86 Percent of Americans Say Nation Is in Moral Decline, but They Don’t Agree Why

About one in four adults (23 percent) blamed the “negative influence of media, movies or music,” while 16 percent said the problem is “unhealthy reliance on social media for information on current events.” Another 14 percent blamed the “low level of respect for the Bible as a guide for moral development.” A total of 13 percent of adults said the problem was the “negative influence of government leaders.”

The poll was part of the American Bible Society’s annual State of the Bible report. Adults of “all religious or none at all” believe society is in decline morally, the report said.

“They can’t agree on what the problem is,” the report said. “Parents, music, social media – all of these may contribute to the problem, but there’s one diagnosis recognized only by a select group. Those who know and love the Bible understand its power as ‘a guide for moral development.’ They see that the moral decline of America parallels the decline of Scripture engagement in America. Could the nation’s moral decline be slowed or even reversed by greater attention to Scripture? That thesis might find greater agreement than we expect.”

Meanwhile, the report found that Bible use in America equaled the record low that was hit the previous year, with 39 percent of U.S. adults saying they use the Bible three or more times per year, on their own. In 2021, 50 percent of Americans said they read the Bible that many times per year. 

The report also had some good news: A total of 63 million American adults use the Bible, “on their own, outside of a church service,” at least once a week, the report said.

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Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.