Television

[NadirGP]

TV – Tele-box

“Bread and circus” was the old saying.

In the Imperial Roman time, entertainment for the populace was held in large circus (oval shape some of them) or circle shape constructions in which games, theatrical scenes were performed.

Thus the expression,” bread and circus”, came about, because as the populace was constantly well entertained by the government, revolts against the status quo were minimized.

Nowadays, we do not have circus as such [except the mobile ones on wheels], for the television replaced them. However, are we aware of the risk the constant tele-vision does to the people, in particular, to the Christian faith? The answer may be the following:

THE 23RD CHANNEL (instead of the 23rd Psalm)

The TV is my shepherd, I shall want.
It makes me lie down on the sofa.
It leads me away from the Scriptures.
It destroys my soul.
It leads me in the path of sex and violence,
for the sponsor's sake.
Yea, though I walk in the shadow of my
Christian responsibilities,
there will be no interruption,
For the TV is with me.
It's cable and remote, they control me.
It prepares a commercial before me in
the presence of worldliness;
It anoints my head with Humanism,
My coveting runneth over.
Surely laziness and ignorance shall
Follow me all days of my life:
And I shall dwell in the house
Watching TV forever.

_Author Unknown
[See:http://www.turnoffyourtv.com/poemsessay ... rayer.html]

And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. Ephesians 2:1-2 – [English: King James] Version

[JamesR]

Television for the most part shows nothing beneficial. However, I still find myself watching it for history documentaries and culinary shows such as Bizarre Foods.

[NadirGP]

[Continuation]

Here are some other documents on the same topic, which I consider rather informative. The following are from a Christian point of view - " please, Don't shoot the messenger" - "Legatus non caeditur neque violatur."

KILL YOUR TELEVISION! By A.C. Staff

Excerpt:

THE SECRET WEAPON

The greatest threat to the existence of our society today is not air pollution, or water pollution, but MIND POLLUTION. For the first time in history, man has an instrument through which the masses can be taught and controlled effectively, immediately, and effortlessly. That instrument is TELEVISION, the most devastating brainwashing device ever unleashed upon humanity. To deny that television is a brainwashing tool, teaching and motivating people on a daily basis is to deny reality. In the hands of militant sodomites who have effectively infiltrated all major media, television has proved to be the "secret weapon" in their blatant attempts to capture the youth of the world.http://www.aggressivechristianity.net/a ... tvdrug.htm

SHOULD CHRISTIANS WATCH TV?
BethelMinistries.com

[Excerpt:]
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with a television set. Like the telephone, the TV set is incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong. Television, however, is of a different nature than telephones. And the argument that TV is amoral (neither moral or immoral), and that there are some "good" programs that could benefit the viewer is merely a smoke screen that conceals a diabolical scheme, the scale of which is unprecedented in the history of man.
[…]

A Christian father would not allow the popular pornographic magazines in his home, and would not think of browsing through them to read only those articles from which something good might be gleaned. The very thought of this is ludicrous to the man walking with Christ. But the same position would have been taken by Christians a hundred years ago concerning television. Actually, there are thousands of Christian fathers in America who do not tolerate a TV set in their homes (conservative Anabaptist groups, for example).[…]

The Christian who enjoys being amused or entertained by celebrities on TV (or any other way) should take heed to God's warning through the apostle Paul: "Avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness" (2 Tim. 2:16), and through the Spirit-inspired James: "Get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent" (James 1:21). [See:http://lastdaysministry.com/tv.htm]

From a secular point of view:

THE SECRET WEAPON

Television Ruined My Life

We've reached the point in TV where the hero is a deviant, misfit or weirdo. We cheer as he makes the world conform to him. Luciferians always push the limits of what is acceptable,and make the unacceptable acceptable.

In the 1950's, when I was a child, television was pretty wholesome. That's how I got hooked.

I was naive and idealistic and assumed I lived in a benevolent and free society that was attempting to raise everyone to a higher level, materially and spiritually. I looked to mass media and schooling for information, insight and guidance.

After watching "America in Primetime", (2011) a four-part documentary history of TV, on Netflix, I realize that TV is not entertainment. It is social engineering. It made me dysfunctional and depressed. It has done this to millions of people. -
[See: http://henrymakow.com/2013/10/Televisio ... -life.html]

TV Turnoff Network's - National TV-Turnoff Week

[Excerpt:]

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT TV
Number of 30-second commercials seen in a year by an average child: 20,000
Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 38.5
Number of minutes per week that the average child watches television: 1,680
Percentage of children ages 6-17 who have TV's in their bedrooms: 50
Percentage of day care centers that use TV during a typical day: 70
Hours per year the average American youth spends in school: 900 hours
Hours per year the average American youth watches television: 1500
Percentage of Americans that regularly watch television while eating dinner: 66
[See:http://www.turnoffyourtv.com/turnoffwee ... .week.html]

For more links, please see here below:

Eight Reasons Why TV is Evil Television is Plato’s cave.

