Why Fundamentalists Can’t Stop Talking About Sex
They preach purity but can’t look away. Ever wonder why?
When religion fears your body more than your soul, it’s not faith — it’s control.
Here’s a fun question: why do religious fundamentalists care more about what’s in your pants than what’s in your heart?
You can lie, cheat, hoard wealth, or start wars — barely a peep. But have sex outside marriage, be gay, or even show a little cleavage? Suddenly you’re the devil in human form. Why?
“Purity culture didn’t just teach us to fear sex—it taught us to fear ourselves. It made our bodies the enemy, and our desire proof of sin.”
Linda Kay Klein, Pure (2018)
Shame Is Their Favorite Weapon
Let’s start with the obvious: sex is natural. Everyone has sexual thoughts. Everyone has urges. That’s biology, not sin.
But if you grow up hearing that your body is dirty, that desire is evil, and that touching yourself sends you straight to hell, you don’t end up holy — you end up broken.
That’s the point.
Once you feel ashamed of something you can’t stop doing, you become easy to control. Religious leaders step in and say, “You’re sick. But don’t worry, we have the cure.”
And just like that, you’re hooked. Not on God — on guilt.
That guilt becomes a leash they can yank anytime. You spend your life begging for forgiveness for being human.
“Religions discovered long ago that sexual control is the most effective form of mind control. If you can make people feel guilty about their natural desires, you can make them confess, pay, and obey.”
Darrel Ray, Sex and God (2012)
Obsession With Purity Isn’t Holy — It’s Creepy
Ever notice how much they talk about virginity? Entire “purity movements” revolve around it. Teenage girls get purity rings. Some even take part in “virginity balls,” where they pledge their bodies to their fathers until their wedding night.
If that sounds weird, that’s because it is.
It’s not about holiness. It’s about ownership.
A girl’s body is treated like property — first her father’s, then her husband’s. That’s why “modesty” rules always target women. Not to protect them, but to police them.
No one tells boys to control themselves. Instead, girls are told to cover up so men don’t “stumble.” Translation: if a guy can’t keep it in his pants, it’s your fault.
That’s not morality. That’s victim-blaming with a Bible verse.
They Don’t Care About Consent — Just Control
Fundamentalists love to talk about “sexual sin,” but not about rape or abuse — unless it helps them politically.
Look at the Catholic Church. Look at evangelical pastors who preach “family values” while sleeping with congregants or molesting kids. These aren’t rare scandals. They’re patterns.
If they really cared about protecting people, they’d focus on consent, safety, and respect. But they don’t. They care about obedience.
Obedience means rules, even stupid ones.
That’s why they rage about gay couples kissing on TV but stay silent when priests rape children. It’s never about justice — it’s about preserving their little empire.
Why Sex? Because It’s the One Sin Everyone Commits
Here’s the secret: sexual “sin” works as control because it’s universal.
Most people don’t steal or murder. But almost everyone has sex in some way religion disapproves of — before marriage, outside marriage, with the “wrong” gender, or just for fun.
So it’s the perfect trap.
You sin. You feel guilty. They offer forgiveness. Then you sin again.
And they get to keep selling you redemption forever.
It also helps that sex is visible. You can’t always spot greed, hypocrisy, or violence, but you can shame a pregnant girl, a gay couple, or someone posting “thirst traps.”
Sex is easy to police because it leaves clues. And nothing thrills a fundamentalist like catching someone else “sinning.”
But Jesus Wasn’t Like That
The funniest part? Their supposed role model — Jesus — didn’t act this way at all.
He hung out with prostitutes and outcasts. He didn’t tell them to wear long skirts or take purity vows. He told people to stop judging others.
The modern fundamentalist has more in common with the Pharisees Jesus condemned: rule-obsessed hypocrites who policed other people’s behavior while ignoring their own greed and cruelty.
They love authority, not humility. They crave control, not compassion.
They don’t want a faith that challenges their arrogance or forces them to confront injustice. That’s hard work. It’s easier to scream about sex and call yourself righteous.
They Fear Freedom
Here’s the real fear: sexual freedom is the gateway drug to real freedom.
Once people realize sex isn’t evil, they start asking other dangerous questions.
If premarital sex doesn’t send you to hell, maybe God doesn’t hate gay people.
Maybe women aren’t inferior.
Maybe pleasure isn’t sin.
And that’s terrifying to fundamentalists.
Because once people stop feeling ashamed, they stop needing “spiritual authority.”
They stop confessing. They stop paying. They start thinking for themselves.
And no cult, church, or theocracy survives that.
It’s Not Just One Religion — They All Do It
This obsession crosses every border and faith. The playbook barely changes: preach sexual purity in public, hide corruption in private.
United States (Evangelical Christianity)
Evangelicals love to rant about gay marriage, abortion, and modesty. They force teenagers into purity pledges and try to ban sex education. Yet church after church gets caught hiding abuse, and “family values” politicians are exposed as serial cheaters.
Meanwhile, America’s corruption ranking keeps sliding. Dark money, lobbying, and “religious freedom” grifters have turned morality into a business plan.
