Throw away the television?

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Eileen T:
I would love to throw it away, I seldom watch it, but I think my husband would divorce me if I really did. He’s a real couch potato.
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I’m so sorry to hear that. It sounds like your husband has serious issues if he places the TV above his wife.

my Mother my Confidence,
Corinne
 
I hate television with a passion because it ruined the life my family should have enjoyed together. When I was growing up & Mom was working during supper, Dad and my two teenage brothers would watch vulgar shows and laugh. It was impossible to have a decent conversation. They mimic what the characters on TV do: swear, take God’s name in vain, see women as sex objects. Dad used to tell me to get more exercise but he spends tons of time on the couch or bed watching TV when he could be working on being a better husband to my mother, teaching my brothers how to be gentlemen, or even volunteering. Instead, my brothers are thinking about which CD to buy next, which show to watch next, etc. - “what can I do for God today?” is usually the last thing on their minds.

I know a holy family with 7 children and no TV or computer in their house. All the kids know how to pray; even the baby son knows how to genuflect - he copies his mother. All the kids except the two youngest know how to read. All the kids who are old enough help out around the house with very little complaint. They all dress modestly and I doubt that they would ever even think of swearing or taking God’s name in vain. They have lots of good Catholic books in their house - books about saints, for example. The kids made an altar in the living room. There are NO couch potatoes because those kids really know how to play! Only one of them is the least bit overweight. It’s neat to see all the kids playing together, almost as if they’ve never heard of sibling rivalry. You people who say you’d never get rid of the TV or can’t live without it don’t know what you’re missing. The family I’m talking about isn’t stupid, either - they know about the hurricane, they know that Benedict XVI was recently elected. They don’t need to know what is going on all the time. Their house is full of innocence and love.

I interviewed a man in my parish with several children for an article I’m writing. He went on a retreat and learned that he will be judged by God according to the way he raised his children. After that, he realized that the bad on TV outweighs the good so he and his wife stopped watching TV. All the feedback from his kids’ teachers about their behavior has been positive. They pray together more now and their time is more useful - they do more around the house together and do homework. They have better vocabularies because they read more and they get better grades. Now he doesn’t know where he ever found the time to watch TV. They even get to bed earlier now. He missed the sports on TV for a while but then he remembered the immodesty and he’s better off for it now because he’s not giving himself & his family a near occasion of sin.

Here’s a short list I compiled of reasons to not watch TV; I’m sure others can come up with more:
-commercials urging you to buy this and that (materialism, anyone?)
-the more you watch TV, the less quality time you spend with others
-there is lots of swearing on TV
-there’s so much sex and innuendo
-many shows are not worth watching (soap operas and more)
-you could be giving to charity with the money you’re spending on your cable bill
-“the family that prays together, stays together” - the more time you spend watching TV, the less time you have to pray
-less time for TV means more time to exercise
-you could be volunteering instead of sitting on your rear!
-less TV time means more time for homework
-no TV? no time for siblings to fight over the channels and remote! 🙂
-more time for TV means you probably aren’t putting God first in your life…you could be going to daily Mass, visiting a homebound friend, gardening, and so much more
-in this fast-paced world where we think we don’t have enough hours in the day, we could use a few more hours by not watching TV
-you could be going out and making friends, meeting your neighbors, etc.
-I wouldn’t want channels like MTV, Cartoon Network and Comedy Central anywhere near my preborn child…why would you let your kids watch inappropriate things like that?
-TV can be very depressing. Why do you watch the evening news when most of what is portrayed is bad news?
-some men are infatuated with the women they see on TV and that can’t help family life or marriages or the state of their souls, for that matter

People tend to forget that we’re fighting a spiritual war all the time. The devil is powerful and he’s not stupid; he’s going to use everything he’s got and every time I’m around a TV I can see that he is using it to bring people down and take away what little faith they have. If we are to be soldiers for Christ, we need to be in top shape all the time, and that means God comes first - no time for the immorality on TV and the laziness (and sometimes gluttony) that comes with watching it.

