WE need to
examine ourselves with respect to this issue.
It cannot be denied anymore that there are now more cases
of people,
especially the young, who are badly affected by fiction
stories which
obviously can give us a lot of advantages and pleasures
but can also
inflict serious albeit subtle dangers.
Fiction, of
course, is a good literary form of
story-telling that can lead us to new insights and
vicarious
experiences, teasing our imagination, creativity and
inventiveness. As
such, it is something most welcome in our lives.
We just have to
be most wary of the dangers fiction
stories can also cause. This can happen when the
distinction gets
blurred between the real and the unreal, faith and
reason, the moral
and the immoral, good and evil, right and wrong, true virtue
and vice
and the many caricatures a virtue can have, etc.
Cases of
failing to make these distinctions are
increasing. Many people are more inspired and influenced
by fiction
than by what our faith teaches us. They are guided more
by worldly
values than by faith, hope and charity.
They are more
emotional and temperamental, easily given to
violent knee-jerk reactions, than rational and properly
restrained.
They are guided more by a worldly sense of justice than
by charity,
mercy and compassion.
There are those
whose feet are already off the ground as
they swoon into fantasy land and create a bubble for
themselves, and
so they get harmed as they fall back into reality again.
Some fiction
stories consistently tickle the base passions of men such
that they
can hardly control and regulate their urges. They play
with our
emotions.
Because of
fiction stories, many have lost the sense of
prayer and sacrifice and are simply carried away by
activism, rash
judgments, indiscretions, etc. They are continually
sensually
titillated, while spiritually impoverished.
One’s sense of
self-worth and self-esteem is based more on
worldly pride than on Godly humility. Many fiction
stories fail to
distinguish between what is good fun and what is already
being
frivolous.
We really need
to be more keenly aware of the dangers and
excesses of fiction. We have to do some serious
assessments of the
shows and stories presented on TV, the Internet and the
media in
general, probing into the main interests and motives of
those behind
these shows and stories. There is strong basis to suspect
that they
are more interested in ratings and profits than in the real
common
good of the people.
We cannot
afford to be naïve anymore. Times are getting
complicated and we cannot dismiss the idea that there are
dark forces
who are taking advantage of our complicated times to push
their evil
agenda.
Let’s never
forget that Christ himself warned us to always
be very vigilant, and that we should be clever as
serpents even as we
should also be simple as doves. This is no paranoia. This
is prudence.
We have to learn to do battle with the enemies of God and
of our soul
who may appear to us as sheep when they are actually
ravenous wolves.
the objective dangers of fiction stories and of helping
the subjective
analytical appreciation by people, especially the young,
of these same
fiction stories.
This will take
a lot of effort, but it would all be
worthwhile. Let’s hope that after some time, we can
acquire the skill
and expertise and can truly clarify things insofar as
fiction stories
widely marketed in the media are concerned.
We should not
just be warned about the dangers arising
from sex and violence. We should be more wary of the
dangers that
affect our faith, hope and charity, and the many other
human virtues
flowing from these theological gifts.
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