patent
Posted on 12/30/2001 6:42:36 PM PST by patent
27-Dec-2001 -- EWTN News Brief NICARAGUAN BISHOP SAYS "SHOOT THE TV!"MANAGUA, Nicaragua, Dec 27, 01 (CWNews.com) - Nicaraguan Bishop Abelardo Matta Guevara of Esteli has told Catholics that they should be willing to "shoot the TV set," if necessary, to protect their family life. During a Christmas Mass celebrated at Esteli's cathedral, Bishop Matta addressed the crisis of family life, pointing to the fact that the growing presence of violent youth gangs had forced the diocese to cancel all late-night Masses on Christmas Eve. "Obviously our city of Esteli requires a deep process of healing," he said; "but this process will only start from within our homes." "We urgently need to recover family unity and spiritual principles, because our society is falling apart because of the lack of virtues," said Bishop Matta. Speaking to parents, the bishop said that "you must be willing to do everything possible to protect values within your families. Shoot the TV set if it is necessary to keep anti-values away!" |
patent
patent
So that's where Elvis disappeared to!
Headaches (sung to the song "Heartaches")
Headaches,... headaches
aspirin commericals give me headaches-
I was feeling chipper as you please,
then they showed me all my sinus caviteeees...
Headaches, Headaches
aspirin commercials give me headaches
I have found the best cure yet-
I ate my TV set!
Culture/Society
Source: Parents Television Council
Published: 12/29/01
Posted on 12/29/01 8:19 PM Eastern by Be active
http://www.parentstv.org
P.S. The only decent programming out there is through SkyAngel.
P.S. The only decent programming out there is through SkyAngel. The Bishop would like the Catholic channel!
I don't mean to be picky but find me a movie that isn't produced, directed or starred in by an " anti-gun, pro-abortion, pro-union, pro-liberal, andi-GOD, anti-rights group or person and I will watch it. Otherwise it's time for another good book. Don't get me wrong, I have a TV and watch it regularly. I watch FNN, DSC, TLC, APL, ect ect.. there are some good programs....
Anyone out there got a good, cheap suppressor?
The bishop is on the right track, though. I've been hearing about the evils of TV for literally decades. I restricted my daughter's TV time growing up.
As .45MAN indicated, we pay for cable if only to avoid network mind-numbing garbage. As to renting movies, we stopped doing that a year ago because of the way the Hollyweird crowd showed their true colors during the last election. They are generally moral-less, God-less and support the "cause du jour" for appearance's sake. We refuse to pay extra for the so-called movie channels.
Give me a "Good Book" (the Bible) to fill my idle hours any day.
Guys like this really annoy me because they never put their money where their mouth is. Instead of whining incessantly demanding more of what he wants he should make it so they want to give it to him. He's the same kind of people that spent months complaining about Pulp Fiction and never once considered seeing Iron Giant, then were shocked when Pulp Fiction spawned a dozen clones and we went almost 2 years without a solid family movie.
Really? How on earth do you know whether this Bishop puts his money where his mouth is? How do you know what he does?
His point is clear, though frankly you seem to miss it. If the TV is causing you to sin, you should cut it off. That sort of thinking comes straight from the Bible, and is what one should expect from a Christian. He did not ask for better programming, he said turn it off if it interfers with family life.
Your knee jerk reaction is exactly what we see from TV addicts every year when these articles are posted.
patent
The Bible is clear that we are to cut off the source of our temptations, our sins. If you are strong enough to just view good movies, as you suggest, then I agree. That is generally what we do in my house, we don't ever watch network TV and we don't have cable. We do borrow good Christian movies from friends and watch them, and we have a Christian series of videos for the kids, as well as some of the Veggie tales, that we let them watch.
But for some, the TV sitting there is a source of temptation, and they may find that even with good intentions they still turn it on to watch. Thus, if necessary, they should get rid of it, shooting it if necesary.
God bless,
patent
As for the TV making people sin. Well, I too was raised in a Catholic household and seem to recall something about "agregious consent of the will".
When TV replaces our former reality, it can tell us anything it wants and to some extent it will leave an impression. Even if we think we are immune. That is why this bishop is right. And there's no solution except cold turkey.
