Are They Equally Bad?

[Alice]

If this is too controversial, please delete it right away. Thanks! ^.^

Okay so I was reading this old thread:

http://www.christiananime.net/showthread.php?t=17424&highlight=His+and+Her+circumstances

And several people said on it that you couldn't say that sexual content was worth than violence because they were both sin.

I didn't want to gravedig, but I don't understand that.

To me, violence is much less offensive. Unless you're someone who is tempted to sin in a violent manner because of violence you've seen (and I'm not saying it couldn't happen), then watching violence is different from watching sexual stuff.

Many, many people *are* tempted to sin when they watch sexual content. (And Jesus said sinning in your thoughts is as bad as sinning in real life.)

So maybe the people who wrote that didn't have a problem with sexual temptation, but more so with violent temptation.

But for myself, I didn't understand that line of reasoning at all.

If this isn't something we're supposed to talk about, feel free to lock or delete it.

[termyt]

I think a great deal of the difference is perception. I believe we have serious problems with both violence and sexual misconduct.

The major difference, I believe, is violence has been a common part of daily life for humans for as long as we have existed whereas sex has been something we largely do in private, hidden from others.

I don't know that our perceptions make one worse than the other. Many lives are destroyed by violence - probably more than those destroyed by sex. Both are significant problems, if you ask me.

Which one is worse would depend largely on your own experiences and tendencies.

[Alice]

Oh, I didn't mean in real life. Like they say, all sin is equally sin.

I'm talking about is which is worse to watch.

Fake violence? (Okay, I don't think kids should watch this because they are impressionable and often want to act out what they see and come to think it's normal).

Or sexual content? Even if it is "fake," too, it can cause temptation in the watcher.

That's my thought on the matter.

[Kireihana]

I think violence tends to lead more toward desensitization. Most people aren't really going to go out and run a sword through somebody. Sexual content can be more tricky. Think about it this way: Someone in the manga forum just said that content in Shojo manga seems to be more problematic than shonen content (Shojo seems to get more T+ ratings.) This is at least a reflection of our society's view that sexual content is considered worse than violence; just as in the average action flick gets a PG-13, but if you throw in a lot of sexual content it becomes R.

That doesn't necessarily mean that one has worse effects than the other. I'm sure it is different for each individual.

[cbwing0]

I'm talking about is which is worse to watch.

For most people, watching sexual content is more harmful than watching violent content. There are several reasons for this.

At least for men, visual stimulation is very tempting (If you don't think so, just ask yourself, why do girls dress the way that they do?). Since you are a female, I can see how you would not understand this.

In the same way, watching sexual content is more dangerous, because--unlike violent content--it can actually serve as fuel for temptation and sin. Cases where people see violent images and then commit violent acts are rare; so rare, that they get widespread media attention. In contrast, I would imagine that we can all think of a time when seeing some sexual content made us (to say the least) uncomfortable. It is simply a difference in the way that we are tempted to commit certain sins. Seeing violence desensitizes, while seeing sexual content inflames.

Although I do not know for sure, I would be willing to bet that sexual content is also more widespread in media than violent content. The reason is that, as they say, "sex sell." Sexually suggestive images are ubiquitous in advertising. In anime/manga, people complain about "fanservice." Considering the nature of temptation for most people, the saturation of media with sexual content only makes each image more tempting rather than less.

Keep in mind that I am not offering absolute criteria for judgment, because everyone is tempted differently. In other words: guys, please don't make long (or short) posts about how sexual images do not stimulate you. No one cares, least of all me.

[shooraijin]

Mod note: as long as the thread remains civil, it can stay open.

[Shao Feng-Li]

Pehaps it depends mroe on what glorified... Like if a characvter does sometihng that's sexually imoral and is corrected/told "that's not right"/etc. is different than the character being encouraged and the whoel point of the show making sexual imorality a good thing.

[cbwing0]

I just thought of another reason why sexual content is generally worse than violent content:

While our society has becoming more tolerant of (even encouraging) sexual sin, it has become less tolerant of real-life violence. The fact that society promotes sexual sin makes the sexual content more tempting, and therefore more dangerous.

[Mangafanatic]

For me, it's about what will cause me or others to stumble. I avoid sexuality in manga/anime, because I believe it has more of a potential to plunge people into sin. On the other hand, I have never been tempted to go out and murder people because of seeing violence in manga/anime.

Just my two yen.

