Why John Piper Doesn't Watch TV and Rarely Goes to Movies

"I have a high tolerance for violence, high tolerance for bad language, and zero tolerance for nudity. There is a reason for these differences. The violence is make-believe. They don’t really mean those bad words. But that lady is really naked, and I am really watching. And somewhere she has a brokenhearted father."

This quote is from the most recent email mailing from Desiring God, in which John Piper responded to a question of why he doesn't watch t.v. and rarely watches movies. His answer was much longer, and included other reasons. But this quote leapt off the page at me. It is the direction my heart has been going lately. I am finding more and more aversion to watching any nudity or sexual content in movies. (I don't watch TV on a regular basis, except for The Office or on DVD, like Arrested Development, LOST or Heroes). Violence doesn't bother me, because like Piper said, it isn't real and it doesn't make me want to go crash a car into a helicopter or stab someone with a katana. "Language" doesn't bother me either, because it's all around us. It is just words. Someone can say the "f-word" as an adjective about how unbelievably cool something is (or they could have just said how unbelievably cool it was...) and it doesn't bother me, but if someone calls someone else fat or ugly... THAT bothers me. It is all about the intention behind what is spoken. The word might hold vulgar connotations, and I can understand that, but on the whole, language is just words, and I'm not tempted to say something derogatory about someone else when I hear bad language.

But Piper's quote is money. Nudity and sex affect men in ways that those other things don't. I like how straight-forward Piper is about it: "But that lady is really naked, and I am really watching." It is sad that our culture is so blinded to the power of sex and the beauty of women. I think it is good for us, as Christians, to really consider what we watch and evaluate its benefit to us spiritually. I have found over the course of the past couple of years especially, that it is easier to walk with a clear conscience if I avoid putting that kind of stuff in front of my eyes.