{"id":39764,"date":"2020-02-25T10:29:16","date_gmt":"2020-02-25T15:29:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/?p=39764"},"modified":"2020-02-25T10:29:16","modified_gmt":"2020-02-25T15:29:16","slug":"is-it-a-sin-to-binge-watch-netflix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2020\/02\/is-it-a-sin-to-binge-watch-netflix\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it a Sin to Binge Watch Netflix?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We all know that the defining sin of the Nephites was pride.\u00a0 But what about the defining sin of the Lamanites?\u00a0 From the very beginning of the Book of Mormon, Nephi focuses on one particular vice.\u00a0 \u201c[A]fter they had dwindled in unbelief\u201d the Lamanites became \u201cfull of idleness and all manner of abominations.\u201d[1]<\/sup><\/a> He later calls them an \u201cidle people.\u201d[2]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 When the Anti-Nephi-Lehies famously buried their weapons of war, they also made a covenant that \u201crather than their days in idleness they would labor abundantly with their hands.\u201d[3]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

The Lamanites\u2019 sin of idleness is, in fact, the mirror image of the Nephites\u2019 sin of pride.\u00a0 The Nephites successfully overcame the sin of idleness, but then used their surplus \u201cdespising others, turning their backs upon the needy, and the naked and those who were hungry, and those who were athirst, and those who were sick and afflicted.\u201d[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

What is worse: spending the days of your probation pursuing \u201ctreasures on earth\u201d[5]<\/sup><\/a> or idling it away?[6]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t really make a difference to the people you could have helped.\u00a0 The sheep don\u2019t care if you forgot to feed them because you were too selfish or because you were too lazy; either way they don\u2019t get fed.\u00a0 It\u2019s the spiritual equivalent of choosing your Mammon in the form of extra vacation days or a cash payment.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the 21st<\/sup> century equivalent to spending our days in idleness?\u00a0 It\u2019s allowing the \u201cnext episode\u201d timer to expire on Netflix.\u00a0 It\u2019s clicking on another YouTube video in the thumbnail.\u00a0 It\u2019s reflexively opening Reddit and Instagram on your phone.\u00a0 \u00a0The average American spends 4.76 hours on socializing, relaxing or leisure each day, including 2.84 hours on TV. [7]<\/a> By comparison, they spend 0.30 hours on volunteer, religious and civic activities.[8]<\/a><\/p>\n

When you feel that tinge of guilt from binge watching your favorite show, that\u2019s a prompting from the Holy Ghost that you should be doing something else.\u00a0 What should you be doing instead of watching the next episode?\u00a0 I, unfortunately, am unable to give you the answer.\u00a0 Only the Spirit can reveal that to you.\u00a0 But here are some suggestions:<\/p>\n