Tortured Minds

I do not want to minimize the horrors of the relatively recent prison torture scandals in this post. However, I do want to use it in my comparison with a movie that came out a couple of weeks ago.

Hostel is a movie that appeals to the absolute wickedness of mankind's basest sinful desires. Although I sometimes disagree with Christianity Today's movie guys, I think they do a good job of explaining the horrendous nature of Philip Roth's film. Let this be a reminder to us to strive to live "without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among which you shine as lights in the world" (Philippians 2:15b).

How can this movie have done so well in the theaters (over $36 million in a little more than two weeks)? Isn't this country going through a prison-torture scandal? How can "we" be for a reformed look at how we treat prisoners and yet flock to the theaters like flies to feces to see "horror-porn" trash? I'm not surprised that human nature can stoop this low, just surprised by the conflicting values reflected in our society.

God help us.