You can legalize vice, or you can help strengthen the pillars of republican government. But you can’t do the former without undermining the latter.
For those who want to inaugurate a new American Golden Age, what Brad Wilcox and James Lynch call the “vice economy”—which is accelerating in the Trump era—needs to be addressed.
Instant, 24/7 access to hardcore pornography, rampant online gambling and sports betting, the ubiquity of public marijuana use, and the proliferation of tattoos are just some of the most obvious signs of degrading public morality in the U.S. While moralistic accounts of a regime’s decline can be overwrought, there is clearly a connection between the moral state of the citizenry and a regime’s health. In the case of the United States, that connection seems fairly pronounced—and headed in a troubling direction.
The rise of increasingly degraded forms of pornography is destructive to men and women, families and children. It’s well known that men, on average, consume pornography at high rates due to a combination of factors, including certain sins to which men are more prone. But contrary to the impression some pastors may give during Father’s Day sermons that lambaste men for looking at pornography, women—even inside the church—look at it as well. A 2020 study found that 60% of women had looked at pornography in the previous month—and that 18% of women who regularly attend church had done so.
Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket had drawn a combined $24 billion in wagers as of April, allowing people to bet on virtually anything imaginable. Apps like Klarna and Afterpay let people defer payment for nearly every type of good, tying dopamine hits to mounting debt.
I’ve seen some of the more public elements of the blossoming vice culture firsthand. During regular trips to Michigan, I’ve noticed that as soon as I cross the state line, highway billboards advertise either injury lawyers or various cannabis dispensaries and vape shops. One sign even features a smiling grandma giving two thumbs up, with the dispensary’s name floating above her. (This comes as a new study reports that increasing numbers of American users are experiencing symptoms of cannabis use disorder.)
Public displays of vice like these would clearly have been objectionable in a culture in which Christianity was seen as a positive influence. But in a culture in which Christianity is losing its power, the moral guardrails are breaking down. Practices once associated only with the lower classes have been absorbed into the middle and upper classes. The legalization and social ascent of vice are part of a larger story about how Christian culture is eaten away—gradually, then suddenly.
On a parallel track, the proliferation of vice is also being fostered within the church. Sabbath worship has increasingly been shoved aside to make room for children’s sports on Sunday mornings and wall-to-wall NFL coverage and games throughout the day. You don’t need to be a strict Sabbatarian to see that treating weekly church attendance as optional, rather than as a command taught in Scripture and embedded in nature, is partly why Christian denominations are eroding.
For some parents, fitting church around sports—or simply forgoing it on most Sundays when there’s a conflict—has already become normalized. This attitude was certainly reinforced by churches that shut down for long stretches during COVID, giving congregants reason to think attendance was optional. It was further compounded by the spectacle of many modern services, which can be fully digitized because they are essentially concerts with a TED Talk somewhere in the middle. Pew reported that the share of U.S. adults attending religious services at least once a month fell from 33% to 30% between 2019 and 2022.
In sharp contrast to the 1980s, when youth sports seasons were shorter and play was more informal, there is now a much greater emphasis on joining professionalized club teams. This requires parents to shuttle their children to multiple practices each week and drive to weekend games and tournaments that can be hours away.
A report from the Aspen Institute found that the number of hours children devoted to sports, including practices and games, increased after the pandemic. As blue laws were gradually repealed and 20th-century cultural norms faded, the stigma of not being seen in the pews on Sunday has mostly evaporated. It seems easier for coaches to pressure parents to attend games on Sunday mornings than for pastors to push back against these aspects of vice culture. Lifeway Research found that just 36% of pastors say missing church for sports is never acceptable, a figure that rises to 43% among older pastors.
Putting the brakes on the runaway train of vice will be difficult. But although the odds are long, it will need to be done to preserve a semblance of Christian culture that can point Americans toward the eternal things of God.
America’s Founding Fathers, after all, saw religion and morality as necessary prerequisites for a self-governing people. “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity,” George Washington said in his Farewell Address, “religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens.”
Changing times demand new strategies for confronting the worst aspects of our culture. Although Christians are a declining majority in the country, they still have sufficient numbers to produce beneficial results if they band together.
American Reformer’s Scott Yenor proposes a new playbook for regulating general obscenity. It includes congressional action to protect children from pornography, a sounder interpretation of Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1996 that would remove blanket immunity for platforms, and the creation of state and federal prosecution task forces to target the production and distribution of hardcore pornography.
Christians should also consider following the lead of Cardinal John O’Connor, the former archbishop of New York, and refusing to watch professional sports on days such as Good Friday and Christmas. While there’s nothing wrong with the traditional Thanksgiving Day football games, multiple NFL and NBA games are now played on Christmas Day—a clear warning sign of a rapidly deteriorating Christian culture.
Christians must stop being weathervanes and become a positive force that pushes back against elements of vice culture affecting our churches and communities.
