(The Center Square) – Chicago ranks among the top in WalletHub’s “Most Sinful Cities in America” survey. A Republican state representative said it’s another example of its crumbling moral foundation.
In a new WalletHub survey, Chicago ranks No. 16 out of 180 cities from among 37 key indicators that range from thefts to aggravated assaults to other violent crimes. With the city earning some of its highest marks in the areas of lust (No. 16) and anger and hatred (No. 46), Chicago’s total vice index score of 47.39 puts it higher on the list than such cities as New Orleans (45.92), Detroit (44.69) and Washington D.C. (42.28).
“The moral foundation and the moral fiber of our country as a whole have been slouching for a long time,” state Rep. Chris Miller, R-Oakland, told The Center Square. “The way it is now, it’s almost like you develop your own truth. There are no consequences for crime and so it’s not a big shock that our moral values and the moral of our compasses have lost their way. They’ve been cultivating the attitude that you came from pond scum and are heading to oblivion rather than being created by a creator with a purpose.”
Miller argued what he sees as all the bad policy coming out of the state capitol accounting for much of the decay.
“I think it’s a tremendous factor into it because of the soft on crime policies brought to you by the Democrat leadership,” he said. “You learn to behave by having consequences to your poor behavior and if there are no consequences, that bad behavior continues until it’s completely out of control. I think that we’ve observed that firsthand. I think absolutely poor public policy has exacerbated the problem.”
Las Vegas (60.82), Houston (54.43), Los Angeles (53.79), Atlanta (53.56) and Philadelphia (52.55) make up the Top 5 “Most Sinful Cities.” WalletHub’s data set also included such sinful behaviors as anger and hatred, jealousy, excesses and vices, greed, lust, vanity and laziness.