Q.
I know someone who says he doesn’t like to check the movie ratings before he view a movie because he feels that he can tell by the title whether or not the movie will be something that he, as a Catholic, would or would not want to view. He says he has never used the movie ratings as a guide; when he prays, he asks God to help him avoid seeing the things he should not see, and that should be enough.
I know someone who says he doesn’t like to check the movie ratings before he view a movie because he feels that he can tell by the title whether or not the movie will be something that he, as a Catholic, would or would not want to view. He says he has never used the movie ratings as a guide; when he prays, he asks God to help him avoid seeing the things he should not see, and that should be enough.
This person is also engaged, and I happen to know that his fiancée is very disturbed by his thinking on this. She feels that he is leaving himself open to add images to his memory bank that don’t need to be in there in the first place. Isn’t this man being unfaithful to his fiancée in his heart and mind if he does not do all there is to prevent these images of nudity to be added to his mind? Wouldn’t that be something that Satan could use against him?
Fr. Rocky: The person you describe is either naïve or kidding himself. You can’t tell if the movie will have nudity in it just by the title! I once went to a movie with my parents as a kid and the title was fine, but we had to walk out because it turned out to be indecent.
It is important to keep custody of the eyes, because unbridled curiosity can easily arouse lust and lead to sinful behavior. Just look at what happened to King David when he spied on the girl next door!
As for pornography, the Catechism identifies it as “a grave offense” and states “civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornographic materials” (no. 2354).
It is important to keep custody of the eyes, because unbridled curiosity can easily arouse lust and lead to sinful behavior. Just look at what happened to King David when he spied on the girl next door!
As for pornography, the Catechism identifies it as “a grave offense” and states “civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornographic materials” (no. 2354).