Notice that the spread of gambling in the United States coincided with other forms of self-seeking, present-minded, and irresponsible behavior: the overconsumption of food and drink, the legalization of drugs, the pornification of society, and the rapid accumulation of private and public debt. As Americans loosened the bonds of self-restraint, as they came to think of thrift and moderation as “hypocritical or puritanical,” their society became unbundled and unrestrained. Their culture coarsened. Their politics turned vicious.

Religion weakened. The triumph of gambling accompanied the growth of the unaffiliated—the “Nones” who profess no specific faith. The ethical injunctions of faith are intended to restrain irresponsible impulses. They are meant to direct attention away from the present to the future. These lessons become distant memories without religious education. They are forgotten without parents who habituate their children in virtuous conduct.

The lack of any uproar over online sports betting is a reminder that today’s Right is disoriented, off-kilter. Here is an issue that galvanized social conservatives for decades. Here is an issue that goes directly to the moral character of society and to the moral implications of politics. Yet the Right’s attention is elsewhere. It welcomes the “Barstool Conservatives” for whom vulgarity and freedom are synonyms. Its most passionate causes this week are Canadian truckers and the former host of Fear Factor. It sometimes acts as though the common good means the ability to say whatever you want, do whatever you want, indulge yourself for as long as you want—just so long as you own the libs.