You disagree with his message, but you cannot show where he is not putting his money where his mouth is. Not putting your money where your mouth is has nothing to do with being right, but everything to do with acting consistent with your words. You have no evidence he doesn't do that, you just disagree with him and think he is wrong to so act.
>>>As for the TV making people sin. Well, I too was raised in a Catholic household and seem to recall something about "agregious consent of the will".
Then you should also recall the Bible's words on, if it is your hand that causes you to sin, cut it off. A drunk should not hang out in a bar. Etc. TV doesn't make people sin, but different people are more easily corrupted by different situations. You should avoid those that make you weak. For those who are weakest when the TV is on, they should consider getting rid of it. That is the message.
patent
Certainly wasn't any other solution for me.
patent
Its an occassion to sin. One may have a weak will when it comes to certain things. If the tube keeps you from a "healthy" family life and parental/spousal neglect is a result of overviewing, then this inanimate object can be a near occassion of sin.
One of the things we complain about a lot on FR is the victim mentality that has taken over this country. No one is responsible for their own actions anymore and it makes conservatives sick. That is until the words we associate with religion come up, then all of a sudden we should be shooting our TVs because they could transmit sinful entertainment into our homes which we might not be able to survive. The same thing comes up in every entertainment thread. People that won't accept this victim mentality if the supposed cause is booze, or child abuse, or poverty or any of the other things that get brandished by the left as excuses will lash out against Hollywood as the source of all evil. This is exactly what our Bishop has done, blaming roving youth gangs and that demon TV, and it's what everybody that thinks he's got a good idea does.
Why is it none of us here on FR will accept being a survivor of child abuse as an excuse to abuse children, but a large section of FR will nod along grimly when somebody like our Bishop here blames jiggle TV? I always thought the point of that Bible passage was that your hand doesn't cause sin, you're brain does so before you go and do something drastic like chopping off your hand (which will have no effect other than causing you to sin with the other hand) you should get your brain on right and stop sinning. Obviously one should avoid the temptations one is the weakest too; but one should never forget that the reason you're weak to those temptations is you, not the temptation.
You might try Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima, Song of Bernadette, or El Cid--anything starring Charlton Heston or John Wayne. Of course these movies are ancient but those are the only ones I care to watch.
Does that help?
Discipline is the key. Also if you disconnected your cable service and antenna, you will get white noise and the only thing the TV would be good for would be watching videos!
Although my preferred method of disposal (please see my screen name) would not be via gunfire......too ordinary.
The question should be: just how pathetic is your willpower and faith that when given the choice between wholsome entertainment and smut you chose wrong?My willpower is very pathetic, that is why I did something about it. I am much better off recognizing my limitations and acting logically then being all macho and saying I can gut it out.
One of the things we complain about a lot on FR is the victim mentality that has taken over this country. No one is responsible for their own actions anymore and it makes conservatives sick.The victim mentality is when you do nothing and blame others for your problems, not when you confront your problems and remove the trouble spots yourself. A victim notes that his furnace smells like gas and does nothing. When it blows up he sues the furnace company. A non-victim notes his furnace has a problem and says “this piece of ____ is going to kill me.” He removes it from his house (and if an NRA member places it in the back yard for target practice with his rifle, shooting it-unless he lives in my house and thus has no back yard to speak of), and replaces it with something that better suits his needs.
Similarly, a victim notes that there is nothing but crap on the TV and does nothing about it, despite the fact that he finds it more likely he will commit certain sins after watching it. When he gets to St. Peter at the pearly gates he whines about it being the TVs fault. A non-victim either gets rid of the TV if it’s a problem, or limits what he watches, if that works for him. Some people are just better off shooting the TV, and that does not mean they have a victim mentality, as they did something about their problem rather then sit on their posteriors and whine about it.
The TV was a problem for me, but I don’t consider myself its victim. My weakness is my own fault, but I did something about it.
Obviously one should avoid the temptations one is the weakest too; but one should never forget that the reason you're weak to those temptations is you, not the temptation.This is true, it doesn’t mean we should charge headfirst into the places we are weakest. A drunk is not weak because of the bottle or the bar, it is his failing. Recognizing his weakness, he should still avoid both things.
patent +AMDG
I agree; and to this point I make my point! ;^)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.