RELIGION, SEX, & Conservative Fear
What is underneath the sexual moral panic?
I believe there is a probable dynamic of conservatives both-religiously and politically-that may be contributing to the sexual moral panic of our day. Research tells us that conservatives are those who value order and stability that often displays as rigidity.* The question is what makes people rigid rule-keepers who apparently have a vested interest in making everybody else obey their sexual/religious rules? I want to help us to understand perhaps some of the psychology and possible spiritual underpinnings that may link it to those conservatives who need to control other people’s sex lives, sexual identities, and experiences-whether it be politically or religiously. It is a call to better understand one another and I hope will be read as grace-filled as I intended it to be.
The biblical texts used or alluded to in this discussion are:
Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23),
The condemnation of people who are all about following the rules while disregarding the deeper essence of righteous living (Hosea 6:6, Isaiah 1:11,Amos 5:22, Micah 6:6,8, Luke 19:45-48 ) and
the promises of God’s continual presence and support (Hebrews 13:5, Deuteronomy 31:6,8, Joshua 1:5 Genesis 28:15.
Jesus as a rulebreaker can be seen in Matthew 12:1-8, John 5:1-9, Mark 7:15-23.
But when political and religious movements are being driven in large part due to fear the greatest biblical insight that provides the antidote is “Perfect love casts out fear.” I (John 4:18)
*Here is some of the research linking fear, religion and politics:
“Long-term effects of religious upbringing” Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 1(2), 91–111 Hansen, C. (1998)
“Political conservatism as motivated social cognition” by John T. Jost, 129-204 in The Motivated Mind by John T Jost, Jack Glaser, Frank J. Sulloway, Arie W. Kruglanski, Routledge, (2018)
“The Rigidity-Entropy Complex” by Steven Stosny in Psychology Today, July 12, 2022.