...but not THAT much!
I'm a pretty liberal guy when it comes to media. I am big on age restriction a LOT of stuff young people are allowed to watch bothers me, for them. But for adults, I have a wide berth. I take Matthew 15:16-20 to have a deeper meaning than most. It doesn't matter what you 'take in'. It matters how you respond to what you take in. THE MATRIX has some great theological issues hidden within it. In the right hands it can be used to actually help people relate to Christ. But it certainly is a violent film that could, in the wrong hands, inspire violence.
A properly attenuated heart can use the positive for God, and let go of the negative. Now some stuff is just exploitive and should be rejected absolutely. But I have always been a horror movie fan. Not that there is much positive I could do with it, but I was pretty good at just watching and letting it go. Enjoying some thrills and moving on.
But as I started down the contemplative path, the mystical path, this changed. Mysticism tends to make one extremely vulnerable to the world, extremely sensitive. Any negative imagery makes deep impresses into my soul, making it harder to reach out to The Divine and frightening when I explore deeper states of consciousness.
So, I don't watch them any more. Do I ever miss it? Sometimes. But it is an easy trade-off when I look at all the benefits the contemplative life has afforded me. Chief among them a closer relationship with Christ Jesus.
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