Are Americans Abandoning Patriotism & Religion? A Shock Poll Says Yes

A disturbing poll by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reveals that traditional American values and ideas, such as patriotism and religion, are in sharp decline. It’s frightening to consider what the potential long-term effects of this decline may prove to be.

As reported on Fox News:

The importance of traditional American values has plummeted in the U.S. in recent decades, according to a new poll from The Wall Street Journal.

The Monday poll questioned U.S. respondents about the importance of patriotism, religious faith, having children and other traditional U.S. metrics. The poll found that just 39% of Americans say their religious faith is very important to them, and just 38% say patriotism is very important.

The WSJ compared those numbers to the first time it ran the poll in 1998 when 62% of Americans said religion was very important to them, and 70% said patriotism was very important.

Much of the WSJ poll deals with how Americans view the economic state of our nation, which is not surprisingly negative, and if they believe their children will have a better life, and most also answer no.

But when asked about values, such as patriotism, religion, and even having a family, the numbers have declined drastically, especially among younger generations. And meanwhile, we’re watching violent crime continue to rise on our streets, social unrest, and a greater sense of hopelessness, and unhappiness, certainly among those polled. It’s hard not to see a correlation. And honestly, I can see why there’s a lack of patriotism, whether you’re a liberal or a conservative. The institutions that are supposed to work for us feel like they’re working against us – all of us. Maybe we’re just taking it out on each other.

ACLJ Senior Advisor for National Security and Foreign Policy Ric Grenell joined us and shared his expert analysis of the current decay in patriotism and how our public schools are leading the anti-America indoctrination:

We can’t be surprised when over the last twenty years, our schools have been teaching our kids to hate America and to not concentrate on the basics. I mean, you look at the test scores for our kids today, and it’s atrocious. We’ve allowed this to happen in our society. We’ve allowed our schools to become terrible.

I’m reminded of this conversation that I had with a world leader who once said to me, “Ric, I don’t know why you guys are so surprised in America that you have a generation of young people that hate your country. You’ve been teaching them to hate your country. You can’t be surprised that all of a sudden they grow up, and a twenty-year-old has been indoctrinated for all these years.” 

Ric also brought up a great point, highlighting the differences between the children and grandchildren of immigrants versus longer-term Americans:

When you look at first- and second-generation Americans, they love this country. The people who come here from another place, who have experienced fascism, totalitarianism, they’re at the front of the line saying that this is a great country. Our problem is with sixth-, seventh-generation white liberals who literally want to teach our kids to think that this place we call America is a horrible place. It’s the greatest country, and if you don’t know that, you should travel more.

It’s encouraging that Americans who have lived or have parents who lived under a truly oppressive government system can see how good we have it in this country, but it’s heartbreaking that so many of us whose families have been here for generations have turned so cold.

Today’s full Sekulow broadcast includes more analysis of this WSJ poll and how we can see these results unfolding around us every day through tragedy after tragedy, and we ask what it’s going to take to rescue America’s soul. Also, more with Ric Grenell and a visit in-studio from former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

Watch the full broadcast below: