In a recent Middleton’s comic strip, Mr. and Mrs. Middleton are taking a walk. Mrs. Middleton says, “There’s no two ways about it. TV is nothing but violence and sleaze.” Mr. Middleton replies, “Yup. I miss the old days when it was just a vast wasteland.” Every medium has its good and bad components, but it is always good to be careful about what enters our mind.
“The TV is my shepherd, my spiritual growth shall want.
It maketh me to sit down and do nothing for His name’s sake,
It keepeth me from doing my duty as a Christian; because it presenteth so many good programs that I must see.
It restoreth my knowledge of the things of this world, and keepeth me from the study of God’s word.
It leadeth me into the paths of failing to attend the evening church services, and doing nothing for the Kingdom of God.
Yet, though I live to be one hundred, I shall keep viewing my TV so long as it shall work, for it is my closest companion.
Its sounds and its pictures, they comfort me.
It presenteth entertainment before me and keepth me from doing important things with my family.
It filleth my head with ideas which differ from those in the Word of God.
Surely no good thing will come of my life because of so many wasted hours, and I shall dwell in my regrets and remorse forever.”
-Taken from a United Methodist Newsletter – Rustburg, VA.
According to a recent Nielsen survey of television viewing habits, women over 55 average almost 36 hours in front of the tube each week. Children under 6 watch 27 hours in the same period. In the average American household, the television is on for 6 hours and 44 minutes a day. One media journalist suggested that if someone from another planet wanted to beam a message to earth and reach the largest possible audience, he should interrupt a situation comedy on Sunday night in November between 8:30 and 9 o’clock. At that time nearly 100 percent of the households that own a TV have their set in operation. Just think, during some evenings the residences of almost any street in the United States have one thing in common – a bluish-white glow flickering in the windows!