I just want to relax!

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I can’t even relax in a thread about relaxing!

The AFA is very good at alerting us bitter clingers to issues that need our attention. And I don’t know about anyone else, but it really bothers me that kids have been exposed to such enormous amounts of garbage that they think it’s normal to dress, talk and act like gangstas and hookers.

Something is very wrong with this world, and telling people that advertisers don’t pay attention to their own customers is tantamount to saying, “Give up, it’s not worth it.”

Yeah, I could ‘buy a VCR.’ Oh, wait, I already have one. And a DVD player. I have tapes and DVDs I can watch. Maybe I needed a lawyer looking over my shoulder as I composed the OP so he made sure I also stated that I WANT MY AIRWAVES CLEANED UP. 😃

Guess I’m still in this fight.
 
Most PBS stations in the country have a British Comedy night.

Some of these shows are incredibly good and funny. (Not all.)

Look for Keeping Up Appearances; Waiting for God; As Time Goes By and several others.

All great shows. Several seasons in backup for tons of hours of enjoyment. Give them a chance—and you will become very attached to them.
 
Sailor_Kenshin said:
Sometimes I just want to turn off my brain and relax by watching something on television—but there’s NOTHING to watch!

Seriously, there are like 700 channels of nothing but porn and swill. The house-and-garden channels are constantly featuring homosexual ‘couples’ and unmarried people living together. Even the ads they jam in between breaks on seemingly-harmless travel programs are disgusting for the most part.

I end up watching cartoons and cooking. I think there was more decent fare to watch when all we had was four channels and an antenna.

We lost a lot of ground when we didn’t protest indecency at the start.
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Watching kid’s cartoons is EXACTLY what I do when it comes to TV. I don’t mind it cause I love watching cartoons.
 
What cartoons do you find that are watchable?
I remember Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, etc but nowadays the drawings are so ugly and the cynicism and sarcasm so awful that I won’t let my kids watch.
 
Phineas and Ferb, Teenage Robot, Pokemon, and Johnny Test (the last one probably for older kids).

Even Spongebob Squarepants, as amusing as I find it, features a little too much in the way of underwear.
 
Sailor_Kenshin said:
Sometimes I just want to turn off my brain and relax by watching something on television—but there’s NOTHING to watch!

Seriously, there are like 700 channels of nothing but porn and swill. The house-and-garden channels are constantly featuring homosexual ‘couples’ and unmarried people living together. Even the ads they jam in between breaks on seemingly-harmless travel programs are disgusting for the most part.

I end up watching cartoons and cooking. I think there was more decent fare to watch when all we had was four channels and an antenna.

We lost a lot of ground when we didn’t protest indecency at the start.
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I am watching the “Toilet Bowl”. A marathon of bathroom renovations on DIY :whacky:

Thinking of heading out about 6 for dinner and may go to Borders.
 
Sailor_Kenshin said:
Yeah, thanks for your charitable response.

This is ALL our faults, for allowing popular culture to shove increasingly disgusting and immoral shows and ads down our throats. To abandon a battlefield is cowardice, and I do not intend to abandon this or any other battle.

I don’t want anyone’s kids exposed to this garbage, and if you do, that’s fine.

Just don’t tell me it’s a ‘rant’ to want popular culture to reflect decency for a change. It isn’t just about me, as some people on this thread have been able to discern.
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Yeah thanks for yours also. Your post is a rant, but I did not attach a value judgment to that word. You apparently did, so now you’ve turned your anger to me personally. If you don’t want to hear any opinions other than your own, then posting on a board with other people is not the way to go. We all have a right to express our opinions as well.

Don’t put words into my mouth about what is or is not acceptable content to me. I have not tried to tell you what should or should not be acceptable in media. I told you what I do to avoid content that I don’t find acceptable and everyone has the right to do the same.

Children presumably have parents that brought them into this world and responsibility over what comes into a home belongs to those same parents who bought the TV or radio. There are chips and programmable remote controls and all sorts of other low tech ways to monitor the content of what a child watches at home. Having one TV only in the family room is a good start. Actually paying attention to one’s children and not leaving them unsupervised at home is another good plan.

What good does complaining on this board do to clean up the TV for anyone? Absolutely nothing, hence it is merely a venting of negative feelings ie. a rant. I already said that you are entitled to do it, but since your subject line was “I just want to relax” you have proven that statement as untrue by your continued negativity and anger that you have now decided to turn on me.

If you think that this board is a “battlefield” that any network exec is affected by in the least, then I suggest a change in venue and acquisition of better weapons.
 
I’ve heard that same argument literally hundreds of times before. It didn’t wash then, doesn’t wash now.

WE OWE OURSELVES DECENCY.

We owe it to our children, we owe it to our friends, and we even owe it to our enemies.

I pray that there are still some people on this, a Catholic board, who understand what I’m talking about.

