Procrastination, Hobgoblins & Violence

A wise professor once said to me (well, to my class, but I was there, so it was totally to me),

Procrastination trades a sense of satisfaction for a sense of relief.

I've been procrastinating for long enough that no matter what I write down at this point, I'll be relieved for having updated this blog. Other than my tendency to procrastinate, the other stumbling block for updating is the fact that I'm a grad student. In graduate school, we learn how to back up everything we say with footnotes and citations and blah blah blah. So now, even on the Internet, I have this nagging fear that I'll say something that someone will challenge me on and I won't be able to back it up and for some reason that terrifies me. So I'll take another quotation to heart:

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. ~ Emerson

I guess what I mean is, I'm nowhere near 100% on most of what I write here, so feel free to call me on my stuff, and I'll feel free to change my mind.

That out of the way, I've been thinking about a lot of things I'd like to write about, but due to time constraints, I'll just throw out something I wrote while doing my reading for my Faith and Film class this week. Let me know what you think:

Violence in video games and movies and gaming does not reinforce a belief that violence is good by themselves. Children and adults are not formed only by the media which they consume and in which they participate. This is precisely why the church needs to engage with these forms of culture, to examine them and to see them for what they are. Not only that, but the church is also responsible then for teaching and reinforcing what is good. If the only voice a young person hears is the one that is based on Hollywood conventions and capitalist calculations, then that is the voice that they will hear. But if they are learning how to live a life of love from their families, from schools, and from the church, they will also gain the skills necessary to make the right decisions in their own lives. When confronted by a situation in real life where violence is an option, they will then have the tools they need to act as people of faith in the world.

Violence portrayed in popular culture is often redemptive violence - a direct contradiction to the non-violent resistance proclaimed and lived by Jesus. So does this redemptive violence play a role in our spiritual development in any way? Or is it just so much chaff we should let blow away from our lives? Does it matter if we participate in it, or is it just harmless fun?