Here are some of the things I was taught to think of as "bad":
**Worldly people in general. Anyone who was not one of Jehovah's Witlesses was wicked and doomed to destruction. And they had to be currently a Witless. Anyone who left that organization was even worse than a standard worldly person. Never mind that the worldly person is often more likely to create value for society than all the Witlesses put together.
**Music. There were so many songs labeled "bad" that were not even that bad. Any song that had a reference to sex, violence, drugs, a dirty word (and even words like "crap", "damn", and "hell" were banned), or had any reference to other religions or to the Devil is "bad". It doesn't matter if the reference was heavily veiled or the devil worship was a rumor, the record had to be played backwards, and it was highly subjective. It was all the way bad--no room for personal tastes, interpretation, or if a person had different strengths (if I am not going to smoke weed, there is no way a song that glorifies it by saying "I'm a Midnight Toker" is going to make me start now).
**Holidays. All bad. Never mind that Christmas is Scriptural (the angels celebrated it in Luke 2:10-14). Nor does it matter that one can do Christmas without going into debt or getting drunk and then driving. Birthdays are also viewed as bad: no interpretations. And, while a person who is nearing 30, 40, 50, or 60 might just as soon "forget" it, there is no way children should be stopped from celebrating. The adults that are approaching a "0" birthday have the option of not celebrating because they don't want to be reminded that they are getting old, and that's their choice. However, those who wish to celebrate should have that freedom.
**Fornication. There is no mere caution that promiscuous sex may be risky and lead to unwanted pregnancies and diseases if one is not careful. It is absolutely banned, even among couples that are about to be married. They need chaperones right up until they are married. No shades of gray here: no looking at it as a trial run, similar to one that is serious about buying a car and wants to test it before committing so they don't get a lemon or a vehicle that is totally unsuitable. All bad, no matter what.
**The Internet. Full of scams, lies, and fraud. The Web sites that have apostate material are the worst. Guess what! I have a fraud monitor on, and there is no fraud detected on any of those sites. And I ordered Christmas decorations, and no fraud was detected from two major Christmas stores online (that is another demon site). Education in general is also bad now, and it will continue to get worse. Nothing of value here: they make no distinction about people that are trying to move up from being poor to being reasonably wealthy.
**Materialism. They look down harshly on that. There is nothing good about being materialistic, except getting a 4 door car for service when a 2 door uses less gas. Forget about that nice, big house and having nice things. Being content with the outdated junk that is about to fall apart that you already have is stressed, never mind that the vast majority of worldly people that purchase nice things like to see them stay that way for a while. And so they are willing to take reasonable care of them, and I don't tnink most people that use computers use them to phish, steal IDs, write spyware and viruses, and spam millions of people at once. Most materialism is intended to make the most of what money you do have.
**Entertainment. They have demonized it. It takes away from the "more important" things. I once calculated the proportions that they suggested, comparing entertainment to spices. It came out to about 7 minutes per week. Hardly enough. They don't realize that people need a break, and the field misery is the most stagnating occupation around. We are supposed to give up computers, education, vacations, trips (except to the a$$emblies), video games, family time, and watching live entertainment in favor of the misery. Service is their only occupation. Everything else, regardless of enriching qualities or balancing out the stagnation, is bad.
There is no way it can be that way. Every activity has its cost and its benefit. There is no absolutely good or absolutely bad activity (with the possible exception of the field misery and the activities of criminals that initiate the use of force, threat of force, or fraud and the regulators that also suppress growth). Everything has a price, and a benefit. To the extent that the benefit exceeds the cost, that activity is good (and will have its bad points, to the extent that it costs you something). If an activity costs more than its benefit, it is bad--though not absolutely so. Rather, it is not worth pursuing, since it costs more than it's worth.
