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| Do You Own a Television? |
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I have been contemplating the upcoming television season, and wondering if perhaps I should cut out some of the tv watching that I do. The Lord has been trying to impress upon me recently, that maybe I should take another look at what I watch on tv.
I love mystery/detective type shows, and watch a lot of CSI, and other shows that are similar. The main problem with this type of show is that sometimes they are very graphic and show intense violence, not to mention the loose sexual morals that are portrayed.
There are also a few comedies that I enjoy, but again, the sexual morals that are often portrayed leave a lot to be desired.
I don't feel as though by watching these shows that I am more inclined to change my moral code, I won't be commiting murder or adultery because I watched a certain show. Yet, it must have some affect on my psyche. By watching these shows, do I pick up some of the characteristics of the people acting in them? Do I use the language that they do? Am I just asking for trouble by watching them? Am I giving the enemy a chance to break into my heart?
There are many people in our church who do not even own a television. I can't imagine that, because I grew up with one, and always had one. In the summer, all I ever watch is perhaps a little bit of the news and maybe a baseball game here and there, but in the winter, when the wind is howling and the snow is flying, I have more time and tend to watch more of it. My husband tends to watch more than I do, especially the sports and movie channels.
If given the choice, I would still rather sit down with a good book, than watch television. But the fact remains, that the television is a connection with the outside world. And it is a form of entertainment.
I am curious, how many of you do not have televisions? What do you do with your time if you don't have televisions to watch? Have any of you gotten rid of your tv? How did you and your family adjust to it?
I will continue to think and pray on what shows are ok to watch and what are not. What would Jesus have me do? Somehow, I can't see him watching television if He were here with me in the flesh. Maybe it is time I give it up, or at least give up some of the shows that I watch. |
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Deb, I like the way you have thought through this. Good questions.
We have two TVs, but have no cable or reception (except on one of them when the weather is just right). We rent movies every now and then to watch. My family really enjoys movies.
I watch TV sometimes when I travel. If I happen to hit a week when something good is on, I might wonder if I should get cable installed, but more often than not, after flipping through almost 100 channels in my hotel room, I don't find anything of real interest - except Deal or No Deal. That is fun.
I honestly think there is nothing inherently wrong with watching TV. As Jesus said, it isn't what goes in to a person that makes him unclean. On the other hand, I do believe it leaves impressions on impressionable minds while they are still wondering about those moral limits you discussed. (One of the reasons we have two TVs - if there is something my wife and I want to watch without little eyes and ears, we have a private place to watch.)
The one thing I don't like about TV is that it is one way communication. Sure you can yell at your team or cheer on someone on Deal or No Deal, but it only edifies yourself. Even here on these blogs, there is communication with others, thoughts exchanged, and hopefully a little growth in all of us.
I find I would much rather go for a walk in the woods, attend to the blogs, then sip a glass of tea or cup of coffee and read a book. Every now and then, a good movie is a great escape, but only once in a while.
You asked for what my opinion was, and you probably got more than you expected. |
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Deb |
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September 07, 2007 at 12:43pm |
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| DC, thanks for the comments! That is exactly what I was looking for. We have satellite tv (since cable isn't available out here in the boonies), and I can tell you there are many times there is NOTHING on worth watching. I tend to think it isn't worth the money, but we do have a lot of sports channels, and that is a must for my husband! I really appreciate all you had to say. It gives me thoughts to ponder. |
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| Deb, we have TV, and I was just able to talk my honey into getting satellite a year ago. We did it as a christmas gift to the family. We dont have movie channels, because of the same thinks you mentioned. We do however enjoy CSI, but in small portions, and never late at night when the filth flings to close for home. We really enjoy Seventh Heaven, Discovery, TBN, and such. So, we choose to discipline our flesh and keep it in the balance. |
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Hi Deb,
What a fascinating topic! We have one tv, in the basement. We'd strongly prefer that it not be located prominently in the upstairs living space b/c it can give the impression of being an object of worship. Imagine what some aliens might think if they landed on our planet (in the US) at 8:15pm one evening and went from house to house peering in the window to see how earthlings live, and saw family after family gathered around this strange light-emitting box, focusing all their attention on it. They'd think they found our God!!!!!
Also, have you ever watched a child completely zone out when watching television? Or your spouse? Yikes. It looks like mind control or something!
