These are apparently three of the strengths of the British economy, according to The Economist, that is. It is not often that the main feature of an article in a respectable newspaper like this one highlights a porn star but one who has found notoriety and a degree of fame beyond Only Fans. The article points out that making money from sex shouldn’t surprise anyone.

And why not? Ms Blue’s strengths are Britain’s strengths. Smut, scuzz and sin are fixtures of the British economy. Tobacco companies are among the largest in the FTSE 100, along with booze companies. British gambling companies, though considerably smaller, are among the country’s best-run.

…If Britain has a world-class sin sector, it’s bulls**t industry is second to none.

Britain, of course, is not an exception here just an example. I suspect almost every nation has sin baked into the economy. Just part of the fabric of the world right? Yes. But.

As Christians should we just shrug our shoulders and say, ‘what can we do?’ Our moral indignation having been exhausted elsewhere or just worn out with the futility of it all. Maybe. Maybe. But I also wonder if we have access to resources to help us assess such things. Is there any distinction between a drinks company, a tobacco company, an arms company or a porn company? What in the tangled web of modern economies should we think about the great enablers of all this smut, scuzz and sin, the payment platforms – happy as they are to take fees from anyone for anything?

Slavery used to be baked into the economy. In fact the majority of arguments against its abolition were economic ones and it only passed after a massive pay off to slave owners.

One very simple question (though not foolproof) is to think eschatalogically about the business in question. Will this, could this, exist in the new heavens and earth? If the answer is no, and we cannot imagine in the new heavens and earth any of these businesses existing let alone thriving and making handsome profits, then Christians should probably be for their disappearance somewhat sooner than the eschaton.