Time Well Spent
While recently in Los Angeles I was shocked by a huge billboard which read: “Life is Short… Have an Affair.” It was an advertisement for some sort of dating or escort service. Two things immediately struck me. One: how far down the slippery slope have we gone to allow such a brazen attack on morality? And two: life is indeed short and we shouldn’t be wasting it on trash.
There is a very well known computer science term: “garbage in, garbage out.” It says that if you input bad data into a computer, no matter how good or how powerful the computer may be, it will output bad data. While humans have the ability to assess what is coming to them and therefore hopefully avoid outputting bad data, it is certainly arguable that the more trash a person consumes the more their ability to properly evaluate it becomes compromised. In human terms the similar popular saying is “we are what we eat.”
So how are people today spending their time?
A quick trip to the local newsstand, or a browse on the internet, or a trip through the check-out lane at a grocery store seems to answer the question. Everything entertainment dominates the landscape. Images, gossip and updates about movies, celebrities and reality TV shows jump out from everywhere and are at the top of mind and time for most of our society. It is a multi-billion dollar industry and year after year the appetite for it continues to grow.
Well-respected author Robert McKee notes that “The world now consumes films, novels, theater, and television in such quantities and with such ravenous hunger that the story arts have become humanity’s prime source of inspiration, as it seeks to order chaos and gain insight into life.”
Malcolm Muggeridge asserted that: “The darkness falling on our civilization is likewise due to a transposition of good and evil… The root cause of our trouble is that we have lost our sense of a moral order in the universe without which no order whatsoever, economic, social, political is attainable.” Looking at what is currently popular, Muggeridge’s observation carries a great deal of weight. It’s often been said that if you want to know something about someone, look at how they spend their time and how they spend their money. Trends only become trends when people spend time and money on them.
Ultimate fighting, where people fight without rules until one of them is beaten into submission is the hottest growing sport. Reality TV where people are forced to be at their most base to succeed commands the airwaves along with numerous shows which delve deep into depraved crime scenes. Brutal movies that are about nothing more than discovering new ways of torturing people consistently bring in big revenue returns.
How much has all this continued to desensitize society? Michael Phillips in the Chicago Tribune writes about one of the recent horror films: “You live in a free country, you put up with crud like Hostel Part II. It truly is crud, though. The film is the definition of torture porn, and regarding the Motion Picture Association of America’s business-friendly, brain-free decision to give it an R rating: If this film gets by with an R, then what is left to warrant an NC-17?”
The problem with a slippery slope is that once you begin to build momentum it’s very hard to slow down and the top is ever more difficult to see. The fact that a seasoned movie reviewer is questioning what it would take for a watch-dog board to give a harsher rating is very telling.
Because “pushing the envelope” is praised and lauded, and because everyone is looking for a way to shock and grab attention, no one should be surprised at how far away from a moral center we’ve gone. Wes Craven, a revered master of grotesque horror films says that, “I’ve always felt to make this kind of film, you have to cross the boundaries to where people feel you’re being irresponsible. Otherwise, you’re saying, ‘Okay, this is just entertainment; it has rules.’ And life doesn’t have rules. In a sense, you have to go there.”
The Bible says that “a man reaps what he sows” (Galatians 6:7). With all the time and money we spend on absorbing violence, sex and other immoral images and stories, is there any surprise that a main-street billboard openly encourages people to have affairs? The only hope is that by infusing ourselves with the truth found in the Bible, and those works that support and uphold its principles, that we will be able to recognize garbage as garbage and throw it out. Life is indeed short… get connected to God.
- Post by Andre van Heerden, Writer/Director at Cloud Ten Pictures
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One of the main reasons I quit watching tv,everything you see is based on sex, drugs, murder, rape. What many ppl don’t realize is that they are addicted to tv. Try going 30 days without watching it & you’ll see what I mean. It’s been 3 years now & I don’t miss it.
- Debi Pimental (re-posted from Facebook)
Yes, the world is becoming so dangerous, as they are trying to make you believe that these things are not too bad. Just as they are trying to make you think that Vampires are ok, and the son of satan is ok and even nice in Hellboy. Yeah right., NOT.
