metro area: Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC
40,417 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
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Orlando, FL(41 of51)
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Metro area: Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL
40,631 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Purestock via Getty Images)
Miami, FL(42 of51)
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Metro area: Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL
38,058 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
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San Francisco, CA(43 of51)
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Metro area: San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
37,796 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
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Columbus, OH(44 of51)
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37,702 religious adherents per 100,000 persons. (credit:James Blank via Getty Images)
Denver, CO(45 of51)
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Metro area: Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO
36,968 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Walter Bibikow via Getty Images)
Phoenix, AZ(46 of51)
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Metro area: Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ
37,518 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
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Sacramento, CA(47 of51)
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Metro area: Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Rosenville, CA
36,512 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
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Las Vegas, NV(48 of51)
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Metro area: Las Vegas-Paradise, NV
35,761 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Mitchell Funk via Getty Images)
Seattle, WA(49 of51)
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Metro area: Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
35,643 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
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Tampa, FL(50 of51)
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Metro area: Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
34,761 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
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Portland, OR-WA(51 of51)
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Metro area: Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
31,591 religious adherents per 100,000 persons.
(credit:Bryan Mullennix via Getty Images)