Christian Censorship?

Having you heard about Christian movie rental companies who are offering edited movies to appease Christian sensibilities? My opinion: Taking out the "iffy" parts of movies for a Christian audience is a ridiculous endeavour. Comments have been published that even G-rated movies have stuff like "evil" and "sexual innendo". The question I would ask is what rating would you give the Bible? You don't have to look too far in the Bible to find evil, and we're way beyond innuendo here.

Truth is hard. Sin can be fun, but immorality has consequences. Denying either is wrong, and how are you possibly going to tell those stories without "going there"? I don't care about the legal ramifications, the issue of censorship, or even staying true to the creator's original intent. I'm stuck on the squeamishness of Christians. I've heard people say things like "It was a great movie, but it had nudity." And I've heard others say "If it has nudity, how could it be great?" Both perspectives dodge the important questions. Is the story true? Or, if you prefer: Is it honest? Equally, is it important? And finally, is it told well? If those criteria are satisfied, then I strongly assert that the rest simply doesn't matter!

On a slightly different tack, I'm glad that films like Hotel Rwanda and The Passion of the Christ are out there. I think they are important stories that the world needs new awareness of. They are (mostly) honest. I also have a pretty good sense that they have been told well. But I've chosen not to watch them. They are just too close to home. Everyone has to draw his own line. To say that I would watch a tamed-down version to avoid the soul-pain seems like an odd cop out.

Frankly, it all comes down to one question: Are you invested in participating in culture, or do you just want to be stultified by it? If culture is just for entertainment, then Christians have nothing to offer it. And it has nothing to offer them.