Hey, now...

Not surprisingly, my last post ruffled a few feathers.  Kinda funny though since I'm usually the type to avoid conflict like the plague!  I know not everyone shares my opinion, duh.  (And I completely welcome yours here, so long as you play nice.)  But let me lay out a couple of points in an attempt to answer some concerns and then I'll let it rest...

Several of you mentioned the book may not be right for me, but it is for you (or something to that effect).  Fair enough.  I know plenty of friends that have read it. You all are adults (I assume) and can make your own decisions.  And never have I thought anyone is "bad" for reading it, nor am I "good" for not.  My intent was to share my personal decision and why I made it, not to finger point.  But if my words or anyone else's cause you to give pause, I don't think that's ever a bad thing.  What you ultimately decide is of course up to you.  One of the best lessons I've learned - as an adult, mind you - is that the question isn't always "Is this right or wrong?"  Not everything in life is that black and white.  Often, the better question to ask is, "Is this the wise thing to do?"  Given what I know, where I am, and where I want to go... I have to answer, no.  Reading that book is not the wise thing for me to do.

Stuff like this always brings up accusations of "judgment."  As I said, finger-pointing was not my intention and I don't consider anyone who has read the book to be a bad person or bad Christian.  That's ridiculous and nowhere did I say that.  My statements were simply a profession of what I'm personally doing to guard my heart.  But I have to answer the judgment thing because it's one of THE most misunderstood concepts (or whatever you want to call it) in the Bible.  When it comes to people outside our faith, you're right - it's not our place to judge.  Because, hello... they don't play by our rules so why should we hold those people to them?  But God does call us to hold each other accountable, as Christians.  Though - again, that's not even what I was trying to do here.  I really didn't bring Christianity into my post at all.  But porn is an equal opportunity offender, so I think anyone would be wise to give pause before picking it up - Christian or not.  That's really all I would ask of anyone... just think a moment before diving into this book.  My frustration really is not over people reading the book, but more so the hoopla surrounding it and where that has led (namely young girls picking it up, argh).  My post was about my own decision not to read it - not what any of you should do. 

Thanks, as always, for reading.  I value your opinions and welcome them.  And like I said, I'll put this one to rest and venture back to fluffier subjects like pictures of my friggin cute kid. :-)