Television

[Sojourner]

OK. My television viewing habits have changed over the years. I've gone from hardly ever watching it to the current watching something like an hour a day. I've gone from having no cable to having basic cable to now having full cable with HBO.

While I currently have more cable than I have had in the past, and I watch it, my addendum is that if I didn't have a housemate who considers TV a "necessary luxury item" I would not have it. But such are the compromises we make.

My close friends range from having no cable to basic cable to deluxe cable like mine, and their views on television are just as varied. I have a handful of shows I enjoy watching if I'm home and not doing anything and they're on -- Law & Order re-runs, House, Desperate Housewives, The Daily Show, the Colbert Report, Injustice. I also watch movies on a fairly regular basis.

I view television as pure entertainment. I typically don't look to it for news, although I do watch the news from time to time. I don't look to it for religious education. It's mind candy ... things that make me laugh or are interesting stories.

I've been interested to see so many people recently posting about how they're getting rid of their TVs or contemplating doing so ... particularly people who've said they think it could be a sin to pay for cable. So let's discuss this ... is television inherently immoral?

[OLAM Dad]

TV is bad for adults and absolute poison for children. Parents who allow their children unfettered access to TV are bad parents (This is the Debate Table ).

We ditched TV about 5 years ago and quite frankly I don't know where we ever found the time to watch it. I miss EWTN but nothing else. I go to my dad's house every year to watch the Superbowl, that is the only 'show' that I still watch.

We have a single TV in our house, the family room, and we watch movies on it. We also watch TV shows on DVD, Little House on the Prairie and Star Trek being our favorites.

No, TV is not inherently immoral but it is inherently a big waste of time and not at all safe for children with remote controls in their hands.

Edited March 14, 2006 by OLAM Dad

[zunshynn]

I don't watch a whole lot of TV... but I love House and I used to be obsessed with Law and Order (there are so many law and orders its insane!) and I would watch EWTN more if my cable provider carried it when I was awake. If I were to enter contemplative life I think I would have withdrawals from missing EWTN. Especially Life on the Rock. I dunno what I'd do. But maybe it will just become more real for me.

Edited March 14, 2006 by zunshynn

[OLAM Dad]

[quote name='zunshynn' date='Mar 14 2006, 11:56 AM']I don't watch a whole lot of TV... but I love House and I used to be obsessed with Law and Order (there are so many law and orders its insane!) and I would watch EWTN more if my cable provider carried it when I was awake. If I were to enter contemplative life I think I would have withdrawals from missing EWTN. Especially Life on the Rock. I dunno what I'd do. But maybe it will just become more real for me.
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Sr. Lauren didn't watch EWTN for years so she doesn't miss it. Besides, now she gets to watch Mother Angelica Live...live.

Edited March 14, 2006 by OLAM Dad

[Tindomiel]

I don't think it's inherantly evil at all...my family doesn't have cable, so we don't watch much anyway. Masterpeice Theater tends to be really good. And we occasionally watch Lost. Never more than 2 hours a week though. Sure there are too many people who watch way too much television, but that's just an abuse of an innocent form of entertainment. Just as getting drunk is an abuse of wine, and so forth.

[philothea]

Other.

I don't currently receive any broadcast TV -- no antenna connected, no cable or dish.

I have a set, with various inputs connected. I use the PS2 for games, and I use the DVD player for shows I've purchased, and movies. Mostly anime. Probably about 2 hours a day.

But, that's largely my husband's preference. I wouldn't have it in the house at all, myself.

I don't have anything against TV in particular. I will happily watch any stupid thing. I didn't have a TV growing up, and I don't really know how to fit it into my lifestyle. If it's there, I'll sit all day and watch carp, and then feel icky afterward.

[rkwright]

If I have free time I'll turn it on, like loads of free time that I don't know what to do with... but that is very rare (though this week on spring break but didn't go anywhere and everyone out of town= lots of free time)

Although when the olympics were on... even when I had class.. dang I was GLUED to the TV. I looovee the olympics.

[cmotherofpirl]

I don't have cable so I watch mostly PBS. Also [i]7th Heaven, Supernanny[/i], and [i]House[/i] when I can find it also Nascar, skating, and dog shows were they are on main networks. I miss the SCI-FI channel, and [color=blue]Star Trek.[/color]

[rkwright]

gah what is with all the Star Trek fans on here!?

