[arrendabomnem]

I find this an interesting thread which raises some larger issues. My parents have been and are addicted to TV. When I was young it was always on and the addiction is now with me to some extent. I have often joked with them that if there TV blew up their life would come to an end! You name it...she loves the game shows, whodunits and soap operas. He loves the sport and dramas. They hailed the arrival of their new 42 inch flat screen as if it was the Coming of the Messiah himself.

As I was brought up with TV I never thought anything of it. The first time I was challenged was as a seminarian (Anglican) when on parish placement I stayed with a Priest and his family who had a TV, but it was rarely on. On my arrival he announced quite deliberately that they only had the TV 'for the news and wildlife programmes'. My only reaction was not one of religious admiration but 'how odd!'

Since those days I have become a reasonably successful actor under my stage name and therefore the media is part of all of that. I have even played a priest in a TV series. You could say that watching TV is part of the job. But I have become aware of certain spiritual dangers.

Part of my problem is that I live alone. I have used the excuse that TV is company. But the reality is that is is more than that. TV offers a parallel universe to the one we are living in. It is a little like the Matrix. There are countless billions of individuals parked in front of TVs the world over for a good part of the day. Some mildly sedated by alcohol or other substances. They are not only being drip fed a fantasy world but glimpses of the real world, plus a host of people cultivating their avarice through advertising. In fact they eat in front of the TV also as if twenty minutes sat at a table might in some way trigger acute withdrawal symptoms. Bingo! TV dinners.

When I compare how much TV I watch with how much I spend in private prayer it is lamentable and I am very disciplined about daily prayer and attendance at church. But my biggest concern is how much of my 'real' life is being substituted by and fed by an illusory life. This media now along with the Net has now become for many people a Cyber Reality and people flick between them and their real life. And of course the biggest fear that many have is that if they 'switch off' is they might have to sit with themselves quietly for 5 minutes, God forbid!

I would be interested to know from any one that has 'ditched' their TVs what effect is has had overall in their lives.

Regards, JK

[Zhgrlpil]

My wife (not Orthodox) and I own a TV set. It is in a cabinet that remains closed unless the TV schedule shows something one of us wants to watch. Now there are 'ironing' shows, and 'sit and relax' shows - for me there is nothing so relaxing as watching Norm Abrams make a table, but Mrs D does like drama, but not crime drama thankfully. I disappear when the drama comes on, and usually off to the computer.

Lest anyone think the computer is a better option, apart from a relatively few orthodox sites and blogs, it is even more potentially damaging than the TV. One thing I found very difficult to abandon when I became a Christian was Secondlife: now you want something to damage your soul - this is it - mostly 'anonymous group addictive participatory evil'. Be warned, and keep your kids away from it.

Love, In Christ, Richard.

[largonioulurI]

Actually, I didn't mean to offend anyone about CSI. My husband likes it, but I don't understand this new trend of seeing corpses on television, but whatever...chacun a son gout. I like television. I do not like American comedies, however. They are overtly sexual and crass in inuendo (they can't even make one 'comeback' joke without being so), and quite frankly, they are not funny. They are degrading. I am happy that when my children were young (late 80's to mid 90's), there were some clean and very well written comedy sitcoms like the TGIF ones. I don't think that any clean family viewing times like that are available now. We used to watch them all together, and we all enjoyed them--and they made our family Friday night time together special! I still like watching the old 60's and 70's sitcoms when Hollywood was more normal...and actually had talent without having to resort to crass sexual innuendo to make up for their lack of imagination.
Now days I have come to like Greek comedies and some soap operas very much. The ones I like the most are adapted from Spain...very well written, and sexuality in Europe is actually funny, not crass--as in the 'French farce'...so even though it may not be Christian, it isn't offensive. In NY, I am able to get the two most popular Greek television channels through my cable.
I also like the Food channel, certain shows about buying and selling real estate, etc....
We are all different, and I don't think that watching anyone type of show makes a person more or less a Christian. Only we know our particular sensitivities and temptations, so IMHO, as Christians, I think that we need to monitor ourselves.
I agree with the poster who said that the computer offers much more evil temptation.

[Savviers]

I would be interested to know from any one that has 'ditched' their TVs what effect is has had overall in their lives.