[dragonshimmer]

I agree with what Osaka said. I also think it's a matter of conviction...personal conviction. If watching sexual content could cause you or a brother to stumble...maybe it shouldn't be on the plate for you. The same can be said about violence. Personally, I don't have any convictions about violence, but I stay away from things with high sexual content. However, those are due to my personal convictions. I think the same may go for people who think violence is worse.

[Alice]

Yeah, that's pretty much what I thought. And even though girls in skimpy clothing doesn't cause me to sin, it bugs me, so I try to avoid that, too.

Fanservice-type stuff is annoying, isn't it? It feels like they're trying to sell you something, like drugs, that you can't resist if you're addicted, and shouldn't get into if you're not already.

Eh... sorry if that's too off-topic.

[waffo_chick1]

I really think that sex effects the average person more than violence, so it could be considered worse I guess... I would also say that the emotional impact that it can have is much greater than violence, but thats just what I think.....

[Scribs]

As others have said, I belive that sexual content is considerably worse than violence.

There can be reasons in a plot where it is necessary to show violence, but there is no real reason to show sexual content.

[Galant]

I'd argue for people having to be far more careful and restrictive with showing sex than violence even though I think you could argue that in a perfect world, sex would exist and violence would not. Here's why:

1. Public versus private.

2. Difference in nature of effect.

1 - Neither sex nor violence are wrong in themselves, what makes them wrong or right is the context in which you find them. Sex is simple, it has only one valid context and that is marriage. Furthermore, within marriage it is to be a private act, not public. That is, sex should never be seen anywhere beyond in your own life, with your spouse, in private. Within that context, there should be plenty of it!

Violence is a bit more complex. The proper context for it is in stopping or preventing other 'invalid' violence. There is no valid violence without invalid violence. Whilst violence can and does take place in private, that is, you defending yourself with no-one else around, yet if someone were it would be right and dutiful for them to get involved. Point being, that there is something public about the nature of violence. It requires the involvment/reaction of outside parties.

Therefore, whilst sex should never be seen by anyone other than those two spouses taking part, valid violence should be created by someone responding to the invalid.

2 - Sex by nature, and very heavily on the male part, is something that incorporates the visual in the act itself. Seeing a naked body and being affected by it is part of sex, there are physical affects from the visual stimuli - as it should be. Therefore, when sex is shown it starts to create in the person watching a sex response out of context. Both the person(s) displaying and the person(s) watching are participating in the sexual act, in a way that should not occur. It should be private but is in fact public. There should be no such thing as public sex, yet gratuitious displays of flesh/naked bodies and more is perhaps definable as such - public sex.

For violence however, the visual aspect is not something intrinsic to the act. Watching violence is not committing violence in the way that watching sex is participating in it. Seeing violence committed (to oneself or someone else) whilst hopefully prompting one to act, does not have an effect like sex does.

There is however, a watching and enjoying of violence which is wrong - when you see something and fail to act, or you gain pleasure in the pain and suffering of others, which shows that something is corrupt within you. Such corruption, as with many other things, can be bred, and should be avoided.

Watching violence makes you think, how should I act, how should I respond, what's going on, and that thinking should lead to a public act which is valid.

Watching sex forces a response within you, and creates an invalid, public act which may or may not be developed further.

Hope that made some sense.

Violence is a social issue in a way that sex is not, and the natures of the two mean that the act of watching is something very different between the two.

[Fsiphskilm]

To be ho

[Stephen]

It isn't until you go into the villages of Rainforests, where Tribes people, hunt, kill, behead, and skin animals to eat their roasted corpse & stay alive (violence, blood, and gore) that you realize...

You need your troll hunter avatar for that line Volt.

[Ashley]

I think the whole point was both can be equally damaging to your spirit if you ignore the Holy Spirit's promptings about what you should or shouldn't watch. Just because a series has a ton of violence and yet not one single skimpy outfit or sexual innuendo doesn't make it "clean", and vice versa.

In my mind, at least, both are desenitizing and de-gloryfying to God. As a woman, yeah, it's easier for me to write off sexual content, but I have to be aware of it for my brothers in Christ. All in all, it just comes down to listening to the Spirit.

[mitsuki lover]

For me it would sexual content that would be worse because it can lead to
the dehumanizing of a certain group of people(women).When you consider the influence of Playboy,etc. on our society it is a miracle that most men aren't
turning into club carrying troglodytes these days.