I don't get it... I was very opposed to Star Trek growing up, I saw it as the rival to Star Wars which is way better... for me it was mutually exlusive, it was not possible to like Darth Vadar and those klingon thingys...

And it carried over through my life.

[Brother Adam]

[quote name='OLAM Dad' date='Mar 14 2006, 11:52 AM']TV is bad for adults and absolute poison for children.  Parents who allow their children unfettered access to TV are bad parents (This is the Debate Table ).

We ditched TV about 5 years ago and quite frankly I don't know where we ever found the time to watch it.  I miss EWTN but nothing else.  I go to my dad's house every year to watch the Superbowl, that is the only 'show' that I still watch.

We have a single TV in our house, the family room, and we watch movies on it.  We also watch TV shows on DVD, Little House on the Prairie and Star Trek being our favorites.

No, TV is not inherently immoral but it is inherently a big waste of time and not at all safe for children with remote controls in their hands.
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You are my hero. :

[kateri05]

i gave up TV for lent

actually not that hard because i would just use it as a silence filler in the evenings sometimes. and since sundays are really the only day i watch actual "shows".... (although i did decide that would be cheating and gave up Desparate Housewives and stupid idiotic yet addicitvely bad Grey's Anatomy)

and i dream for, hope for, long for the day when i can afford EWTN and Spike (ST TNG Reruns )

[Lil Red]

it varies between a little over 10 hours a week and a little under.

kateri, i am also addicted to Grey's Anatomy!

[Lil Red]

actually, i'm really addicted to the music they use on the show

[Desert Walker]

[quote name='rkwright' date='Mar 14 2006, 12:41 PM']gah what is with all the Star Trek fans on here!?

I don't get it... I was very opposed to Star Trek growing up, I saw it as the rival to Star Wars which is way better... for me it was mutually exlusive, it was not possible to like Darth Vadar and those klingon thingys...

And it carried over through my life. 


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Kindred spirits we are.

[kateri05]

lil red, nooooooooooooooooo fight it!

lol my husband (who hates it, like, it makes him angry he hates it so much! ) and make fun of it THE whole time and the music. its really this bizarre love-hate relationship, like a car accident. i can't beleive how bad it really is, so i have to watch it to comprehend the insanity :



i know, i'm nutz

[homeschoolmom]

I'm confused as to why movies are inherently better than a TV show.... I mean, there are tv shows that are better than some movies.

[onathing1]

What I'm doing during the week usually influences how much tv I watch...although I'm an American Idol, House, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Family Guy addict.


And I agree with Homeschoolmom

[Lil Red]

[quote name='kateri05' date='Mar 14 2006, 01:36 PM']lil red, nooooooooooooooooo  fight it!

lol my husband (who hates it, like, it makes him angry he hates it so much! ) and make fun of it THE whole time and the music.  its really this bizarre love-hate relationship, like a car accident.  i can't beleive how bad it really is, so i have to watch it to comprehend the insanity :
i know, i'm nutz [right][snapback]911586[/snapback][/right][/quote]i completely agree with you!

[quote name='onathing1' date='Mar 14 2006, 01:40 PM']although I'm an Family Guy addict.[right][snapback]911591[/snapback][/right][/quote] me too.

[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='rkwright' date='Mar 14 2006, 01:41 PM']gah what is with all the Star Trek fans on here!?

I don't get it... I was very opposed to Star Trek growing up, I saw it as the rival to Star Wars which is way better... for me it was mutually exlusive, it was not possible to like Darth Vadar and those klingon thingys...

And it carried over through my life. 


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poor child... perhaps you will get over this affliction...

[Socrates]

I'm one of those freaks who doesn't watch TV. My TV isn't hooked up, so I just watch DVDs. The reception is really bad here, and I'm a cheapskate who's figured cable's not worth up.
I've been thinking about getting some kind of hook-up so I can watch sports and news, but most of the time there's simply better things to do with my time (like post on phatmass).

I don't think many people (other than some extreme distributists) would say television is in itself intrinsically evil, but I think any serious Christian would agree there is a lot of garbage on the tube, and programming seems to keep getting worse in moral quality. This is not to say that there is not some good programming. But regardless of the quality of programming, TV can be a bad habit if indulged in excessively. Spending much of one's life staring passively at a TV screen is not good, and seems to be addictive for many people. Also, it seems that, whether people realize it or not, people tend to absorb the values (or lack there of) being shown on screen.
Most Americans spend way too much time in front of the boob tube.