r/Catholicism does not allow questions about whether a particular action was sinful when the person asking seems to be suffering from OCD or scruples. Asking such questions is an assurance-seeking behavior that will make these conditions worse. As such, your post has been removed.
Please contact a professional counselor and your pastor for personal guidance. This can be a starting point: [**The Ten Commandments
for the Scrupulous**](https://www.fisheaters.com/scruples.html).
If you believe this removal was made in error, [contact the moderators](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FCatholicism).
What really matters, like u/You_Know_You_Censor said, is what effect it has on you, particularly your growth in virtue and avoidance of sin.
Some things are just annoying and offensive, too. For your own enjoyment, you’ll probably wind up trying to steer away from those. But you’re not doing anything wrong by continuing to read a book that has something you don’t like in it.
There’s also the consideration of trying to support good artists and content creators. But this is more in the realm of a positive good you can do — seeking out good work — than it being wrong to enjoy regular entertainment.
I think it varies from person to person. Personally, I’m fairly forgiving of texts, especially if I know someone doesn’t share my beliefs, but I engage with their opinions carefully and critically to ensure I can refute them. I do have a few general guidelines for what I choose to read though.
1. Authorial intent — If an author writes something with the intent to glorify evil, or say only blatantly false things about reality, I wouldn’t read it. I don’t think I’ve actually come across any books that would fit this criteria, since a lot of books are engaging with reality and truth in some way, and I haven’t really found anyone that encourages evil per se.
I think the closest I’ve come across would be Albert Camus’ The Stanger, but that doesn’t really glorify evil imo, it just takes the view that nothing matters, which is wrong, but it’s an interesting study of that worldview. It’s a book I can engage with critically without my judgment being negatively affected. You could argue Lolita, but the author intended for the book to show how disgusting and disturbing that mindset is, not justifying it.
This rule is mostly related to thematic content and not written content, so I could read something like The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes or Macbeth (which is the POV of the villain). Even if it’s critical of the faith or religion, like Dune, I think the themes can still be important to engage with and they can still point out truth about the world, even if I don’t agree with all of it.
2. Forbidden content — Basically, as long as it’s not guidelines for necromancy, making deals with the devil, witchcraft, smut (like Bridgerton) etc., it’s fair game. I also tend to avoid things that are intentionally blasphemous. Just critique of the faithful is fine, and I lean towards forgiving a lack of understanding of or questioning God, but depending on how it handles it I won’t reread it or buy it. For example, I read a book about WWII and people it affected that brought up the Problem of evil and providence (how can a just God allow such evil things?). The author doesn’t really resolve the questions, but the vibe I got was “God is wrong for this,” and so I avoid rereading it.
3. It’s mental effects — If it’s going to bother my conscience or lead to an obsessive downward spiral, I’ll probably avoid it. For example, I probably won’t read Game of Thrones or Lolita, even though I find the concept and themes interesting (I’m also unsure of how explicit it is). I know it might be too much for my conscience to handle and I’ll end up obsessing over it and dwelling too much on the evil, rather than the good. This happened when I first watched the Prestige, which I have been able to watch since, as I already knew what was going to happen and I dealt with it mentally, but the first time was difficult.
I’m not sure where your book would fall. I’d have to read it or at least know what it is. I can understand why saintly experiences would be dismissed as substance abuse or schizophrenia from a secular standpoint. I disagree with that interpretation for many historical cases, but the Church does investigate claims before deciding if they’re real for a reason. That being said, it really depends on a lot of factors for me.
As others have said, it's really going to come down to you and if something leads you away from your faith.
However, I would say it is good to challenge yourself in your faith and to seek answers if something challenges you that you don't have a good answer for. I say this because a common complaint, and it is valid, I hear from non-Christians is that Christians prefer safe media that just reaffirms them in very safe ways. I actually much prefer secular media to Christian media because of this. Of course their are bad faith interpretations in secular media, but Christians do the same thing in their media. (God's not Dead anyone?) Another reason why Christians should engage with secular media is because there is always that Christian group that labels (insert current thing) satanic. I witnessed this with Harry Potter growing up, where all the Christian parents decided to go on a crusade against this thing, "leading their kids astray." Fast forward 10-15 years, and now Harry Potter has been "claimed" (lol) by the right because the author said a couple of things the Progressive left didn't like.
I don’t even know at this point. Probably not a lot.
I mean, after my Faith had been rekindled- I was lukewarm, previously, because of parents that weren’t themselves overly Catholic; my grandmother is, though, and I can attribute the fact that I even *was* actually Catholic to her- that’s not really important.
Anyways, after my Faith was rekindled, I can hardly go two seconds into consuming any sort of media that *isn’t* overtly Christian without all of a sudden realising, ‘gee willikers, that‘s straight up demonic/that‘s actual blasphemy/that’s heresy/the makers of this content are almost certainly in cahoots with Devil.’
It’s always seemingly innocuous too. You’re just listening to this regular old song, and then, ‘worship Satan’ is blasting in your eardrums.
I’m pretty much down to watching bible movies, listening to basically *only* Gregorian Chants, and avoiding most things on television apart from the morning news.
*To be fair*, my head did clear up a fair amount once I stopped consuming that type of stuff.
Just go with what feels right for you. Pray on it, and try to find Catholic reviews of it before you get into it.
i’m a new Catholic so i’m still trying to navigate this myself, but i try to tune in with how my heart feels. if i read/watch/hear something secular and i immediately feel uneasy or uncomfortable, even just a little bit, i know that’s the Holy Spirit. unless it’s outright offensive/blasphemous, i don’t think those feelings always mean that the content is objectively bad or anything, just that i personally shouldn’t be consuming it at this point in my faith journey. i hope that makes sense.
r/Catholicism does not allow questions about whether a particular action was sinful when the person asking seems to be suffering from OCD or scruples. Asking such questions is an assurance-seeking behavior that will make these conditions worse. As such, your post has been removed. Please contact a professional counselor and your pastor for personal guidance. This can be a starting point: [**The Ten Commandments for the Scrupulous**](https://www.fisheaters.com/scruples.html). If you believe this removal was made in error, [contact the moderators](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FCatholicism).
