When does a book became immoral?

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Angel7

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When does a book became immoral, and you’re better off just not reading it?

Is there content that you can’t ignore?
Or can you ignore the parts that aren’t right?
 
I’ve never found any book I’ve read to be immoral in terms of ‘the act of reading.’ Obviously, there are parts in some books where the characters may not act morally, but I can’t think of any situation where reading could be immoral.

Now, it is important to remember that your reactions or thoughts can be altered for the worse by reading graphic or otherwise inappropriate material. In this sense, you should avoid it if it brings you to the near occasion of sin. I’ve read a couple of crime dramas that actually turned very graphic (both sexually and violently), and I had no further desire to continue reading. I guess the decision to “keep on reading” or “put it down” is one of personal preference based on how the material affects your thoughts/actions.
 
So I can ignore things that are bad in a book?

I was reading a story on King Arthur for my summer reading.
One of the characters said his dad was a “demon”.

After the creepy, horrified feeling left, I was wondering if it was still okay to read.
 
I don’t think a book can be immoral. I think it is about the person who buys it and reads it. Words are a sword, you learn by reading and you teach by writing. So it is always about the person who reads it. Don’t be afraid to read a book and when you find something that troubles you, ask yourself why and then explain it to yourself. That way, you identify the feeling and know what to do about it…either put the book down because you don’t like it, or continue reading.
 
So I can ignore things that are bad in a book?

I was reading a story on King Arthur for my summer reading.
One of the characters said his dad was a “demon”.

After the creepy, horrified feeling left, I was wondering if it was still okay to read.
I probably should have been a little more specific in my response. I cannot say with 100% certainty, but I do not believe it to be a sin simply to read a book, even if the content in the book is of a certain nature.

Now, there can be the occasion of sin if the content matter causes the reader to have certain sinful thoughts, or the material leads to sinful actions (i.e. a certain ‘excitement’ caused by reading ‘romance’ novels, which then leads to sin). However, it is again not the book itself but the reader who does this. If you feel a book’s content could cause this, I would suggest reading it no further, but I have never known the capacity for books to be immoral.
 
When does a book became immoral, and you’re better off just not reading it?

Is there content that you can’t ignore?
Or can you ignore the parts that aren’t right?
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde (a Catholic convert): There are no immoral books, only immoral minds.
 
Your question is like asking “when is a corpse putrid?” Many tracts are immoral in the sense that the reader is effected or influenced in a way not in the interest of their Soul propensity. But that is a mater of maturity and technique, and the clear ability, or not, to apply critical thinking. Much of what gets labeled as immoral earned that because of the emotional loading the material or whatever had for the beholder. That is similar to the adage about where Beauty lies. And sometimes beauty lies.

But to the pathologist, tracing the ways of inquiry that lead to clear insight as to the answer to a riddle, the matter at hand is indifferent. It is simply what is before the attention for analysis. So the question has, as well, much to do with one’s intent in reading. Is it to be entertained? Or to feel sensations or emotions sparked by scenarios before one’s mind’s eye? Or is there a reason to understand the underlying patterns or motives of the presentation in order to gain competence?

This is why we are enjoined to stand porter at the gate of thought, lest the enemy enter. One can habituate to comparing the suggestions of daily life in whatever arena, even reading material, to an Ideal. If it doesn’t match up, or doesn’t lead to freedom, then why entertain it? A lot of morality debates are sidestepped simply by asking “Does this serve the intention of my salvation?”
 
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