Iran (Islamic Fundamentalism)
Women get beaten or jailed for showing hair, and couples can be punished for holding hands in public. Yet the same clerics enforcing hijab laws are part of the elite looting billions in oil money.
Iran ranks near the bottom of the world in corruption. The religious police target lipstick while officials smuggle cash. That’s not morality — it’s misdirection.
Saudi Arabia (Wahhabi Islam)
Sex outside marriage and homosexuality can get you executed. But the royals fly to Europe for champagne and escorts. The same men who quote scripture by day throw private parties by night.
Public piety, private decadence — a perfect formula for power.
India (Hindu Nationalism)
Hindu fundamentalists scream about purity, bash kissing scenes in movies, and blame women’s clothing for rape. Yet rape culture thrives, and “holy men” like Asaram Bapu get convicted of assaulting teenage girls.
Politicians who claim to defend “Indian values” cozy up to these abusers. Behind every sermon about purity, there’s a hand in someone’s pocket.
Israel (Ultra-Orthodox Judaism)
Ultra-Orthodox leaders suppress sex education, restrict women’s rights, and handle abuse “internally.” Victims are silenced to protect reputations. Religious parties use their leverage in government to demand money and influence in exchange for political support.
It’s not holiness — it’s hush money.
Nigeria (Christian and Muslim Fundamentalists)
Pastors buy private jets with donations while preaching against “fornication.” Imams call for Sharia punishments while politicians from their mosques steal public funds.
Nigeria ranks near the bottom in corruption and the top in hypocrisy. People are jailed for “immorality,” while thieves run the government.
Different religions, same trick. The louder they shout about sex, the more they’re hiding. Sexual shame keeps the flock obedient while the shepherds loot the pen.
“The obsession with virginity isn’t about sex at all—it’s about morality and ownership. It tells women their worth lies not in who they are, but in what they haven’t done.”
Jessica Valenti, The Purity Myth (2009)
Sex Policing Is About Power
At the core, this obsession isn’t moral. It’s political.
Controlling sex means controlling women. Controlling women means controlling families. Controlling families means controlling society.
That’s why every patriarchal system guards female sexuality like it’s a national treasure. If women own their bodies, the hierarchy collapses.
So they invent “God’s plan” to keep them barefoot, silent, and scared.
Even men suffer under it. They’re told real manhood means dominance, not empathy. They’re trained to repress emotion, mistake lust for sin, and treat love as weakness.
Fundamentalism hurts everyone — just in different ways.
The Profit in Purity
Guilt isn’t just control — it’s cash.
Think about how much money is made off sexual shame.
Churches sell “purity books” and “modesty fashion.”
Clerics demand donations for forgiveness.
Pastors open “recovery programs” for gay people.
Televangelists sell “miracle cures” for lust.
It’s a billion-dollar guilt economy.
If people stopped feeling dirty, half the religious industry would collapse overnight.
What They Fear Most
What scares fundamentalists isn’t sin. It’s autonomy.
They can’t handle people who say, “My body, my choice,” or “My love hurts no one.”
Because that means their rules no longer matter. Their authority dissolves.
They claim it’s about protecting souls, but really, it’s about preserving status.
They don’t want to save you. They want to own you.
They want to tell you when to have kids, who to marry, how to dress, how to think.
The obsession with sex is the easiest way to enforce obedience.
If they can make you hate your own body, they’ve already won.
Last Thoughts
At the end of the day, it’s not about holiness, it’s about hierarchy.
They fear your body because they can’t control it.
They fear your freedom because it exposes their fraud.
They hide behind “morality” because it keeps people distracted while they lie, steal, and abuse.
Religious fundamentalists have spent centuries teaching people to be ashamed of the most natural thing in the world — pleasure.
And they’ll keep doing it as long as shame keeps paying the bills.
But you can only guilt people for so long before they stop believing.
Once people realize their body isn’t evil, the whole system starts to crack.
Because a person who owns their body can’t be ruled by fear.
And that, to them, is the greatest sin of all.
Your turn: Now drop a comment, follow for more unholy truths, and tell the world what you think.
Sources and Further Reading
Corruption Perceptions Index 2024
https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2024Report of the Independent Investigation into the Southern Baptist Convention (Guidepost Solutions, 2022)
https://www.baptistpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/FINAL-Guidepost-Solutions-Independent-Investigation-Report-.pdfIran: New Hijab Law Adds Restrictions and Punishments (Human Rights Watch)
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/10/14/iran-new-hijab-law-adds-restrictions-and-punishmentsGlobal maps of anti-LGBT laws (Human Rights Watch)
https://features.hrw.org/features/features/lgbt_laws/Saudi Arabia: Yemeni blogger convicted for supporting LGBT rights (Human Rights Watch)
https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/07/27/saudi-arabia-yemeni-blogger-convicted-supporting-lgbt-rights
Influential guru Asaram Bapu given life sentence for raping a minor (KPBS/NPR)
https://www.kpbs.org/news/2018/04/25/indian-court-hits-influential-guru-asaram-bapuImplications of Sexual Abuse Among Jewish Ultra-Orthodox Communities (Journal of Interpersonal Violence)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/08862605251351667?int.sj-full-text.similar-articles.2=