Moral values

Moral values, simply stated, are beliefs about right and wrong. 


 * Moral judgements attach to a person's motives (bad/evil/vicious) and deeds or actions (good/kind/generous), and whether or not something is the right thing to do.


 * There are both positive and negative traits of a person's moral character: honesty, kindness, courageous, responsible. These traits apply to people and not to their actions "or to the outcomes they seek to achieve."


 * Moral values "at the national level are idealized family values projected onto the nation." These values are "care and responsibility, fairness and equality, freedom and courage, fulfillment in life, opportunity and community, cooperation and trust, honesty and openness."


 * In the 2004 U.S. presidential election, voters are said to have "focused on four issues: moral values, the economy, terrorism and the war in Iraq. The issue most voters thought was most important was moral values."


 * "What exactly are those moral values? Different voters defined them differently, but those who voted for President Bush oppose gay marriage and feel matrimony ought to be a union between a man and a woman. They also oppose abortion rights to some degree, and oppose broader government support for stem-cell research."

SourceWatch Resources

 * Moral Majority
 * Religious Left
 * Religious Right