R
Reynardus
Guest
I think the key phrase here is “exalt violence AND portray anti-social behavior.” Meaning the two elements need to be connected, the exalting violence AND the portrayal of anti-social behavior. He didn’t say exalt violence OR portray anti-social behavior, not that I’m saying portraying anti-social behavior is acceptable, unless the media in question is trying for a cautionary tale.
On the contrary, exalting righteous violence has its virtues.
unitypublishing.com/Newsletter/Violence.html
Without it, who would ever be inspired to become a policeman or join the army? Without them, who would protect the innocent?
I think what the pope had in mind like someone mentioned, are things like Grand Theft Auto, not everything that has violence in it. This is a game where people can be rewarded or get away with unjust acts. Plus the pope’s speech was talking about education and the formation of highly impressionable young minds. I do agree that young children who do not have properly developed moral foundations shouldn’t be exposed to such things.
Personally, I agree gratuitous violence for its own sake at EXCESSIVE levels isn’t good but I wouldn’t be averse to watching the occassional kung fu movie. I don’t think the pope means every single thing that has violence in it but something that portrays evil as a desirable thing. If it portrays cussing and violence as something “cool”, that would be evil.
I think one should be careful not to confuse this with portrayal of mere human error. Now an adult that watches a program that has cussing in it with a developed moral conscience would NOT be affected by it. But an impressionable young child on the other hand, might.
A good scriptwriter would naturally research say, a police station and find out how people talk there. He’ll probably notice a lot of cuss words being spoken and to obtain a proper level of verisimiltude, pepper his script with naughty words here and there. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean the script is “evil”, it means he wants it to be as real as possible. It simply portrays human moral errors but doesn’t directly shout to the world that cussing is cool and should be emulated. Unless it’s an impressionable young child who’s watching but that’s why parents should play their proper role in guiding their children.
I think we should be careful not to be too hasty in calling something “evil”. It tends to breed misunderstanding and resentment. Remember how Our Lady of Fatima described communism? She simply labelled it as “errors” and not “evil.” There’s a good lesson to be learned in her example. If she called it evil, maybe a few of the more over-zealous catholics who heard her message might have become overtly uncharitable and hostile towards any who were suspected communists during the Cold war. By calling it error, there’s room for charity and less material for the Devil to work with.
By the way, what do people here think about legitimate sports like boxing? Would you say it’s morally wrong to be a boxing fan? I think the arguments would be lessened if specific examples were given and what elements in such made it wrong. I haven’t watched Stargate myself but what is in it that makes it evil? Does it specifically make evil desirable?
On the contrary, exalting righteous violence has its virtues.
unitypublishing.com/Newsletter/Violence.html
Without it, who would ever be inspired to become a policeman or join the army? Without them, who would protect the innocent?
I think what the pope had in mind like someone mentioned, are things like Grand Theft Auto, not everything that has violence in it. This is a game where people can be rewarded or get away with unjust acts. Plus the pope’s speech was talking about education and the formation of highly impressionable young minds. I do agree that young children who do not have properly developed moral foundations shouldn’t be exposed to such things.
Personally, I agree gratuitous violence for its own sake at EXCESSIVE levels isn’t good but I wouldn’t be averse to watching the occassional kung fu movie. I don’t think the pope means every single thing that has violence in it but something that portrays evil as a desirable thing. If it portrays cussing and violence as something “cool”, that would be evil.
I think one should be careful not to confuse this with portrayal of mere human error. Now an adult that watches a program that has cussing in it with a developed moral conscience would NOT be affected by it. But an impressionable young child on the other hand, might.
A good scriptwriter would naturally research say, a police station and find out how people talk there. He’ll probably notice a lot of cuss words being spoken and to obtain a proper level of verisimiltude, pepper his script with naughty words here and there. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean the script is “evil”, it means he wants it to be as real as possible. It simply portrays human moral errors but doesn’t directly shout to the world that cussing is cool and should be emulated. Unless it’s an impressionable young child who’s watching but that’s why parents should play their proper role in guiding their children.
I think we should be careful not to be too hasty in calling something “evil”. It tends to breed misunderstanding and resentment. Remember how Our Lady of Fatima described communism? She simply labelled it as “errors” and not “evil.” There’s a good lesson to be learned in her example. If she called it evil, maybe a few of the more over-zealous catholics who heard her message might have become overtly uncharitable and hostile towards any who were suspected communists during the Cold war. By calling it error, there’s room for charity and less material for the Devil to work with.
By the way, what do people here think about legitimate sports like boxing? Would you say it’s morally wrong to be a boxing fan? I think the arguments would be lessened if specific examples were given and what elements in such made it wrong. I haven’t watched Stargate myself but what is in it that makes it evil? Does it specifically make evil desirable?
hope this helps 
