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Hey, Kinda late to the party but I got some comments from the peanut gallery. I think a lot of what Christians can consume comes down to their personal freedom and their personal weaknesses. Each person needs to discern with their people and God, what they can and can’t handle. Some read LOTR, some can’t, some read Harry Potter, some adamantly refuse to. I’m not sure I can determine whose convictions are objectively correct, but maybe not all convictions are completely objective.

Still, I don’t think Christians should read fiction that glorifies evil as if it were good, or is particularly crude/ sexual. That is some dangerous territory. I also don’t think horror, or particularly spiritual horror, in particular, is great for Christians to consume either. I think the world offers enough of that and it shouldn’t be an entertainment option– reminds me too much of Roman Gladiators or real demonization. But I won’t vehemently condemn any brethren who enjoy that stuff either, I’d just let them know it concerns me if I felt it necessary. It’s between God and that person ultimately. (That said I think non-fiction is different because that can be read in order to gain perspective for the purpose of conversation and understanding ‘the lost’ but again requires good personal discernment)

Now for cussing… I think it can be honest… honest that people cuss, secular people cuss and even Christians cuss sometimes. The Bible uses cuss words probably more than most people realize cause they’ve been, ah, censored out. I think we should take our writing from the Bible — it doesn’t gloss over anything sinful (not even cussing), it is matter of fact, it glorifies God, it uses its descriptions and words intentionally and its context is extremely important. I think the intentions and purpose behind the usage are what matter the most. I would only use a select few cuss words in life for very specific emotional emphasis and since I don’t use said words regularly, that makes the point even more impactful. (Like when Paul says he considers his accomplishments to be dung in light of Christ. I learned the term for dung is much more, shall we say potent?)

But I think censorship of such words can be useful in writing especially for Christian authors. A good ‘&%*$^@’ is a great way to indicate cussing without making the audience read it. Or you can just say ‘He swore’. ‘Johnny cursed. ‘You— ‘ (insert interruption here). The reader gets the point without the onslaught of language. I prefer that when I am reading so I use it in writing.