For example a marriage partner might claim that it would be fine if his or her spouse had sex outside their marriage. Some people who say such things might genuinely believe that their spouse would never do that, even if the spouse were allowed. It can be important to some people to show that their spouse is faithful by free choice, and not faithful under threat of crude force or confiscation of property. Others might have less confidence in the faithfulness of their spouse yet claim to be be as permissive in order to catch some types of extramarital misconduct.
Opinions can differ over exactly what sorts of attitudes and behavior might incur the wrath of a god in an afterlife. It can be considered a general principle of many forms of Christianity that good behavior is expected based on an appreciation and understanding of the value of good behavior rather than a threat of punishment. Notice the similar lack of dependence on punishment.
Consider the problem of illegal immigration. How is it possible to count people who evade detection? It is obviously not possible to count the people who succeed in evading detection. Rather an estimate is made based on the assumption that the more people who attempt illegal crossing, the more who will be caught. In order to be meaningful it is necessary to assume that the ratio of the number of people caught to the actual number of illegal crossings is always the same. It might be similar enough for rough estimates, but it is probably not exactly the same. Border offenders might well be more careful under the Trump administration than under the Biden administration. At least a part of the increase in border crossing under Biden could be an illusion caused by the fact that a higher proportion of people who crossed illegally were caught.
Some people might say that although it appeared more people crossed the border illegally under Biden, at least we know that they did cross illegally. Also indicated by the large number of people caught was that Trump had really not built much wall.
Keeping nefarious activities secret can be far more difficult in this age of ubiquitous cell phone cameras. Even today though some people, especially those in power, can be notorious liars. For example, is the Attorney General an ignorant slut? Is there an assumption that because she is Republican she is also Victorian? Did she ever say she is not a slut? Although many people assume Republican marriages are more stable than marriages of Democrats, it is not necessarily true. Compare Trump and Obama. The Attorney General accused gang members of using "children's bicycles" to create the illusion they are family people. Has she never heard that Republicans are not always the family people they pretend to be?
The purpose of this article is to keep you mindful of the variety of beliefs and attitudes out there. It is not intended to recommend, criticize, or evaluate exactly how well they work. In taking numbers from the news remember the complications and difficulties of getting good numbers.