Unbelievable
- Sue McClure (re-posted from Facebook)
Yes Debi. A man at church fasted tv for 30 days and said it made a big difference in his life; he received so many blessings.
The bible tells us to guard our hearts with all diligence and for me that includes what I watch and what I listen to. Also, we can open our home to the wrong spirits by what we watch on tv. I don’t keep my channel on the christian channels all day for I think that is religious overkill (and everything coming from them isn’t good for you either) but I am careful about what shows/movies I watch.
- Vanessa Liggins (re-posted from Facebook)
True Vanessa. If it isn’t bibical or gives God the honor & glory or doesn’t lift us up spiritually to help others & let God do His work in us, then I don’t watch it. I have all the Cloud Ten movies & others, but I am very selective as well. I have thrown away many so-called Christian movies that weren’t bibical or made Christians look like religious kooks & nuts.
- Deb Pimental (re-posted from Facebook)
I hear you. I hardly ever watch television or movies for this very reason. Waste of my time and values.
- Donna Bramell (re-posted from Facebook)
I agree with Vanessa and Debi.
Thats the reason why i’ve stopped watching old tv shows and regular movies on tv. You can never find decent things to watch anymore, that don’t bring out violence. Very rarely will i sit down, and watch a clean movie with the family. I find there’s nothing we get out of watching vile movies and shows, when it does nothing to enhance our knowledge or even lift us up in our christian lives.
I either, spend a an hour or so on fb or listen to some songs, that helps me get through my day. I personally think, tv is a complete waste of time, when we can’t find anythind decent to watch during our spare time.
- Ness Braganza (re-posted from Facebook)
We must always be “on guard” about what we allow into our eyes, ears, and minds!
- Kaye Edwards (re-posted from Facebook)
Your absoloutely right. I don’t mean cutting tv out completely from our lives is neccessary, but what we watch is important, cause then we’re importing all that information into our system, and you never know when it might come barging out.I actually get excited when i’m able to find movies that don’t have any vulgar language in them, and i’m able to enjoy watching them.
Before, i use to watch anything that came on tv, and even the foul language, wouldn’t bother me, but i find i’ve change a lot from not watching tv as much, and paying more attention in serving God, i can’t even bare to hear such filthy words…it just gives me goosebumps.
If they had more christian chanels on tv, i bet this world would be a better place to live in…
- Ness Braganza (re-posted from Facebook)
I myself find its not what we watch on tv and not what we read …… but its what we do with what we watch on tv and what we do with what we read and what we do with what we heard from other people. Our ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS. … Bad company currupts good judgements.
- Darryl Priest (re-posted from Facebook)
Well said Daryl, thats also important, and your absoloutely right. But don’t forget, our actions relate to what we watch as well…and then comes the words.
- Ness Braganza (re-posted from Facebook)
more people watch tv than going to see Christian movies ……therefore we need more Christian based movies in theaters and a lot more Christian based tv family shows on tv and Chrstian based tv dramas and a lot more 24 hour Christian tv stations with Christian news Christian sports and Chirstian weather reports as well as Chirstian tv shows and … movies for tv and Christian commericials as well and Christian music tv specials. ……. here in Canada we aren`t allow to have a 24 hours all Christian programing tv stations… they have to be multi faith based programing.
- Darryl Priest (re-posted from Facebook)
I dont watch much TV any more either and try to choose wisely what I put into my brain on a daily basis. Sometimes the Christian movies are a bit much if that is all you watch. Monk and Psych were 2 that we watched. Psych was starting to get a little raunchy when it left off and I am hoping it will not go down that road or I will have to stop watching it too.
There are not too many good, clean, interesting, shows out there with a great story that keeps you entertained without all the garbage. I would like to know if there are any good Christian movies that do not preach as if I am an unbeliever.
I like hearing it once in a while so I know what to say to a lost person, but a movie about a real Christian and how they deal with everyday things, struggles, whatever, would be nice. I like reading Terri Blackstock books because she pretty much writes books like that.
- Angela Vaughan (re-posted from Facebook)
Yes Daryl Priest more Christian media would indeed help people to reflect on their lifestyles and values. It would introduce them to the King of Glory, hear news that is not reported on secular media and help us to be more informed before we vote.
- Rose Marie-Clark (re-posted from Facebook)