Ok. So some people like to have a little chocolate after their meal and some people avoid sugar altogether.
Personally, I like cake. But when I did once watch a (cartoon) video and then went to pray, I found that I couldn't concentrate because I kept seeing this extremely distracting flashing behind my eyes. Clearly for me videos are detrimental to my life mission. I assume that you don't need to exert as much concentration in running as you need to in study and prayer, so for you that may not be an issue.
And I'm not really even saying it's inherently a bad thing to avoid all TV. It's just an example of what I consider extreme religious behavior. Many things with religion blow up into an extremely serious all-or-nothing proposition.
Alternatively, one could say that a sad thing about secularism is its tendency to judge religious doctrine without having any concept of it...
One could say that if it were true, and for some folks I suppose it is. I was raised devoutly Catholic so I know as much as you can know about that doctrine. I maintained a strong interest in religion and studied it in college. I worked for a pretty orthodox Jewish family that did the whole pre-ripping of the toilet paper, set their light timers and all that the night before the Sabbath so they didn't have to do any "work." I currently live in Brookline, MA, home of a large population of Hasidc Jews. I may know more about your doctrine that you think, though I don't claim to be an expert. Still, all I'm judging in what you're telling me, and I find much of it odd and disturbing.
Obviously not all priorities are equal, right?
I guess, but it's a tough pill to swallow when you say you're against TV and movies because it's better to interact socially with your fellow human being, and then learn that you try not to talk, be around, or even look at, women.
Again, trying not to be judgmental, to each his or her own, but that's pretty strange behavior that in my eyes is detrimental to living a normal life. What would you do if you had to work with women to make a living? What about when you're invited to social events? What if you're children marry someone who isn't in your sect?
And besides the appearance of being poorly adjusted socially, you're missing out on lots of wonderful people. So many women I know are smart, strong, inspirational, funny and kind. I'm happy to call many great women my friends, coworkers, running teammates, etc. You're missing out on meeting great people because your doctrine teaches you to shun them, presumably because of some sexual issue. Again, the extreme behavior I mentioned. It's not enough to learn to control lust and sexual feelings...you have to completely cut all women out of your life as much as possible. I just don't see how that can be a good thing overall.
But look, obviously outsider opinion is not a determining factor in what we do. I would even go so far as to say, that there is a strong lack of interest here in conforming, or you might say assimilating with your culture.
And this, perhaps, in a nutshell is the absolute worst thing about religion. All religion, not just your faith. We should all be one happy family. The human race. Religion puts everyone in their own little silos, fearful and distrustful of 'outsiders'. It creates division where there need not be any.
I kind of feel bad because this is derailing the thread and was not meant to.
Yeah but maybe it's a more interesting discussion than how Spotlight the movie was.
