Throw away the television?

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Television is thought by many to have been a key component in the descent toward denial of original sin, denial of true religion, and general debasement. Some have proposed mechanisms by which the debasement occurs, such as unperceived ideological transshipment. Others, of course, insist that they can find good things to watch. Some people like EWTN. Others have movies they watch, and feel they can be selective, using “the box” to the good. After Vatican II some religious wanted television in monasteries, as a way of being open to the world. Other religious insisted that it brings the spirit of the World (*). How has the battle played out in our homes? I find that when I pass a television set, or am in hearing range for 30 seconds, it is almost invariably the case that something filthy appears. Last night I was talking to someone who had the television on, and within thirty seconds, something was aired that was exactly akin to pornography: I won’t repeat the dialog. This is constant: a constant drumbeat of filth and ugliness. Even when not utterly foul, it is imbued with the spirit of the world, and devoid of any recognition of God, true religion, and true worship.
 
My undergraduate major was broadcast communications, and the research has been clear since the 1960s that televised violence permanently damages children psychologically and behaviorally. It stands to reason the damage is also spiritual, and that televised soft porn, which is 90% of what is on today, especially the ads, will have the same effect.

If I made only one change in how I raised my children in would be to have no TV in the house, I cannot urge that point of view more strongly. My daughter allows some videos and a very narrow range of programming, but is becoming even more selective as they grow older. Like me, she has to have a TV because of the resident sports addict.
 
I didn’t have a tv to throw away when I moved in my dorm room, but not having one is really great because its such a waste of time.

For those addicted to tv for sports reasons get a radio-tv receptor i had one so I could listen to Joan of Arcadia…
 
I consider television a generally harmless influence since I watch EWTN about 90% of the time. 😉
On the other hand, my grandchildren are only allowed to watch it carefully monitored i.e.,no news, no cartoons, and especially no commercials!
 
I didn’t own a tv for thirteen years, at one point in my life. I grew up on tv and in our home the tv was on constantly. I remember one Thanksgiving at my dad’s house–there was a tv on in five separate rooms! I couldn’t stand it!! I have found that whenever a tv is on in a room people do not communicate with one another, they are glued to the box.

Though my son is 23 now he did not see tv at home until he was over seven years old, because we didn’t have one until then! We got one when I injured my back and had to do strict bedrest for some time. He was overjoyed! After all, all his little friends had tvs and he felt left out without one at home. I wouldn’t allow any violent programming in our home. Even though he still loves tv he is much more of a reader, thank God!

I still watch tv but my viewing is quite limited. I enjoy dramas but not all the other garbage on there. And I never have it on when I have visitors, because it is rude to have it on when others are present, in my opinion. People don’t talk to one another when it’s on–they watch it instead! Boo!
 
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Annunciata:
I consider television a generally harmless influence since I watch EWTN about 90% of the time. 😉
On the other hand, my grandchildren are only allowed to watch it carefully monitored i.e.,no news, no cartoons, and especially no commercials!
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Same here. But years ago when we built our house I got rid of the television, We bought a new television about a year later, and a vcr so I could tape Little House, The Waltons and good programs. That is what we watched. But now it is EWTN. I have a lot of CCC videos for our grandchildren, cartoons minimal and never commercials.
 
Dearest Friends

I have tv’s in my house and I limit the amount of time we mindlessly sit infront of it, it seems like when the tv is ona trance like state happens. There’s lots of reasons to restrict tv viewing apart from the obvious flooding of it with secular morals and violent images, it isn’t healthy for mind body or spirit to sit hour after hour infront of the tv, it neither encourages thought or inspired thought, it is contributory for the spreading wasteline of the nations also. My child watches mostly videos which I have watched first and have decided they are beneficial or fun for her without being harmful to her.

I like to keep uptodate with world news and local news and I also like to watch some films and documentaries, nature programmes and dramas.

