MrSL613:
Will you acknowledge that the average non-Jewish work of fiction (marketed
to adults) contains material universally acknowledged as forbidden?
I dont know. There is a lot of fiction out there. I am glad that you limited this to adults. Even so — and I dont mean to be cute but we have to define the “ISSUR” included in “reading”. (Let’s assume for this particular conversation we are not talking about explicit novels.) Where is the “issur” found and what does it include? Is it forbidden to read a curse word? Is it forbidden to read about forbidden acts (Shabbos/Kashrus)? (And – the issur of bittul torah etc. is not so convincing to me). Is it forbidden to read about people/things that dont share our values? (And — by the way — if people dont want to read novels, or watch movies, or watch sports — more power to them. The word “assur” is the language of “aveirah”. AND the topic we were discussing is whether telling our children that many things are forbidden keeps them on the derech or pushes them off. To that end, there are threads are sports kosher, star wars, books, etc. As for me — if it is not explicitly assur it is permitted. (And the reason i believe that — is that in essence that is how most people live — especially ones who use the internet.)