Russell Moore: Many Church Leaders 'Fine' With Hugh Hefner's 'Idea of Success'

by Leonardo Blair, |
Paris Hilton and Hugh Hefner at the Fox Reality Really Awards in 2009, by Convergent Media PR. | FLICKR

President of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Russell Moore, condemned the "idea of success" propagated by the late Playboy magazine founder, Hugh Hefner, and called out "many church leaders" who seem "fine" with the situation as civil rights activist, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, saluted the iconic businessman's influence on American culture.

Playboy Enterprises announced Hefner's death from natural causes Wednesday at the Playboy mansion in California. He was 91.

"Hugh M. Hefner, the American icon who in 1953 introduced the world to Playboy magazine and built the company into one of the most recognizable American global brands in history, peacefully passed away today from natural causes at his home, the Playboy mansion, surrounded by loved ones. He was 91 years old," the company said in a statement.

At the time he launched the iconic magazine described as an emblem of the sexual revolution, Hefner, according to The New York Times, was a new father married to the first woman he slept with.

Playboy grew, however, to become "the largest-selling and most influential men's magazine in the world, spawning a number of successful global businesses," the company said. It is currently published in more than 20 countries and the company grosses more than $1 billion in sales annually.

Read more about Russell Moore at The Christian Post.