What kind of heroes do our sons have? Do we help them apply Christian principles to their entertainment? What about ourselves?

Dr. Albert Mohler of Southern Baptist Seminary has a review of the book behind this summer’s movie, Public Enemies. He observed that stories about crime, criminals, and police work form much of our entertainment and news coverage, and offers this response:

From a Christian worldview perspective, this is actually quite understandable. Our Creator gifted us with a moral sense and the capacity of conscience. At some very early age, sin becomes an active part of our consciousness. As we grow older, we grow more and more aware of our own capacity for wrongdoing. The spectacular evil represented by notorious criminals becomes a fascination hard to resist. This can be healthy if a closer look at crime and criminality brings greater moral discernment and deeper insight into the reality of human depravity. On the other hand, a preoccupation with criminality can reflect a fascination with evil that must never be granted.

He points out that because many Depression-era Americans blamed the banks for their difficulties, the first notorious bank robbers were painted as Robin Hood characters (which, by the way, is a problematic story on its own merits). It was only when the public was shocked by crime-related violence that they recognized the true nature of the new criminal class: thieves, thugs and murderers.