Is watching "FAMILY GUY" a mortal sin?

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I’ve been thinking of going out with a guy who likes watching “Family Guy”. I’ve never seen any episodes before, so I went to youtube and watched some clips. Oh, yeah, very crude even though I found myself laughing at some things. But, I started thinking, is watching something like this mortal?
 
No. Watching family guy in and of itself is not a mortal sin. Barely venial. If the show corrupts your disposition to God or the Church and you continue to knowingly watch it, then there may be some concern. Otherwise, it is a t.v. show which, though having immature and blasphemous humor at times, is not intrinsically evil to watch.
 
It would be worth exploring why he watches and what he gets out of it. Depending on his answers you might want to book. Is this someone you want to be the father of your children?
 
“Family Guy” is a show which does not merit a place on television. It is filled with all kinds of corrupting influences which are passed off as humor. If it were to appear at all it certainly should be after 10 p. m.
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For those posters who admire Fox News and its politics, bear in mind that both "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy" are presented on Fox!

What hypocrisy when men like Hannity and O'Reilly pretend to be so strong for family values, yet they make such a deal with the devil.
 
To be completely honest, I don’t know if’ it’s a sin or not, but I lean towards no. I enjoy the show (it’s one of the few things besides sports or Sports Center that my husband will watch) but if it’s a episode that mocks Christianity, I change the channel, like I would do with any TV show. My intent in watching the show, or any show, is to be entertained. If I find something inappropriate, and am no longer entertained because of the inappropriateness or am offended, I change what I am watching.
 
Roy5 said:
“Family Guy” is a show which does not merit a place on television. It is filled with all kinds of corrupting influences which are passed off as humor. If it were to appear at all it certainly should be after 10 p. m.
Code: 
For those posters who admire Fox News and its politics, bear in mind that both "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy" are presented on Fox!

What hypocrisy when men like Hannity and O'Reilly pretend to be so strong for family values, yet they make such a deal with the devil.
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I have thought the same thing. Even though I enjoy Foxnews the network programming is very poor and anti family.
 
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I am very familiar with that show. i tend to watch it. but it ridicules God, and the Church and the divinity of Jesus. If I were you, for the sake of your personal relationship with Christ, i highly suggest you stop watching it, but that’s just me.
 
Nope. Definitely not a mortal sin. Not even venial. Just because you watch it and find some of the jokes funny doesn’t mean you agree with everything or that you’ll become a terrible Christian. Just watch with your loved one and enjoy 🙂
 
I do not mean this to be condensending. I mean it whole heartedly. I cannot say whether watching Family Guy is mortal sinful, nor can anybody else frankly. However I can say watching Family Guy is simply foolish.

Why would you? Or anybody, waste the valuable time God gave yo int his manner? It’s disgusting and ridiculous.
 
“I am very familiar with that show. i tend to watch it. but it ridicules God, and the Church and the divinity of Jesus. If I were you, for the sake of your personal relationship with Christ, i highly suggest you stop watching it, but that’s just me.”

If a person freely watches a show that is known to ridicule the divinity of Jesus/the Church and so on - I would think they’d be going against the 1st commandment in a venial sin.
 
I sometimes wonder about CAF, I mean, really, some people worry too much.

Its like everything else out there, it has the ability to damage your relationship with God, but only if you let it. If you decide to watch FG instead of going to Church, then yeah, that’s not good.

As for me, its my favourite show, yeah, i raise an eyebrow or two when they start in on the God bashing, but EVERYONE is free game on that show, not just the Almighty. If you, OP, or anyone else for that matter, feel your relationship with God is so weak that watching a TV show will destory it, then don’t watch it.

There’s a reason the remote was invented.
 
it;s like decent film’s page says; if we all expected perfect friends, perfect food, a perfect priest, then we would all die lonely, unchurched and quickly.

I don’t give much care for FG> I have seen a few episodes that are quite clever and funny, but it isn’t up my ally. As for being a sin, NO. Not unless you’re watching it because you enjoy the jokes about blasphemy and whatnot. But even then, it’s iffy.
 
vera_dicere said:
I sometimes wonder about CAF, I mean, really, some people worry too much.

Its like everything else out there, it has the ability to damage your relationship with God, but only if you let it. If you decide to watch FG instead of going to Church, then yeah, that’s not good.

As for me, its my favourite show, yeah, i raise an eyebrow or two when they start in on the God bashing, but EVERYONE is free game on that show, not just the Almighty. If you, OP, or anyone else for that matter, feel your relationship with God is so weak that watching a TV show will destory it, then don’t watch it.

There’s a reason the remote was invented.
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How can you be so calm when the fairies and Fido are out to drag our immortal soul to hell? 😉
 
After looking at a thorough examination of conscience - you may see that in the eyes of the Catholic Church, participating in blasphemy/ripping on God, to one degree or another, is a sin.
 
