Should religious people watch R rated movies? I saw this YouTube short in my feed. It's from a well known Christian apologist named Dr. Sean McDowell.
First of all, there are really 3 questions here. First is the video's title, Should Christians Watch Popular Movies? Second appears in the video as a question someone asked Sean, Should Christians watch Secular movies like Harry Potter or R rated movies... Aren't they bad and not morally neutral like sports? And the third question is the one Sean speaks in the short, Should Christians watch R rated movies like Harry Potter.
Let's see which parts of these questions Sean answers! Then I'll add my thoughts on the Hive version of this actifit post.
My Thoughts
First, I watch a lot of videos on religion. I think it is an interesting subject. I'm also interested in Psychology, Sociology, Economics and Science. I feel that religion can be understood from the framework of all these 4 areas. But that's for another day.
I was born into a Christian family and that's my religion. If I were born in India, I might be Hindu. If I were born in Indonesia, Pakistan or Bangladesh, I might follow Islam. I believe most people are the religion their parents taught them as a child. If you're not Christian, I love you and respect you just the same! I am NOT going to tell you that you are going to some bad place after death, like some people will say. No one comes back from death to tell us what really happens then, so my thought is that we can believe whatever we like about the afterlife but no one can prove anything, so let's respect different beliefs.
So adult movies - Sean, dressed as Harry Potter first says that you should honor and listen to your parents, so he is seemingly addressing this to kids under 18. I agree, we should honor our parents, but not because the Bible says we should, like Sean said. We should respect them because they have given us things we need to grow up when we could not get them for ourselves. We're born helpless and the only way we live is if someone feeds and protects us as babies and kids. That's usually our parents so I think we owe them a debt, and should show gratitude for that since we've received way more than we've given, as kids. Of course parents make mistakes or are sometimes intentionally cruel, and that might cause us to not want to honor them if it happens often.
Next he says that if we have a temper, might not be good to watch violent movies. I tend to agree. I think watching violent movies could cause some types of people to think that violence is the way issues of disrespect to ourselves should be dealt with. In my opinion, working out anger and violent thoughts is best done through some activity that is better for the individuals and society such as sports, exercise, physical labor or therapy. For some people, playing video games can help them find an outlet for their aggressive impulses. But in general, violent movies and video games could normalize violence in the minds of some people. If we find ourselves thinking that violence is the answer to our problems, we generally need to reconsider and find a peaceful constructive way forward.
Then he says if we struggle with lust we should avoid movies with sexuality. I think lust is normal and not something that should be struggled against in every circumstance. We're here on Earth to continue the population just like every other living thing on the planet. The urge to have sex is in all of us and it is perfectly normal. Of course it has to be expressed at the right time and place and way. Sexual interaction is complicated and movies often show it in a very shallow way. The same is even more true in some pop music and music videos, and of course in p*rn. People can get addicted to watching sexual movies and videos, and then they will need to find help either by thinking things through in their own mind or getting help in some other way. It's not good to be addicted to anything. But if your mind is in a good place and you find a scene in a movie that evokes lust or sexual feelings in yourself, my opinion would be, if you're an adult or possibly an older teen depending on your family and cultural rules, then enjoy it without guilt. Sex and nudity are natural and appropriate in the right circumstances.
Finally Sean says go ahead and enjoy secular movies but look for Biblical themes. He talks about how the hero often sacrifices their life to save the world. I agree that this is what Jesus is said to have done. But this motif of praising someone who loses their life for the sake of others is probably way older than the Christian story of Jesus. Before we settled down and began civilizations, people lived in tribes of not more than 100 people and the ones that had strong people who could protect the tribe from nature and other tribes are the ones who would more likely survive and pass those traits down to their offspring. Strong protective people are not always going to survive the process of protecting their people. Sometimes they will be defeated in the process. The strong person knows this and everyone around them knows this. Others may not have the courage or abilities to do what is needed to protect the tribe, but they respect and honor those who are willing to do everything for the tribe even at the risk of losing their life in the process. So this genre of hero movies would have been here with or without Jesus because it's just part of the story of what happens in human societies. In fact some animals also are seen to respect the alpha members of their group, possibly for the same underlying brain mechanics even if they can't tell us how they feel. It's just a natural thing to take actions of protection of others which might end up with the actor losing their own life.
That's just my thoughts. You may agree or disagree with some of it or all of it. That's cool, we're still friends and I care about you and respect you either way! :)
My Activity
My activity was a short walk. Again no hoodie required, its t shirt weather! I started late and part of my walk happened after midnight so by the time the app cut off i was just below 5K.
I wish you a wonderful day! ❤👍❤
This report was published via Actifit app (Android | iOS). Check out the original version here on actifit.io
