Is It Sinful for Christians to Subscribe to Disney+?

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At a certain point, you're just like, why am I doing this? Right? Yeah. Like, the question turns from, like, am

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I allowed to do this? To, why do I want to go through this all the time? Why do I subject myself to this?

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All right, Tim. The question for today's episode is, is it sinful to subscribe to Disney Plus? I want to say no, but then, you know, most people who are arguing for a no position on this, they give arguments that I really just find frustrating to listen to at times.

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And so, you know, part of me wants to say no, and then part of me wants to say yes, just out of spite for the kind of person who's going to argue no.

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So, there's that. All right. I don't know that that was the clearest answer you've ever given on something.

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But I understand the sentiment. You know, it feels weird to say, you know, no, it's not sinful, just because of all of the, you know, just because of who

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Disney is specifically, right? Right. In a way that, like, it would probably be, it feels a lot easier in my mind to say, you know, no, it's definitely not sinful to subscribe to just some random, you know, like,

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Hulu, you know, like, no, it's not sinful to subscribe. No, it's not sinful to subscribe to some random

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YouTuber you might watch online. Disney feels different for some reason, but then

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I don't know that there's, like, a Bible verse that I could point to that would say, yes, it is sinful, right?

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Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, you asked me that kind of question, and it's the kind of question that I actually consider, you know, like,

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I legitimately consider that question. And I'm pulled in different directions.

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As opposed to the ones that you don't consider. No, no, I mean, like, so, you know, I'm not the kind of person who, if you were to ask me a question like that,

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I'm so emotionally invested in Disney, and I'm so emotionally invested in defending myself or something along those lines.

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Oh, sure, sure, yeah, yeah. That I wouldn't actually consider the question, and I don't actually think that there's some merit to that idea, if that makes sense.

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So, it's the kind of question I think it is a little bit complicated to think about, well, how do you answer that kind of question in the society we live in, considering, you know, how interconnected we are with so many different things, and, you know, what these companies do with their money and what their stated agendas are.

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And so, I think it's kind of a complicated moral issue, and I don't just, you know, dismiss the question out of hand with some sort of, like,

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I'm scandalized by the fact that you're asking me this kind of reaction, or just some kind of,

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I don't give some kind of, like, trite dismissal to this kind of question. So, like, when I'm thinking about this question, I think it's like a legit question that I'm actually, where I can think about verses that would seem to say maybe, you know, and I could think about other, or just verses and arguments that would push me towards maybe, you know, and then there's verses and arguments that, on the other side, that would push me to say, well, maybe not.

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So, I don't, I'm not looking at that issue, and I'm not just thinking, oh, well, that's just a no -brainer, you know?

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And anyone who would say yes, like, yes, it is sinful, I just think, well, you're the dumbest person imaginable or something along those lines.

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But then most of the people, like, most people, when they respond to this kind of thing, they respond, like, primarily, like, with offense, right?

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So, offense first, brain second. And so, to that kind of person, I almost want to say, well, yes, you know, just to provoke them.

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But, I mean, so there's part of me that just, like, that almost provokes me to ramp up the rhetoric, you know, and treat it like it's more of an open -and -shut case.

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But no, I think it's a complicated kind of question, like, to think about what to do.

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And I think, you know, part of it's related to just boycotts in general, like, how should

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Christians approach boycotts? Is there some kind of moral mandate towards, you know,

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Christians boycotting certain companies that have stated agendas to turn us into Sodom and Gomorrah, right?

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So, like, is there – so, part of it is, like, is there a moral responsibility to, you know, fight those things?

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Are we tainted, you know, with our money when we give our money to individuals who have negative agendas?

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Like, are we always just, like, fundamentally defiled in that process? You know, what does it mean to live in the world and not be of the world?

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And I think there's, like, worldliness discussions related to this topic, too. And, you know, I just think it's a complicated kind of issue.

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So, you know, half of me wants to say yes, half of me wants to say no, basically. Pete Okay. So, you know, what do we do, then, to get to a place where we, you know, figure out, all right, what is the appropriate answer to a question like this?

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Jared Yeah, all right. So, I think what you want to do is just talk through the principles that are relevant to this discussion, like, one at a time, okay?

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Pete Okay. Jared So, like, one of the first principles that, if you're going to talk about a subject like this that seems to be relevant, is the question of association.

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And this is where most people who are saying no, they really camp out and they try to get a lot of mileage at this point.

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So, you know, like, if a person were to think, like, give an answer and say yes, like, it is sinful to financially support

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Disney, then, you know, in their superior kind of voice, and, you know, the condescending tone, they're going to say, well, you know,

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I guess you're never going to buy a car again or something like that. And I guess you just, like, if it's sinful.

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So, in other words, like, if it's sinful to support Disney financially, then functionally you don't go to the grocery store anymore.

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So, have you boycotted Walmart and Target and, you know, Food World and, you know, whatever, like,

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Kroger, you know, and all the, yeah, everything, because they're all defiled in some way.