I would classify this show as morally objectionable. Why would a practicing Catholic expose themselves to such filth? EWTN is about the only channel we allow in our home. The network shows are nothing but sex, drugs and violence. Remember that we are in this world, but not a part of it.
 
Cable said:
After looking at a thorough examination of conscience - you may see that in the eyes of the Catholic Church, participating in blasphemy/ripping on God, to one degree or another, is a sin.
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I think in terms of fiction, this is a little more blurry. What of watching a show where one of the characters is an atheist, and at some point they deny the existance of God? Does that make the viewer morally culpable for the actions of one character? Now, I know that’s not the way this particular show works, but I’m just saying. By that logic, you wouldn’t be morally able to be friends with a person who has a habbit of taking the lord’s name in vein, since speaking to them MIGHT be contributing to that
 
I think it intends to be blurry.

Do you have access to a thorough Catholic examination of conscience? After you’ve had a look at it, tell me if you can’t see that in the eyes of the Church, willingly being a part of blasphemy, to one degree or another, is a sin and would offend God.
 
It’s a complicated question. I tend to break it down like so:

1.0: Media products that intentionally blaspheme

2.0: Media products that depict other illicit behavior
2.1: Media products that situate actors in actual mortal sin *
2.2 Media products that merely depict sinful or questionable choices

Obviously, products in item 2.1 are to be avoided because they involve the viewer in mortal sin (pornography is the obvious example, but if there were such a thing as a show which staged an actual gladiatorial fight in which a person was deliberately murdered for enjoyment, it would fall under this item as well).

Also obviously, item 2.2 is the broadest category. Under this item you would find everything from “That 70s Show” to the works of William Shakespeare.

Why such a broad category? Remember your Aristotle: virtue is a state of the rational soul that involves the choice of something lying in the mean relative to the individual. Now, contra Proportionalism, we recognize that some moral objects (the moral object is the choice that is made… the thing that is done) are absolutely immoral and thus never justified by consequences or relative factors. However, in the main, choices regarding the mean between excess and deficiency are relative to the individual making the choice. A big healthy guy has to eat more food than a small healthy guy to maintain health. An unafflicted man and an alcoholic man have a different relative mean to sobriety: the alcoholic man may not have any alcohol, while the unafflicted man may have some amount of alcohol and still maintain a sober habit.

You’ll notice that I created a separate category for media products that intentionally blaspheme. Now here I’m not talking about media products that simply put objectionable words in the mouths of some characters… that can be merely a depiction of the words which people sometimes unfortunately use when they swear (thankfully I’ve never had that specific habit… though I try to censor myself I’d always rather drop an F-bomb than take the Lord’s name in vain… I’m very touchy about that). What I’m talking about in item 1.0 are things, such as Family Guy, which intentionally set out to ridicule our Lord. That seems to be a very troubling issue.

Myself, I have no problem watching a movie with lots of violence and swearing. In fact, some of my favorite films contain those elements. They can even be successfully played jocosely if the film maker is very skilled. But some people cannot watch such things, either because it would lead them into sin or because it would present an impediment to their spiritual life. Whereas there are some films that have had a profoundly positive spiritual effect on me, which nevertheless contained content which others might find incredibly objectionable. Hence the relativity of the mean in many cases.

So it seems like the real meat of the question is whether those products in item 1.0, the intentionally blasphemous, ought to be likened to those in item 2.1, the sinful per se (inasmuch as they require sin and by their nature cause a willing audience to participate therein) or those in item 2.2, the sinful secundum quid (inasmuch as they merely depict sin but do not necessarily cause a willing audience to sin).

If you consume a product of item 2.2, let’s say Hamlet by Shakespeare, you might still sin. Suppose that you devoutly hope for Hamlet to fornicate with Ophelia (which of course he does not… sorry to spoil it!). I think that would be sinful, at least if you willfully entertain that thought and consent to it (as opposed to a mere temptation which you shut down in a timely fashion). Or you might watch as the character of Upham angrily executes a German prisoner in Saving Private Ryan and commit no sin, even though the character seems to be committing one (albeit perhaps understandably).

My personal decision is to liken products that intentionally blaspheme against God (item 1.0) to those in item 2.1, as things which deliberately sin and seek to involve the audience in the sin. I say this because even if a movie depicts unjustified killing in a way that seems to argue for that killing as justified… it is still making an argument about justification. But the sin of murder seems to require than an actual unjustified killing take place, or that a specific intent of such to be formulated. Whereas blasphemy is a sin of words, a sin that uses words against the Logos, and it is complete when uttered. Nobody is actually killed in a war movie (at least not intentionally!). But it seems that in a blasphemous program, the blasphemy is actually accomplished and intentional.

However, I’m not quite ready to claim that my judgment on item 1.0 is definitive. So I guess this post is something rather like Tristan und Isolde… which goes in item 2.2.*
 
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