Davinci code, can your children read or watch?

[Leanna]

Who is the better witness, the people who have read the book and come to their own conclusion that it is fiction, or the people who haven't read the book but rely on other peoples opinions and launch personal attacks against those who disagree with them . . . . . ?

That's the very thing I was thinking, but didn't know how to phrase correctly...

 

[Linnis]

My nephew is 7 and he already has the idea of being able to question everything he watches, reads etc. Why? Because my husband and I remind him all the time that being on TV doesn't mean it's real, reading it in a book doesn't either. Even so I wouldn't think this movie is right for him. Now if he was 15+ then it would probably be a great book and movie to debate. He's learned to ask questions and find answers, I hope he never looses that.

I personally couldn't finish the book, I found it slow and it got pretty boring. I tried to finish it but it was not a page turner for me. So I won't be seeing the movie.

 

[JulySheMustFly]

Mine aren't old enough to read or watch anything with adult content in it. When they are old enough to discern fiction from non-fiction AND what they beileve then I wouldn't have a problem if they read it. Can't see them being interested in a movie that would be over 10 years old at that point.

 

[Sophia7]

I know you mean the best, and so I wish you well with it. If you judge everything by that standard though you better never watch the news and had better be very diligent to stay within a bubble where the real world never reaches you. The real world is not all lovely if you know what I mean. A lot of Christians are like that though.... so I hope it works out as best as possible. I just don't believe in over-sheltering my children, its against my personal philosophy and that is not "lazy" at all since I make a conscience choice in that direction. This is not a book I will put on their reading list because I just don't feel it is a very good book at all, but if they come to me at 14 and say "hey look at this book Davinci code! can i read it!" then the answer will be yes, and I'll hand him Truth and Fiction in the Davinci Code and be open to questions since one good thing this book does is get people to research some pertinent history.

Personally I think fear filled parenting might be worse than lazy parenting. But as a parent who rarely censors what my older children read I assure you it is not lazy parenting that invites them to read, question and discuss. It's involved active parenting that doesn't fear that the foundation of faith laid for them at a young age bears no fruit in the teen years.

I'm really getting tired of people thinking just because someone doesn't spend their lives boycotting tv shows, movies and books and giving them free publicity their Christianity is somehow in question. Because my faith is not undermined easily I don't find much of the fictional world a threat to it. I expect my adolescent children to at the least be able to have an intelligent discussion about fact and fiction and I don't anticipate the foundation I have laid for them being rocked by a novel, the cracks would already have to be severe for them to take a mildy entertaining book and run with it as truth.

Who is the better witness, the people who have read the book and come to their own conclusion that it is fiction, or the people who haven't read the book but rely on other peoples opinions and launch personal attacks against those who disagree with them . . . . . ?

I don't believe in oversheltering my children either, but setting high standards is not being overprotective. In the past few months, my husband and I have felt very convicted by God about some of our entertainment choices, and thus we have been much more careful about the things that we choose to bring into our home.

I am not trying to judge or attack anyone else, and I respect your freedom to read whatever you want. I am simply explaining the reasons that I would not let my children read this book or watch this movie, and I do not have to read it to know that it would not be a positive addition to our library. I just don't buy the theory that any sort of fiction is harmless as long as people realize that it's fiction.

I believe that we can teach our children to think rationally and make intelligent choices and ask questions and learn about history even if they never read The Da Vinci Code or whatever other books/movies we decide would be inappropriate.

 

[Carri20]

It's not a book for children! It's not a movie for children!

I don't believe in oversheltering my children either, but setting high standards is not being overprotective.

Bam.

 

[Athene]

I don't believe in oversheltering my children either, but setting high standards is not being overprotective. In the past few months, my husband and I have felt very convicted by God about some of our entertainment choices, and thus we have been much more careful about the things that we choose to bring into our home.

I am not trying to judge or attack anyone else, and I respect your freedom to read whatever you want. I am simply explaining the reasons that I would not let my children read this book or watch this movie, and I do not have to read it to know that it would not be a positive addition to our library. I just don't buy the theory that any sort of fiction is harmless as long as people realize that it's fiction.

I believe that we can teach our children to think rationally and make intelligent choices and ask questions and learn about history even if they never read The Da Vinci Code or whatever other books/movies we decide would be inappropriate.

Ergo - those of us who would allow our children to read the Da Vinci code do not have high standards?

The thing is, you are going to censor that which your child is exposed too, you decide what is appropriate and what is not . . that's all well and good if you're an extremely broad minded individual but if you're not (and I have no idea which you are) then you will vastly limit your childs opportunities to learn and ask questions. If you don't allow your child to learn and explore on their own then all you will do is create people who parrot whatever the authority figure in their lives tells them.

Edit to add: My husband (bless him) just pointed this out to me, I do censor what my children watch on TV, I don't allow them to watch films which are not appropriate for their age, things which contain violance, sexual scenes and bad language that kind of thing . . however as I'm only censoring because I don't believe they are suitable for 7 and 8 year old children, it goes without saying that as my children get older then I will censor less until they are old enough to decide for themselves.

 

[Sophia7]

Ergo - those of us who would allow our children to read the Da Vinci code do not have high standards?

The thing is, you are going to censor that which your child is exposed too, you decide what is appropriate and what is not . . that's all well and good if you're an extremely broad minded individual but if you're not (and I have no idea which you are) then you will vastly limit your childs opportunities to learn and ask questions. If you don't allow your child to learn and explore on their own then all you will do is create people who parrot whatever the authority figure in their lives tells them.

Edit to add: My husband (bless him) just pointed this out to me, I do censor what my children watch on TV, I don't allow them to watch films which are not appropriate for their age, things which contain violance, sexual scenes and bad language that kind of thing . . however as I'm only censoring because I don't believe they are suitable for 7 and 8 year old children, it goes without saying that as my children get older then I will censor less until they are old enough to decide for themselves.

Yes, I agree completely about age-appropriateness. Obviously, some things that are not appropriate for very young children might be fine for older children. However, people do have different standards about what is appropriate, and mine are admittedly more strict than many people's. There are some things that I believe are simply not good for anyone to read or watch--and there are much worse things than The Da Vinci Code--and as long as my children live in my house, they will not have access to them. Paul said in Romans 16:19, "I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil." My children do not need to be exposed to everything in order to grow up to make intelligent and responsible spiritual and moral decisions. I believe that one of my obligations as a parent is to regulate my children's entertainment options until they are old enough to make good choices on their own. As they get older, they can have more freedom--within certain boundaries. While we may disagree on what those boundaries should be, I think most parents would agree that kids need some limits.

 

[bliz]

There are some things that I believe are simply not good for anyone to read or watch--and there are much worse things than The Da Vinci Code--and as long as my children live in my house, they will not have access to them.

Let us know how that works out for you.