A moral cesspool benefits no one. I will not sit quietly and watch as increasingly vile content is rammed down our throats.
 
Your post is a rant, but I did not attach a value judgment to that word. You apparently did, so now you’ve turned your anger to me personally.
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I must say that I was appreciating this thread until I got to your (name removed by moderator)ut, jc-servant. Personally, I would have preferred that you had placed a value judgment on the word “rant” because it would have stung much less than the judgment you made in your comment, :eek: *"Your **self-righteous *indignation won’t…"
Don’t put words into my mouth…
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I cannot help but to think, "why not?" In this instance, it would have been a definite improvement.
What good does complaining on this board do to clean up the TV for anyone? Absolutely nothing,
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If that is your feeling, perhaps, that (nothing) should have been what you decided to contribute after reading it and realizing that you had nothing to offer without criticizing the member who made the original post. 🤷
 
Sailor_Kenshin said:
WE OWE OURSELVES DECENCY.

We owe it to our children, we owe it to our friends, and we even owe it to our enemies.
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The title of your thread is misleading. You don’t really want to relax. You want to use your television as a source of relaxation and are complaining that it doesn’t meet your expectations. What you really want is television companies to produce decent programming. Having decent programming is an entirely different discussion than relaxing because you can relax without television.

So throw out the TV. Read, play board games with the kids, RELAX with them by visiting a library, doing community service, or playing tennis or going bowling.

We don’t OWE decent television programming to our children because we don’t control that variable - the masses do. What we DO control is access to those activities we DEEM decent, wholesome, relaxing - and there are plenty of options for that which don’t have anything to do with television programming.
 
GAHere said:
The title of your thread is misleading. You don’t really want to relax. You want to use your television as a source of relaxation and are complaining that it doesn’t meet your expectations. What you really want is television companies to produce decent programming. Having decent programming is an entirely different discussion than relaxing because you can relax without television.

So throw out the TV. Read, play board games with the kids, RELAX with them by visiting a library, doing community service, or playing tennis or going bowling.

We don’t OWE decent television programming to our children because we don’t control that variable - the masses do. What we DO control is access to those activities we DEEM decent, wholesome, relaxing - and there are plenty of options for that which don’t have anything to do with television programming.
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Amen.
 
IF you’re looking for something on that helps you to relax and not sin (I’m just assuming this, noting that you did talk about porn and HGTV having homosexual couples on), just turn on EWTN. They can have some very relaxing programs on, especially children’s programs and the Holy Rosary with Mother Angelica. And best of all, no commercials!
 
GAHere said:
The title of your thread is misleading. You don’t really want to relax. You want to use your television as a source of relaxation and are complaining that it doesn’t meet your expectations. What you really want is television companies to produce decent programming. Having decent programming is an entirely different discussion than relaxing because you can relax without television.

So throw out the TV. Read, play board games with the kids, RELAX with them by visiting a library, doing community service, or playing tennis or going bowling.

We don’t OWE decent television programming to our children because we don’t control that variable - the masses do. What we DO control is access to those activities we DEEM decent, wholesome, relaxing - and there are plenty of options for that which don’t have anything to do with television programming.
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Who ARE the masses, if not you and me?
 
First alarm bell “I just want to turn off my brain”. As I read Scriptures, I cannot see where that is a permisable option. Many times we are exhorted to always be alert against the evil one. How can we do that if we “turn our brains off”?

I’d recommend the book by Neil Postman, “Amusing Ourselves to Death”. He does a great job at explaining why TV is so harmful to the human thought process. It has little to do with the content of TV, but the medium itself. About 20 years ago, I stopped watching it altogether. Almost immediately I noticed increased clarity in thinking. I have friends who have literally thrown their sets into the trash. I don’t have one - who needs it?
 
Janet_Baker said:
First alarm bell “I just want to turn off my brain”. As I read Scriptures, I cannot see where that is a permisable option. Many times we are exhorted to always be alert against the evil one. How can we do that if we “turn our brains off”?

I’d recommend the book by Neil Postman, “Amusing Ourselves to Death”. He does a great job at explaining why TV is so harmful to the human thought process. It has little to do with the content of TV, but the medium itself. About 20 years ago, I stopped watching it altogether. Almost immediately I noticed increased clarity in thinking. I have friends who have literally thrown their sets into the trash. I don’t have one - who needs it?
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Many people own televisions and want to watch decent programming. That was also oimplicit in my OP.

Why is it so difficult for some to graps that I CARE ABOUT THIS NATION, this culture, and its downward spiral into filth and degradation?

‘Throw out your TV’ is no answer at all to the avalanche of garbage that the elite of the entertainment industry foist upon us.

If it was ONLY about me, I have a VCR and a DVD player. I have books. I have a Bible (more than one).

Don’t you even care that millions of people are being desensitized to sin?
 