We do watch an occasional movie. They can be a lot of fun. As a family, we recently discovered silent movies. Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplain, etc. were funny guys! And the silent flicks are somewhat participatory in that you can actually talk to each other during the movie and not miss anything. That's far more preferable in my opinion than funnelling all of our attention into the tv set while ignoring everything and everyone around! |
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Kathy |
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September 07, 2007 at 2:39pm |
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Interesting topic, Deb. I have a tv, but it gets so little attention that I often tell people if it were stolen I might not notice for a month or so. I don't have cable or satellite, but once in a while I watch the network news, and I sometimes rent a movie. Like the internet, I don't think television is inherently good or evil, although it can be used for either. On the extremes, it could be a homebound person's only worship services, or it could feed someone's porn addiction. Most often, however, imho, what we have to watch out for is that it doesn't take up blocks of our time that God would like to use for something else. Even good diversions can be wrong if they keep us from spending personal time with God, or visiting the sick or shut-ins, or spending quality time with our family. It's a balance we all have to find for ourselves.
My personal imbalance is not with the television, but with MyChurch! A great Christian activity in itself, but not one that should take us away from hearing God's prodding in our lives. I actually ration the time I spend on MyChurch, and then if I have done everything else I wanted to get done, including my private time with God, I can spend as much time as I want before going to bed. Otherwise I could just veg out in front of the computer and read blogs for hours! OK, my time's up. Back to work for me! :) |
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"if it were stolen I might not notice for a month or so" ... me too "what we have to watch out for is that it doesn't take up blocks of our time that God would like to use for something else" ... perfectly said! "I could just veg out in front of the computer and read blogs for hours! " ... me too again |
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Kathy |
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September 07, 2007 at 4:04pm |
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| lol Mike! You're my brother! |
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Jen |
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September 07, 2007 at 5:52pm |
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Hey, Deb. We have an ancient TV that neighbors gave us many years ago when they moved. (We had borrowed it shortly before they moved when we had out of town company with kids that were bored with doing "Montana" things.) It actually stored in a closet in our basement; we don't hav cable or anything. The rest of the family likes to watch movies during our long, cold winters. I watch maybe two movies a year, usually at Christmas, such as usually "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". Frankly, there are about a bajillion things I'd rather do than watch TV, including flossing. I like to read books, but over the years God has had me put aside that to a large degree. Really, my favorite passtime is to spend quiet time with God, whether it's praying or meditating on something I've read or reading & studying the Word or reading Christian non-fiction. I don't mean to sound all sickeningly pious or whatever with that, but it really is what I like to do best. This wasn't always the case, but I have developed such a "taste" for spending time with Him that it's #1 with me. And I have to be careful, because my preference would be to be in a quiet place with Him instead of out there with His people. There's got to be a balance, right? Like the others, I think our problem comes from over-indulgence in this stuff, which could be called gluttony in its less intense forms or idol worship when we put it before God. This sounds silly, but I like to think of my life as a pie chart. How does it look when it's divided up? Where is my time being spent? I would be so bummed out to look at that pie chart at the end of my life and see this huge chunk representing something like watching TV. :-) |
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I pretty much just watch Chicago Cubs and Chicago Bears games. Not much else. Unfortueately the Cubs play 162 games. When it is not baseball season I get a lot more reading done.
Baseball is almost over. Hello amazon.com
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Deb |
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September 07, 2007 at 6:31pm |
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Shannon, you mentioned some great channels to watch, especially the discovery channel. Television has its good points, such as being educational, but like you we have to keep things in balance.
Mike, the picture you give of aliens made me laugh. I am sure they would find it very odd that we were all staring at the tv screen...or the computer screen too! And yes, my husband does zone out when he watches tv. It is kind of scary!
Kathy, I never even thought of television being a homebound person's only worship service. And I agree, I could really let myself get carried away reading blogs on MyChurch. I have to limit my time, and like you, once I have done all the other things I want to do, then I can spend more time on here. Right now my husband is out of town, so I feel I am not taking anything away from him.
Mike again, ditto :)
Jen, that is interesting to try to think of your life in a pie chart. I wouldn't want a lot of time to be wasted on tv. My big downfall is reading. I have five or six books going at the same time, not to mention studying the bible.
