Kill Your Television?

I went, I saw, I left.

Phil, with all your work on image and communication, etc, I'm surprised you made that recommendation. The content may be fine, I don't know and this isn't a commentary on it. But the way in which they laid out the website was horrible. I am kind of surprised there was not clipart animation and midi songs on repeat.

I'm sorry, it was just so bad I had to say something. Maybe consumerism has overrun my life.

Life without TV is great! We should be unspotted from the world. What TV shows exist that don't have sexual immorality, cursing, anti-Biblical viewpoints, ect...? Should we view this material? How many times in prime time is a scantily clad woman and sexual immorality presented as a good thing? Think of popular shows today, Ugly Betty, Greys Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, CSI, ect...

Is it okay to watch CSI and see a woman in a bikini dancing provokatively? Or watch a film with that those same elements and sexual immorality? Would you have that same woman prancing around in your living room? There is no difference. I think we are trying to hard to "appease" the world. Would Jesus be pleased with those shows or movies we watch? Something to think about.

All the more reason to support Christian media...Why can't Christian TV ever really get going into something more engaging? I think if Christians actually stopped and realized that "their" shows are not pleasing to Jesus then maybe they would start to look for something that would be pleasing to God.

If you will do away from TV for even a while you need to make plans to actively replace it with something life changing or at least fill that void/gap with something worthwhile so that you will not be tempted to go back to it. Before I married my wife she used to love shows like Sex & The City; Charmed and the whole Paramount Comedy Channel. Before I met my wife (then girlfriend)the Lord had help me live without TV for a long time (sometimes I wonder why He gets me to work in the industry so much and yet reduces my time to watch the stuff?)So at first I just put up with it because I was dating her (yes she was and is a believer) then but after a while I began to see a lot of compromises so I got a solution. I gave her an experiment (she is a scientist) for one week only, instead of watching TV read and study her bible for one hour and then go out for a walk and we will talk about it. First 3 days was like getting an addict off drugs but by the end of the second week we hit a flow. Then after a month of doing this I told her she could watch any programme on TV especially her favourite shows - Sex & The City. After just watching one episode (a month after not watching TV) she was completely disgusted at it and she couldn't believe she actually enjoyed watching them! It has been three years since she last watched that show or Paramount Comedy Channel of her own free will. Yes she watches TV but very little and only for investment and information purposes. Now she gives me ideas for funny TV programmes, movies and even documentaries all the time and I love them.

I was raised without TV. It shows. For one thing, my TV etiquette is off. Unlike lifelong viewers, I tend to respond to what's on the screen. If it's funny, I laugh. If it's scary I leave the room. That, and the over the top special effects of the last 5 years or so can be so fast paced and disorienting that I lose interest.

Take this morning. I turned the boob tube on and tried to get a grasp on what was going on. The plot kept alluding me, although some of the period costumes and effects were impressive. Hubby comes in and asks. "Whatcha watchin'?"

"Some pirate-horror flick with Johnnie Dep in it." I confessed sheepishly. "I'm having trouble with the plot. That, and the scenes are really dark. I can't see much. We don't have to watch this. I don't really get it."

"I watched it on a plane last year." He stated.

"Hmm... Well I think it's too sophisticated for me!" I joke. We share a smile from an old joke between us and I switch to the news.

A naked young man is jogging through the snow on a crowded street. The police tazer him and take him into custody. He has a streak of blood on his hip and his feet appear to be protected by nothing but black electrical tape. The scene was odd, and the newscasters seemed amused. I couldn't figure out why it was news. "This is probably too sophisticated for me!" My husband said. He grinned at me as the humor of our shared confusion escalated.

That's a typical Conley family TV experience. We don't get it most of the time. There's not much on for us. We like "Good Eats", and we used to be big fans of a show called "Junk Yard Wars". Honest, we're not all that sophisticated. We enjoy silly things, and we like to be amused. There's just not a lot on TV for us.

A very good book on this issue is, "Amusing Ourselves to Death," by Neil Postman. You should pick it up and give it a read! I will be raising my family TV free...