Therefore I keep tv’s in my home, I suppose the thing to remember about the ‘one eyed monster’ 🙂 , is that you don’t have to turn it on!!! You can select what you view and you can always complain about what you may happen to see. Personally I find what is most damaging besides gratuitous violence and sex on tv , is the media hype and distortion of the truth or the way media news will try and influence events as though it has the infinite wisdom to do so, I think this is particularly harmful and falls under the category of propaganda of a particular mindset.

As others have said I think tv is is also harmful to social interaction, people spend their time closed up in their houses watching mindless images, instead of getting to know each other and helping within their communities, it is when you think about it a sheer wastage of time, as is the over use of any medium, including the internet. If only we would use the time used to view the tv or use the internet we used wisely in prayer or love of each other…small doses of viewing tv as a purpose of relaxation and lots more living please!!

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa
 
my choice is not one of the options in your poll. i would consider tv to be a tool, much like most other tools, such as the internet. there is good, there is evil. i find alot of good in tv, but you have to know where to look, and use it in moderation, as with all things. i love shows like northern exposure, scrubs, and dark angel (this is the show with jessica alba, not the show about vampires, etc.) great writing, redemption stories, developed characters, etc. sure, there’s alot of garbage out there. but there’s alot of good, too. friends of mine love ‘seventh heaven’ and ‘touched by an angel’, which have very redeeming qualities.

just this week, i was challenged to think outside of my personal box in a certain relationship due to the storyline on ‘scrubs’. i think, especially where kids are concerned, we should be very careful about the amount of TIME they spend in front of the box. it’s simply a waste, more than anything. but trying to keep them away from ‘worldly influences’, i think, has stunting effects. i’ve seen it in the lives of friends of mine who homeschool their kids. the kids sometimes seem ‘out of touch’ due to their lack of common language and usable vernacular gained from watching tv.

much of the basis for relationships i have with people who are not christians is music, movies, and tv. when i make a connection with someone via a song or show we both like, i can (if the opportunity presents itself) take the conversation to another level and help them to know our savior. or not. just be their friend. but if i’ve totally shut out their world, how can i be salt and light?
 
Dearest Jeff

Excellent post by you!! Spot on target, a happy medium whilst protecting children who are vunerable and impressionable.

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa
 
A few years ago my wife and I decided to fast from television during Lent. We didn’t switch it on again for more than three years and that was only for news coverage of elections in our country and for the Olympic games which followed. We do not miss it at all.
 
I threw out my Black & White TV soon after moving to Florida. And didn’t have a TV at all for about six years.

What a big blessing. Not to have advertising (name removed by moderator)ut towards re-ordering my priorities according to the way of the world. Not to waste time. Getting out and living life. Even though I was not a Catholic, God did big things in my life back then.

I’m in RCIA now.
 
thanks, teresa. 🙂

i do recommend fasting from tv, or movies, or whatever, to gain control over something that might take up too much of our time.

but moderation, i think, is the key to things like that.

may God bless you all as you seek His face.
 
Guess what? My husband just bought us a new 60 inch screen HDTV!!!:eek:…He wanted a Plasma:rolleyes: too expensive …

Oh well! Guess I’ll feel like I’m sitting in the pew at EWTN’s Mass!!!:clapping: Annunciata BTW, we did through away the old one…
 
Here’s something I downloaded off a Christian bulletin board about a dozen years ago. I think it’s even more applicable today:
** THE 23 CHANNEL**

The TV is my shepherd; I shall not want. It makes me lie down on the sofa, it
leads me away from faith; it leads me in the paths of sex and violence for the
sponsor’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the shadow of my Christian responsibilities, there
will be no interruption, For the TV is with me; it’s cable and remote control,
they comfort me.

It prepares a commercial for me in the presence of worldliness. It anoints my
head with Humanism and Consumerism, my covetousness runneth over.

Surely laziness and ignorance shall follow me all the days of my life, and I
shall dwell in the house watching TV forever.

Enjoy!
 
