|
People do react differently to observed violence, and in fact people react differently to observed nudity and profanity and so forth as well. The way specific people react cannot be the gauge of right and wrong, or of what we say or do or support or consume in a moral sense. The Bible is clear about the negative role violence plays in a society, and so is a lot of research that is happily laughed off by the film industry (it's amazing, Drew Barrymore, producer and star of the "Charlie's Angels" movie says the heroines don't carry guns in this PG-13 flick because they want to be positive role models for the little kids that will see the film). In the other post I'm not really talking about slapstick/absurd types of violence in the media (although there may be a separate argument against trivializing violence and other things that matter), but rather I'm talking about the very real portrayals of violence, blood, gore, dismemberment and such that is commonplace both in "slasher" movies and in some supposedly serious portrayals of historic events and people. I think the scriptures cited in the other posts, and in the movie thread below, are clear that this is not healthy or appropriate "entertainment" for Christians (really for humans). Observation and experience confirm to me that most people are negatively affected by violence, including sports violence for that matter, in ways that do shape their attitudes and affect their reponses to other people. Researchers use the word "desensitized" to describe what happens to us as we allow ourselves to regularly view violent images. The Bible uses several words to describe this process (such as "consciences have been seared as with a hot iron" 1 Tim 4:2), and I am not able to see a way to exclude violence in entertainment from this process. Rom 1:28-32 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. NASU I remember when I was just becoming a teenager and "adult" (X rated) films began to appear in theaters. Various bars and clubs began to openly feature nude women. There were legal challenges to these forms of entertainment, and the courts concluded, paraphrasing, that these things and others could not be prosecuted as obscenity if they had "socially redeeming value." Now that's a strange and difficult test, because it means whatever you want it to. Instead of nude women on stage performing sex acts you got exotic dancers, which are nude women on stage performing sex acts. With no disrespect intended, I seem to hear echoes of "socially redeeming value" in some of the arguments for "good" violent movies today, as well as other inappropriate entertainment choices. I'm persuaded that we don't need this in our lives, and we should do as the Psalmist says: Ps 34:14 Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. NIV
|
