To watch tv or not to watch tv?

[sedonaman]

If it’s not sexual or impure, then I don’t see anything wrong with it. I would call it mindless entertainment. Once in a while isn’t a bad thing. Like watch races or other kinds of things. I think the point is that if you are questioning it, you may know already what you should be spending your time with. We don’t fit God into our lives we center our lives around him. It’s a process and we know if we are not spending enough time filling ourselves with good things that will enrich us, we know it is not good to read or watch those mindless activities that keep us off track. When you get closer to God, the Holy Spirit sometimes bops you over the head and says enough with that stuff that is distracting you from me, get closer to me. He draws you to do good and the more you do good, you see very clearly what isn’t good and beneficial for your soul.
God bless

I agree that there are too many distractions in our society.

 

[kaufuti1875]

I think that the TV in itself is a usefull tool. It allows us acess to information in a more clear and vivid way. But it should not control our lives. I myself can addicted to watching TV or movies in general. When this happens I tend to lose touch with reality the more tangible things and the more important things. Its sad that kids are using the TV as a substute teacher, due to the parents unavailability to spend quality time with them. To watch TV or not watch TV? Sounds similar to the one of Shakespear plays. " To be or not to be" that is the question. We need more silence anyways to be able to encounter GOD in our lives. In this world of noise it is time to reduce the distractions. If TV is causing a problem. we should ask ourselves, Is it really worth it?
Have a peaceful day

 

[fred_conty]

Clearly TV has a lot of bad influences or rather bad things that you don’t want to contribute to by watching it (that is, through ratings).

It’s also an extraordinary mind/relationship stunter-but that’s the least of its problems in my opinion.

So then, what do you think is the wisest decision -watch or not watch?

Limit the time watching and limit the view to good programs.

 

[otjm]

I have chosen to not read the thread; just as I chose not to watch television about 24 years ago. Occasionally I will be somewhere else where there is a television, and if it is on, I will endure it.

That is not to say that there is nothing good on t.v., but rather to say that I had found a long time ago that most of what passes for popular television is dumbed down to the lowest common denominator, and provides no entertainment at all. Rather, it bores and aggravates.

There is a wonderful world in books; there are movies which can entertain and challenge (such as the one of the Trappists recently), and there are means of receiving the news which are not driven by the fear factor, the titillation factor, or are not so grossly distorted that one is thoroughly misinformed.

I generally don’t waste my time discussing the value, or lack thereof, with others as I find they are effectively addicted to t.v. and it is a waste of my time.

And that is my two cents worth; it works for me. When I was raising my twin daughters, we turned the t.v. off and I read to them. I must not have damaged their psyches too much (they watched at their mother’s house on alternate weeks). One day when I received a call from one of them while they were in college, she informed me that she has heard my voice. Since I didn’t have a clue, I asked what she was talking about. In class they had been studying the Tales of Narnia, and she informed me that she could hear my voice.

I had been reading to them from those books while they were in high school.

Apparently I made one correct choice.

 

[Kate1298]

I feel like most people here echoed my thoughts that not ALL TV is bad - it’s like saying books are bad because only some are.

I have yet to meet one Christian who rejected modern day television shows because of their bad values. Most network shows, from The Big Bang Theory to Desperate Housewives to Grey’s Anatomy, are full of things God would not approve of, yet every Christian I know still watches them and don’t seem to see anything wrong with it. It’s like no one can bear the thought of not watching them anymore and perhaps they think it’s fine as long as they don’t do the bad stuff the show promotes. I often justify it by saying I’m now in my mid twenties, so I’m not as easily influenced as a teenager, and it’s not like my shows are tracked by Nielson, but deep down I feel like it’s wrong to watch them.

There is one Christian guy I know who doesn’t own a TV and as a result, he is very unaware of many things going on in the world, whether that be news topics or the fact that many young people enjoy getting drunk and have one night stands - a la the Jersey Shore.