Can we blame social problems on moral decay?

Moral decay is commonly blamed for all manner of real and imagined problems. It’s a convenient explanation, but even if there is something to it, what does that mean? Does everyone have to convert to evangelical Christianity?

Moral decay is in the eye of the beholder. Since there is no universally agreed on measure of moral wholesomeness, it is impossible to gauge whether moral decay is actually a problem. We can argue either side of the question, but there is no impartial referee to decide who wins.

So let’s look instead at some of the reasons people believe that the morality of our society is decaying: 

• They’ve been convinced of it by a preacher or a politician who has a stake in their believing it.
• They see the presence of different values in their midst (due to the increase of cultural and religious diversity in Western societies) through ethnocentric (or even blatantly racist) eyes.
• They don’t recognize that there are other moral philosophies that are at least as productive of true good as their own.
• They have a very backward understanding of morality.
• Their authoritarian personality can’t accept the fact that freedom from authoritarianism is something to be celebrated.
• They are homophobic and/or misogynistic and can’t handle the clear fact that liberation from certain traditional moral strictures is an unqualified good thing.
• They hate it when other people seem to be enjoying things that they needlessly deny themselves.
• They have forgotten the meaning of love.
• They are rigid and can’t deal with the moral ambiguities of their own choices, so they project their sense of guilt onto other people. 
• They equate the secularization of public institutions (which is not only necessary, given the fact that even theists can’t agree with each other about what values to follow; it is required by the US constitution) with an erosion of morality.
• They suffer from confirmation bias. (They don’t even notice the existence of disconfirming evidence.)
• The people they hang out with relay anecdotal evidence that supports their shared beliefs.
• They only watch, listen to, or read content they agree with.