Pastor Tim, I am with you on the baseball games. Since the Cleveland Indians are doing fairly well this year, I have watched more baseball than I have in a long time. But I find I can read AND watch baseball at the same time...it is often uneventful, so I can concentrate on my reading! |
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Jen...including flossing?!?! Too funny!! |
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Sue |
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September 07, 2007 at 11:44pm |
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| I don't watch a whole lot of the boob tube. If fact, if it were only up to me, I would shoot it :) I do like to watch Fox News. But who needs that with voice_in_dc around. I like American Idol, but so many people vote for the "good-looking" people that the good singers get voted off too early. So I would much rather get my world reports from Voice and my music from worship CD's. |
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| I've thought about it, and I agree. Flossing is better than watching tv! |
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Deb |
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September 08, 2007 at 10:39am |
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Have you ever tried flossing while watching tv? :) |
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Jen |
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September 08, 2007 at 1:39pm |
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Since reading and responding to your blog, I've been thinking about this subject, Deb, trying to figure out why I find watching TV so distasteful and unsatisfying. I really don't think there's anything inherently wrong with it and I know some people like to use it as a way to relax or whatever, and that's cool. But for me, it would just be a distraction, (I wrote a blog about this; sorry but I'm "link dysfunctional...), instead of relaxation. When I need to relax or chill, I don't need "pictures and voices" from a box jumping out at me. I need peace and quiet; a walk by myself (with God) or a cup of tea while I sit on the couch and look out the window. I guess what I'm saying is that I need the opportunity for my mind to be quiet, so I can sort through stuff and focus on Truth and get realigned, so to speak. Another thing I've been thinking about: what would Jesus watch? Discover Channel, maybe? Would he enjoy watching sports? Hmmm... I'm curious about this. Any thoughts, people? Thanks for the thought-provoking post, Deb! :-) |
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Wow! Just one word. Wow! I travel a lot and get the opportunity of meeting some fantastic people along the way, and often I wish the people in my world could have the same experience. But unfortunately, for many if not most, that's not the case.
Many of you said you do have "a" tv. That blows me away. Not the tv - the "a", as in one, and to top it off, no cable? Wow!
In my world we dont have "a" tv. Nope, sure don't. I can't think of anyone that I know personally that has "a" tv. I could be wrong, but nope, can't think of one. In my world people have tvs...
Many families have at least three to four tvs in one "apartment." Many families have 42 to 50+ inche tvs in a small apartment, with the tvs blasting. Talk about madness. Everyone has cable. They live off of McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger King, and Chinese Food on a regular. Most children don't know what it is to sit down at a dinner table to share a meal together. Most tvs are on 24hrs a day, everyday. Being brain-washed and mind-controlled is an understatement.
So now you understand my Wow. As for me, I find tv boring. However, because of the heavy schedule that both my husband and I have, we make it our business to have our "date" night. This is where we cuddle up together and rent movies. Right now we are watching the back seasons of "24."
Wow, to have "a" tv, what a blessing!
Pastor Aminata |
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Deb |
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September 09, 2007 at 12:26pm |
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Jen, thanks for your additional thoughts! That is a great question about Jesus and tv. You know, I have given it some thought, and I really doubt that He would sit down and watch it. He was/is a people person, and teaching people was his "thing". Nope, I don't think he would watch tv...now, He might like sports. But He couldn't really play favorites, could He? He would have to root for both teams playing. I hope some other people respond, because I would be interested in hearing what others though. :)
Pastor Aminata, we do actually have two tvs in our house. Only one is hooked up to the satellite though, so the other one doesn't actually get much use. You are right, saying that most people do have more than one.
I have had the honor of sitting down to dinner with my pastor and his family. They have a sit down family dinner every day. And it is so cool. I know a lot of families are going in several different directions at the same time, so sit down dinner is impossible. But boy, if you can make the time to do it, what a blessing it can be. I appreciate your comments! |
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Hi, Ijust wanted to get in on this subject. I think it certainly does work on your "sub-consience in a bad way. I truly believe Christians should work hard to get the "soft porn" now entering the programs and comercials. Not to mention the internet. I read a great book by a guy named Ben Shapiro called the "Porn Generation" how social liberalism is corruptig our future, Worth reading
It does have some explicit lyrics. But I found it so real, I could not put it down!! |
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Deb |
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September 10, 2007 at 12:27pm |
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| PsalmsGirl, so good to hear from you again! That song...be careful little eyes what you see...is in a song on Casting Crowns latest cd, the song is called "Slow Fade". Excellent cd and song. I appreciate your thoughts on this subject. I stopped watching Friends a long time ago. As well as many other sitcoms that I felt were just too much. If I wouldn't let my kids watch it, then I shouldn't be watching it either! |
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Deb |
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September 10, 2007 at 12:36pm |
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| Golden2100, thanks for your comments. Porn is so easy to access on the internet, and you are right, it is in television and movies and commercials. It is amazing what they can air on television, that would never have been considered before. |
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Deb |
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September 11, 2007 at 6:26am |
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PsalmsGirl, the cd I was talking about is called The Alter and the Door, by Casting Crowns. I have not heard the one you talked of...
I do remember Love American Style, and I think my parents let me watch it. lol I don't think they were strict enough with what I was allowed to watch on tv. but I guess I still turned out ok. lol |
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