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And so, the instantaneous kind of response is a dismissal just to say that, like, no one can be consistent in that way, right?

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So, if you demand, like, that you're only going to support, like, Christian companies who can sign your doctrinal statement of faith at church, you're in trouble.

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And, I mean, I think there's something to that, but that, like, meaning, you know,

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Paul talks about, you know, like, we're not supposed to judge those on the outside, but those who are on the inside, because if you, you know, judge those who are on the outside, then, you know, at that point, you'd have to kind of remove yourself from the world because we're all connected, right?

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So, when you're living in a secular society, a pagan society, we're all connected, like, there's no way to escape the defilement.

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You know, Jesus basically says, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are

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God's. And so, there is this sense in which you're living in a world that's hostile to Christianity and, you know, we're dependent on a lot of different things in order to function.

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And so, no one can be absolutely consistent along those lines. Now, like, the problem though then is this is actually entertainment.

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This is not necessities, right? So, like, you don't have to, like, get a

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Disney Plus subscription in order to eat at a store or something, right? So, you've moved.

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So, part of why that argument feels insufficient is because now we've moved out of the realm of, like, necessities, right?

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You need food to eat, you need to wear clothes, and the only real choices are buy them mostly from hostile companies, like, companies that are hostile to your worldview into, like, the realm of entertainment, which is more of a luxury at that point, right?

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So, at that point, like, this feels like a very different, like, those arguments don't feel as strong anymore when you're moving into the realm of entertainment.

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And now, I mean, so, if you're moving into - Petey Even so, if you, like, take that argument to the opposite extreme, you know, like, okay, oh, so, you're never going to buy a car again or, you know, just because they're, you know, they can't sign your doctrinal statement of faith.

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Well, if you completely commit to that argument and take it, you know, to its fullest conclusion, then, you know, arguably, you could,

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I mean, you know, buy from a company who, like, a grocery company or something who is somehow, like, murdering

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Christians along the way because - Jared Sure. Petey Because, like, hey, you got to eat, you know, so. Jared Well, yeah, and that's where, like, at some point, though, yeah, even that argument, as you're saying, it does seem to break down at certain levels.

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So, I mean, if you did have, like, if Walmart came out and basically Walmart said something along the lines of, we need to rid the world of this

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Christian menace or something along those lines, and right now, we're going to start advocating for, you know,

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Christians to be thrown into the concentration camps. Now, if they were to say that, then instantaneously, you know, you wouldn't be having to ask

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Christians, is it sinful to support Walmart? At that point, out of pure, like, self -protectiveness, you would say,

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I'm not giving another dime to this kind of country or company. Like, particularly, like, after the first individual gets hauled off to the concentration camp, right?

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So, part of this is about self -interest, right? So, at the moment, it would affect you in that way.

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Then all of a sudden, you would gain, like, sufficient moral clarity at that point. But then before that, like,

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I think a lot of these kind of topics, like, they feel like, you know, you're just living in a world that's hostile to everything that God says, and we've just kind of made our peace with the fact that they are going to be, and that we just have to give them our money anyways.

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And so, I do think that there should be more thought put into that, like, where Christians should be thinking, well, like, we're a big percentage of people in this country, and if we could get our priorities together, it might be that we could use that power to force some of these companies to quit trying to shove

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Sodom down our throat, right? Right. So, I mean, I think that it's a little more complicated, even at that level.

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But then it is a luxury, too. It's definitely not a necessity. And so, some of those kind of arguments feel a little bit weaker along those lines.

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But, you know, certainly, like, in the abstract, like, you're not just necessarily defiled by giving your money to pagans.

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And like, when you're, you know, if, yes, certainly, if you start going down that road, you're going to have to ask certain questions related to the consistency of what you're saying and all that, right?

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So, certainly, those are, the consistency kind of argument is a relevant consideration to be thinking about, for sure.

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But I think, you know, I think there's a worldliness kind of argument that in my mind feels a little bit weightier.

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And so, you have, like, the consistency defilement kind of thing. You have, like, a worldliness argument.

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Worldliness feels a little bit weightier in my mind. And that's something maybe we should consider a little more strongly.

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I think, like, in general, like, when you take this to the extreme, like, you have individuals who basically have no place whatsoever for entertainment.

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And so, for them, like, entertainment is just kind of, like, worldliness by definition.

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So, like, the idea of entertainment. And, you know, I think that's misguided. So, God obviously gave us a world richly to enjoy, and rest is a part of life.

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And, you know, rest and enjoyment, relaxation, that's all part of what God's plan is for the world.

