Selling Sex in the States: Religious Fundamentalism, Christian Nationalism, and Public Acceptance of Moral Problems

The extent to which commercial sex, particularly sex work, should be regulated is an important and controversial policy conversation in the United States. Despite the salience of religion to informing attitudes about morality and bodily ethics, little is known about how some key dimensions of U.S. religion (e.g., religious fundamentalism and Christian nationalism) influence the public’s moral acceptance of prostitution. We investigate this gap using nationally representative survey data ( n = 1,219). Fundamentalist beliefs and Christian statism are both associated with lower moral acceptance of prostitution, adjusting for other religious and sociopolitical characteristics. Disaggregated models also revealed differences in the strengths of these associations by sex. Implications for policy and opportunities for future research are discussed.