SENSUALITY VS. SPIRITUALITY: WHEN DESIRES BLOCK THE WAY TO CHRIST by
Larry Flynt is a pornographer. Not satisfied with the so-called soft porn of Playboy magazine, Flynt made sure his Hustler was the hardest of the hard-core porn magazines. He delighted in offending religious sensibilities. But in 1977, Ruth Carter Stapleton, the sister of then President Jimmy Carter, led Flynt to the Lord. He converted to Christianity and claimed to have had a born-again experience while flying with Stapleton in his business jet. Yet he continued to publish Hustler, albeit a slightly toned-down version. (Emphasis on slightly.) He said he wanted to become a “hustler for the Lord.”
This lasted about a year. In the mid-1990s, Flynt looked back at his foray into Christianity and commented, “I have left my religious conversion behind and settled into a comfortable state of atheism.”[1]
Chuck Colson told the story of famous gangster Mickey Cohen, the scourge of Hollywood in the late 1940s.[2] Cohen loved the good life, and enjoyed being in the spotlight. Always on the edge of the law, Mickey and his gang tried to stay one step ahead of the Feds, but then one of his goons got arrested.
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While going through the legal system, this henchman was introduced to Jesus Christ and converted to Christianity. He, in turn, tried to introduce Mickey to the Lord. About that time, an up-and-coming preacher named Billy Graham was in the news. Mickey wanted to meet this famous guy and have his photo taken with him.
Mickey was later convicted, spent some time in prison, and upon his release struggled with temptations from the life he’d formerly lived. He said he’d converted and given his life to the Lord, but the pull of the good life was always there. When asked why he would not give up his shady life, he replied, “There are Christian football players, Christian cowboys, Christian politicians; why not a Christian gangster?”[3]
Larry Flynt and Mickey Cohen are but two of the more famous examples of people I call “sensual skeptics.” They may love sex, luxury, the life of the flesh. The sensual skeptic sees God and religion as a threat to a life with no moral boundaries. A sensual skeptic believes that each person is free to determine his own ethical norms. What is right is determined by what makes people feel good.
