Are Children Truly ‘Innocent’?
(See how this topic began at Unholy ‘Wholesomeness.’ Or read the original Feb. 6 Plugged In post.)
Responding to another commentator who referenced protecting children’s innocence:
Children are not innocent. I’m not sure how this myth keeps recurring. (If you do have truly sinless, innocent children, pass a few my way!)
Hollywood is not innocent either. I merely oppose acting as if only one side is guilty.
This may sound offensive, coming from yet another Internet Stranger™. So because that is not my intent, let me point to another internet stranger (a pastor), who authored a piece based on the surest and authoritative Word of Someone we do know: Teaching Story Transitions 2: Your Children Aren’t Yet Saints.
Responding to someone who suggested an earlier commentator didn’t mean her children were actually perfect:
I also think that’s what she meant. Yet I hear the phrase “childhood innocence” repeated so often that I think people really do, in practice and even in belief, end up denying the doctrine of inherent human sinfulness! So I thought I’d say something about that, just in case, especially after [her] questionable “standards for children should apply equally to adults” statement.
Responding to the statement, “Well, I’m sticking 2 Disney films w/ my family!” [sic]:
I think we’ve all seen a few Disney films that are certainly not “safe,” maybe “safer” for discerning adults, but not completely “safe” for children. In one sense, no story or movie is “safe,” just as no human being is “safe.” Not even Christ is “safe,” though He is perfectly good.
Responding to another commentator who tried to clarify the earlier “wholesomeness” statement:
But what I read from [the commentator] up there was something very different from the clarification you wrote: she made a universal statement applying to all media based on “wholesomeness.” By this standard I could not only not read Scripture, but not enjoy fantastic, God-exalting visual storytelling such as The Lord of the Rings. Such an enjoyment is not simply “entertainment”; it is a means of worship and should be taken joyfully-seriously.