Yes...You Heard Me Right

I’m told I enjoy shocking others when I do or say things, in other words I like shock value. Part of me does an evil chuckle to myself, the kind you hear evil dictators bent on taking over the world make. The other part of me is upset and confused, a little of the “who me?”going on. I’m here to shock you today or some could say get your blood a ‘boilin. Did you know that many people (nearly everyone), yourself included, are voyeurs? The silence comes now. Can you hear the pen drop in the background? I came to this thought after recently watching the TV mini series The Pillars of the Earth based on the book by Ken Follett.

A few things drew me to watch this; One, Rufus Sewell is a great actor and very handsome. Two, I had heard the book was really good. Three, History. Kings and Queens fighting for the crown, the ever enduring “entertainment” of the monarchy, is a period I like reading about and watching. While The Pillars of the Earth was amazing in the context of paying attention to historical detail and a great cast there was a turn-off. Can you guess it? No? Come on yes you can! Oh fine, still upset about the voyeur slam? Sex. It had lots of sex in it. The scenes were not done in good taste. They were so graphic that I had to minimize the screen and take my headphones off (watching movies online, I can’t fast forward).

What was the point of these scenes, hmm...? Why must I and everyone be subjected to such lustful ignitors? There are always the “behind closed doors” romance scenes where they pan away from the couple kissing to waves crashing against the shore. Hello movie maker’s (and authors) we know what’s happening you don’t need to show our imaginations what to imagine! These types of scenes are wrong for us to have playing over and over in our heads and even appearing later on to “haunt” us.

What am I getting at, you might be asking? You the movie watcher or book reader to some degree (you hate to admit it) enjoy and are even fascinated by such scenes. I’ll be honest I can’t claim to be completely guilt free myself. Have you ever looked up voyeur in the dictionary? I hadn’t either before today. Voyeur means: One who is sexually gratified by looking at sexual objects or acts. That definition is from a 1985 edition. When I looked it up in an older dictionary (my beloved 1942 edition) the definition read; One who obtains gratification from seeing sexual objects, acts, or scenes. This definition seems more fitting. Hmm... Then I looked up the synonyms in a 2003 Thesaurus (I’ve yet to find an older edition). Synonyms: Pervert, Spy, Peeping Tom, Watcher. Wow! Pervert? Spy? Watcher? Peeping Tom? Wait though, I then looked up synonyms for pervert. Nouns: Sex Freak, Sadist, Masochist. Verbs: Corrupt, Misuse. Adverbs: Depraved, Twisted, Unnatural. Sex Freak? Corrupt? Misuse? Twisted? Unnatural?

Once we break voyeur down it makes more sense. We tend to chuckle when we hear of someone being a Peeping Tom, a harmless nickname for a truly depraved action. We don’t even begin to think that we are ourselves are guilty of such corrupt things. When we watch a movie or read a book with sexual scenes in them, what are we doing then? What goes on in the bedroom, between a man and a woman, is scared, holy even (in the right context). We tarnish this by gaining our own gratification for the sake of entertainment by watching such things. We become enthralled and can’t take our eyes away. We become voyeurs. We can always point the finger at others when they’re caught with pornography and think of them with disgust, but how much worse are we when what we do is already socially accepted? I’ve had it described to me like this: When we see a train wreak, we just can’t help watching it. Our minds are drawn to the unnatural, to the so called excitement of a horrific act. I’m not sure why, except maybe because we always need the adrenaline rush that these things bring. Maybe we are trying to fill a void that becomes bigger the more we try to fill it with such twisted forms of entertainment. These entertainments unfortunately are becoming increasingly acceptable and thrown at us more. We are becoming, no we are already desensitized. Stop, turn you eyes from the train wreck. Do you want someone watching your death? Worse yet do you want someone watching you in the act of a sacred and private moment? Then why is it okay for you to be a voyeur, whether you’d admit it or not?

People may view me as trying to ram Christianity down their throats and while that prospect is somewhat enticing (evil smile), I’m not. I’ll leave you with this scripture not to bash you over the head, ram down your throat, or some other form of Christian brutality, but to encourage you with wisdom from God's word:

James 1:14 (KJV)
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

Matthew 15:19 (KJV)
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

1 Thessalonians 4:7-8 (KJV)
For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.