This last weekend was crazy for me. Saturday was International Tabletop Day and I hosted a location for it at my church for a local gaming group. On Friday I binged through Daredevil. Yes, I watched all 13 episodes in one day.
I have seen at least 2 posts written using Daredevil by other Christians this week, one on Ministry Matters and another by Costumers for Christ. One of the topics being discussed is violence and the Christian life. Not whether or not we should watch Daredevil (which has some violent scenes) but how we as Christians should feel about violence in general. I feel like we tend to be so scared of violence that we forget how often it is needed to bring hope to people.
In one episode, Daredevil goes to rescue a child from kidnappers and he does get very violent in the rescue, far more than Jesus would want. Yet...would Jesus leave a child in such a situation? Does love sometimes call for violence not for the sake of violence but for the goal of rescuing and protecting people? Now, I think if a man had come to Jesus and said "these guys are holding my child and I can not rescue them because their strength to much for me" Jesus would have done something about it. He might simply have teleported the child out of there or used another miracle to rescue the child without violence; but Jesus would not have refused to act.
Nobody should want war and killing and hatred. Yet, we do want to stop those who do love to use such ends. Right now a group called ISIS is spreading war and hatred. There have been some reports that some men from the US have gone over to join in the fight against them of their own accord and without being sent by any government. I do not know these men's hearts. I don't know if they feel warfare is their life or if, like the Machine Gun Preacher, they just hate seeing violent men take advantage of people.
One of the groups I enjoy supporting is International Justice Mission. These guys go into hard places to rescue people being held as slaves either for sex or for labor. Some of them are simply working on the legal side of things or help find safe counseling for the victims but some of them are former cops who participate in raids. I'm talking about men who go in with guns drawn and bullet proof vests to rescue these women, men and children from slavery. This is dangerous work with a strong possibility of experiencing violence. Sometimes, they are able to go in when there are no guards around and get the women out without fighting, but not always. Actually, this work is fairly similar to our first view of Daredevil's work in the series.
There is such a thing as righteous indignation and I think we need to respect it but also control it as it can get out of hand easily. There is also a calling and a preference for grace and peace in dispelling arguments. In our walks with Jesus, let us show respect for both of these and use peace far more than violence.
I have seen at least 2 posts written using Daredevil by other Christians this week, one on Ministry Matters and another by Costumers for Christ. One of the topics being discussed is violence and the Christian life. Not whether or not we should watch Daredevil (which has some violent scenes) but how we as Christians should feel about violence in general. I feel like we tend to be so scared of violence that we forget how often it is needed to bring hope to people.
In one episode, Daredevil goes to rescue a child from kidnappers and he does get very violent in the rescue, far more than Jesus would want. Yet...would Jesus leave a child in such a situation? Does love sometimes call for violence not for the sake of violence but for the goal of rescuing and protecting people? Now, I think if a man had come to Jesus and said "these guys are holding my child and I can not rescue them because their strength to much for me" Jesus would have done something about it. He might simply have teleported the child out of there or used another miracle to rescue the child without violence; but Jesus would not have refused to act.
Nobody should want war and killing and hatred. Yet, we do want to stop those who do love to use such ends. Right now a group called ISIS is spreading war and hatred. There have been some reports that some men from the US have gone over to join in the fight against them of their own accord and without being sent by any government. I do not know these men's hearts. I don't know if they feel warfare is their life or if, like the Machine Gun Preacher, they just hate seeing violent men take advantage of people.
One of the groups I enjoy supporting is International Justice Mission. These guys go into hard places to rescue people being held as slaves either for sex or for labor. Some of them are simply working on the legal side of things or help find safe counseling for the victims but some of them are former cops who participate in raids. I'm talking about men who go in with guns drawn and bullet proof vests to rescue these women, men and children from slavery. This is dangerous work with a strong possibility of experiencing violence. Sometimes, they are able to go in when there are no guards around and get the women out without fighting, but not always. Actually, this work is fairly similar to our first view of Daredevil's work in the series.
There is such a thing as righteous indignation and I think we need to respect it but also control it as it can get out of hand easily. There is also a calling and a preference for grace and peace in dispelling arguments. In our walks with Jesus, let us show respect for both of these and use peace far more than violence.
I love this idea I think I had a moment when I was watching the daredevil episodes when I had a quick thought could I do what Matt's doing and the faith and conviction it would take. Thanks for tackling this topic also why do you think it is most Christians are against Any violence in any sort of media
ReplyDeleteI recently saw a post dealing with religious "intolerance" toward RPGs and it connects with your question. It was focused on trying to understand the reasons so many Christians are against such things. One of the issues was this thought that if an activity seems associated with something wrong, than that activity must be inherently wrong. Some people think if you show violence in any fashion than you must be condoning it. The article also considered "garbage in, garbage out" and whether it is a right way of looking at things. Here is a link to the article if you want to read it: http://madcleric.com/religious-intolerance-of-rpgs/
DeleteWhat are your biblical guidelines on watching entertainment anime movie comic etc.
ReplyDeleteGreat Question. For one, I don't watch something with a lot of sexuality. That is why I am not watching "Dig". I also don't like unnecessary gore. I do sometimes find myself watching something that is just a fighting war movie with no plot but not often. I find that I just don't feel that great from those kinds of movies and although the Bible does have some violence in it; the violence is not there for the sake of violence.
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