Day #23 television is sinful

OUCH!!!!

that title hurts!!!!

i really thought about that one before i wrote it, however i could not come up with any good enough reason why that statement was not true.

don't get me wrong.  tv can be a useful thing in very limited and restricted amounts.  for instance: an occasional documentary or educational program or an educational cartoon popped in when you need a little down time.  both of these things can be accomplished with dvd or online.

i'm talking about cable/satellite television here.  50,000 channels of mind numbing garbage.  if you can even find a decent program the commercials will be trash.

basically i believe that it is a stumbling block to collective and individual walks with God.

we can strive for the highest possible moral ground when it comes to modesty, but when we turn on the television all of that goes right out the window.  there is not a program or a news show or a commercial anymore that doesn't somehow bombard you with  innuendo or images that are offensive or inappropriate.

even a show as seeminly innocent as survivorman or some such nonsense has a man dressed in a loin cloth  for the entire episode.  this is inappropriate to view.  whether it is a man barely dressed or a woman barely dressed.  both are wrong to view.

the more we believe that viewing these types of things is okay, because, after all, it's on television, the further i believe our hearts get from God and each other.

television is a time stealer and nothing is gained from sitting in front of it for 3-5 hours or more each day.  conversation, if it happens at all, only revolves around what is happening on tv.  i have had one sided conversations a plenty in the last 30 years.  sometimes the sound may even be muted so you can speak, but the attention is not fully there.

all the news all the time is quite possibly a significant source of a ton of my anxiety.  there is no possible way that i can listen to this crap without worrying about it.  again, the need to hear every word that comes out of the talking head's mouth without having any desire to go out into the world and try to change/impact it far outweighs my peace of mind.

i have longed for the peace of mind, heart, & conscience that being unplugged from the filth and troubles and nonsense of the world would bring.  my home is supposed to be my refuge, but it's not.  that black box steals from me far more than it gives to me.

this is not written on a whim.  when my family was young i came to realize that being plugged into the world was not the proper thing to do.  but, as with all major decisions, both parties have to agree.  that has never happened.

i saw this quote yesterday
"if something in your life is not right, then change it"

easier said than done.