Why are so many "religious" people threatened by books, movies, and most importantly, ideas and thinking?

Question

Am I alone in thinking that if a movie is such a big threat to your faith, then you don't have much faith at all? I remember during the uproar over the Last Temptation of Christ, questioning a parishioner about why she wanted me to sign a petition against the movie. "Because it's horrible."

"Have you seen it?" I asked.

"No."

"Well then how can you tell me its horrible?"

She pulled the petition away and said, "You're not old enough to sign anyway."

I finally saw the movie on video and wondered what the fuss was about. I found it a thought provoking meditation on what Christ's life might have been like, and the "bad" parts merely boring.

Answer 1

Religious people are typically threatened by culture and ideas because most (if not all) religions are based on faith. Faith is belief without evidence.

What this means is that you can believe ANYTHING you want and throw it under the blanket of faith. Does Santa Claus exist? Jude has faith that he does! Does the ToothFairy exist? Tommy has faith that she does!

Because faith is based on emotion and not logic, it can be easily swayed or changed by competing faith-based arguments. How many people have faith that god is loving, when the bible lists many atrocities passed down by god? The people's faith is different than what is in the bible because the people were swayed by a more popular cultural notion... "god is pure love".

Religious leaders want to avoid people shifting their faith, so they try to denounce competing ideas. That's why we see so many religious groups shouting down movies, books, and other cultural media.

Answer 2

They're not afraid of the materials at hand, but rather the diabolical intent of certain individuals who produce certain things. We are affraid of the detrimental consequences on society of things which are produced with only monetary rewards in mind as the only profitable value.
Look throughout history and you cannot deny the record of societal downfall related to the weakening of moral values. The advent of media was a very powerful device for the enemy (satan) The Bible says that a cord of three strands is not easily broken. The media reaches one through the eyes, the ears, and the bowels(the Biblical description of ones's intellect) Three generations of children is all it takes to completely corrupt a nation. By the fourth generation the moral foundation has been so thouroughly erroded that it either doesn't exist, or cannot be restored......save a miracle of GOD.

Answer to M.R. Bond: True Christians know they cannot change a thing in this world. That is how you tell the difference between false and true seed. God's children know that only through prayer and faith to allow The Lord to work through them can they do anything of real consequence. If anyone says thay did something great, they are guilty of the original sin. Soloman said "everything is vanity"

Answer 3

Its works against the establishment of the religious thought. In my opinion it shows fear. The last thing the church wants you to do is think for yourself or allow someone else to have some "out-of-the-box input" these kinds of "systems" don't like to be questioned, they discourage free-thinking because it begins to pick apart the foundation which there current beliefs are based.
When you have questions which cant be answered people tend to go where there is answers so the church screams, "this is blasphemy-on-screen or in a book", and encourages all its followers not to support the film by watching it. They probably realize that creating this kind of commotion only improves sales but they are only concerned with protecting what's theirs;that would be your attendance...and tithe's

Answer 4

I think that the people that are so afraid of these movies & books are very easily lead, and they believe that other are too. I am a very strong Christian, and just saw the movie "The Davinci Code," which I thought was a very well-written fictional story. It's just like when Left Behind came out, and people treated it like an addition to the Bible.

Answer 5

Movies and books have a big impact on society. It doesn't matter if the book or movie is 'fiction' or not, they still influence social thought. Many religious people think they can control that sort of impact. They are wrong. They aren't insecure, they're over zealous. I don't blame them though, I understand their position. But I don't have to agree with them.

Answer 6

Well "religious" people are threatened because of the very fact that they are "religious"... I'm not religious, I'm Christian and do not consider movies, books, different thoughts and ideas as a threat. Usually when you ask somebody what religion you are, they would say, "Oh yeah, I'm Catholic, or, I'm Protestant..." Well, I just simply say that I am a Christian, and that's that... so to answer the question: Religious people are threatened, Christians are not. =)

Answer 7

I also work for the local school system and parents have wanted to ban Harry Potter books from the school libraries. WHY??? If it makes the kids read whats the big fuss? they can use there imagination!!! I know also at TRU we sell reserves and when we asked when HP was coming out I had a lady snap at me for asking her. "I don't dwell w/things of the devil" I said whatever.

Answer 8

I don't think it's many. I think it's the few on the news that get everyones attention. Why would the media report something normal to the public. It has to be over the top. Most average people just choose not to watch or read something they don't like. Don't believe the hype.

Answer 9

The "problem" if it can be labeled as such, is that most of the very religious people are very safe, happy and content in their beliefs and don't want anyone or anything rocking the boat. Just leave them alone!!! If you don't bother them they won't bother you!!!

Answer 10

When "Oh, God" came out, religious people burned out a bearing and it is a wonderful, uplifting film.

"The Bible says..." usually is the reason they get all knickery in the knees.

What if people start to question their faith? Then they didn't have faith in the first place.