I'd like to hear how people make their decisions about reading, watching, and listening to materials that express non-Jewish ideas and imagery... both in your study and in your entertainment.
There are all sorts of issues involved in censorship, and I don't want to be extreme in unnecessary ways. On the other hand, Judaism holds an understanding that our Creator actually does care where our loyalties lie, and what we fill our heart and mind with. What we read, see, and listen to can affect our sensitivity to what is good, our imagination, and our loyalties. So Tanach suggests a concept of modesty in not looking at things that are foreign to Biblical Israelite worship. If you really believe that these things have a basis in reality, then your engagement with what is right and good will probably involve choices about what materials to let into your life.
This question affects me in two different ways. Firstly, I'm not Jewish, so on a halachic level that probably also makes a difference. But in terms of my loyalty to Hashem alone and desire to come close to Him through goodness, the decision is still important to me, whether or not it seems culturally normal in my society. The thing is, I don't have a Jewish identity, and so somehow I still have the identity of my own nation and family heritage... and I love literature, art, etc. But the near-complete pervasion of non-Jewish cultural expressions with Germanic-magical, Christian, or anti-religious themes can make this attempt seem futile and confining. Is there anything from my culture that I can bring to God in my understanding of how He's revealed Himself to Israel, and yet also wants a connection, a level of holiness, with every nation He has created? I think that every part of life, the religious parts and all the other parts, exist equally in the context of creation and therefore of relationship with the Maker of what is in the world.
The other way is that I'm enrolled to study an Honours research year at university in Medieval Studies, because I did my undergraduate degree in Medieval literature. During that period I was a committed Christian, because that's how I was brought up, but for the last year I have been learning a lot about Judaism and also haven't really been reading medieval European literature. It's saturated in both Catholic devotion and in magical imagery. Part of me feels I should be able to read it without being affected by it, since I don't believe it, and just comment from a distance or enjoy the parts that are positive and good. But in another sense, I don't want to look at this kind of material. The reason I want to do this Honours year now is because it will be a great opportunity to choose a topic related to Jewish literature in the Middle Ages, and learn more about the history of Jewish experience and faith. But doing so will no doubt include comparison with surrounding literatures, even if only to understand the mutual interactions between Jewish and foreign literature of the past. I have to make a decision about how open I'm willing to be about what I read and become desensitised towards, and know well whether that attitude comes from Biblical Judaism or from somewhere else. It could change my plans for this year; it will probably affect my direction in the years after that, or at least the attitude with which I approach the study.
I know that in both areas this isn't a straightforward question, but I'm sure there are both rabbinic and personal perspectives that could help. In that it is a personal question I'm also talking about it with a few rabbis I know and with other friends and family.