Try giving it up for a week or two and see what happens. You might be surprised. God bless you!

my Mother my Confidence,
Corinne
 
I have been TV (service) free for about 4 years. I still have a Television and a DVD player, and I do (on occasion) sit back, relax, and watch a movie or two. Maybe I’m just a control freak, but I like to be in charge of what’s going to pop up in front of me. When I had service, I was inundated with ‘soft porn’ constantly. This was just from the commercials. So much of the content revolved around sex.:mad: I live in an area where I can’t get reception through an antenna, so I used to have satellite service that brought more channels than I could ever possibly watch. I even paid extra for the movie channels. When I actually did watch some of the popular programming, I noticed it was riddled with filth. If it wasn’t showing nudity and promiscuity, it was talking about people living in sin, bed hopping, etc. like that was an “OK” lifestyle.

I do NOT think the TV in and of itself is “evil” or should be thrown away. I think the TV like other forms of media, can be used for great good.

I get the impression that some of the posters feel there would be detrimental effects associated with NOT exposing children to ‘questionable’ programming. Saying it was bad to ‘hide’ or ‘shelter’ them from it. Doing so, might cause the children to suffer from leading a sheltered life where they might have some troubles communication with the more worldly children. I think we need to re-examine our priorities. Do we want our children to be able to easily converse with the people who watch the immoral drivel on a daily basis, or do we want them to seem like ‘outcasts’ and make it to Heaven? If I were to deny my children from watching a show that condoned lifestyles that are condemned in the Bible, would that make me a neglectful parent? One post talked about how we would wind up putting ourselves back into the “Stone Age” if we continued to remove temptation. Again, it’s a matter of priorities. Do we want to be in high-tech world where pornography and immoral living are just a click away, or do we want to tough it out in the Stone Age for a few years and be happy with God for an eternity?
 
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AMDG3141:
I get the impression that some of the posters feel there would be detrimental effects associated with NOT exposing children to ‘questionable’ programming. Saying it was bad to ‘hide’ or ‘shelter’ them from it. Doing so, might cause the children to suffer from leading a sheltered life where they might have some troubles communication with the more worldly children. I think we need to re-examine our priorities. Do we want our children to be able to easily converse with the people who watch the immoral drivel on a daily basis, or do we want them to seem like ‘outcasts’ and make it to Heaven? If I were to deny my children from watching a show that condoned lifestyles that are condemned in the Bible, would that make me a neglectful parent? One post talked about how we would wind up putting ourselves back into the “Stone Age” if we continued to remove temptation. Again, it’s a matter of priorities. Do we want to be in high-tech world where pornography and immoral living are just a click away, or do we want to tough it out in the Stone Age for a few years and be happy with God for an eternity?

I wholeheartedly agree with you here. Catholics were around for most of the Church’s history before TV. I haven’t seen TV produce any saints; rather, I see lack of TV produce saints.

To those who think a TV-free household is extreme: it’s almost impossible to go too far when protecting your children’s innocence and purity. I know someone who takes her kids away from people who swear, and another mother I know finds places to buy groceries that don’t have pornographic celebrity magazines by the cash registers and ugly Bratz dolls (IMHO they look like ugly 10-year-old sluts) like Wal*Mart does.

my Mother my Confidence,
Corinne
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I would not throw away my television because there are some quality programs that are on. I watch EWTN, and sometimes the family channel, or HGTV. It’s ok as long as your responsible in your program selection and watch it in moderation. That’s my opinion anyway.
 
Forgive me for reviving an old thread, but the other day I was in the thrift shop and happened to walk past the TV’s. I saw a sign on one which stated something about it not having a digital receiver and that soon the buyer would need to get some sort of converter-box if they don’t have cable or satellite TV. This was the first I had heard of this, so I checked it out online:
fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/digitaltv.html
I haven’t had cable in 20 years because there is so much trash on TV, and until recently the local cable company didn’t carry EWTN. So I’m still using rabbit-ears on both TV’s (a 1980’s Toshiba downstairs, and a 1994 Zenith upstairs). I’m wondering, is this my clue to ditch the “idiot-box” altogether, rather than spending the money for one of those converter boxes or a new TV set? Have any of you tossed your TV’s? How did it go? did anybody buy one of those radio-TV receivers just so they could hear the news?

When I first left home 30+ years ago, I didn’t have a TV for about 4 years. Finally my brother gave me an old one of his because he “felt sorry for me” for not having a TV. I didn’t miss it then…I wonder if I would miss it now. BTW, I don’t have any kids at home to pitch a fit if the TV goes to the trash bin. Opinons, please?
 
csr said:
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.
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Well, mostly.

About all I watch these days is cooking and travel shows, and the occasional old sitcom on Nick.

But even these shows are interrupted by a stream of literally-pornographic commercials. Ack.

