Don't Legislate Morality: Most Americans Can't Agree on What's Immoral

Most matters enjoy too little moral agreement to make fertile ground for government intervention.

The moral argument for not making laws about many—especially victimless—activities is that people have a right to live their own lives so long as they don't hurt anybody else. That's a convincing case for those of us who naturally gravitate to a live-and-let-live take on life. But it's unpersuasive to the growing ranks of those inclined to control freakery in these illiberal times, and who believe the state should step in to control bad things. The strongest rebuttal to the authoritarian case is that people so vigorously disagree as to what constitutes "bad" that efforts to regulate a whole host of activities invite noncompliance. Recent polling provides evidence that Americans disagree on many issues.

First, a Little Common Ground

When it comes to what constitutes an immoral activity, Americans have some common ground. According to recent Pew Research polling, 90 percent of us believe it's immoral for married people to have an extramarital affair. Two percent say it's morally acceptable and 7 percent believe it's not a moral issue at all. That low opinion of cheating is shared by 93 percent of Republicans and 88 percent of Democrats. At least 90 percent of Catholics, Protestants, and Jews agree. Eighty-nine percent of men and 91 percent of women concur, and at least 89 percent of all age groups also morally disapprove of stepping out on a marriage. The weakest disapproval comes from atheists, "only" 84 percent of whom call extramarital affairs immoral, and 5 percent of whom say they're morally acceptable.

That's as close to universal agreement as you'll ever get on anything, though it raises some interesting questions about who opened all those Ashley Madison accounts. It's also the only issue Pew asked about that Americans generally agree is immoral.

"Across a wide range of issues, Americans express morally permissive views," notes Pew.

Americans Don't Agree That Many Things Are Immoral

After infidelity, the issue seen as the next most immoral by Americans is viewing pornography, though only 52 percent of us say it's wrong; 47 percent disagree, with 15 percent saying it's morally acceptable and 32 percent believing it's not a moral issue.

Abortion is considered immoral by 47 percent of Americans. Fifty-two percent disagree, with 21 percent calling it acceptable and 31 percent saying it's not a moral issue.

After that, we drop below 40 percent, with 39 percent of Americans calling homosexuality immoral. Thirty-five percent say it's immoral for patients to choose to end their lives with the help of a doctor. The death penalty is labeled immoral by 34 percent of us.

Then we fall below 30 percent when it comes to Americans considering activities immoral: Gambling comes in at 29 percent, while spanking children, using marijuana, and getting a divorce are all called immoral by 23 percent of Americans.

And while the rich are widely despised by progressives and populists, targeted with wealth taxes and dismissive wishes that billionaires shouldn't exist, most Americans don't think there's anything immoral about success. Asked if "being extremely rich (for example, having billions of dollars)" is immoral, only 18 percent of Americans agree. An identical share of people believe being rich is morally acceptable, while 63 percent say it's not a moral issue at all.

In fact, on numerous issues, as many or more people believe an activity is morally acceptable as believe it is immoral: the death penalty, spanking children, using marijuana, getting a divorce, being extremely rich, drinking alcohol, using in vitro fertilization, using contraceptives, and eating meat.

That's right! Sorry vegetarians and vegans, but 41 percent of us say eating meat is morally acceptable, while only 4 percent call it immoral—a 10–1 ratio. At any given gathering, more people are probably inclined to order steak tartar than to agree that meat is murder.

Disagreement on Morality Makes a Poor Basis for Law

In truth, a lot of the issues some Americans get upset about are seen approvingly or with disinterest by half or more of their countrymen. Abortion and pornography are hot-button issues fueling legislation in much of the country, but only about half of the population view them with moral disapproval. This makes them poor targets for legislation at a national level and in many states, since an opposing half or more of the population either see the law as wrong or think there's no moral problem for government to address. That can lead to enormous problems with noncompliance.

"Many laws are ineffective, in part because they conflict with prevailing social norms, making private agents unwilling to cooperate with law enforcement (for example, by whistle-blowing)," MIT economist Daron Acemoglu and Stanford economist Matthew O. Jackson pointed out in a 2016 paper. "Laws that are in strong conflict with prevailing social norms may backfire and lead to a significant decline in law-abiding behavior in society."

Feeling strongly that something is bad doesn't make it a viable target for legislation if a sizeable enough opposing faction believes the same something is good or just not a proper subject for legal intervention. Imposing restrictions over significant disagreement delegitimizes the law, lawmakers, and law enforcers.

This is especially obvious when it comes to issues which only very small minorities of people feel are wrong, such as eating meat. The same consideration applies when people are divided on an issue and restrictions must be forced on a sizable percentage of the population that's likely to refuse obedience.

Underlining the point: Not only do people disagree about the morality of many issues, but Americans are more likely than the citizens of other countries to view each other as immoral.

"The United States is the only place we surveyed where more adults (ages 18 and older) describe the morality and ethics of others living in the country as bad (53%) than as good (47%)," Pew Research reported earlier this month, of its survey of 25 countries.

As with all things these days, there's a partisan element to this. "Democrats and independents who lean toward the Democratic Party are much more likely than Republicans and Republican leaners to rate fellow Americans as morally and ethically bad (60% vs. 46%)." That said, supporters of both major parties are increasingly inclined to call their opponents immoral because it's 2026 and of course they do.

When large factions disagree about the morality of an issue and the opponents see each other as just flat-out bad, a very strong case can be made for just leaving people alone to make independent decisions. That is, unless somebody really wants an unwinnable fight.

But, while it ought not be a law, I think we can all agree that you shouldn't have an extramarital affair with a vegan.