Why I’ve decided to say “NO” to The Walking Dead

Why I’ve decided to say “NO” to The Walking Dead

Several months ago, I found myself with a very rare opportunity to sit and relax for an entire Saturday. I had many books that I could have read, and many cleaning projects that I could have worked on, but with my constantly busy life, the only appealing option was a day in bed with Netflix. I just wanted to do what many of us would refer to as “turning my brain off” for a little while. Although I have since realized how gross a misperception that phrase really is.

I digress… so that lazy Saturday, after browsing through a variety of unappealing choices on Netflix, I stumbled across Season 1 of The Walking Dead. I had never seen the show, and I have never been one to enjoy zombie movies. What compelled me, then, to watch The Walking Dead? I honestly have no idea, but I felt compelled to watch the first episode. 

If I like it, I thought, I can watch the whole season today! 

Yes, I literally had planned to stay in, order take -out, and watch Netflix ALL DAY. 

Still in my pajamas, I got myself cozy and settled down into Episode 1. It didn’t take long for me to learn who the core survivalists would be and I quickly became engrossed in the storyline and developed my list of favorite characters… Rick, Glenn and Dale. Hours later, I found myself breezing through the episodes, ignoring the creepiness of the zombies and paying close attention to the character development.  

Who would make it? Who would crack? What will happen next? Will they ever find a safe place to rest? Did that person have to be bit? 

 I didn’t quite finish the entire first season that day, but I did soon after and I officially considered myself a “fan” of the series. I was oh-so eager for Netflix to post the episodes for Season 2. 

Alas, just before the premier of Season 3, Netflix gave in and posted Season 2 in its entirety. This was no doubt an effort on AMC’s behalf to increase its viewer potential by reaching out to Netflix viewers and posting their entertaining second season along with a “must see what happens next” cliffhanger finale. Similar to my first season viewing history, I watched the entirety of Season 2 in short order.

And then… I was ready for Season 3…

So what’s the problem? This all sounds fine and normal, right?  A busy woman taking a day once a year to sit and enjoy some entertainment and suddenly finds herself engrossed in a very suspenseful, entertaining, albeit gory, hit Series. A zombie here, a zombie there, slews of zombies everywhere and one very interesting group of characters. Well, is it really OK? By the title of this entry, I am sure that you have figured out that my final conclusion has been “No. It is not OK.” Not for me.

And here’s why…

The truth is that I really didn’t question watching this show until after I watched the first episode of Season 3, when “turning my brain off” proved not to be what I thought that it was, after all. You see, as most of us know, we have this little thing called a subconscious mind. While having been studied for a long, long time, there is still much about the subconscious mind that eludes us. And one of the most elusive features is, perhaps, the correlation between our conscious minds, our subconscious minds, and our dreams. 

Being a big dreamer, whether awake or sleeping, I tend to normally have some foggy semblance of what my dreams consist of; but on occasion, I remember my dreams quite vividly. The night after I watched the Season 1 Premiere of The Walking Dead, I had a dream. It was a very vivid dream and one that involved zombies, a group of strangers, an odd farmhouse, and a child.  While I will spare the full details of this horrific dream, in short, it involved much panic, violence and a very unexpected reaction from me which led me to wake up in a very disturbed state. I found myself checking my surroundings for any dead-moving creatures. It was very alarming and disturbing that this show had settled into unseen corners of my mind and produced my own fictitious episode of gore on the drive-in screen of my dreams.

After stirring over this for a while, I talked it over with a good Christian friend of mine and told him about the dream. He, too, was troubled about it. And it was an interesting time for such a conversation since we had both just discovered that we each partook in watching the show. Then, only a day or two later, he told me that he also had a very troubling, violent dream. And he was certain that it was a direct result of watching The Walking Dead.

We discussed the issue, and each prayed about it. Our spirits were stirring and our consciences were bubbling over with warning. It should have been a simple answer at that point, but the truth is, I think that we both really still wanted to watch the show at that point, anyway. The looming “but what will happen next” is a snaring hook. And it certainly can be a sinker for Christians. 

Rather than immediately calling off the show, my friend and I collected varying viewpoints, and even pondered well-written scholarly articles (even one that was written by a Christian pastor!!) arguing for the entertainment value of the show over the disturbing gore and thematic material, not to mention the show’s persistent use of curse words and repeated offenses against the Lord’s Name. The Christian pastor argued that Christians could filter out the negatives and still enjoy the show’s content.

