Fleshly Lusts That War Against the Soul

Abstract

Chapter 3 explores the consequences of the dissonance conservative Protestants experience in porn use, shaping their religious lives and even mental health. The chapter goes deeper into the history and prevalence of what the author calls “sexual exceptionalism” among conservative Protestants, focusing on porn use in particular. The chapter then draws on numerous interviews with conservative Protestant men and women who describe how their habitual porn use has often caused them to back away from spiritual disciplines like praying or reading the Bible, serving in their churches, or being involved in religious community or leadership. The chapter also makes use of various quantitative data sources to show how pornography use can be associated with religious decline and depression for Americans who violate their own moral convictions by using it.