Regards, JK

bliss, simply bliss. My wife and I actually "talk" to each other about things that are relevent rather than meaningless dribble during commercials. We read actual books. We both have computers here in the living room and we both do our own reading, but we also have more quality time together. For those that look at me in disbelief when I tell them we don't even own a tv, they ask me how do I get my news and what about important stuff going on in the world. My reply is the news is like soap operas. They never change. I used to watch soaps in college. I went to work and never had the chance, then 10 years later I turned one on and, this is true, the exact same people were there with the exact same story line. Nothing had changed. Neither does the news.

For my response to missing "important" events...if something is 'that' important, people at work and family will be calling and talking about it. Truth be told, NOTHING seems to be that important. I don't care for sports, I know my history so watching the liberal shows slant on it does me no good, I love cooking, but was a chef for 10 years and know that industry, So I hang out here. It's safe, informative, I can talk with like minded people and its soul profiting.

Lose the tv. You will regain your life back and protect your passive receptors; your eyes and ears from the trash and garbage the devil uses to steal your soul away. There is nothing useful on television you can't find in a good book. And books are cheaper. The internet has its own trappings to besure. but one can guard what type information you pull up and there are enough security devices out there, you can make your computer relatively safe.

Paul

[itititit]

I would be interested to know from any one that has 'ditched' their TVs what effect is has had overall in their lives.

Regards, JK

I got rid of my television precisely because all I was watching was CSI, L&O and hockey. I was becoming depressed and had odd feelings of very real fear and - don’t know how to describe this - a kind of mental nausea for no apparent reason. I eventually figured it wasn’t because the Flames weren’t doing well (!) but because I was spending several hours every evening watching ‘shows’ about murder, rape, corpses and criminals. I told myself if I wanted mysteries they’d be peopled by Maigret, Miss Marple and Lord Peter and on paper and put the television in the trash. It took several weeks for the poison to get out of my system completely but there was a small but immediate improvement the first evening the horrid thing wasn’t there.

Since then, of course, as others have said, the computer is edging into the role the television had. It isn’t as bad in one sense as I don’t seek out any of the various forms of horror available on it but I’ve found just sitting in front of it seems to be addictive. For a while I was reading online things I own in paper. Newman’s Oxford sermons for example - I have every volume on my shelf but somehow I needed to be at the computer. I can almost hear Screwtape saying, “Oh, she’s thrown out the television, has she? Well, never mind, one screen is very much like another to them.” At least it seems to be to me. I fight not to spend time on the computer and I have responsibilities that mean I need email so the solution is not as easy as throwing out the modem.
Regards,
Margaret in Edinburgh

[vvxtiopmx]

While we have a TV, we probably don't watch much more than we would if we ditched it (we watch more VHS/DVD movies on it than we do broadcast TV shows). Our entire annual viewing schedule pretty much consists of:

(1) American football - mostly NFL (about 20-25 games per year) plus a couple of college bowl games;
(2) The rare History Channel show that's still about history, or even rarer Discovery Channel show that looks interesting;
(3) Old holiday specials (like How the Grinch Stole Christmas, etc.).

All told, we probably average less than one show per week over the year.

[DoctorDulitlBest]

t I can almost hear Screwtape saying, “Oh, she’s thrown out the television, has she? Well, never mind,

The Screwtape Letters - I enjoyed reading these but I have no idea now where my book has gone.

[piramirra]

I got rid of my TV some years ago. I'd gotten to the stage where the only thing I was watching was soccer (my second religion!).

Today, I spent quite a lot of time on the Internet, but I think it's much better than TV because I choose entirely what I want to consume and it's a two-way medium - I'm not just a passive consumer. Hence I can be typing replies to posts such as this instead of, say, watching a news channel, absorbing a lot of fluff, while waiting for something I might find relevant to me.

[AffipgyncDync]

As an update from me : my wife and I have discussed this at length and now we have decided to not actually do away with he TV or the CSI Genre completely but to impose some limits on ourselves , and to observe a no TV or internet day on Wednesdays and Fridays .
DIHFDMMPMP

[syncFisee]

As an update from me : my wife and I have discussed this at length and now we have decided to not actually do away with he TV or the CSI Genre completely but to impose some limits on ourselves , and to observe a no TV or internet day on Wednesdays and Fridays .

I hope that with this limited separation from television, you will both begin to appreciate, viscerally, how bad it is. You only notice it after you've been away from it, like a very bad smell.

