Kevin DeYoung, writing at The Gospel Coalition, doesn’t understand why Christians watch Game of Thrones.

I don’t understand Christians watching Game of Thrones.

See?

He hasn’t watched it. He would never watch it. He’s a good Christian. And that means staying away from sex, violence, and quality entertainment.

But isn’t it also full of sex? Like lots and lots of incredibly graphic sex? I did a Google search for “Game of Thrones sex” and found headlines (I avoided images and only read headlines) about sex scenes you can’t un-see and the best sex scenes of the series and why Game of Thrones is so committed to nudity and explicit (sometimes violent) sex. Unless I’m mistaken, the series hasn’t taken a turn toward modesty in recent months. It seems to me sensuality — of a very graphic nature — is a major part of the series. And still, a good number of conservative Christians treat the series as must-see TV.

Interesting. When I want to learn about a show I’ve never watched before, my first instinct has never been to Google the name of the show along with the word “sex.” Must be a special kind of Christian kink. (I would especially avoid playing that game with The 700 Club. Who knows what kind of scenes you’ll find.)

DeYoung just doesn’t think “steamy sex scenes” are appropriate for his young mind. Which I would believe a lot more if his entire life wasn’t dedicated to a book that includes scenes far raunchier than anything you’d find on HBO.

Like this one about creating dildoes.

You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them.

Or this one a few verses later.

When she carried on her prostitution openly and exposed her naked body, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister. Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses. So you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when in Egypt your bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled.

If he’s not a fan of incest on the show, he’s gonna hate this passage:

One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children — as is the custom all over the earth. Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.” That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up. The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up. So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.

Maybe DeYoung doesn’t like the violence in Game of Thrones either, so someone should ask him if he’s okay with a pastor talking about this Bible verse:

When the attendants told David these things, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. So before the allotted time elapsed, David took his men with him and went out and killed two hundred Philistines and brought back their foreskins. They counted out the full number to the king so that David might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal in marriage.

We could play this game forever. Hell, DeYoung doesn’t even have the right to criticize the farfetched idea of Daenerys Targaryen riding a dragon since that’s literally an exhibit in the Creation Museum.

If he didn’t like Game of Thrones for a good reason, fine. I’m not a fan either. But let’s not pretend the sex in the show is the breaking point. If DeYoung was seriously bothered by depictions of sex and nudity, he’d never step inside a church.

Evangelical Christians: They’ll complain about how Game of Thrones offends their sense of morality, then turn around and tell you why Donald Trump is the next messiah.

By the way, DeYoung has a history of writing awful essays that we’ve responded to on this site.

(Image via Shutterstock)