It’s in the magazines, too.

Oh, well. There’s always EWTN.
 
RNRobert said:
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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Oh, thank you, so much. The less TV reflects a Godly way of living, the less I will see of it.

Thanks again,
Ed
 
I am selective in what I watch. On most weeks, it’s about 2 or 3 hours.My one guilty pleasure is “Rescue Me” . Soon it’ll be “House” and “Survivor”. But most nights I read or am at CAF.
Kathy
 
I really admire those of you who have no cable or dish service or have even thrown out the TV altogether. Our TV has not been on much at all through the summer and I wish I could go the extra step to disconnect, but there’s the football and such…

We have the lowest of low number of channels - top 60 I think on the dish network for $40. There might actually be a set of family channels for $25 but I think we’d not get the news or something. It’s also difficult to pay monthly for something and then not use it!
 
I have a friend, a single woman, a Christian, who has a TV. When i go see her, it’s often showing a comedy with filthy language, mockery of even the bluntest and most animal kind of morals (care for your young, try not to mate with the wrong object, don’t rob nests within your own herd or whatever morals animals tend to have), presumption of extreme and utterly boundless greed and addictive behavior, and hostility in all interactions. She laughs along with the laugh tracks. I say I don’t get much out of it and ask what else is on. But she likes what she likes.
I was watching once and a commercial came on. A teacher turned to draw a graph for a high-school class. two young men in the class whooped and shrilled at the sight of the teacher’s office skirt from behind. They jumped around like chimpanzees on diet pills, hooting about how they appreciated her hindquarters. To make themselves clear, they drew a diagram of a woman’s profile and erased the posterior. This was all to whet the appetite for a sandwich with flat buns. I said, thinking myself very restrained, “That’s gross.” She giggled and said, “You’re a prude!” Am I? Should this aggressive, explicit, hyperactive, infantile display by two men over the appearance of a professional trying to tell them something have made me hungry instead of sick? Good thing I don’t have a TV.
And then there are now I don’t know how many cable channels specifically for homosexuals.😦 And shows just for infants and toddlers so the passivity lessons can begin before a child knows anything else.:mad:
 
The Internet is my shepherd; I shall not want. It makes me stare at a screen; it
leads me away from faith; it leads me in the paths of short attention spans and eye-strain for
capitalism’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the shadow of my Christian responsibilities, there
will be no interruption of service, For the Internet is with me; its instant communication and email,
they comfort me.

It prepares entertaining distraction for me in the presence of worldliness. It anoints my
head with technology and novelty, my covetousness runneth over.

Surely isolation and anti-socialness shall follow me all the days of my life, and I
shall dwell in the house with Wi-Fi, surfing the Web forever.
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In the 1950s and 1960s, TV was a guest in our home. Then, over about a 30 year period, it started talking about sex, sexual innuendo, a few body parts, then Sue Ellen on Dallas drinking booze straight out of a bottle while driving, cat fights, a police captain and his wife wearing nothing but a blanket while lying on top of each other on Hillstreet Blues, a cop who likes to go to the live peep show, and then, Adult Language and Partial Nudity on NYPD Blue in the 1990s.

How much more warning do you need? The always on TV slowly poisoned the Body of Christ. It took the devil about 30 years, but now, too many Catholics are living their lives just like secular people. One hour a week in Church is usually not enough to drown out the hours spent in front of the box. It is time to throw this guest out, or limit him severely.

My brothers and sisters, what we take in through our eyes and ears can affect us. We are essentially meditating on people who act out dysfunctional and sinful lives and we watch them for hours.

God bless,
Ed
 
I am always fascinated by discussion of whether TV is good or evil, should we throw it out altogether, etc.

For 30+ years, my husband has supported us through his career as a local TV news anchor. He is a model Catholic husband, father and citizen, and highly respected within his profession and the community.

Some local Catholic schools participate in the annual “TV Turn-off Week”, urging families to completely turn off the TV for at least that week. This is a coordinated national effort that has generally happened in late April or early May, usually coinciding with the first week of the most important TV ratings period for local television stations, upon which they base their ad rates (lifeblood!) for the rest of the year. It always infuriated me that, rather than urge prudence and parental control in choice of programs, the schools our children attended were encouraging families to take a step that could have a distinct effect on the livelihood of several local Catholic families, us included, who made their living in local television. If ratings are down, then advertising rates are affected; if news ratings are down, it could mean a change in news management, the anchor team, etc.