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RNRobert:
Here’s something I downloaded off a Christian bulletin board about a dozen years ago. I think it’s even more applicable today:
THE 23 CHANNEL

The TV is my shepherd; I shall not want. It makes me lie down on the sofa, it
leads me away from faith; it leads me in the paths of sex and violence for the
sponsor’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the shadow of my Christian responsibilities, there
will be no interruption, For the TV is with me; it’s cable and remote control,
they comfort me.

It prepares a commercial for me in the presence of worldliness. It anoints my
head with Humanism and Consumerism, my covetousness runneth over.

Surely laziness and ignorance shall follow me all the days of my life, and I
shall dwell in the house watching TV forever.

Enjoy!
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Robert,
That is terrific! 😃 You should post it on the Joke Contest Thread!
Annunciata:)
 
Sometimes when I hear about EWTN being a reason to keep a television, I wonder, what did Catholics do for centuries without EWTN? 😃 I once visited a home where they say they watch mostly EWTN. Sure enough, the channels got flipped while I was there, and we were treated to, among other things, dancing girls not wearing much. They don’t get any of “those” channels, either: these were just in the main package ‘deal’. I think even a glimpse is a sad thing. It’s like having someone throw mud in your face.
For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts. *
 
During a thunderstorm a few months ago the power went out while I was watching TV. It zapped my cable box so that I no longer got my full range of cable stations, but just the basic cable programming.

I couldn’t watch Fox News!!! But I still got EWTN. So, before taking the box back to the cable company to get a new one, I was forced to watch the EWTN prime-time lineup instead of cafeteria-Catholics Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity. They are both professing Catholics, but in reality they are about as Catholic as Kerry. O’Reilly thinks gay couples should be allowed to adopt children and Hannity thinks birth control is OK… :bigyikes: .

As a result of this “thuderstorm miracle” I was able to get off my bad Fox News addiction and develop a healthy devotion to EWTN. Marcus Grodi, Mother Angelica, Father Mitch, Life on the Rock, Raymond Arroyo, Father Carapi… these are the people I watch now rather than the un-Christian temper tantrums of Mr. O’Reilly. :banghead:

Praise God. :yup:
 
I could easily live w/o TV. I don’t mind having one around for watching movies. HOWEVER, my husband would never go for getting rid of it! I’d be happy if I could convince him to give it up just for Lent.

—KCT
 
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jeffreedy789:
i would consider tv to be a tool, much like most other tools, such as the internet. there is good, there is evil. … if i’ve totally shut out their [non-Christians’] world, how can i be salt and light?
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Interesting points. I would say that the television is different from the Internet in the controllability of the latter. When I use the Internet I can exercise great control over what I see. For example, on my browser (IE5.5) I have a button (freeware from Microsoft) that toggles image display. When I go to check the news (e.g. news.google.com) I switch off the images. Too many times I had gone to check the news and was presented with a picture of a poorly dressed woman, usually in the “entertainment” section. But if I want to check the news on the television, there’s no way to tell what’s on a channel before switching to it. Suppose the evening news is on, and I am switching back and forth. It is inevitable that I will encounter some lewd ad or other. Even the news itself can be horribly filthy. I recall a news blurb from the basketball player rape case. The “evidence” was described on-air, and sounded much like a vile movie of some sort. People’s most disgusting sins were flatly mentioned.

Note that this kind of content is not exactly like walking down the street and seeing people dressed immodestly. It is true, one finds immodestly dressed people on the street. But they are generally minding their own business, and it is easy to ignore them. But images in the media are expressly crafted to come crashing through our defenses. This is why it is so important to avoid them. The lascivious glance at the camera is much different from the self-absorbed walk of a girl with her frilly clothes peeking out. The former is penetrating, the latter is merely absurd.

How to be the friend of those who drown themselves in a daily dose of smut? I dunno. I grew up without television and was never much wanting for pals. We do have to be careful with our own souls as well. And, we can help others by being an example.
For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts. *
 
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