Giving up Television to Save your Soul

[Sursum Corda]

I'm happy to have rid my life of cable; however, after getting a Blu-Ray player with streaming video you quickly see you've just exchanged one horrible thing for another.  Nowadays I'm asking God to remove TV from my life.   First plan of attack is to limit the amount during the days and to limit the amount of days in the week.   Wednesday and Fridays are going to be no TV days and hopefully with God's grace I will start adding more and more days to this.   Last lent I only used the TV to watch religious movies and programs.   It was the best lent I've ever had.


After the TV comes the computer! 

[Paul]

What I'm finding helpful is switching to useful things, or at least things with fewer of the problems presented by TV and other media. More of the time I spend on the computer is spent writing things (for example, condensing saints' writings for my mom to read), or, barring that, playing computer games without problematic content (like chess). Instead of reading useless Catholic websites with useless opinions (though I haven't quit entirely), even if I'm not always being productive, I'm still getting away from all the arguments that lead nowhere and present a serious distraction from my spiritual life.

[Brigid]

What I'm finding helpful is switching to useful things, or at least things with fewer of the problems presented by TV and other media. More of the time I spend on the computer is spent writing things (for example, condensing saints' writings for my mom to read), or, barring that, playing computer games without problematic content (like chess). Instead of reading useless Catholic websites with useless opinions (though I haven't quit entirely), even if I'm not always being productive, I'm still getting away from all the arguments that lead nowhere and present a serious distraction from my spiritual life.

I think, that's a balanced way of doing it. Technology can be good if not abused and used in the proper way (harder with TV what with commercials, etc.).

[Paul]

I'm having much more success on the Internet front. I still look at this site sometimes and do the occasional Google search for a specific topic, but I'm no longer wasting time at useless sites. I was getting discouraged for a while.

What was so addicting about these Catholic sites was that I could pretend, if only to myself, that I was part of the larger community of actual (not cafeteria) Catholics. The hardest and most important part of quitting was facing up to the fact that this was nothing more than an illusion. I'm almost 30, and I'm getting too old for that kind of childish fantasy.

Thanks be to God, my mother is now watching less TV (and more wholesome TV) and spending more time reading the Bible.

[Shin]

It's truly heartening to read such progress. Thanks be to God for it.. There are ups and downs often enough.. but one day at a time.. And you can look back and see the progress..

I pray it will continue and continue to strengthen into long lasting habits.. The success on the Internet and family front is inspiring.  
 
Nothing like a -good- book and a walk, and some gardening, and so many other things to do. .   It's hardest to start the change of habits, to break the ice. . Sometimes a single prayer breaks the wall enough..

It's really good to hear from you Paul!

[JoyfulMother]

Hi there all!  I know I haven't been here for a long time!

On the TV front, I have given it up almost completely.  I have 1 single show that pulls me in, that started it's new season yesterday.  I am debating whether or not the show is worth it.

In the last 9 weeks, I have watched only about 3 children's movies and then played a few favorite songs from them.

You're going to ask - what about your TV addicted family?

Well, that has changed quite a bit & I need your prayers.

My husband left 9 weeks ago today, no warning, and took all 5 kids, saying he would bring them back after the weekend.  When I saw them again, the oldest 3 don't want anything to do with me.  I don't know what was said, etc.

My 2 youngest, who love God dearly and want nothing more than to be saints, are living with me. 

I can now create the Catholic home I have always wanted.  Morning prayers & a saint story over breakfast, homework & playtime after school, supper together, clean up together, then games or time outside or homemade playdough - simple pleasures have become our life.  We play together, work together, pray together, laugh together, sometimes cry together.

Please pray that I can guide my little ones through this very rough time and that God will protect their innocent little hearts.

But the best thing to come out of all of this is NO TV!

I am considering a Blu-Ray player & Netflix, but haven't decided.  We don't watch anything except appropriate movies but since I am fighting a custody battle now & don't want the husband alleging I am depriving the kids of something, I am thinking of this as a compromise until custody is settled.  Cable, phone & internet costs $140 or so per month.  If I get phone & internet for $40 (kids school demands internet for assignments) and Netflix for $8, I can save a bundle.

Video games are almost non-existent.

Internet still pulls me in, but I am down to 3 or 4 blogs, e-mail, 1 other forum besides this one, and job searching.  I am spending more time on the phone as I call friends and talk to them about all that is going on.  Eventually, I need to slow down on that, but I get a lot of advice & encouragement right now as I try to rebuild my life.

[Shin]

Dear Lord, mercy I pray.. My condolences to you in this time. God's Providence oversees all.. May His love and care keep you. He sees over all, it will all be well in the end, and even in times of trial..

To have two children who wish to be saints.. thanks be to God!!! Such a blessing.. May they all..

May the Holy Family help your entire family.. May Jesus Mary and Joseph keep you and yours.

So glad you are getting advice and encouragement!! Deo gratias.

It makes me think of Matthew 10:16. Take care! Yes you must be prudent in this time in all that is done, in speech and in deed.. The world doesn't understand much. Take care.  

Be assured, prayers! ! !

[Paul]

Joyful Mother, I'm so sorry to hear about what has happened to you. I'm praying for you, but is there anything else any of us can do?

The good thing is that you have 2 kids who want to be saints.

[JoyfulMother]

Joyful Mother, I'm so sorry to hear about what has happened to you. I'm praying for you, but is there anything else any of us can do?

The good thing is that you have 2 kids who want to be saints.

