I know not everyone will agree with me and that is fine. If you know me deeply then you know that I have always been a scaredy cat. I couldn't watch murder TV shows without having terrible nightmares. I could never separate myself from the characters in these shows. I had reoccurring nightmares from catching scenes from Diagnosis Murder. Some would say I am overly sensitive, but I now embrace that sensitivity.
That sensitivity has actually gotten worse since having Jane. My dad was watching a movie tonight that had some intense scenes in it, and I was finally struck with why I don't like violent entertainment.
We are supposed to watch people get shot, stabbed, or blown up, and we are asked to not care because, they aren't important; they aren't the main characters. I don't like that. Every character on earth has a back story. They are a brother, sister, daughter, son, husband. Everyone has worth and importance. I don't really think it is healthy to view people and not think about who they are. I don't think that watching people die is entertainment.
When we watch people die and we don't have feelings, are we any better than Nazi Germany? There was a very famous study documented, where people are asked to discipline another human being. They don't know the person they are disciplining. They are told that they were doing official research. Then the scientist progressively tells the participants in the study to inflict more and more pain on the stranger. The scientists were astonished with how many participants actually elected to kill the stranger without even knowing what the stranger did wrong. This experiment was never repeated because it had long-term psychological affects on the participants. It's hard to grapple with the fact that we are all very capable of murder. For someone who follows the teachings of the Bible, this should come as no surprise. The Bible says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23..."The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?" Jeremiah 17:9. There really isn't a magnitude scale for sin.
When we watch violent entertainment we are conditioning our brains to allow violence. We don't care about the person because it was only a character, or an unimportant character.
That sensitivity has actually gotten worse since having Jane. My dad was watching a movie tonight that had some intense scenes in it, and I was finally struck with why I don't like violent entertainment.
I don't like violent entertainment, because I feel as though the movie is asking me to dehumanize people.
We are supposed to watch people get shot, stabbed, or blown up, and we are asked to not care because, they aren't important; they aren't the main characters. I don't like that. Every character on earth has a back story. They are a brother, sister, daughter, son, husband. Everyone has worth and importance. I don't really think it is healthy to view people and not think about who they are. I don't think that watching people die is entertainment.
When we watch people die and we don't have feelings, are we any better than Nazi Germany? There was a very famous study documented, where people are asked to discipline another human being. They don't know the person they are disciplining. They are told that they were doing official research. Then the scientist progressively tells the participants in the study to inflict more and more pain on the stranger. The scientists were astonished with how many participants actually elected to kill the stranger without even knowing what the stranger did wrong. This experiment was never repeated because it had long-term psychological affects on the participants. It's hard to grapple with the fact that we are all very capable of murder. For someone who follows the teachings of the Bible, this should come as no surprise. The Bible says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23..."The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?" Jeremiah 17:9. There really isn't a magnitude scale for sin.
When we watch violent entertainment we are conditioning our brains to allow violence. We don't care about the person because it was only a character, or an unimportant character.
I believe that in heaven's eyes there are no secondary characters, no losers, no one that is outside of God's love.
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