entertianment and evil and its seriousness been lost on us

[englishredrose]

If the Church has forbidden it that we should not call upon the dead because its beyond our understanding etc

Then does that mean that the Devil and evil in the entertainment world have done a lot of damage for us believing that evil can actually do us serious harm etc? For many people evil can disrupt our lives that great that they blame what is happening in their lives rather than be able to see evil is at work here. We are in trepidation when we start to blame evil.

Having had a good honest look and good support and knowing my life is problem free in that I don't have various stuff going off etc I know I am affected by evil. If you told me this even two weeks ago I would have denied it. But Romans Chapter 12 verse 21 tells us not to let evil overwhelm us but fight good with evil. I am slowly doing that and at times that is hard when evil does feel overwhelming. But do we find it a bit hard to talk in such terms or do we rather blame everything we can rather than accept the truth and of cours once we have accepted the truth, we begin to really work on things etc. I am not the only one but am lucky because I can talk about it in the right places. Lots of people out there just simply blunder their way through negatives etc? So have the entertainment world undermined the seriousness of evil, making it appear fun and harmless and that we be okay and its not real. Where as the Bible helps us recognise evil for what it is though harder to work it out for today's world. What do you all think?

[Gods_Peace]

I just don't watch T.V, and don't associate with sinners. It's hard to do though, pray to God for guidance, and attend Holy Mass on sunday for the God you love.

+I'll see you at Mass+

[BlueEyedLady]

Originally Posted by Gods_Peace

I just don't watch T.V, and don't associate with sinners. It's hard to do though, pray to God for guidance, and attend Holy Mass on sunday for the God you love.

+I'll see you at Mass+

Excuse me if I'm wrong but isn't one of the basic principles of Christianity that we're all sinners?

[Cristiano]

Originally Posted by BlueEyedLady

Excuse me if I'm wrong but isn't one of the basic principles of Christianity that we're all sinners?

You are correct but a lot of sinners persist in their sin and have no intention to change, even worse they publicize their sins. We are not to associate ourselves with those sinners but we still must love them. Even Jesus told the apostles not to waste time with that kind of people.
Matthew 10:14 "Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words—go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet."

[lerapt78]

Hi OP. I'm not really sure that I understand your question in its entirety (so I might not be offering a opinion that answers this), but I personally don't really perceive "evil" in the world in the sense of it being a malignant, pervasive presence that surrounds me at all time; I guess I only experience it in fleeting moments when I am directly confronted with the malevolent actions of individuals, or exposed to human atrocities by way of media. The feeling may hit me at moments, but it is not constant.

Originally Posted by englishredrose

Then does that mean that the Devil and evil in the entertainment world have done a lot of damage for us believing that evil can actually do us serious harm etc?

Originally Posted by englishredrose

So have the entertainment world undermined the seriousness of evil, making it appear fun and harmless and that we be okay and its not real.

I do think that cinematographers at times present evil to us in a way that makes it appealing or even worse, fills us with a macabre excitement (think "torture porn" movies, like "Hostel"), and that by effect it is very dangerous and harmful because of its desensitation and arousal effects.

[lerapt78]

I confess though, I do enjoya lot of movies that have a large degree of violence, like "Gladiator", "Apolcalypto", and "Kill Bill". I suppose what diferentiates those movies from morally reprehensible ones is that the violence is not gratuitous and the plot must show the triumph of good/justice over evil.

(Okay, "Kill Bill" does have a lot of gratuitous violence in it ....I just love a good revenge story)

[sedonaman]

Originally Posted by BlueEyedLady

Excuse me if I'm wrong but isn't one of the basic principles of Christianity that we're all sinners?

Not only that but, to avoid being uncharitable, we have to validate evil.
_________________
The indispensable condition for our personal spiritual survival is that we say NO to the prevailing values of the liberal order and that we KEEP saying NO.

[Jaypeeto4]

Actually, we ALL associate with Sinners.
Everyone at Church is a "sinner," as are we, and we still fall, sometimes
into extremely serious Mortal Sins from time to time.

I think what our friend meant to say was that she does not
associate with WILLFUL Sinners, and there is a world of difference
EVERY sin is willful to some extent, because we know it's wrong (99% of the time)
and CHOOSE to do it anyway. Whether it is mortal or venial depends on the presence or lack of, extenuating factors and extenuating/mitigating circumstances which make the sin, while still a Sin, less sinful (subjectively) and hence not mortal. These can be:
extreme duress, seemingly no way out of a given situation, intense peer pressure,
threats of harm or death made against a new or immature (spiritually) believer,
a pre-Christian extremely sinful habit that the Christian keeps falling into because of the longstanding bad habit, mental breakdowns, etc. But sin is still sin.

WILLFUL Sinners are a whole-nother breed entirely.
They are sinning on purpose with no intention of repenting
and will become very angry and defiant toward you, or the church,
if you call their sins, SINS. These are WILLFUL sinners.
We should not associate with them, and,
let me state this bluntly,
we should also NEVER, EVER, VOTE for them for public office.
These would be Catholics or other Christians who advocate the VIOLATION of
basic Christian moral teachings, and who state up front that if elected,
if we vote them into office, they are going to promote these despicable Evils.
Knowingly voting for someone like that, is knowingly voting for the Evils.
No way around it.
Hitler WROTE Mein Kampf in jail, but only about 14,000 copies had been sold by the night he won the election to be Chancellor to President Von Hindenburg.
Most Germans truly did not KNOW, in 1932/33, that he planned to actually EXTERMINATE all the Jews, (eventually) ALL the people of Poland, and most of the Slavs.
If they HAD known that,
and STILL voted for him,
then they were, personally, also guilty of ALL the millions of murders that
they KNEW he, if elected, was going to commit.
No way around THAT, either.

[sedonaman]

Originally Posted by Jaypeeto4

...
These would be Catholics or other Christians who advocate the VIOLATION of
basic Christian moral teachings, and who state up front that if elected,
if we vote them into office, they are going to promote these despicable Evils.
...

Those inside the Church who demand a change in the teachings they don't like also use the exact same tactic as those in secular affairs: persistence, constant and irritating persistence, until they get their way ... and then it is on to the next change.
_________________
“The time is sure to come when people will not accept sound teaching, but their ears will be itching for anything new, and they will collect themselves a whole series of teachers according to their own tastes; and then they will shut their ears to the truth and will turn to myths.” – 2 Timothy, 4:3-4