“Blow up your TV, Throw Away Your Paper…”
15. May, 2011 
3 Comments
Our family does not own a TV. After reading John Senior’s The Restoration of Christian Culture, my wife and I decided that the TV was something we didn’t want in our home. We’ve had several offers for a free TV, one from my generous cousin, another from my wife’s parents. Each time, we turned the offer down (graciously, I hope). Each time we turned down an offer for a free TV, we recounted the reasons between us:
1. TV is an invader in the home that can only be truly controlled by turning it off.
2. TV is expensive. Saving 50 dollars a month helps us to put 600 dollars in our daughter’s college fund every year, rather than not.
3. TV is a mirror of our culture’s decay… there are too many examples to enumerate.
This morning, I had a chance to watch a bit of TV for the first time since Christmas. In just about 20 minutes I happened upon the following:
1. I happened upon an episode of Cheers. One of the characters, Carla, said she got out of jury duty because she had 6 kids to take care of. Another character remarked, “I guess they figure that if you’re not smart enough to use birth control, you’re not smart enough to be on a jury.” This is incredibly insulting… and from the 80′s…. This line of insult and perversion has been going on for the better part of a half century.
2. Then, I happened upon a commercial where a family was giving a birthday party to a dog…. a dogggggggg. Over the past 3 years or so, after seeing countless DINKS (double income, no kids) and hipster doofuses treating their dogs like children, I’ve come to actively dislike pets. Dogs are not children. And, there are actual children out there in the wide world that need parents to take care of them. The citizens of the U.S. spends north of 40 BILLION dollars a year on their pets. That bests the annual GDP of 62 countries as of 2008… and that figure includes neuticals. Check out the link and Wikipedia to learn more… Our culture treats children like pets and pets like children…
Exhibit A:
Oh My
3. Finally, I watched a bit of the Disney movie, Ratatouille. I actually rather like the movie, and it’s not outwardly corrupting. But have you ever noticed how main characters in Disney films don’t come from a two parent household. In Toy Story, Andy’s Mom is single, as is Arielle’s Dad. Simba’s Dad gets trampled, Nemo only has a Dad, and Jasmine only has a Dad. Dumbo only has a Mom, Belle only has a Dad, Charlie (in Mighty Ducks) only has a Mom. Single parents are often heroes, truly, so this isn’t a reflection on single parents. But, it’s just interesting that Disney doesn’t portray homes with a mother and a father.
The forces of corruption and enslavement have been active for a very long time – demons are immortal after all. Television allows one more reality-diluting media to infiltrate our minds and homes in ever more creative ways. Why not just leave out the TV in the first place?
Truly, the decision has worked out well for us. We watch some shows on Hulu, and even had Netflix for a time. So, it is possible to get the shows you like without all of the garbage. We read more, spend more time together, listen to more lectures and radio. We don’t miss the TV. It’s an objectively better situation not to have one.
Enjoy the Avett Brother’s cover of John Prine’s song, Spanish Pipe Dream…
From a broader perspective…..
We are all challenged to make the right choices in numerous venues…..
Have you ever looked at current billboard advertising along any interstate? Since I drive so much, I am constantly challenged to ignore them due to the perversion on many…
In airports, have you ever seen the books and magazines that are sold? That display rack is a great place to ignore….
How many strip clubs and adults only stores are now everywhere? Luckily, one local billboard was painted over, but there is advertising everywhere for this…
I hear that pornography is rampant on the internet! Thankfully, it is relatively easy to avoid this, but many are tempted….
Casino gambling….sure, maybe OK for some folks, but a real curse for those addicted to it…..it was not long ago that casinos were only in Nevada and Atlantic City…..I know….hard to believe.
Your points are well made and the examples you give are very real…
Maybe we can use your perspective to help us all make better choices all around us.
But dig in….the fight will be constant.
Exhibit B: The Child Leash
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Jeep-3-in-1-Harness-Backpack-Lion/13866905?findingMethod=rr
I can’t tell you how right you are. We had a evening/night one time so we decided to flip around. Over 300 channels and we could not find a thing that would hold our interest more than 10mins. I feel that reality TV has been a big contributor to the decline of our culture as it has promoted and given as very large soap box to the corrupt society we live. Megan and I have a few more months left on our TV contract – and we may even opt out early – but we plan to do the netflix/hulu route for our media entertainment. Excellent thoughts AW.