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But then I do think you have to ask yourself, like, you know, if you have that company who's just trying to shove

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LGBTQ plus stuff down your throat, at a certain point, you just, um, there should be just a, like, man,

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I, I'm repelled by this kind of thing. Right. Like, just, I mean, I'm just straight up, like, regardless of whether or not

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I have to, like, it's wrong for me to, like, let's say that, okay, you know, Disney plus is included in the bundle with, you know,

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Hulu and ESPN or whatever. And it's just like, all right, well, I don't really care too much about the

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Disney stuff, but I'm gonna, I'm gonna, um, get the Hulu and I'm gonna get the, you know, the

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ESPN or whatever. Or like, let's say you're the person who's like, hey, I don't really care that much about, um,

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Disney as a company anymore. And they've kind of offended me with their recent stances on the LGBTQ stuff.

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But, you know, they bought Star Wars, unfortunately, and I, I like Star Wars. And so I want to watch, you know, The Mandalorian.

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And that's all I'm giving my money for is just The Mandalorian, not all the garbage that they're trying to shove down my throat.

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I do think at a certain point, though, with companies, when they start to, when they just hate you, right, they hate you.

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And they're telling you they hate you. At a certain point, there should be something in you that, you know, regardless of whether or not you, you're technically allowed to say,

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I know you hate me. I'm still, I still, you know, I like Lucas stuff, uh, some of it, you know.

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And so I just, you know, I'm trying to give my money to them. At a certain point though, there should be kind of like, um, you know, why do you want to so much, right?

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Kind of posture that you would have. So, I mean, like if you went around someone and every time you're around them, they just spent their time insulting your wife.

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At a certain point, you're just like, why am I doing this? Right? Yeah. Like the question turns from like, am

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I allowed to do this to why do I want to go through this all the time? Why do I subject myself to this?

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Yeah, we don't, we don't have to be friends. Like, and if you're going to insult the person I love the most, and that's what your dad said on, then at a certain point, it's just like, man,

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I don't have any time for this anymore. And I think the more that, you know, Christians grow in the Christian life in general, entertainment should be placing like a much less of a priority in their life.

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And it should be less, like much less of a pole. And it should be that you, you know, there, there is a very real, like the

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Bible says, do not love the world with things of the world for all this in the world is not of the Father, but of the world, uh, you know, the less than flesh, less than the eyes, most full pride of life.

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I mean, I think the more that you are seeing the agenda and they're making it very obvious at a certain point, you should just be repelled by it, you know?

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Right. And so you should be like repelled by it to the point where you're just like, man, I, I'm not interested in like, you know, watching another story where you're telling me to follow my heart and, you know, watching another story where the kids are, you know, much smarter than all the stupid parents or, you know, watching another story where the person needs to be true to themselves.

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And, you know, at a certain point, it's just like, nah, I don't care, you know? Jared I'm tired of it.

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I'm tired of the message, tired of the agenda, don't want anything to do with it. So, moving on, you know? Pete Yeah, eventually, basically what you're saying is eventually like that stuff shouldn't even be entertaining to you anymore, right?

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Jared Right, right. And I think that's where the real issue, like the strongest kind of issue related to this kind of topic is that the more overt those kind of things are, the more they should just be repelling to, you know, we should like love the good and hate the evil.

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And like that agenda shouldn't be so captivating that we just have to take a bath in it over and over.

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At some point, you should just feel frustrated the whole time you're like being subjected to that. And I think a lot of Christians, they aren't like their consciences aren't nearly as refined as they should be in these kind of areas to where at a certain point, it's just like, you know,

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I just, I don't want anything to do with you. You know, I don't want anything to do with you anymore. Like this isn't entertainment.

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This is just you trying to brainwash me into paganism. And I just, it's exhausting. It's mentally exhausting.

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I don't want anything to do with it. I don't want my kids to have anything to do with it. You know, I'm done with you, right? And so, like I think that's kind of the real substance to this kind of question is that at a certain point, it should be kind of intolerable for you.

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And if you're still the person who's just like, you know, I love it so much.

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I don't care. I am training myself to not even notice it, then there's probably a problem with that.

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So, in summary, is it safe to say, you know, the answer to, is it sinful to subscribe to Disney Plus?

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It's probably, is your answer like, it's probably not necessarily sinful, but then there is a real question about, you know, why do you even want to with everything that they've come out and explicitly said, you know, that they're trying to specifically push in all of their content?

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Yeah, I would say that, you know, whether or not it's a slam dunk airtight case, that it's absolutely wrong. I don't know, you know, but why, like you should be open to the idea that like, you know, they're not on your team and you should be repelled by what they're doing.

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And you should, you should, it shouldn't be like, you know, even someone asking that question is like touching like a idol of yours, right?

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To where you're screaming and like, like you won't even think about it and you just turn into attack mode.

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It should be something that really troubles you what's happening. And, you know, I think at the end of the day, why not try to give your money to people who are going to use it better if you have that option?

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And you shouldn't just dismiss that, particularly when it comes to entertainment, like when it comes to entertainment, like you shouldn't just, like if there are like better things out, like, you know, people are going to spend that money better and, you know, they're not just tailoring their agenda towards Sodom.

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You should probably support them if you can, right? So, yeah. Okay. Fair enough.

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