That’s quite a feat of illogic to presume that I don’t care about people being desensitized to sin simply because I suggested getting rid of the TV. I suggested that because the medium itself, regardless of content, has been shown to have a crippling effect on the ability of people to think linearly and reason logically. The programming can be all EWTN and the effect will still be the same if folks are “turning their brains off” and watching the tube. The filth that is on TV only adds insult to the injury that is inherent in the medium. I repeat my recommendation to read the book by Neal Postman, “Amusing Ourselves to Death”.
 
I have Basic Plus Cable, so not many channels. I enjoy TV land, three PBS stations, and a local station that plays some old TV shows. I’m home a lot. This is what I have seen this week, either on purpose or by accident.

Sunday Mass (on a local station).

Many episodes of The Andy Griffith Show (watching one right now).

Several episodes of Fraiser.

Several episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond.

A marathon on TV Land of Leave it to Beaver.

Daily episodes of The Bonnie Hunt Show.

Movie - The Chronicles of Narnia (twice).

Movie - Return to Me (twice).

Movie - 9 to 5

Daily episodes of Cash in the Attic.

Antique Road Show

Get Smart

Several episodes of the Golden Girls (not always with the most “innocent” show, but mostly nice.)

PBS - For Our Children (I think that is the name), a show that gives parents and caretakers ideas to be their child’s first teacher.

PBS - Keeping Up Appearances and As Time Goes By

Several Episodes of Yes, Dear.

Gunsmoke

Tommy the Engine (think that is the name, kids show, but I like watching it, very relaxing)

PBS - Jack Benny Show, Ozzie and Harriet Show, and a special about the history of comedy

I could go on, but you get the picture. There are nice things on TV. I do think that sometimes, as someone suggested, taping shows to avoid watching commercials is a good idea. I tend to either mute commercials or push the line in button on my remote until I think the commercial is over. I prefer to mute and get up and out of the room for a couple of minutes, though.

Another good idea is to build a collection of your favorite movies/TV shows on DVD or tape and when you get disgusted or bored by TV pick one up and pop it in. That can be a great relief when you are noticing stuff on TV that irks you. I also get a kick out of just grabbing my remote and deleting the channel when I don’t like what I see - than adding it back on later when I am over it. Of course, I permanetly delete channels such as MTV.

What really bugs me is there have been times I have gone to work out at the local community gym and there is one of those video channels on the big TV in front of the machines. Nothing like running on a tread mill and having nothing to look at but a bunch of practically naked women bumping and grinding (or whatever you call it nowadays)! At least when you are at home you can control what is on your on TV. There is always the option of stopping the cable, using the internet for news, and just buying shows and movies you want on DVD. I wouldn’t like that myself because I do love PBS, especially during Christmas-time.
 
Sailor_Kenshin said:
Many people own televisions and want to watch decent programming. That was also oimplicit in my OP.

Why is it so difficult for some to graps that I CARE ABOUT THIS NATION, this culture, and its downward spiral into filth and degradation?

‘Throw out your TV’ is no answer at all to the avalanche of garbage that the elite of the entertainment industry foist upon us.

If it was ONLY about me, I have a VCR and a DVD player. I have books. I have a Bible (more than one).

Don’t you even care that millions of people are being desensitized to sin?
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Imagine if many of us did stop our cable and actually told the company when doing so that the reason why is what is we don’t want to pay for the sort of thing that is being offered. I think it takes more than just you and me caring about millions. It takes millions, or maybe even just hundreds, in a movement. If the cable companies felt pain, they would pressure the entertainment industry, saying that they are being put out of business because no one wants to see that stuff!

I don’t think that will ever happen because it is not just the fault of the cable companies or entertainment industry. It is the fault and responsibility of each person watching TV. Recognizing and avoiding sin is an individual’s responsiblity.

I really don’t see that the nation is on a downward spiral and honestly think that you are focusing on the negative aspects of entertainment. The entire nation is not tuned into MTV or watching homosexual couples house hunt of whatever. It might help you to feel better about what you are noticing on TV if you went hunting for statistics about what people are actually watching. Maybe that would reinforce what you are noticing, I don’t know. I think you are assuming things, though, based on your feelings. And your feeling are understandable considering what you are focusing on when you turn on the TV. I went through a period of time like that and finally said I can’t do this anymore. As trite as it sounds, if it upsets you turn it off. Better to choose to be happy than to concentrate on it. Soon you will find good stuff to watch when you stop focusing on the bad.
 
I haven’t had a vacation in three years. I hardly think I’m ‘entertaining myself to death.’

I also fail to understand why my plea for decency on the airwaves is met with such hostility.

Decades ago, decent programming was taken for granted. I’ve noticed on other forums that some people almost think porn is a RIGHT, not a sin, and if ‘you don’t like it, don’t watch.’—I never expected to find echoes of that on a Catholic forum.

I do not believe watching television in itself impairs anyone’s ability to think. And tossing your TV without also demanding better programming helps no one.
 
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