Not unless you can supply money.   He is paying the house note & utilities, but refuses any cash for me to buy groceries or fill the car with gas.  People from my parish have been helping sooooo much.  I have been given groceries, some cash, new clothes, and had maintenance done on my house that my husband never did.  Fixing windows, plumbing, and one couple did 20 HOURS of yard work that he had left undone over the years.  I have a decent yard again!  Now I just have to maintain it.

So many people have helped me & I am so grateful.

Just pray I get some money soon, because I literally don't have but a single dollar to my name.  I don't know how I will fill the car with gas on Friday. 

I am looking for a job, but even if I get one tomorrow, I won't get paid in time.

And I can't believe that I have 2 kids who want to be saints!  Deo Gratias!

[Paul]

Prayers for you and your family! (need prayer smiley)

On the topic of this thread, I had a thought. It sounds very pious to say, "I don't watch TV because it's so vile", but if we still daydream, we're not out of the woods yet. What is a daydream other than a TV show or movie in which the dreamer is the writer, director, and lead actor? I know I have trouble controlling this bad habit, and before my conversion, I lived in my daydreams most of the time.

We're supposed to take every thought captive to obey Christ. Just as we must "redeem the time, for the days are evil," we must redeem our thoughts, for every imagination of man is evil. We're also supposed to think about whatever is true, which daydreams are not.

What do you all think?

[Shin]

There's a prayer smiley in there! 

What do you mean by 'every imagination of man is evil?'

Going a bit far there Paul I think?

 

[Paul]

I was trying to quote the verse from memory because I couldn't find it. Apparently I mangled it 

"Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And when the Lord smelled the pleasing odor, the Lord said in his heart, 'I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done.'" (Genesis 8:20-21)

[Shin]

In the back of my mind I think I was wondering if it might be one of those 'of man' vs. 'of God' contrasts..

 

[iohannes]

I joined a few years back but never post anything.  There's also some rule about message boards whereby one isn't supposed to respond to old threads because it's bad ettiquette.

I think owning a TV is a mortal sin because it's like owning immodest material, as immodest material can easily be found on TV.  Everything they put on it, you own and could watch.

Using similar reasoning, we don't have radios or internet in our cars or house, and think these things are mortal sins.

Where we live, Detroit, we have found very few people anything like this, ever.

When I was a kid, I watched a lot of TV, had a radio, and internet in the house.  I actually study all these things, so I do some research that compares 1970's (or oldest) TV / radio / internet with later versions.  I note that all these things have gone from bad to worse.  With what was on radio when it first came out, why wasn't there more of an outcry among Catholic priests and bishops against it ?  Oh, it turns out this is because immodesty and heresy in public theater and advertisements were tolerated before it, paving the way.  I've been to a lot of tridentine Masses and no priest has ever said, "Oh, and get rid of your TV or you're going to Hell !"  Along with immodesty in dress, even traditional priests don't talk about this, along with so many other crucial issues.

There's a ton wrong with TV and movies.  Everything on it is based off of heresy and paganisms.  There's nothing that's based on really good understanding of Catholicism.  I watched EWTN back in 2002 and it wasn't until I later read through a ton of catechisms and Saints' writings did I realize what a farce EWTN was, even then. And that was before it started getting worse.

I've found a lot of evidence that the American government controls what's on TV, radio, and movies, using them all to support their policies and agendas.  We all saw this clearly looking back on 9/11 and its aftermath, how from all sides the American public was told that we had to go to war.  It may be very subtle, but every commercial you see on TV is telling you an anti-Gospel, about how happiness is to be found through buying this or that.  What ?  That's lies.  And increasingly, totally unrealated immodesty is being used to sell things.

And what's on the TV is on people's minds and spills over onto billboards and stuff.  Pretty soon they'll be killing Catholics and stealing their stuff more openly than they already are.

The solution ?  I think this country is too messed up.  We're moving to another country.  I personally find fault with our ancestors, who came here knowing that it was a Protestant country.  They should have known enough about Catholicism to send the money back home and return as soon as they could.  Non-Catholic countries aren't protected the way Catholic countries are.  Look at Hurricane Katrina.  America's really bad and in store for a lot more than that.

I didn't read many of the other responses, but my guess is that most traditional Catholics think having a TV is okay, if they use it with care.  American Catholics are like this, even the traditional ones can't see the good from the bad.  Most tridentine Catholics don't believe in early marriage either, getting married at like 40 and thinking God is cool with that. 

So I'll close with my favorite Scripture verse :
"Do not give thy years to the cruel."

Invest in Catholic countries, folks.

[Shin]

It's great to hear from you iohannes! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised if you read through this thread.

God keep you my friend!

'His watchmen all blind have been ignorant: dumb dogs not able to bark, seeing vain things, sleeping and loving dreams.'

Isaiah 56:10

[Paul]

It's refreshing to hear from another Catholic who is against TV. I don't know that it's a mortal sin, but I would certainly say it's a near occasion of sin, like keeping bad company.

Immodesty in theater is nothing new, if you read the early Fathers, like Tertullian and St. Augustine, you'll find the same complaints. I think the medium of theater itself is the problem, along with novels, because they show us what is not real for no purpose other than to excite the passions.

I, too, find that the writings of nearly all modern Catholics, not just EWTN, teach error, and the writings of the saints have shown me this. Indeed I find that nothing in modern culture is holy or acceptable to God, just as St. Justin Martyr found with pagan Greek culture.

If you find a nice country to go to, please let me know. I hear Europe is even worse than America, so I'm glad my ancestors came here. And I've met people from Latin America, and Catholicism is dying there too.