Sometimes the forms of entertainment we choose to watch raise important moral questions. In this video, Fr. Mike puts the sport of mixed martial arts on trial for its glorification of unnecessary violence. He distinguishes between the ability to defend yourself and forcing someone into submission through physical strength. Drawing from Christ’s example of meekness, Fr. Mike explains how martial arts as a discipline can be noble while mixed martial arts as entertainment is not.
Sonja Corbitt analyzes a physical fight that amplified Human Dignity: “I Have Wrestled With God and Won” on The Great Adventure Blog.
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Part of the reason why I’m not so big on MMA while I LOVE martial arts is because there’s a certain nobility to them. Like the graceful duels of the Jedi Knights in the Star Wars movies, the martial arts practiced by the likes of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Chuck Norris, and Donnie Yen are well, a sort of art on their own. Whereas I see MMA and at most, I see a modern attempt to remake Pankration, at worst, a pair of guys fighting like animals instead of civilized men. Perhaps MMA would be better off to remain in the world of video games and animated fiction, where they don’t have to break a real person’s arm in order to have a fun time. Nobody gets hurt when Batman breaks some poor mugger’s arm in a cartoon or a video game. As for our service to Christ, we must seek to bring Christ to others, even through the media we watch. Other authors like JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, and George Lucas sought to bring Christ’s teachings to the masses hidden beneath the veneer of magic elves, talking lions, and laser swords. Sure, watching something that has nothing to do with faith and sometimes even antithetical to it isn’t a taboo, but we must know not to ingest poison, so as to keep our minds clear and in service to Christ.