Do You Ban Certain Movies, Books, Or Songs?

[trottigy]

http://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/do-jehovahs-witnesses-ban-certain-entertainment/

 

No. Our organization doesn’t review specific movies, books, or songs so as to rule on what our members should avoid. Why not?

 

● The Bible encourages each individual to train his “perceptive powers” to discern right and wrong.—Hebrews 5:14.

 

● The Scriptures set forth basic principles that a Christian can weigh when selecting entertainment. * As with all areas of life, our goal is to “keep on making sure of what is acceptable to the Lord.”—Ephesians 5:10.

 

● The Bible teaches that family heads have a measure of authority, so they may choose not to allow certain entertainment among members of their household. (1 Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 6:1-4) Outside the family, however, no one is authorized to ban specific films, songs, or artists as being unacceptable for members of the congregation.—Galatians 6:5.

 

[GrumpysWife]

Again we receive the counsel that is so appropriate for us today. We have to make our conscience be OUR guide. Even in families, sometimes one adult member might choose to watch a certain program on TV and the other adult member chooses not to. The children of course listen to the one taking the lead in this sort of thing.

 

I find many TV programs objectionable but Grumpy likes them. When it is a matter of conscience, we have to listen to our's and let the other person listen to theirs. We each stand before Jehovah, individually when it comes to these things.

[SUNRAY]

My husband and I like to allow Jehovah through his Word and FDS to mold our thinking on entertainment..in harmony with PS.11:15 I found the article "A lesson from Roman History" of interest..6/15/02 Watchtower PP. 26-29...The article is very descriptive..the picture shows violent sports of today with a backdrop of the Roman Coleseum..one sport is car racing..here in Daytona we have had some serious incidents even injuring spectators..makes one think..oh well that is our conscience..each has to decide..

Edited June 17, 2013 by SUNRAY

[1gemstone]

don't like anything that will   me  . I like PBS they have some good shows, like Nova, Front Line, the Animals and I must admit that I love Downton Abbey etc, their news is news no fluff.

[Greenfield]

"Outside the family, however, no one is authorized to ban specific films, songs, or artists as being unacceptable for members of the congregation.—Galatians 6:5."

I like this quote. Every now and then you see or hear someone do this, so it is good to see such behavior disapproved.

[Rachel]

I was SO glad to see this stated right out there in front of everyone!

 

Sometimes the very nit-picky ones say "the society said we can't watch that!"         

 

Nope they never did!       

 

 

"No. Our organization doesn’t review specific movies, books, or songs so as to rule on what our members should avoid!"

 

Yet some have spurned association over such personal choices and spread negative gossip about anyone whose choices differ from theirs.    

 

​I have personally gotten very choose y FOR MYSELF  about what I watch. But others might make other choices and well....... OK. 

 

 WE EACH have to answer to Jehovah for what we do. WE should not be judging others over their conscientious decisions.     

 

We are to use our Bible trained consciences to make our OWN decisions.   

 

What did Jesus say about trying to pick gnats from another person's eye? Don't do it! Take care of your OWN eyes.      

 

Don't    your brothers and sisters. 

Edited June 24, 2013 by Rachel

[GrumpysWife]

WOW, Rachel, you go girl. I agree. Even when 2 people live in the same home, they don't always agree on what to watch, read, or listen to. We each have a Bible based conscience, or we should have, that helps us pick and choose what we ourselves will watch. We can strongly disagree with another's choices, but that doesn't make us the authority over them.

 

I have 2 sisters, fleshly, who think if I choose to watch a certain show on TV that I am almost a pagan. I can't even remember the name of the program but boy did I get a lot of flack. Fortunately for me, I don't watch much TV.

[Rachel]

Lol, Vernalee I guess you can tell this is a subject I have strong feelings about. But this is one thing that has caused needless divisions for as long as I have been in the truth and that's a loooong time!

Why some need to judge others so much has always puzzled me. I know the vast majority of my brothers and sisters really love Jehovah and sincerely want to please him and I love them! If they like something I don't or vice versa it's just our normal differences as individuals.

I know what you mean when you say your two sisters reacted like they did. I've seen that happen so many times.

It seems to be related to the need some have for a lot of rules rather than really learning Bible principles. Today's WT even mentioned that we don't need long lists of rules,if we know real Bible principles.

[Blueyedchanel]

While there may not be rules for entertainment there is obviously Guidlines that we should follow and/or live our life by. The difference is rules are very black and white, yes or no, distinct and clear boundaries, and guidelines are there to "guide" us, not tell us what to do. When we come to know Jehovah and what he likes and dislikes our conscience is moulded and that should be the driving force behind our entertainment decisions. Everyone's conscience is on a different level and none of us can answer for another person in the congregation so it's best to let your conscience "guide" you to entertainment you find proper and don't be critical of others choices.

