Clergy fall in public perception of ethics

December 17, 2013
Kurt Wiesner

The Gallup Poll notes that clergy have fallen in the Honesty and Ethics ratings.

Americans’ rating of the honesty and ethics of the clergy has fallen to 47%, the first time this rating has dropped below 50% since Gallup first asked about the clergy in 1977. Clergy have historically ranked near the top among professions on this measure, hitting a high rating of 67% in 1985.

…

If views of a certain profession have changed, it usually has been a function of scandal surrounding it. The Catholic priest abuse stories from the early 2000s helped lead to a sharp drop in Americans’ ratings of clergy, a decline from which the profession has yet to fully recover.

0 0 vote

Article Rating

Café Comments?

Our comment policy requires that you use your real first and last names and provide an email address (your email will not be published). Comments that use non-PG rated language, include personal attacks, that are not provable as fact or that we deem in any way to be counter to our mission of fostering respectful dialogue will not be posted.

3 Comments

Newest

Oldest Most Voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Paul Woodrum

December 18, 2013 12:38 pm

Wow! Physicians rank 16 points below the nurses they boss. Nobody likes Congress but as folks continue to like their local congress person who’s not responsible for all the current nonsense not much is likely to change. And isn’t it nice to live in a country where the police are so respected?

Peter Pearson

December 18, 2013 5:15 am

We are so consumed by and impressed with our opinions of others. I wonder where the public would put itself on this list?

DruidThaxted

December 18, 2013 1:46 am

At least the clergy beat out the congress, btw has congress seen this it sould scare them with elections looming. Merry Christmas to my friends at the Cafe… Jesse Snider

Tampa, Florida.

wpDiscuz

Support the Café

Past Posts

The Episcopal Café seeks to be an independent voice, reporting and reflecting on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican tradition. The Café is not a platform of advocacy, but it does aim to tell the story of the church from the perspective of Progressive Christianity. Our collective sympathy, as the Café, lies with the project of widening the circle of inclusion within the church and empowering all the baptized for the role to which they have been called as followers of Christ.

The opinions expressed at the Café are those of individual contributors, and, unless otherwise noted, should not be interpreted as official statements of a parish, diocese or other organization. The art and articles that appear here remain the property of their creators.