Abhorrence of the Malevolent

How about that title, huh? Don't get too concerned, it's not meant to be too serious, but simply a complicated way to state hatred for all of the evil that is spreading over this spinning globe called Earth. For long-time readers, you may remember my blog from last year titled, "Chainsaws, Corpses & Children" where I discussed the affects of haunted houses, ghosts, demons and all of the other "fun" things that make up this so-called holiday. The blog that followed back in November of last year briefly discussed the movie SAW III that had just come out. Although I've never seen any of the movies in this series, I think it's safe to say that this kind of thing is pure evil that's beginning to completely saturate mainstream life. SAW IV came out this weekend, raking in $32.1 Million. I still sit amazed at this kind of thing, knowing that millions of people line up to be "entertained" by this stuff.

"Well, what is it about?", some of you may be asking. "Is it a documentary about lumberjacks in the mountains of the Northwest?" Not quite. Allow me to fill you in with some rave reviews that were posted this weekend: "Sequences of grisly bloody violence and torture throughout." "A fantastic combination of a warped morality tale - mystery, gore-fest, and torture porn." "The film wastes no time getting down to nasty business, ripping, slicing, gouging, piercing, smashing and tearing every part of the human body."

What? Look, I'm no crazed Christian fanatic that holes himself up in his house, afraid of this evil world and all of it's filth, but come on people! If this kind of thing doesn't bother you, I'd encourage you to seek out why. I know several "Christian" friends that watch this stuff so flippantly as if it's no big deal – just some good fun that's not real anyway. But, I say, if you're a follower of Christ, why in the world would this stuff even interest you? This is not some "what movies would Jesus watch" joke, I believe it's serious. Am I saying to boycott the film industry and picket at the theatres? Of course not. I'm simply saying that it's time we raise our standards and realize, that for those who claim to know Jesus as Lord, our lives are not our own and this kind of thing is created to possess your flesh and rot your spirit.

I guess I'm just sick of it. My wife knows as good as anyone how low my tolerance is for this kind of thing. When I hear of "Christians" going to see this kind of thing, I want to slap them. OK, maybe not slap them, but you get my point. But my desire is to get them to step back and see the root of it all. The way I see it, the more prevalent and acceptable it all becomes, the harder it will be to get blinded eyes open. I believe with everything in me that one day, likely in my lifetime, this kind of thing could be deemed acceptable in real life. Is it really that hard of a stretch? Take a good look at the news, it's everywhere.

Last week my wife and I were in Walmart, walking down the candy aisle and a radio under the shelf was blaring some CD of "scary sounds" that could be heard three aisles away. Chainsaws were buzzing and people were screaming in pain. I was so perturbed that I reached down and unplugged the thing. Someone, please tell me why in the world I would want to listen to sounds that make me envision someone being cut into pieces by a chainsaw! To me, it's absolutely crazy to even talk about it.

So as I did last year, I say Halloween come quickly so that we can forget about you for another year. For all of the believers and followers of Christ out there – this is a call to holiness. Let's leave this garbage behind and follow after the pure, the honorable, the right, the lovely, the good and the worthy of praise (Phil. 4:8).