The Vast Wasteland of Television

 

I’ve grown frustrated and lately, truly annoyed, at the constant stream of immorality and crud on “network” television (for those among you who grew up with cable and satellite, I’m referring to national “broadcast” networks: ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC).

My wife and I are Christians. Our faith is not something we pull out of a drawer and use now and then; our spirituality defines the way we conduct ourselves and live our lives.

As believers, we simply have no interest in viewing what we believe to be immoral behavior in sit-coms and dramas on television.

We believe that the Bible defines marriage clearly as an institution ordained by God, a union between one man and one woman. Period. End of statement!

We further believe that sexual relations should be enjoyed (and yes, God wants to enjoy intimacy!) strictly within the confines of marriage. Period. Again, end of statement!

And lastly, we do not condone homosexuality as “normal” or “mainstream” behavior.

Pretty simple, right?

It’s amazing at the television programs that we’ve quit watching because the producers, networks, writers, etc., insist on portraying all sorts of lewd behavior. We’re just SO fed up!

We’ve abandoned some GREAT programs, such as Army Wives (homosexual “marriage” between two lesbians, The Big Bang Theory (ongoing sexual relationship between Penny and Leonard), Mike and Molly (ongoing sexual relationship between Mike and Molly), Hart of Dixie, (ongoing sexual relationship between Zoe and Wade), Modern Family (probably THE funniest show on television, but unwatchable because of the so-called “marriage” between two homosexuals), etc., etc., etc.

And the really frustrating thing about these practices? In most cases, the immoral behavior adds nothing to the content of the program! Zippo! That just drives me nuts. A recent episode of a favorite crime drama included two lesbians as the victims of that week’s crime. Lesbians who were “married.” Give me a break! This homosexual element added nothing to the program whatsoever – it was merely another example of Hollywood’s ongoing effort to convince me that homosexuality is normal and acceptable. I wrote the network and asked them to never do that again, and made it very clear that if they did, they would lose viewers in this household for good!

Each time we’ve made the mutual decision to drop a program from our lineup, I write (politely) to the network of origin, and explain that we simply cannot continue watching behavior that is immoral to us. I ask them to stop it, clean it up, get rid of it, etc. And to date I’ve only gotten one reply from one network.

No, my wife and I are not prudes. Not by any means. But when we sit down to relax with a little television in the evening, why should we be force-fed constant scenes of behavior that are contrary to what we believe?

“Oh, it’s just a quick sex scene, no biggie,” you tell yourself. Okay, believe that if you wish. But we believe that if you watch things that are objectionable to you? You become numb to the offensive behavior. It starts to appear less offensive. You dismiss it. And in time, it becomes acceptable.

Sorry, we’re just not interested in lowering our personal standards in exchange for a few minutes of entertainment.

God teaches us to embrace those things that are right and pure, and to shun and stay away from those things which are immoral and sinful – AND, to pray fervently for those who continue to commit offenses unto Him. Believe me, we do that.

Yes, we miss these and other shows. We liked them. Truly. And I wish we could enjoy them. But again, we’re not lowering our standards.

Please: consider what you spend your time watching. Do the programs you regularly view reflect your real values and beliefs? Or are you compromising, telling yourself it’s okay to watch a little perversion now and then?

Think about it … please. That’s all I ask.