I think what you're missing is back in states of decline that were pre-modern times, the degeneracy was not broadcasted and thoroughly archived. There is an infamous late-Roman novel called "The Satyrecon" which is filled with sexual debauchery, where people lament that no one really believes in the Gods anymore. Even before Rome went into total, you had a class of
eunuch priest/priestesses called the Galli, who would go into a wild rage and ritualistically castrate themselves in public. They would throw their dismembered junk though a young woman's window, and she was expected to then thank the galli, as it was thought to give good luck.