Hypocrisy Watch: Conservative Evangelicals Love Porn

Surprise! A recent study concludes that eight of the top-ten Porn consuming states voted Republican in the last election and are characterized by large numbers of conservative evangelicals. You know, the folks who see themselves as the moral and ethical guardians of America's righteousness. The uber-pious. Just recently, a business acquaintance of mine, a member of a prestigious service club for many years and former chair of the local Country Club, was arrested and plead guilty to soliciting an underage minor on the internet for sex. He actually got on a plane and traveled across state for a rendezvous. It was a sting. Ouch! This is an individual who once told me that he hadn't listened to anything but Christian Rock and Gospel for 30 years. Uh-huh.

Consider the following distillation from the article cited (ABC News via the Huffington Post), then read it for yourself.

"When it comes to adult entertainment, it seems people are more the same than different," says Benjamin Edelman at Harvard Business School.

However, there are some trends to be seen in the data. Those states that do consume the most porn tend to be more conservative and religious than states with lower levels of consumption, the study finds.

"Some of the people who are most outraged turn out to be consumers of the very things they claimed to be outraged by," Edelman says.

Next time anyone questions your taste in adult entertainment, feel free to point out this particular hypocrisy. I know that I'm fond of saying that those who appear the most concerned are often the ones with the biggest problems. Me? I've got no problems with choosing my own entertainment free of outside influence or advice. And yes, some of it is most definitely of the adult variety.

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