Jacob: maybe being Amish wouldn’t be so bad. Living in a community. Relying on each other. No internet. It certainly would help me with my walk.

We can get into the fact that “Christ wouldn’t watch a movie, etc etc.” but I think regarding sex, we’ve been given enough of a direction to know it’s always wrong to take part in that. I don’t see how this could be an issue.

If I am understanding you correctly, then you’re saying that Christ wouldn’t watch something that was unacceptable in any way.

If you follow that line of reasoning, then you’re saying a Christian shouldn’t watch any movie. Because ultimately, nothing is acceptable in the sight of Christ. Whether it’s pre-marital sex, violence, anger, physical defects in humans, the fact that our bodies are falling apart, etc. Nothing can stand before the sight of Christ save His atonement be on that person.

To use the line of reasoning you have presented is inconsistent. Either you can’t make the statements you did, or you’ll have to be Amish to be a good Christian (according to your claims). Because ultimately, nothing is holy in the sight of Christ.

1) Christians are called to live holy lives not lives that are as close to unholy as we can get without feeling like we’re still “okay”

2) There is a difference in thinking about murdering someone and actually doing it. Are both actions sin? Yes. Are both equally damaging? No. We should not say that a little bad is the same as a lot bad. (Pardon my simplicity)

3) Cursing is a whole other animal. Can anyone say “cultural relevance”?

4) And, finally, I am becoming more convinced that, although we do need to be educated and “relevant,” many Christians are tricking themselves into thinking that knowing/seeing/accepting everything the world knows/sees/accepts is a great way to evangelize.

But all this conversation has made me curious: I gather that the film has made some “embellishments” in the sex and violence category, but I’m assuming it’s otherwise faithful to the graphic novel? Tell me, then ( and I mean this respectfully) what’s the difference between reading and enjoying Watchmen in comic book form and viewing and enjoying Watchmen in motion picture form? Is the comic book free of objectionable content? Is there no sex, implied or otherwise? Are the female characters not illustrated in ways that accent their curviest features? Are there no blood splatters in vivid four-color process ink? Are sex and violence less harmful in a comic book than in a film? What if it’s only in text form?
Do you think there’s a difference?

In regards to sex in movies, if someone is a Christian, I don’t care if they’re not effected by it in their own mind, they should not watch it.

Recently, with my youth group we talked about how Christians should think and use their minds. For me, it boils down to this: As a Christian, I take the name of Christ. Everything that I do should reflect the life of Christ. I should strive to live a life just as He would live it. Therefore, I need to think, “Would Christ watch this movie that is full of sex?” I then kick myself in the forehead because the answer is obvious.

I don’t mean to “Christian-ize” my answer and sound all holier than thou, but that’s really what has happened in my life as of late.

For violence, I think that is a harder issue to spell out. Violence is considered a fist fight, all the way to full out war. Sex is clearly discussed in the Bible as being wrong outside of marriage. Thus, I think it is easier to squash that when it comes to media.

For example, I went to a college basketball game recently. The dance team came out at half time to do the show. They were all girls and had “shorts” that were really not any bigger than granny panties (yes, I just said that–don’t act like you don’t know what that is). They had a windbreaker type jacket on too. The music started, and they started dancing in a manner I’m just not comfortable viewing. However, when i looked up at the jumbo-tron, I noticed that for some reason, it was easier for me to watch the dance on screen than it was when I would just watch it right in front of me. I could hardly watch them in person, but on the jumbo-tron, it was easier.

Why is that?

I think there’s a lot more that goes into viewing images than people realize. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of stats to back that kind of thing up. Hence the argument I guess.