{"id":114948,"date":"2020-03-11T00:05:39","date_gmt":"2020-03-11T07:05:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?p=114948"},"modified":"2020-01-24T18:28:37","modified_gmt":"2020-01-25T01:28:37","slug":"prayer-wednesday-a-reader-struggles-with-scruples-about-netflix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2020\/03\/prayer-wednesday-a-reader-struggles-with-scruples-about-netflix.html","title":{"rendered":"Prayer Wednesday : A reader struggles with scruples about Netflix"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Prayer is about the conversation of the soul with God, and that often includes wrestling our consciences before God. Not for nothing is one of the great images in Scripture the strange tale of Jacob wrestling with an angel. Not for nothing is his other name\u2013given by God himself\u2013Israel: He who struggles with God.<\/p>\n

I often hear from readers who are struggling and I often talk with other people about my struggles. That is normal healthy Christian life. Prayer happens in community. The Great Prayer begins Our <\/em>Father, not My <\/em>Father.<\/p>\n

So I thought it might be good to post this conversation for the benefit of others who wrestle with their consciences\u2013and most especially for the benefit of the scrupulous.<\/p>\n

A reader writes:<\/p>\n

I am the person who wrote to you about the Netflix problem last June \u2013 and given the current state of affairs, you can probably already see where this letter is going.<\/p>\n

When I heard of that \u201cparody\u201d Jesus movie \u2013 saw it near the bottom of the \u201ccoming soon\u201d list \u2013 my reaction was pretty much to wait until it\u2019s out, humb it down without watching so I wouldn\u2019t see it again, say a quick prayer for the creators, and try to banish it from my mind completely. Some things are just so dumb and terrible they do not deserve my attention, even of the negative kind, and it certainly looked like one such thing. There is a zillion of other things to watch on Netflix and I was pretty okay with choosing something else to watch (although I ended up only watching maybe one thing since then because life and other issues got in the way) while not touching that movie with a ten-foot pole, letting it gather dust in Netflix\u2019 less popular corners. I just hoped it wouldn\u2019t spark a huge outrage that would backfire and give it free advertising instead. Things like that, it seems to me, are better fought by ignoring them as much as possible instead of giving them publicity.<\/p>\n

Rather predictably, it *did* spark a huge outrage that backfired and gave it free advertising instead. Good luck with asking Netflix to remove a show you helped made popular, folks.<\/p>\n

I tried to ignore the whole thing, knowing it would only increase my anxiety (which has been really bad recently anyway and the last thing I needed was something new to worry about), but, long story short, I failed, and, among other things, I saw that people like me are denounced as lukewarm (at best) and that it\u2019s \u201cclear\u201d that our priorities lie \u201celsewhere\u201d and we don\u2019t care about our faith, and we will regret it.<\/p>\n

Having seen those comments I then tried to forget about them (engaging was not an option, I may be reckless but not *that* reckless). I still remembered uour last letter, the arguments of other people who helped me process the problem back then, and my own reasoning in this particular case, which seemed sound enough: you can\u2019t really stop them from distributing what you deem trash (its existence suggests a market for it, so alas, they\u2019re gonna cater to them), but you can boost the heck of what you think is good in their offer (by watching, rating, sharing opinions, etc.) and thus create a demand for more good stuff instead of leaving the field altogether, reducing your influence.<\/p>\n

But anxiety gonna anx and I am doubting myself again. In part because in this case this movie is a part of their business and not just a side consequence of it. Yeah, it\u2019s a small part, but still. It\u2019s here. I can\u2019t exactly opt out of not having it in my library. I can\u2019t just pay for individual productions, I pay for the whole package \u2013 and according to some it only fuels the argument to ditch it completely, other stuff being good or not, because if I pay for it, I support trash, therefore it\u2019s sinful and treacherous. And step by step I worried myself deeper into anxiety to the point of not being sure if I should receive the Eucharist today at Mass. (FYI, I did. But I still feel antsy about it.)<\/p>\n

