Is it Ok to read magazines?

[DaughterofKing]

I LOVE those magazines, you know the ones, the ones in the supermarket with the lattest celebrity story on the cover....but is it wrong to read such stuff?

[Floatingaxe]

I LOVE those magazines, you know the ones, the ones in the supermarket with the lattest celebrity story on the cover....but is it wrong to read such stuff?

It very well could be--when we feast our eyes on lies, we are lending them to Satan. The call of glamour is a very enticing one--but these people are depraved, for the most part...they worship the god of mammon, and temporal pleasure and fame! Gossip is a sin. What has Godliness to do with such things? It is a waste of time, and a waste of the resources that God wants to use for His glory.

[Kabowd]

Garbage in = Garbage out

[mikado5001]

Please to be sure that you are not reading them in the store. They are not a lending library.

Seriously it's not bad bad. But why waste your time with that trash.

[DaughterofKing]

Cause I really enjoy reading them and being in the know!

[JustinM]

I keep telling my wife that. I always ask her, why are their lives so interesting? Who cares who they are dating, what they bought or who they broke up with. How many unwed celebrity mothers do we have now anyway? But, my wife loves those magazines and I can't convince her to read something else.

I think women are just naturally drawn to human relations. I doubt there are very many men that read those magazines, we couldn't care less about who is with who, who just bought a yacht, who just broke up with who, who just bought a multi-million dollar home, etc. We're just not interested.

Personally, I believe nothing good or productive comes from reading those magazines. People should be more attentive to their own relationships than they are to a stranger's.

[jeffnevins]

Please to be sure that you are not reading them in the store. They are not a lending library.

Seriously it's not bad bad. But why waste your time with that trash.

Reading Time, Newsweek, etc. for a minute's OK if you're waiting in line. It's a sign they should keep the lines going quicker (open more registers). Bookstores allow browsing as well.

But I agree that people who get paid to make tabloids are an insult to job-seekers.

[StewartP]

I keep telling my wife that. I always ask her, why are their lives so interesting? Who cares who they are dating, what they bought or who they broke up with. How many unwed celebrity mothers do we have now anyway? But, my wife loves those magazines and I can't convince her to read something else.

I think women are just naturally drawn to human relations. I doubt there are very many men that read those magazines, we couldn't care less about who is with who, who just bought a yacht, who just broke up with who, who just bought a multi-million dollar home, etc. We're just not interested.

Personally, I believe nothing good or productive comes from reading those magazines. People should be more attentive to their own relationships than they are to a stranger's.

Justin - would this be one of those "grey" areas?

We need some definitive guidance here please, backed up by scripture, of course.

I'm only teasing, I understand fully your points in the other thread re: moral relativism. I just don't feel it's that simple. This magazine question is obviously on the far end of a scale, the other end of which is more clear cut stuff like murder, assault etc.

Back on topic - Magazines. Well, much of it is "pulp" isn't it. The equivalent of "pop" music. It passes the time, but doesn't actually tech you anything, enlarge your experience of the world or stretch your brain much. It doesn't do much harm, I guess but there are probably better things you could spend your money on. If I had to choose betwee subscribing to "Stars Tell All" or "National Geographic" I know which I'd choose.

(edited for typos)

Edited October 12, 2006 by StewartP

[Kabowd]

Cause I really enjoy reading them and being in the know!

Why? That's what you need to ask yourself. Why are you concerned about these people's lives? Why are they any more significant than your neighbor or co-worker or anyone else in your community? What is it you want to "know"?

I'll admit, sometimes it's tempting to look at those things because they are enticing. But then I stop myself and realize that the secular world is fishing for people to "hook" with their vain, humanistic philosophies and these types of magazines are what they use for "bait". They want to tell me what they think is important, they want to tell me what they think is beautiful, they want to tell me what they think is newsworthy, and they want me to buy it, believe it and adopt these views because it gives them more power, more money and more influence.

I don't care how much Nicole Ritchie weighs or who Lindsay Lohan was seen eating lunch with last week. I don't care if Eva Longoria looks better in her dress than Jessica Simpson looked in hers. Why? Because as soon as I care (when I allow my curiosity to win and I pick up the magazine), something happens:

1. I've validated their claim (which is implied, not stated) that they are the authority on what is good, right, newsworthy, valuable, beautiful, etc.

2. I've invited them to impose their views on me.

3. I've agreed with them that materialism, hedonism, and humanism are more important to me than the values I hold as a believer.

Most, if not all, of these types of magazines promote a philosophy and worldview that is directly opposed to the values we should hold as believers. Images of women barely clothed, comparing bodies, glorifying promiscuous sex, etc....all of those things defile what God designed. Instead of looking at pictures of girls in their swimsuits and judging their bodies, we should look at them and realize that they were created in God's image and feel sympathy and compassion over how they've chosen to lead their lives and burdened about how they've allowed themselves to be used and abused in such ways. Our hearts should ache with the realization that most of these people who cover the pages of these magazines are probably lost, hopeless and perhaps unaware that they are far more valuable than they realize.

We shouldn't find our entertainment through the drug addictions, eating disorders and broken marriages of other people. These things should convict us and cause us to get on our knees. These are people who need hope, grace and truth. They need our prayers. They don't need us to use them and take advantage of them, even if they are willingly inviting it.

Now, I'm not saying it's sinful or condemning anyone who chooses to read these types of things. I'm just saying that all of these things are reasons that should give us pause before we consume what the world would have us consume.

[mikado5001]

Cause I really enjoy reading them and being in the know!

That's all well and good. But why should you, or anyone, care about Madonna's, Angelina Jolie's/Brad Pitt's, or any overpaid overhyped 2 bit actor's escapades? Let them live their lives. And let us do the same. If you really want to IN THE KNOW. Pick up Time, Newsweek, US News, Pray Magazine, or other intellegent publications. I confess I read Entertainment Weekly. But that is it my sister in the LORD. So what John Lovitz exhorts us to EAT FRESH @ Subway. I eat it because it tastes good.

Sorry, I do not mean to sound so anti-celebrity. I have some that I track like a hawk.

Enjoy the magazines. They are a source of fun. And at least we know folks with more pathetic lives than most.