Last year, I banished it all during the 40 days of Lent. In fact, I also turned off the AM talk radio porgrams that fed me a steady diet of dissent. Suddenly, silence permeated the house. I replaced the din with Gregorian and Maronite Chant. The time normally spent listening to Hannity and Colmes was replaced with lenten reflections from Father Corapi or devotionals from my Meditations on the Gospel.
When Lent ended, I realized that the angst, so prevalent in my life, had disappeared. In its place was a serene peace. What began as a lenten practice turned into a daily lifestyle.
Give it a try for a few days, but shoot for 40. All the news you need to know is right here at FR - AND - you can express your own views through posting comments. Fill the void with readings from Holy Scripture or the Stations of the Cross. Pray the Rosary! Abandon yourselves to His love and mercy. Experience peace and freedom.
I listen to Rush and Hannity if I am driving, other than that all I watch on TV is things like the State of the Union. If anything really important happens, I figure I'll hear about it on FR.
I actually got rid of my television set a year ago.
I'm having a little more trouble breaking with radio, although the sacking of Bob Grant and the dismal state of FM are making even that medium less appealing.
I do disengage from the media on a regular basis but I hadn't thought of doing it as a Lenten thing. Thanks.
My wife and I turned off the TV last year for Lent, and everything you said is true. For the first time, we had blessed silence in our home. There was time for prayer and reading and making plans with friends instead of being glued to American Idol and MTV.
Oh yeah, and then we cancelled cable. We still have antenna service, but we don't watch very often and we don't miss all the shows we were "addicted" to.
One of the great lessons in all of this was that I discovered just how much vanity we allow into our lives, and to what end? No one came any closer to God by watching "The Apprentice". Talk radio? Eh. Politics? Deep down, all politicians are the same (okay, I'm sure there are exceptions, but for the most part...)
We don't even have Internet at my house. People think we're nuts. It's just too much of a distraction.