WASHINGTON, D.C. – Americans in the nation's capital reacted to the country's changing principles, with some disheartened and frightened by a recent poll that found values like patriotism and faith have become less important to the nation over the last 25 years.
"It's sad," Sherry, from Alabama, told Fox News. "They don't believe in what we stand for."
But Michelle, from Virginia, said Americans should be proud to have a country full of diverse and evolving values.
"We're supposed to be different," Michelle said. "We're not supposed to be the same."
Sherry, from Alabama, says Americans no longer believe in what the country stands for as patriotism and faith drop in importance, according to results from a March survey. (Megan Myers/Fox News Digital)
Core principles once central to Americans' values receded in importance this year, according to a Wall Street Journal-NORC poll published Friday. The share of respondents who said patriotism was very important dropped 32 percentage points compared to a 1998 poll, and those who said the same of religion decreased by 23 percentage points.
"It seems we're moving away from some of the things we hold closer and moving towards others," Jay, from Atlanta, told Fox News. "As times move on, people want different things."
The importance of having children dropped from 59% in 1998 to 30%, according to the poll. Meanwhile, respondents who considered money a top priority increased to 43%, up from 31% a quarter-century ago.
Americans told Fox News their top values, ranging from work and family to hard work and independence. (iStock)
Several Americans walking in the nation's capital shared their top values. READ MORE...