At first read, I thought that it was a very interesting article with many good points. I agreed to a degree, with caveats… then the longer I prayed and pondered, the more I shifted from agreement with the article. And I read it again. And the second time, I didn’t agree with the article… at all.

Here is a link to the article if you care to read it: http://sbcvoices.com/gods-grace-draws-me-to-the-walking-dead/

And here is my take on the whole situation: 

Only God can instruct each person to do that which is appropriate for his or her conscience, walk, and maturity. We are all different and we have various weak points in our lives and in our spiritual armor. We have varying levels of spiritual maturity, and thus, God would have us apply discretion in accordance with our reliance on Him and particular callings. So while it MIGHT be possible for one person to watch that show without any negative implications on his or her subconscious mind (although I seriously doubt it), another might struggle greatly in aspects that are personal to their own struggles, weaknesses, or lack of faith. More importantly, regardless of whether the content tangibly affects a person’s subconscious mind (i.e., by producing dreams or thoughts or behaviors), each person is being subjected to a wide variety of immoral behavior (cursing, using the Lord’s Name in vain, fornication, violence, etc.). That kind of exposure is dangerous for ANY Christian who is looking to live a PURE and BLAMELESS life before the Lord.

Yes, it is true that we have no choice but to live in a world where many evils exist, but in the pursuit of Holiness, we are called to REJECT that which is unglorifying to God, to purify ourselves before His Throne and fill up on fruitful goodness for all the days of our lives. While a truth-seeking Christian might claim to see beyond the lies and filter the unglorifying aspects of the show (or any other show for that matter), it is only a matter of time before the initial shock of evil wears off and viewers are disarmed by it, numbed to it, and even invited to enjoy it. 

There are so many dangerous arguments that one can make for inviting such temptation in. The article that I mentioned above spoke about viewing the situations in the show as a sort of spiritual preparation for making Godly decisions in comparable real-world scenarios (hrm… I certainly hope there will never be a real-world depiction of that show!). While at first glance, this may appear to be a valid argument, on closer inspection, I think that it is missing a key spiritual component: the fact that Scripture already contains the entire lesson plan for our lives. There is nothing that we may encounter in this lifetime that God did not address in His Word. Regardless of the fact that "times change," God's Word does not. And in being as omniscient a God as He is, He already knew what our era would look like and His Word is just as applicable to our day as it was when Jesus walked the earth.

What God revealed to me is that while life experience is valuable for growing us, the evils before us should be limited to that which we cannot avoid in seeking to do God's Will: In leading others to Christ. Anything in excess of this is needless temptation. True, God allows us to walk our path and make our own choices as to what we see and do. We are going to encounter evils on a regular basis... but in choosing to watch a show that we KNOW will contain many evils, are we choosing a path of purity or choosing to set more obstacles before us, and assuming that our spiritual armor is strong enough to deflect the blows? While God's armor is certainly impenetrable, we, as humans, are weak and so very susceptible to temptation and more goes on in our subconscious minds than we can begin to understand.

If we are truly seeking to live spotless lives, then we have to remember that we are not here for the “sweet life.” We are here for the harvest. Life should not be treated like a glass of orange juice: taking part in the sweetness of the juice (pleasures) while trying to squeeze out as much of the pulp (evil) as we can. Life for us Christians is not a call to selfish indulgence. Nor is it a call to lazy Saturdays. While I will never say that a full day of rest is a bad thing, what we do with that day of rest is a clear depiction of how surrendered we are to Christ. Our moments here on this earth are limited… may each be spent on future investments in God’s Kingdom.

In all of this, I’ve been very humbled by God’s gentle direction and forgiveness in my momentary lapse of judgment.  God already knew before I was born that I would eventually question this, and He already had answers prepared for me long, long ago. What an awesome God we serve!  And others before us struggled with the same things. While it may not have been The Walking Dead, it was some other show, or place, or activity, or decision. And God's Truths still remain today.

“The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The Testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The Statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandments of the Lord are pure, enlightening the eyes. The Fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The Judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.” (Psalm 19:7-9)

Sigh…it all boils down to this for me: I love God so very, very much. I want to be pure and blameless before Him and I want everything that I do to be in His honor. I want to know that He is smiling on His throne while watching me. And whether something is clearly right or clearly wrong, I strongly believe that it’s better to avoid doing something that I’m not sure is wrong rather than continuing to do something that I’m not sure is right. In this regard I’ve heard enough to know that for me, watching The Walking Dead is wrong. And I will pay much more attention to the strumming of my spirit when deciding what to do with my rare sleepy Saturdays.

-M