I agree with that. But the problem is... it still affects culture good or bad. Whether you are a perfectly same reasonable individual or not, it still affects how we act, dress, interact, etc. Entertainment is entertainment but it also affects us as a society in many different ways. Good & bad & inconsequential.
Anything we do is going to shape us. It's unavoidable.
That does not make him a fundy. It makes him one in a long line of historical predecessors that did the same. A fundy is when people pick & choose Scripture to present a picture that favors their agenda or understanding of things. Out of context. Fr. does none of that & seems quite loyal to the teachings of the Church. So I find that label inappropriate.
Fundamentalist viewpoints don't necessarily have to take the Bible out of context. Some of the things this guy writes are on the Jack Chick level of "oh no the world is falling apart." It doesn't particularly matter if he's Catholic or not.
Scripture speaks of these very things that Fr. is concerned about so it seems Sacred Scripture & Church teaching backs him up. It seems that people like the good Father are getting clumped into the nutbag category because he says things people ought to consider before looking to violence, etc. as a source of entertainment. People will defend their choice of entertainment & be offended quicker by its criticism in light of faith to the point of defending entertainment over faith, That says something.
There is a difference between honest criticism and "you're ensnared by the devil if you crack open a Twilight book." Obviously parents need to be aware of what their children are doing and watching. When I worked at Wal-Mart in high school, this woman with her son (I think it was mother and son anyway) came in to buy Grand Theft Auto. This kid was 10 or younger. I asked her if she was aware of the game's content, and she said no. After I explained to her what was in the game, she didn't buy the game. Parental irresponsibility leads to problems, not the simple existence of things.
Here are some selections from Father Euteneuer in the linked article:
I think that these seductive creatures are simply the spawn of the Harry Potter culture that has for over a decade now been indoctrinating kids to think that the occult world is normal and that all this evil messaging is harmless when dressed up as entertainment. Thats vampire logic and just what the devil wants us to think.
How sad that this generation has been so taken in by those who represent the very antithesis of the core reality of our Faith the Eucharist. Vampire logic is anti-Eucharistic logic, and its very dangerous for our kids. In their obsessive fascination with such darkness, kids (and adults) turn their backs on the One who actually died for them.
Reading Twilight = against the Eucharist? Turns children against Jesus? Really? That's not an honest comparison at all. It's a fringe opinion. It's no better than people who argue that evolution destroys the foundations of Christianity. If your faith is destroyed or perverted by reading a badly-written
fictional (I want to stress that word as much as possible) book about sparkly vampires, you have bigger problems on your hands: bad catechesis, bad formation, etc.
There are admittedly conflicting studies on the psychological role video games play. The current research is not very solid either way, but there is definitely no direct correlation between video games and actual violence. There are many studies however, that do show direct correlation of video games to positive benefits.
Some do. Some develop these issues afterwards. I'm sure you've heard of those addicted to video play, etc. They are setting up rehab programs for that very now.
Yes, and they all have deeper-rooted problems than just playing a video game. Their minds are
not in normal balance; such is the nature of addiction.
Neither is a blase attitude. I've never watched the Twilight Saga. Does not interest me. But I am defending Fr. Euteneuer's right to voice these things in light of faith. Afterall, his thoughts are the OP not mine.
He can voice his opinion if he wants. It's a free Internet. That doesn't mean he's immune from criticism though.
So no, I don't take it personally until words such as 'inane' are used when we discuss heroic virtues versus the heroic evil villain & how people become attracted to the twisted. Or when I bring up another situation I brought up about those attracted to criminals & you are wondering what it has to do with the subject when OP's are decimated every day by someone's own personal bugaboo or pet complaint as a form of habit.
I saw the comparison. So sue me.
The only relevance that I see with your criminal attraction example is that it demonstrates that these problems are deeper-rooted than being directly caused by franchise X that Fr. Euteneuer doesn't like/disagrees with. People attracted to criminals that don't reform have psychological problems--maybe an abusive childhood, or maybe one of their parents was in prison for a long time so they assume it's normal.
The factors involved in such a situation (particularly the one you described) are far more numerous and complex than simply being exposed to a franchise with minor fictional occultic elements. Our prison system is absolutely terrible at attempting to reform criminals. It continually reinforces the wrongness of the crime, rather than attempting to deliver the justice required and then turn the prisoner into someone who can be productive in society. The prisoners only get reinforced about how they're bad, and how they can never amount to anything.
Then they're released. They know, courtesy of the US justice system, that they'll never be able to reintegrate into society so they turn right back to a line of crime. Or, they have mental problems. A person who slaughters an entire family is psychotic, and we can attribute that to a failure of the justice system and psychologists to identify that problem.
The life and personality of the woman, the life and personality of the man, and the state of our justice/medical systems are the prime factors in your example. This is why your example actually reinforces my point, and not your own. Our interactions with people and our environment are the prime factors in any case like this. These fictional books do not beam concentrated Evil into our brains and make us turn from the Eucharist. Weak faith, lack of religious education, and parental irresponsibility are what cause people to fall away from the faith.
How can this BE?! Video games YOU FAILED ME!!!
