I used to always "veg out" in front of the tv, like say during the day as my son took a short (emphasis on the word short) nap. Now I can hardy bear to turn it on. I cannot believe how far removed from the real world tv has gotten. And I'm not just talking about sitcoms and made-up stories. Even those are so boring if not ridiculously far-fetched. I'm also talking about the interviews and so-called reality-based tv. Yeah...reality.
I was watching a hollywood story-type of program in which they were interviewing a former teen star. Once she started developing as a woman, her breasts quickly became oversized. They interviewed her mother who said they had talked to numerous doctors about breast reduction surgery. The mother bragged how "thorough" they were in thinking through all the implications of such a surgery. Of course they mentioned all the self-esteem aspects ad nauseum. Her looks, her self image, people's reactions to her. HER HER HER!!!
I suppose this stage mother was just too busy raking in the dough and the (teenage) Hollywood celebrity guest lists (gag!) to waste her time explaining the true purpose for a woman's breasts and thus how to be a woman. This mother missed out big time on impacting her daughter's life for the better and thus also impacting her future generations.
Now I am not saying this would have been the perfect time to explain to her daughter the value of a woman's breasts for the miracle of sustaining her children's lives and thus be an advocate for breast-feeding to her daughter (but wouldn't it be?) But also it would have been the perfect time for this mother to pass on to her daughter true values...values that won't get you Herpes, Gonnorrhea, HIV, an unwanted pregnancy or an unwanted drug addiction and ensuing mental psychosis.
The values I speak of have to do with affirming her daughter's approaching womanhood with all of the wonders and responsibilities that go along with being a female adult in society. She could have related to her daughter how wonderful it is to be a wife and a mother, the joys and challenges that go along with such a paramount responsibility in this day and age and how her daughter also needs to clothe herself with wisdom, for this world does not look favorably upon women who value such things. But this world looks favorably upon superficial and useless things such as the size of your thighs, how many plastic surgeries a 20-something year old woman should get, whether or not to go away for the weekend with your boyfriend and commit adultery. Such things will pass away and will surely leave a woman with a broken heart, a condemned soul, and an empty pocket book.
So I keep flipping. All the channels look the same. I see a beacon of hope on the news channel touted to be the ultimate source of up to the minute news. Obama, Obama, Obama! Palin Palin Palin! You would think McCain got replaced on his ticket by a woman if you listened to these stories. Of course there are the helpful hourly updates on the devastating effects of the umpteenth hurricane that has hit our land (but nary a mention of what actually could be CAUSING these storms! Save that for another blog...and no, I am not talking about global warming). However, you will not hear a mention of how Iran is about to receive strikes from either the U.S., Israel, or both in the coming 90 days. You will not hear mention of the Christians persecuted in China during the glorious Olympic games (or of a Christian man's 4 year old son who was abducted and then sacrificed to the Hinu gods in India). You will not see them covering the embattled Israeli governement's recent turnovers, nor will you hear reports on the victories being won in Iraq or of how our enemies are planning a deluge of deployed terrorists any day now killing thousands of American troops and thus thwarting the Americn election by putting John McCain on the spot for his strong stance on the war and ensuring an Obama victory. No, you will not even see any investigative features of how the American public school system has failed miserably to produce college-bound students, much less literate high school graduates, meanwhile colleges are clamoring for home-schooled and charter-schooled prospects to enter their ranks.
Wasn't it Karl Marx who said "Religion is a barbituate of the people"? I would care to take him to task on that one, although, he may have been looking ahead to the fruit of the wimpy American evangelical/denominational church. I would dare say that it is tv that is the barbituate of the people. Dare I say I agree with my liberal counterparts who have been warning for years of the evils of tv. My next door neighbor in Berkeley, a self professed liberal feminist, had a bumper sticker on the back of her station wagon that read "television kills you". I tend to agree more with that now. Of course, suffice it to say that tv, like money, or music, or just about anything else, can be used for good as well as evil. But American's dependency on television to pacify their brains certainly is evil. It makes one greedy, lazy, manipulative, easier- to-be-manipulated, insolent, and dare I say, can contribute to the mentally ill masses.
I long for a form of teaching (rather than entertainment) that will be truthful, straightforward, and teach me how to be a better follower of Messiah, wife, mother, daughter, sister, and American. Oh wait! I HAVE one! It's called the Bible.
Oh well.....I guess I am not long for this world. The television world at least. I figure if I don't allow my mind to be controlled by television, perhaps I will have a mind (and character) that will not be able to be controlled by Big Brother. The older I get, I may not be getting wiser, but the more I am tempted to do what the hippy culture advocated in the 60's (at least in my case in regard to tv)....to turn off and tune out (or is that tune off and turn out?)!
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