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Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Doug Wilson constantly talks about how media (movies, books, etc.) are the primary mode of education in today's world, and how few people recognize that fact. They watch movies or read books thinking they are purely entertainment when, in fact, most are educational tools at best, pieces of propaganda at worst. And not just the Inconvenient Truth's of the world. Some have socio-political messages, others wash the viewers' brains with subtle relational morals. But almost all teach something. Which brings me to this great article on the topic of emotional porn. Everyone knows how to recognize visual pornography, but few know the emotional kind when they see it. And it's just as dangerous, if not more so. Wilson has been recently writing against the emotion variety found in the Twilight series of books/movies, pointing out how it encourages girls to enter abusive relationships. But you can find heart porn with a couple clicks of the remote every night as well. Men, guard your hearts and your homes. This may mean asking your wife (or kids) to stop watching or reading certain things.
Kids eventually understand that pumpkins don’t turn to glass carriages and Fairy Godmothers don’t grant wishes, but many girls never grow out of the idea that one day they will be rescued from reality by some magic and a fictitious prince. And little boys never live up to the fantasy of the mind or that they’re supposed to be that prince and that their spouse is an all-fulfilling princess.

Next time you’re thinking about seeing a movie, be aware of what’s pulling you toward it. If you decide to watch it, recognize the moment when you feel the emotional reinforcement of fake love. And when you walk out, recognize what you now hope for and expect.

1 comments:

nathanael said...

Dreaming oneself away is easy, and our imagination is a core part of how we understand the world. Thus, porn (whether sexual or emotional) poisons our understanding, even though we know it to be fantasy. The simple and vicarious wish fulfillment it offers eventually influences our understanding of how the world should work.

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Darius' book montage

The Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel The Main Thing
Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
Overcoming Sin and Temptation
According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible
Disciplines of a Godly Man
Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and Not the Problem
When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor. . .and Ourselves
The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith
Respectable Sins
The Kite Runner
Life Laid Bare: The Survivors in Rwanda Speak
Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak
A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I am a missional, evangelical, post/protestant, liberal/conservative, mystical/poetic, biblical, charismatic/contemplative, fundamentalist/calvinist, ... anabaptist/anglican, metho
Show Them No Mercy
The Lord of the Rings
Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass
The Truth War: Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception
Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming
The Chronicles of Narnia
Les Misérables


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