In short, do the rules of formal vs material cooperation still apply here? Am I making it too much of an issue than it really is, or am I right to be worried here? I really cannot trust my own judgment now \u2013 I\u2019m way too anxious for this and I keep second-guessing everything I say or do \u2013 so I\u2019d rather ask someone more reasonable for an opinion.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It seems to me that watching something else on Netflix is<\/em> just remote material cooperation.\u00a0 If you went to your local Cinemaplex 2000 to watch Star Wars<\/em> and it was also showing something blasphemous on one of the other 19 screens, why should you feel guilty?\u00a0 You aren\u2019t watching that thing.\u00a0 And would you have to pledge to never go to that theatre ever again?\u00a0 How many theatres would you have to boycott over time?\u00a0 If you go to buy a can of beans at the store and they are selling The Da Vinci Code<\/em> on the cheesy book rack, does make you guilty of shopping at your grocery store? What grocery or bookstore would ever be pure enough to meet such rigorous standards?<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Netflix made<\/em> The First Temptation of Christ<\/em>!\u201d\u00a0 Actually, a Brazilian comedy group made it.\u00a0 Netflix stuck their name on it.\u00a0 Likewise, Martin Scorcese made the blasphemous Last Temptation of Christ<\/em> and Universal stuck their name on it.\u00a0 I think the idea of therefore forever refusing to see anything by Scorcese or Universal ever again as punishment is absurd.<\/p>\n

Turn this around the other way.\u00a0 The very fact that your conscience is so sensitive and you care so very much about trying to please God is itself a huge sign that you are not the hard-hearted sinner you fear you are and the bullies say you are.<\/p>\n

I repeat what I have said before: All these sorts of purity boycotts about remote material cooperation with evil achieve nothing good and much evil.\u00a0 They don\u2019t do anything but draw attention to an evil that nobody would have heard of, as you wisely note.\u00a0 And when imposed on tender consciences by bullies, all they achieve is stoking a power trip for the bully and pointless guilt and fear for the scrupulous victim of the bully.\u00a0 They aren\u2019t even coherent since there are a thousand other corporations remotely (and even directly) involved in all sorts of other evils.\u00a0 But the Righteous are not interested in those, because they don\u2019t have the \u201cLook at me!\u00a0 I\u2019m standing up to those damned Hollywood Liberals\u201d thrill that makes Right Wing Culture Warrior hearts go pitty-pat.\u00a0 You don\u2019t see these people boycotting slave chocolate.\u00a0 Not sexy.\u00a0 But guilting out some innocent who didn\u2019t even watch the film?\u00a0 What a cost-free power trip.<\/p>\n

Nope.\u00a0 Stick with the Church\u2019s teaching on remote material cooperation and don\u2019t let the bullies ride you down.\u00a0 Indeed, feel free to tell some other scrupulous person, \u201cWe don\u2019t have to take this anymore!\u00a0 The Church herself says so!\u201d and explain to the remote material cooperation with evil.\u00a0 Or if you want, just quietly go about your business.\u00a0 But don\u2019t let the bullies beat you up.\u00a0 The gospel is about liberty from puny human rules and silly shibboleths.<\/p>\n

(On a side note, all those cries of \u201cThey wouldn\u2019t dare to make a movie like that about Islam\u201d irk me for a number of reasons, including the fact that Jesus *is actually revered in Islam as a prophet*. I bet you could find quite a few Muslims angry about that movie too.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You are perfectly right.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prayer is about the conversation of the soul with God, and that often includes wrestling our consciences before God. Not for nothing is one of the great images in Scripture the strange tale of Jacob wrestling with an angel. Not for nothing is his other name\u2013given by God himself\u2013Israel: He who struggles with God. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[361,8,1119],"class_list":["post-114948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-lent","tag-mailbag","tag-prayer-wednesday"],"yoast_head":"\nPrayer Wednesday : A reader struggles with scruples about Netflix<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Prayer is about the conversation of the soul with God, and that often includes wrestling our consciences before God. 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