It is particularly galling that the same Catholic schools, the other 51 weeks of the year, are more than delighted to have TV coverage of special events, achievements, etc.

Television is a tool, for heaven’s sake! It is, of itself, neither good nor evil; programming itself can also be either. I can assure you that, when a hurricane is coming in our direction, as happens with fair regularity, those people who are so vocal about the evils of television are glued to their sets for weather updates!

Use common sense, prudence and make choices in accordance with your Catholic values, and monitor your children’s viewing. To quote the late Edward R. Murrow; “This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box." Well said.
 
csr said:
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.
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Same argument can be used against the Internet. For the internet, get a family filter and that will get rid of most of the filthy and dangerous sites… With a TV you have the option of tuning out stations(Or in the case of Cable TV, asking for channel blocking).
 
strngrnrth said:
I have a friend, a single woman, a Christian, who has a TV. When i go see her, it’s often showing a comedy with filthy language, mockery of even the bluntest and most animal kind of morals (care for your young, try not to mate with the wrong object, don’t rob nests within your own herd or whatever morals animals tend to have), presumption of extreme and utterly boundless greed and addictive behavior, and hostility in all interactions. She laughs along with the laugh tracks. I say I don’t get much out of it and ask what else is on. But she likes what she likes.
I was watching once and a commercial came on. A teacher turned to draw a graph for a high-school class. two young men in the class whooped and shrilled at the sight of the teacher’s office skirt from behind. They jumped around like chimpanzees on diet pills, hooting about how they appreciated her hindquarters. To make themselves clear, they drew a diagram of a woman’s profile and erased the posterior. This was all to whet the appetite for a sandwich with flat buns. I said, thinking myself very restrained, “That’s gross.” She giggled and said, “You’re a prude!” Am I? Should this aggressive, explicit, hyperactive, infantile display by two men over the appearance of a professional trying to tell them something have made me hungry instead of sick? Good thing I don’t have a TV.
And then there are now I don’t know how many cable channels specifically for homosexuals.😦 And shows just for infants and toddlers so the passivity lessons can begin before a child knows anything else.:mad:
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I’m kind of with you. People throw out the term ‘prude’ like it’s a bad thing to be offended by grotesque displays of foul language and distorted human sexuality!

(Then they’re the very same ones who appear on Dr. Phil, stunned beyond belief because their 13-year-old daughter, who basically was raised by such shows, has ‘somehow’ gotten herself pregnant).

I think the best approach is, of course, not to watch such nonsense on TV, and to speak out against it—AND to write the advertisers who sponsor such shows. Tell them why you object! Passivity is what got us this batch of garbage on TV in the first place.

Even when I’m watching the relatively harmless shows on The Food Network and such, I have to switch away during commercials. Most of them are disgusting.
 
csr said:
Television is thought by many to have been a key component in the descent toward denial of original sin
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I hold no brief for the cultural effect of television, but it seems odd on the face of it that TV would contribute toward the denial of original sin. By and large, it provides pretty good evidence for the truth of original sin!

I think the passivity of TV-watching is the most dangerous aspect. On the whole, ordering movies/episodes through NetFlix or something of that sort is preferable, because then you are watching something you have chosen to watch and it’s a more active, intentional process (and you are less likely to order something morally problematic than to just watch it because it happens to be on–at least I know I am).

Edwin
 
Then why not just the radio for the weather? Honestly, Teresa Tomeo worked in the News business and had to get out.

This isn’t just about livlihoods, it’s about souls. It’s about putting our beliefs into practice. The national Media has its hands in everything, newspapers, radio, television, and they are all speaking in one voice: dysfunctional is good, normal is weird at best. And Christians? Well you know what they say about those religious nuts.

I do not exaggerate when I say Sodom and Gomorrah is on your TV right now. Fornication, homosexuality, adultery, murder, greed, and it’s all OK. Enjoy watching it for “entertainment” purposes. No one is “normal” anymore.

Sure, there are a few programs that are good, but the first episode of Californication is coming up. So it’s clear that it’s not getting better.

God bless,
Ed
 
Many on this thread seem to be equating TV with the current or recent popular network sitcoms and similar programs - shows like Friends, Sex in the City, Grey’s Anatomy, etc. What those here do not seem to realize is that TV does not solely consist of such shows. There’s plenty of good stuff on TV too. Many of the educational channels have excellent shows on them.
 
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