Is it a sin to watch Horror movies? I admit that I tend to watch them sometimes and actually enjoy watching some of them, of course for entertainment purposes only but lately, I guess you could say that since I decided to recommit my life to Christ, I have been unsure about whether I should keep watching them or not. As much as I enjoy watching some Horror movies, apart of me feels that it's not something that our Lord would approve of and that it would displease God. Are my instincts about Horror movies right or am I just overthinking it?
Dear
Alison;
I read your thread and everyone's posts and can relate to their insights, taking 1 Thessalonians 5:22,
22 Abstain from every form of evil.
Seriously.
When I was 19 I took my girlfriend who was 16 to see The Exorcist. It was rated R but we wanted to see the movie so much that it effected
our "attitude" just to go see it. This is how we exposed
"our" appearance of evil. When I got to the ticket window I showed my ID proving I was old enough to see the movie, but when the ticket lady asked for my girlfriend's ID
I lied and told her we were married. My girlfriend was wearing a wedding ring. The ticket lady believed us and sold me her ticket.
When we gave our tickets to the usher he was laughing under his breath because we got away with it.
I gloated and laughed with him. Not very good in the sight of God.
Back in 1974 The Exorcist was considered "state of the art" for horror movies. Later that night when I was asleep I had "nightmares" of the possessed girl in the movie, but, this is hard to describe, the spirit of satan was in my dream and it was not a good feeling.
The nightmare stayed with me for many years in my 20s. I felt that evil spirits or possession had power over our bodies and God was helpless. I cannot explain why I was that way, then, but my faith grew in my 30s and began to believe that God is Almighty and will empower us to use wisdom to abstain over "everything" evil, even a seemingly harmless spooky movie, and protect us from any form of evil.
My wife has a fear of horror movies and I don't watch them, so instead of doing what I want for entertainment, we'll do what she wants utilizing our energies and oxygen by watching movies like The Book of Matthew, The Gospel of John, Joseph, Fireproof, The Blind Side, Facing The Giants and so on where suffering exists, like the head of John the Baptist getting beheaded and served on a platter, or watching the nails go through Jesus' hands when He was hung on the cross. That is enough to make us
shudder, but in all these movies, even through the context of movies like the Blind Side or Facing The Giants,
Jesus wins.
I confess sounding like no fun and prudish. But let the world beware. I'm prudent for Christ and seek knowledge and discretion, and believe Paul is teaching us in 1 Thessalonians that abstaining from
ALL evil includes our minds.
Being entertained in Christ brings purity, and beats being entertained by a 2 hour horror movie and flirting with evil.
God bless
you, Alison, and your family.