Pope Says Media Damaging Families

The BBC ^ | January 24, 2004 | Mike Workman

[Maximilian]

I have some rabbit ears too which I use for the Simpsons (don't scold me!),

Some of the kids and I actually watched an episode of The Simpsons recently because it came on right after the football game, and I have a soft spot for that program because it is usually the wittiest and best-written program on TV. Unfortunately, I was shocked by the vulgarity. I used to like the Simpsons, and they were always a little bit cutting edge. But I thought their standards had dropped even lower, unless it was my standards that had changed.

Two years ago we watched "Malcolm in the Middle" because it came on right after the Super Bowl, and it was the funniest thing I ever saw in my life. We all laughed so hard we almost got sick. I can't say it's always that funny, but this episode was brilliant. And very family-friendly, although in a dysfunctional kind of way.

[attagirl]

We have one TV off in an unheated side room. Haha--same here. And it doesn't get reception. I wish I'd done it years sooner. Our kids didn't watch much TV at all, because they knew they'd be subjected to my own version of the evil eye.

I see TV as a double whammy. All the bad stuff we know about(absorbtion of all the propaganda about what is "normal" and "reasonable" and "right" plus all the p.c. garbage and news meant to deceive and/or call for a certain reaction--Judge Borke and Lorena Bobbitt and Monicagate and and WMD come to mind here) plus the mindset to become a passive spectator and waste time.

Someone wrote a book about it calling it the "plug-in drug," and that's just what it is.

There's a war on for you mind (infowars.com)!

[Maximilian]

The reality is that a water tap that also can deliver poisen is a menace.

I say the same thing about the New Mass and the New Theology, so why should I have a different standard for TV? The traditional Catholic approach to theology is that even the tiniest bit of poison will destroy an entire large meal. Of course with TV, it's the other way around: the tiniest bit of acceptable programming floating in a sea of "near occassions of sin."

[biblewonk]

Who put a quarter in him?

[Maximilian]

Let me ask, are there ads/shows/programs that are sinful that are on the beast? If so, why not KILL it?

That's a good question. But one could make the argument that by having no broadcast reception, and just using it to watch pre-approved kids videos, that the answer would be "No," there is nothing sinful on the beast, in our particular home. You could reply:

1. Is that realistic? Doesn't it actually get used sometimes to watch other things that are occassions of sin?

2. What about the symbolism of the TV? Having it in your home means that you are symbolically supporting the media culture. Would an atheist have a painting of the Sacred Heart in his home but only look at it occassionally? Or would he not have it in his home at all because of what it represents, even if he never looks at it.

[Maximilian]

I have TVs in my house in Yokohama.

While I was staying at a hotel on a business trip I was able to watch Cartoon Network which has a lot of Japanese anime. I was amazed by the sophisticated level of the children's programming. All the cartoons dealt with serious issues of life and death, immortality, the supernatural, even history and culture. The quality of thought represented was far beyond any US programming.

That said, they would still be a pernicious influence on children, because while "sophisticated," they were also pagan and/or New Age. They demonstrated an obvious hunger for answers about the supernatural, but they clearly had no answers themselves. At least, however, they did not practice the infantalizing tendencies of Western media.

[newgeezer]

Who put a quarter in him?

LOL!

[_Jim]

He's not the first pope cite the effect 'the media' has ...

[Askel5]

=== And very family-friendly, although in a dysfunctional kind of way

Agreed ... I enjoy Malcolm too. Sunday night's my night to cook for the week so I usually have Fox on in the kitchen.

I think one of my favorite episodes of all time is where Hal and his wife are afraid she's pregnant ... I was truly impressed not only at their coming to terms and being disappointed they hadn't conceived but also at the way their "Accidental" child No. 3 plays a part.


Agreed also on the deterioration of the Simpsons in general. I'm into reruns. One of the channels here shows Simpson reruns for an hour at 6pm (perfect for exercising) and again around late-news time (so it's your choice of cartoon programming here in the Crescent City.)

[Catholicguy]

Let us say you lived in a State where it was Constitutional to Censor Media (let's say it because it is so). What would be wrong with that?

[Catholicguy]

Fox News loves war, sex, celebrity. That it is thought "conservative" is illustrative of just how far out of the "mainstream" is anything worthy of being called conservative

[Catholicguy]

It isn't a beast.

The media is a gift from God. It is up to Christians to do their part and be the leaven so it remains a gift used rightly.

[dsc]

"That said, they would still be a pernicious influence on children"

I'd say rather, "could be" a pernicious influence.

I think my kids are able to spot the whacko stuff.

Last two DVDs bought: "Singin' in the Rain," and "Hunchback of Notre Dame" (silent, with Lon Chaney).

[narses]

I disagree. It is a dehumanizing, satanic beast. It isn't allowed in my home.