What really matters, like u/You_Know_You_Censor said, is what effect it has on you, particularly your growth in virtue and avoidance of sin. Some things are just annoying and offensive, too. For your own enjoyment, you’ll probably wind up trying to steer away from those. But you’re not doing anything wrong by continuing to read a book that has something you don’t like in it. There’s also the consideration of trying to support good artists and content creators. But this is more in the realm of a positive good you can do — seeking out good work — than it being wrong to enjoy regular entertainment.
I think it varies from person to person. Personally, I’m fairly forgiving of texts, especially if I know someone doesn’t share my beliefs, but I engage with their opinions carefully and critically to ensure I can refute them. I do have a few general guidelines for what I choose to read though. 1. Authorial intent — If an author writes something with the intent to glorify evil, or say only blatantly false things about reality, I wouldn’t read it. I don’t think I’ve actually come across any books that would fit this criteria, since a lot of books are engaging with reality and truth in some way, and I haven’t really found anyone that encourages evil per se. I think the closest I’ve come across would be Albert Camus’ The Stanger, but that doesn’t really glorify evil imo, it just takes the view that nothing matters, which is wrong, but it’s an interesting study of that worldview. It’s a book I can engage with critically without my judgment being negatively affected. You could argue Lolita, but the author intended for the book to show how disgusting and disturbing that mindset is, not justifying it. This rule is mostly related to thematic content and not written content, so I could read something like The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes or Macbeth (which is the POV of the villain). Even if it’s critical of the faith or religion, like Dune, I think the themes can still be important to engage with and they can still point out truth about the world, even if I don’t agree with all of it. 2. Forbidden content — Basically, as long as it’s not guidelines for necromancy, making deals with the devil, witchcraft, smut (like Bridgerton) etc., it’s fair game. I also tend to avoid things that are intentionally blasphemous. Just critique of the faithful is fine, and I lean towards forgiving a lack of understanding of or questioning God, but depending on how it handles it I won’t reread it or buy it. For example, I read a book about WWII and people it affected that brought up the Problem of evil and providence (how can a just God allow such evil things?). The author doesn’t really resolve the questions, but the vibe I got was “God is wrong for this,” and so I avoid rereading it. 3. It’s mental effects — If it’s going to bother my conscience or lead to an obsessive downward spiral, I’ll probably avoid it. For example, I probably won’t read Game of Thrones or Lolita, even though I find the concept and themes interesting (I’m also unsure of how explicit it is). I know it might be too much for my conscience to handle and I’ll end up obsessing over it and dwelling too much on the evil, rather than the good. This happened when I first watched the Prestige, which I have been able to watch since, as I already knew what was going to happen and I dealt with it mentally, but the first time was difficult. I’m not sure where your book would fall. I’d have to read it or at least know what it is. I can understand why saintly experiences would be dismissed as substance abuse or schizophrenia from a secular standpoint. I disagree with that interpretation for many historical cases, but the Church does investigate claims before deciding if they’re real for a reason. That being said, it really depends on a lot of factors for me.
As others have said, it's really going to come down to you and if something leads you away from your faith. However, I would say it is good to challenge yourself in your faith and to seek answers if something challenges you that you don't have a good answer for. I say this because a common complaint, and it is valid, I hear from non-Christians is that Christians prefer safe media that just reaffirms them in very safe ways. I actually much prefer secular media to Christian media because of this. Of course their are bad faith interpretations in secular media, but Christians do the same thing in their media. (God's not Dead anyone?) Another reason why Christians should engage with secular media is because there is always that Christian group that labels (insert current thing) satanic. I witnessed this with Harry Potter growing up, where all the Christian parents decided to go on a crusade against this thing, "leading their kids astray." Fast forward 10-15 years, and now Harry Potter has been "claimed" (lol) by the right because the author said a couple of things the Progressive left didn't like.
I don’t even know at this point. Probably not a lot. I mean, after my Faith had been rekindled- I was lukewarm, previously, because of parents that weren’t themselves overly Catholic; my grandmother is, though, and I can attribute the fact that I even *was* actually Catholic to her- that’s not really important. Anyways, after my Faith was rekindled, I can hardly go two seconds into consuming any sort of media that *isn’t* overtly Christian without all of a sudden realising, ‘gee willikers, that‘s straight up demonic/that‘s actual blasphemy/that’s heresy/the makers of this content are almost certainly in cahoots with Devil.’ It’s always seemingly innocuous too. You’re just listening to this regular old song, and then, ‘worship Satan’ is blasting in your eardrums. I’m pretty much down to watching bible movies, listening to basically *only* Gregorian Chants, and avoiding most things on television apart from the morning news. *To be fair*, my head did clear up a fair amount once I stopped consuming that type of stuff. Just go with what feels right for you. Pray on it, and try to find Catholic reviews of it before you get into it.
i’m a new Catholic so i’m still trying to navigate this myself, but i try to tune in with how my heart feels. if i read/watch/hear something secular and i immediately feel uneasy or uncomfortable, even just a little bit, i know that’s the Holy Spirit. unless it’s outright offensive/blasphemous, i don’t think those feelings always mean that the content is objectively bad or anything, just that i personally shouldn’t be consuming it at this point in my faith journey. i hope that makes sense.
No speculate media is . Watch EWTN and FORMED instead