[Taunteefrurge]

I've been voluntarily TV-free for nearly seven years. I put the tv away for the Nativity Fast in 2003 (this happens to be just before I became Orthoox), and when it was over, I realized I could do without TV. I'd been gradually weaning myself off it for some years.

I've been a listener of AM radio since I was in grammar school (yeah, I'm weird to begin listening that early), but none of the extreme syndicated stuff. NPR, too. People always ask where I get my news. When I tell them radio and the net, I just get blank looks since I'm not tuned into CNN or Fox News 24/7.

I will watch an occasional DVD on my computer, but it's usually something along the lines of a film on a Jane Austen novel.

I agree with Paul - it's bliss, simply bliss not having a TV. But people usually react with either sighs of envy that they wish they had the moral fortitude to ditch the box or extreme disbelief. I once had a coworker repeatedly ask me how I spent my evenings and weekends. She couldn't comprehend that I spend a great deal of my time reading. I always have. I guess if you're not a reader then the prospect of not having a TV might be kind of bleak.

I do spend a lot of time on the computer, but it's not passively plopping myself in front of the TV.

[irrawnWab]

I am one of those who don't own a TV and don't miss it. It didn't play much of a role in my childhood. I watched one or two children's programs in the late afternoon and the adults in the family watched the news, after which we all sat around and read! While living on my own, I never got around to buying a TV set. Later on, my husband and I bought a secondhand one, but we didn't have a good antenna and could only get one channel. We didn't take the TV with us when we moved.

We get our news and other programs from the radio, usually when we are having a meal. I did the same when I was living alone. It is true that a radio or TV provides a form of company when there are no other people around, but I never wanted to have my radio on continually. There is only so much that one really wants to hear or see - and quiet can be a great blessing.

When I am not at home, I often turn a TV set on just to see what I have been missing - but usually find it either boring or offensive and it goes off again very soon. It makes me very uncomfortable when visiting other people to have a TV going all the time (and I have noticed that they usually aren't paying any attention to it anyway).

I can see that having a TV might be interesting and useful from a professional point of view for a person involved in acting. Not being in this category myself, I found that not having one gives me time to do other things and to choose what I want to fill my mind with.

We are so distracted by a multitude of things in everyday life anyway that I think watching a lot of TV must make it even harder to do ones prayers...

[Pateeffelty]

....and to observe a no TV or internet day on Wednesdays and Fridays .

What a brilliant idea. I'll put this to my SF today.

When our internet was off for 12 hours on Tuesday last, I was bereft, and couldn't settle to anything - kept looking at the lights on the router, hoping it was back. This shows how much the internet devil has to be fought.

If only I could pray for hours at a go :-( Never mind 'continuous prayer', I have problems with more than 10 minutes 'full on'.

Love,
Richard.

[Vapepreab]

Thanks to all the contributors to this question of TV. Being single, and many times alone, I have spent too much time watching CSi and NCSI. Thanks for reminding me of realty and that there are many Orthodox friends out there who help remind me of what is true and to fight against apathy and destruction of the soul. It sneaks up on a person. Please continue posting those soul strengthening conversations. Thanks. Emily Olson

[wrewsTear]

I agree with you Alice. I can not understand how they do it. I know if something like these shows are on TV and I start watching I feel horrible inside and I have to turn it to something else or off. But would you say that these people have no christian concience to examine their souls and minds? What are the passions that move one to watch such evil? what satisfaction does one get after watching trashy shows? what about computer addiction? facebook? and other forms of entertainment? could you say that even this forum can be addictive and harmful to some?

Eugenia

[LOVEBoy]

Yep.

Herman the Pooh

[saumemeva]

Don't forget Oreo's and milk!

[IRMartin]

Nor the sauerbraten

[codecouponqw]

I agree with you Alice. I can not understand how they do it. I know if something like these shows are on TV and I start watching I feel horrible inside and I have to turn it to something else or off. But would you say that these people have no christian concience to examine their souls and minds? What are the passions that move one to watch such evil? what satisfaction does one get after watching trashy shows? what about computer addiction? facebook? and other forms of entertainment? could you say that even this forum can be addictive and harmful to some?

Eugenia

I think St. Paul puts it best in his letter to the Philippians (Phil. 4,8): " Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

[agildeta]

And let us not forget also this, "...all things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered(overcome) by any, that by all means I might win some..."
I cast my vote for the return of Grissom too; although, I decided that the Las Vegas and NY editions became to gruesome for me to watch. I'll no doubt watch NCIS tonight.