Entertained with the ugly …

The recent tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, brought out the philosopher in many of us. We were tempted to look for the motivation behind something so evil, and in the process we often placed our attention on the symptoms of the issue at hand, rather than the core problem.

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t visit the problems some of those symptoms create. Take, for example, the very real issue of “unholy escapism.”

At times we all try to escape the pressures life can bring each day, and we’ve gotten comfortable with seeking our escape in some unholy ways …

… reveling in the adrenalin generated by games of violence …

… watching movies where dozens of people are blown away by “bad guys” (and “good guys”) and where winning is confirmed by the good guy having sex with the girl …

… music with lyrics commonly centered on illicit relationships and easy sex …

… television programs about the sordid life of our neighbors …

… watching couples get divorced on television …

… octagon battles where pummeling your opponent in almost any way possible harkens back to attitudes found in ancient coliseums …

… this is how we entertain ourselves, this is how we “escape.” Yet, when someone is honest enough to point to how such content is truly ugly, some Christians shout you down in the name of “relevance” and even of “grace.” It was the church bemoaning rated R movies that made the world laugh at us, they argue.

Maybe we should be less concerned about who’s laughing at what, and a little more concerned about what we find entertaining and what we escape into; perhaps finding such ugly ways to entertain our minds sometimes works its way out into the reality of our lives. Maybe it really isn’t a wise thing to find violence entertaining, even if it’s simulated. Maybe we would actually be better off keeping our minds a bit more where the Apostle Paul said we should rather than entertaining ourselves with something we would consider horrible tragedies if actually acted out.

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise,” Philippians 4:8.

Maybe we need to ask ourselves why we’re bored with something beautiful and find entertainment with something violent.

Maybe it really would make a difference in both our lives and this world if we found our enjoyments, our “escapes” in things that are more noble, more beautiful, and more worthy of our thoughts and emotions.

Maybe it’s time we learn to actually enjoy, long for, and be contented with that which is holy instead of simulated sin.

Scotty