"RAPING THE MIND"

I love movies, especially artistic ones. They make me think, they entertain me, they make me laugh, cry and feel things deeply. They challenge my outlook on culture, history and decision-making. Most of the movies and films I am impacted by are made by artists who did not have religious motivations�but sometimes I ask myself, what is worth watching for "artistic purpose?" Several movies are made with sexual content or explicit sex scenes that linger in our minds. Sometimes it is necessary to create the impact of the character�s lifestyles or the story�s content, but often it is NOT necessary. Even if it is, is it worth it for someone who wants to keep their mind pure (and to practice self-control sexually) to watch these movies?

Much of our sex education comes from the movies. Remember when you began watching rated "R" movies and allowed yourself to watch what you were curious about, but simultaneously feared you shouldn�t be seeing? We watch movies that we didn�t realize had sex scenes; content our innocent minds hadn�t seen before. We continue to see explicit scenes by letting our na�ve and trusting minds keep us from researching the movie before entering into the theatre. How can we believe that we are so strong as to watch such lust-inducing content on a movie screen and believe we will not be effected? When is it artistic worth or just soft porn disguised by artistic intent? How can we consume these worldly themes and believe we are so strong that we can close our minds to it?

Every time we enter into feasting on worldly entertainment, we are building the flesh. How can our spirit fight against this poison when the only food we consume is in direct contrast to the spirit? Do we decide to have a comfortable level in which we may entertain our flesh all that we desire as long as the spirit is still surviving? (Even if it is a hidden, weak flame?) If we decide to consume excessively, we may let ourselves tread down a dangerous path where we may become so engrossed in the fleshly cravings (disguised as a mere desire to entertain ourselves) that we slowly snuff out our spirit without a notice. Eventually, we wonder why we grow bored with the things of the spirit; things which are good and honorable and pure. We allow ourselves to slip, to consume until we are consumed.

Great movies are made by the intellect and creativity that God created us with. He wants us enjoy such simple pleasures as entertainment, but in doing so, we have responsibility. God gave us discernment, from the Holy spirit in the form of a conscience. Discernment and a clear head will only remain within us as long as it is strong enough to be audible. When we are beginning to ignore that deep-seated thought we shouldn�t be watching something? Once these simple pleasures become our own indulgences, watched excessively, we cannot remain so strong as to not be open to their rationale. Even when a movie has no explicit sex scenes, it will still effect us. It may very convincingly promote an unhealthy indulgent liberal worldview.

We must remain stubborn and discerning in knowing we can only accept so much; only entertain our flesh to an extent which is pleasurable and educational and intellectually stimulating before we love the things of this world so much that they begin to make us doubt our absolute moral beliefs. Be prepared to be convinced by Hollywood. No one is so strong that when indulging in excess of the flesh that they will not fall. We are weak creatures, and we should treat ourselves as fragile, pure minds. We have slowly, step by step, allowed our minds to be tainted by allowing just a little bit more. (Or we believe that because we have already allowed ourselves to see a level of sexual explicitness, that it is of no use to tighten the restraint of our visual consumption). If we make the mistake once, we can forgive ourselves and possibly erase it from our mind; but a mistake repeated numbs our moral conscience.

How can we retain this conscience and combat the flesh? We can do so by building it up with things of the spirit: in the word, in service to others, in love, in good conversation, in friendship which encourages us, in art and literature and entertainment that is uplifting. We can especially discuss movies with each other to see how they effected our thinking.

I do not believe in being legalistic as to not be open to any art (movies) that is not produced with a religious intent. We must only be discerning as to what level we will entertain ourselves before it is harming the purity of our minds, and our moral decision making. I conclude that a healthy dose of "artistic" and entertaining movies is actually good for you, but we must make sure we are not overdosing�Are we creating a war between our body and soul which will later make it harder to have self-control? "Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial�"

[Eventually, the pink nun plans to have movie reviews and her Top Ten rentals list on the website]