PHOENIX, AZ – The Cultural Research Center (CRC) at Arizona Christian University released the seventh in a series of insights from its American Worldview Inventory 2020 on June 23. This portion of the AWVI 2020 dealt with the American perspective on the sanctity of life, i.e., “Is life sacred?”

The questions posed in this portion of the survey centered on

Are people basically good?

What is the value of human life?

Perhaps even more than the CRC’s previous six releases, “Release #7: Perceptions of the Value of Human Life,” exposed the ongoing erosion of the acceptance of biblical values by the secularism that has come to dominate the American culture.

Are People Basically Good?

The survey opened with a softball question, as many surveys do. The question was, “Do you agree with the statement that “People are basically good?”

Despite the fact that the Bible is overtly clear that all people are inherently sinful and entirely evil, an amazing number of people – even in ‘religious’ circles – disagreed with the Biblical truth that “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

Seventy percent of Evangelicals and Pentecostals agreed that people are basically good. They were not alone. All defined church-affiliated groups concurred, including Jewish (72%), Mainline Protestant (75%), and Catholics (77%).

Even 52% of those who were classified as having a biblical worldview agreed.

The researchers noted that “The perception that people are good is most frequently based on feelings rather than facts, and often reflect their self-view.” (i.e., “I am basically a good person.”)

What Do You Believe About the Sanctity of Human Life?

As absurd as it may sound, 60% of Americans overall did not agree that human life is sacred. The mixed bag of responses included maxims like, “Life is what you make it,” to evolutionism and Eastern mysticism in which people believe that we do not have value until we evolve or work our way to our highest potential.

While 60% of those self-labeled as Evangelical or born-again did agree that life is sacred, a much more significant 93% of those with a biblical worldview regarded life as sacred.

The lack of regard for the sanctity of human life is evident when the subject turns to abortion as the AWVI 2020 survey did.

The responses here are best understood when the responses of those who said the Bible is ambiguous on abortion (37%) are combined with those who don’t know what the Bible says about it (22%). When applied to decision-making, 60% of Americans would not likely “seek guidance from the Bible regarding abortion.”

What Is the Real Problem?

The United States Declaration of Independence declared that our founding fathers established this republic on the conviction that we are “endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights.”

The problem is that we have gradually become a nation of people more concerned about our rights than about our Creator from whom they flow.

Our humanist culture has it reversed. George Barna, the leader of the Cultural Research Center, summed up the problem, saying,

“From a biblical perspective, the problem is that we have a sin nature, pure and simple. We can deny it, but it still exists.

“People with a humanistic worldview argue that crime and violence happen because of poverty, bad parenting, systemic discrimination, and other external forces.

“You cannot change the hearts of people by … passing laws and forcing compliance.

“The underlying issues are ill-formed character and a broken moral compass. Economic, social, and cultural depravity are outgrowths of our moral and character deficiencies, not causes.

“Poor people with godly character and biblical morals [can] make good choices. Rich people with bad character and inappropriate morals [can] make bad choices, despite their education, fame, wealth, and social class.”

Click here to learn more about findings from previous releases from the AWVI 2020

Read more news on the Sanctity of Life & Abortion on Missions Box.