Growing up my father used to always say to me, if you were driving down the road with Jesus in the car would you listen to that song? Or, if Jesus was over at the house would you turn that tv show on or off? Would you invite Jesus to see that movie with you? Over 20 years later and those questions still pop into my mind when selecting entertainment for not just me, but my children as well.

[Qapla]

An interesting thing about this topic is when it comes to sports. Some will get very opinionated as to what sports are "violent". Ever wondered why there has never been anything in print about why some sports that include violence are not referred to as "violent sports?

 

Think about this ... although sports like Hockey, Football (particularly American football), Racing may have violent actions/injuries/crashes occur during the course of the competition ... what is the "goal" of the sport? Is violence or physical contact "required" to score or win the contest?

 

At first glance many will say yes, but this is not really the case. Though there is vast amounts of contact in games like Hockey and Football, it is not "required" to score. A player can avoid all contact and have a legitimate score that is counted without any contact with another player as long as they get the puck/ball into the goal area.

 

Now, in sports like Boxing and Martial Arts can a participant score points without physical contact? NO! To score points or win the contest physical contact/injury is "required" for one to be a victor.

 

That is one of the reasons that these sports can be called "violent sports" in print or from the platform, while other sports that may include violent styles of play are NOT called "violent" in print of from the platform.

 

I know a brother who did call American Football a "violent sport" in a Public Talk he gave as a visiting speaker. Not only were some of the local brothers concerned with his statements about the sport, he was later counseled by the Circuit Overseer for going beyond what is printed and interjecting his personal opinion in a Public Talk. The above differences of what may and may not be called a violent sport was mentioned to him during this counsel.

 

Finny thing is ... He and I had talked about this before and I tried to reason with him as to why he could not declare a sort violent that did not require violence to score, he just said, "I played football in school - I know how violent it is". Until the CO talked to him he just couldn't quite get the point ... he now understands the difference in defining a sport as violent and one that has violence in it.

Edited June 24, 2013 by Qapla

[Shawnster]

 

Finny thing is ... He and I had talked about this before and I tried to reason with him as to why he could not declare a sort violent that did not require violence to score, he just said, "I played football in school - I know how violent it is". Until the CO talked to him he just couldn't quite get the point ... he now understands the difference in defining a sport as violent and one that has violence in it.

 

There is also a difference in WHY we go to such sporting events and WHAT we are entertained on at such events.  If we get excited by the fights at a hockey game, or think a football game was a good game due to the amount and type of injuries the players received, then we should reflect on ourselves.  Are we being entertained by the sport or the violence?

[ReadYourBible]

I had been following a couple of shows, namely Falling Skies, Game of Thrones, and The Walking Dead.    All three of these I used to watch, but as I get closer to my baptism, I find that my conscience is being refined even further and it asserts to me quite clearly that each of these shows have elements that Jehovah would not approve of in the least.  So, this has left my husband feeling somewhat confused as to why I no longer watch them.  I can see I'm going to have to sit down and explain this viewpoint.  

 

Falling skies is a post apocalyptic alien invasion style movie, where wars wage between the aliens and certain groups of left over humanity.  It was a 'good' show in terms of plot.  However, after examining the amount of violence.  I'm done with it.

 

Game of Thrones was horrible to begin with, lots of graphic violence, nudity, sexual scenarios and shock value.  I cringed over some of the content at first, but because I enjoyed the story line I had kept watching.  I examined again what Jehovah's standards were, and I thought, if I wish to present myself to him flawless, this is not something I can continue to fill my eyes and ultimately my mind with.  So that was out too.

 

Then The Walking Dead.  Not your usual zombie type of show, scientific reasoning behind why the people of the planet became zombies - a virus that reanimated motor functions.  You see life and death struggle, people struggling with their faith etc., BUT again, the level of violence is just over the top.  I recall watching the 5 minutes of the episode, and I got up and walked out of the room.  However, because the husband nags me for 'us' time, I'd sit down and got engrossed again in the story line.  So in revisiting my conscience and heeding what it was saying to me, that one too went out the door. 

 

It would seem that of late I have developed an increasingly sharpened conscience, and I know this is a direct result of Jehovah's holy spirit acting upon me.  It has been offering up a LOT of counsel of late.  I'd liken it to this >>  It's as though I am in line to meet the queen, and then she's coming back to my house for tea.......  and my own personal attendant looking me over alerting me to mannerisms that would be displeasing, speech patterns that would be displeasing, attire, personal grooming, and so forth that would horrify the queen.  

 

Here's a clip that reminds me of how exacting my conscience is being.  

 

 

and this.......the before is TOTALLY me.

 

http://youtu.be/z8-RmatEn8M

 

And yet, my conscience speaking so loudly to me doesn't make me go about saying to others that their conscience is wrong.  Namely because that's none of my business.  It's quite interesting, at least to me - as to how my conscience has been seemingly working overtime of late.

Edited June 24, 2013 by cerebral ecstasy