Joseph smith stated that "he teaches Church principles and the people rule themselves."
Since then the Prophets have given similar directions as stated by Elder Oaks and leaves it up to us to follow our own spirit as to right or wrong.
As for movies we are careful in choosing the ones we attend. In a number of cases we have found quickly as to its content and have walked out. Pulp fiction is one that we walked our of and no longer consider movies by this director/producer as ones to even consider.
For TV we will tape 1 or 2 weeks and then review them. It becomes easy to delete them and no longer consider them. There are some we really liked, Two & a Half Men, at first but soon realized they were not appropriate for us. There are very few new series that we watch.
As for books many of our favorite authors insert explicit sexual content but it is easy to just skip over these parts. You may lose a page or two but it does not impact on the story.
Will you consider the new movie "Lone Survivor" unacceptible because of it war theme or look at it as the true story of a group of real american heros doing a job as directed? The story of the 2000 Stripling warriors comes to mind.
Elder Oaks said it plainly. It is between you and God not between you and Elder Oaks. When you declare your self a full tithe payer is it between you and the Bishop or between you and God?
MSJJanuary 24, 2014
I appreciated your comments and have adjusted some of my ultra-conservative views on the subject. However, I also believe that the way the violence is depicted is very important. It is one thing, as in the Book of Mormon, to say that arms were cut off. It is a very different matter to show it in graphic detail, emphasizing the gore and the torture. I don't think violence itself is the problem as much as the way it is portrayed. Research shows that viewing much violence contributes to violent behavior, and I doubt that in that context it matters what the motives of the violent character are.
MaryannJanuary 19, 2014
You make some excellent points. It is also important to remember not to make a judgement about others of our faith who may have a different opinion about what is acceptable.
LindaJanuary 18, 2014
I agree with you and have often laughed at the thought of what a rating for a movie of just the book of Alma would be. Most defiantly R for all the violence. And as to Taken it is in my mind ver very important for Teenage girls to understand what can happen to foolish naive girls who do not honor their parents concerns for their safety.
CliffJanuary 17, 2014
I fear that your analysis is oversimplified and does more harm than good. The assertion that "good" or "positive" justifications for the use of force or violence by certain characters in film can be identified falls short of justifying the viewing of such movies.
Many movies in this vien are also loaded with examples of violence by other characters for other less than "justifiable" reasons, and even the "justifiable" violence is usually highly stylized and dramatized in ways that makes the violence cinematically "appealing" and sensational in ways that church films never even attempt.
I would go so far as to suggest that in your comparison of Church movies to some of these other movies you create a false dillema which provides a platform for a straw argument to justify avoidance of prophetic counsel.
One might suppose that an unduly harsh statement, but at a minimum your article clearly fails to consider the totality of the potential for comparison between the church movies you cite and mainstream media, and instead focuses on a single turning point of the intent of the actor, based off of two quotes that were intended to guide action, not viewing, and neith qoute is cited as a premise in the simple statement the Brethren made in "For the Strength of Youth."
I am sure that Satan would love to feed us a steady diet of "justified" violence for years to come. We may fool ourselves into thinking that repeatedly watching this type of violence because the protagonist is engaging in it for the right reasons is spiritually "safe," but I don't suspect that the eventual deadining of our sensitivity to the Spirit will be any less because we've "faithfully" restricted ourselves to watching movies where "good" people beat up, maim, and kill others in self defense, as opposed to watching amoral people beat up, kill, and maim others for selfish reasons (which happens in "good guy" movies, as well).
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Bob JonesJanuary 26, 2014
Joseph smith stated that "he teaches Church principles and the people rule themselves." Since then the Prophets have given similar directions as stated by Elder Oaks and leaves it up to us to follow our own spirit as to right or wrong. As for movies we are careful in choosing the ones we attend. In a number of cases we have found quickly as to its content and have walked out. Pulp fiction is one that we walked our of and no longer consider movies by this director/producer as ones to even consider. For TV we will tape 1 or 2 weeks and then review them. It becomes easy to delete them and no longer consider them. There are some we really liked, Two & a Half Men, at first but soon realized they were not appropriate for us. There are very few new series that we watch. As for books many of our favorite authors insert explicit sexual content but it is easy to just skip over these parts. You may lose a page or two but it does not impact on the story. Will you consider the new movie "Lone Survivor" unacceptible because of it war theme or look at it as the true story of a group of real american heros doing a job as directed? The story of the 2000 Stripling warriors comes to mind. Elder Oaks said it plainly. It is between you and God not between you and Elder Oaks. When you declare your self a full tithe payer is it between you and the Bishop or between you and God?
MSJJanuary 24, 2014
I appreciated your comments and have adjusted some of my ultra-conservative views on the subject. However, I also believe that the way the violence is depicted is very important. It is one thing, as in the Book of Mormon, to say that arms were cut off. It is a very different matter to show it in graphic detail, emphasizing the gore and the torture. I don't think violence itself is the problem as much as the way it is portrayed. Research shows that viewing much violence contributes to violent behavior, and I doubt that in that context it matters what the motives of the violent character are.
MaryannJanuary 19, 2014
You make some excellent points. It is also important to remember not to make a judgement about others of our faith who may have a different opinion about what is acceptable.
LindaJanuary 18, 2014
I agree with you and have often laughed at the thought of what a rating for a movie of just the book of Alma would be. Most defiantly R for all the violence. And as to Taken it is in my mind ver very important for Teenage girls to understand what can happen to foolish naive girls who do not honor their parents concerns for their safety.
CliffJanuary 17, 2014
I fear that your analysis is oversimplified and does more harm than good. The assertion that "good" or "positive" justifications for the use of force or violence by certain characters in film can be identified falls short of justifying the viewing of such movies. Many movies in this vien are also loaded with examples of violence by other characters for other less than "justifiable" reasons, and even the "justifiable" violence is usually highly stylized and dramatized in ways that makes the violence cinematically "appealing" and sensational in ways that church films never even attempt. I would go so far as to suggest that in your comparison of Church movies to some of these other movies you create a false dillema which provides a platform for a straw argument to justify avoidance of prophetic counsel. One might suppose that an unduly harsh statement, but at a minimum your article clearly fails to consider the totality of the potential for comparison between the church movies you cite and mainstream media, and instead focuses on a single turning point of the intent of the actor, based off of two quotes that were intended to guide action, not viewing, and neith qoute is cited as a premise in the simple statement the Brethren made in "For the Strength of Youth." I am sure that Satan would love to feed us a steady diet of "justified" violence for years to come. We may fool ourselves into thinking that repeatedly watching this type of violence because the protagonist is engaging in it for the right reasons is spiritually "safe," but I don't suspect that the eventual deadining of our sensitivity to the Spirit will be any less because we've "faithfully" restricted ourselves to watching movies where "good" people beat up, maim, and kill others in self defense, as opposed to watching amoral people beat up, kill, and maim others for selfish reasons (which happens in "good guy" movies, as well).
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