• See more at: http://druidjournal.net/2006/08/02/eigh ... 5KzXc.dpuf
  http://druidjournal.net/2006/08/02/eigh ... v-is-evil/

Kill Your Television http://www.TurnOffYourTV.com [many links]
http://www.turnoffyourtv.com/index.html

TELEVISION AND THE HIVE MIND
by Mack White
http://www.mackwhite.com/tv.html

Why TV is EVIL - simulated reality and brainwashing by repetition http://sexygeekygirl.hubpages.com/hub/why_tv_is_evil

[Barbara]

The spoof on the 32nd Psalm is really funny ! Well done, whoever wrote that.
Sounds EXACTLY like what I was thinking about kids next door : lazy, unmotivated, unbelievably ignorant,
as a function of an oversized TV taking up the entire living room it seems [my mouth dropped as i caught sight of the monter
driving by yesterday].

But the statistics ! Appalling !!

38 MINUTES ? I thought it said hours, at first, that a parent spends in meaningful discussion with child per week.
1680 Minutes of TV watching ?

James, one thing you must realize, though, is that you aren't getting HISTORY.
You are merely getting a huge twist on events, with a political spin usually.
There is almost no interest in Hollywood or TV studios - and never has been -
in EDUCATING about REAL LIFE or REAL EVENTS.
No it is just SYRUP they are feeding you.
Sooner you disconnect from that fluff, the sooner you will feel healthy again !
What i mean is : if you stop watching anything you will notice that you start feeling much better.

Like Henry Makow said, he felt depressed watching TV.

Take the warning now when you are young and step away from that set. Don't care
WHAT peers say to you.
I remember when I was in high school, there was a popular soap opera [was it "As the World Turns" ?
I don't remember ]. Each time there was a recess, the girls would talk about the latest episodes.
It never bothered me that I had no clue who any of the characters were, or much less could follow
the serial. I KNEW it was trash and below me to waste a second on talking about. Let alone watching so
one could feel "in". No thanks !
Better to stay quiet and avoid such people, as the quotation from St Paul cited above seems to direct.

[Maria]

If any of you have ever watched Criminal Minds on TV, what Barbara and Nadir have said is so true. Some of the TV episodes are positively diabolical. There is nothing redeeming about it. In fact, I would not be surprised if some vulnerable teens or young adults use the script to do a copycat murder or worse.

The same thing applies to certain very controlling Internet forums. I recently logged out permanently from a "Christian" forum that was anything but Christian. I thought that my presence on that Protestant forum would perhaps help enlighten some of the Protestants and Catholics who frequented that board, and several people have thanked me for introducing them to Orthodoxy, but the downside is that my own faith did suffer. Finally, when a particular thread on that forum became very relativistic, and the mods and members at that forum pushed ideas from diversity training and secular humanism, I knew it was time to depart. That was over two weeks ago, and I have never felt so free in my life.

The news media, especially on TV, not only uses sensationalism to give us an adrenalin surge, but also the music (or lack of true music today) affects our brains in ways that scientists are just beginning to understand. Getting away from all that indoctrination, brainwashing, and attempt to put God and righteousness out of our minds is very liberating because only in Christ are we truly set free.

[NadirGP]

[Continuation]

Television Is an Evil

That is why I was overjoyed recently in Paris to find a well-documented book that confirmed one of my deepest prejudices, namely that television is, if not the root of all evil, at least the root of much evil. That is why I haven’t had one for more than forty years. The book was called TV Lobotomie, which hardly needs translation.

[Excerpts only:]

Most parents believe that television is bad for their children, but they insist that they watch it nonetheless. Indeed, they train them to do so, for contrary to what many might think, television is not immediately attractive to young children, who would rather do something else than watch it. Having become accustomed to it, however, they need it as an addict needs his drug. The more they watch it, the worse their likely path through life. Before anyone objects that this is because those children who watch the most television come from bad homes, let me point out first that the relationship between television and scholastic failure (for example) is a causative one, and second that the worst effects of television are seen in the best homes not the worst, precisely because children from the best homes—by best, I mean those with educated parents and high incomes, admittedly a rather reductive definition—have the best cognitive prospects to ruin. As modern European architects have discovered, it is far easier to ruin the good than improve the bad.

To my shame, and against my principles, I have occasionally agreed to appear on television, though even less frequently than I have been asked. I have found those who work for TV broadcasting companies to be the most disagreeable people that I have ever encountered. I far preferred the criminals whom I encountered in my work as a prison doctor, who were more honest and upright than TV people.

In my experience, TV people are as lying, insincere, obsequious, unscrupulous, fickle, exploitative, shallow, cynical, untrustworthy, treacherous, dishonest, mercenary, low, and untruthful a group of people as is to be found on the face of this Earth. They make the average Western politician seem like a moral giant. By comparison with them, Mr. Madoff was a model of probity and Iago was Othello’s best friend. I am prepared to admit that there may be—even are—exceptions, as there are exceptions good or bad in every human group, but there is something about the evil little screen that would sully a saint and sanctify a monster.
Turn off, tune out, drop completely.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/2013/11/theo ... -all-evil/

“There is something about the evil little screen that would sully a saint and sanctify a monster.”

[Barbara]

^ That last paragraph is amusing about Othello and Bern. Mad !

Why would he appear on TV at all though ?

As a side note, when I see someone acclaimed as "appeared on "Oprah" and bla bla other shows [I can't think
of any names at all of the popular ones past or present] - I immediately say to myself, "Why would
I read HIS book then ? He's obviously on a different wavelength, so I would be getting some negative
programming from his words.

Maria, what on earth is "diversity training" ?
It sounds ominous.
I am glad you were honest that your faith suffered from the Protestant forum.
That will help wake up others to not even attempt to participate.