Poisonous Normalcy

I would like to begin my column this week by thanking all of you who responded to me about “Shut That Thing Off!” I could tell that I struck a nerve with some of you concerning your televisions. The comments I got ranged from, “You’re right, I have got to stop watching so much television” to “ You have got to be out of your mind!”

I am out of my mind, for the record, and do not plan to ever get back into my mind any time soon. Normality is highly overrated, normal people are boring, normal activities are redundant, normal food no longer tastes good, normal weather is, well, in Georgia, too hot and humid, and to the point…T.V. in normal; and those of us who do not watch it have become, say it with me, abnormal; so be it.

Do you realize that, according to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than four hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week, or two months of nonstop TV-watching per year). In a 65-year life, that person will have spent nine years glued to the tube. Nine years that you will never get back.

Ninety-nine percent of homes have televisions, and they stay on almost seven hours per day in the average household. Only 49 percent of Americans think they watch too much television. Did you know that 66 percent of families today watch T.V. while they are eating dinner! While they are eating dinner!

Parents spend almost five hours watching television a day, and according to research, the number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children is 3.5. And we wonder why our children do not listen to us! We only spend one hour and fifty-two minutes a year talking to them about anything with any real importance! And this is the norm! That same child during the same week is spending 1,680 minutes sitting in front of the television. Think about this please.

I’m not going to get into all of the numbers concerning violence, sex, and immoral activities that our children are subjected to while watching that stupid thing, mainly because I believe the real wrong begins when we sit our children in front of the T.V. and walk away, in the name of love and parenting.

I know that I am being far more abrupt today than I was during my last article, but the more I write about this issue the more passionate I become…and I cannot help it. After all, as I said before, I am out of my mind. And yes, just for the record, the television is making you stupid.

Now before you go and get offended, just hear me out. Scientists have proven that you are getting stupid. When you read a book, your brain engages, and all of the elements of your imagination go into overdrive. As you read the words your mind begins to create colors and sounds that are associated with the story. Your brain creates a picture of the scenery, the mountains and valleys, the buildings, and the ocean, the animals and the sky. You develop the characters and their appearance, the sounds of their voices, their posture and clothing.

Your brain does all of the work, and is developed, exercised, and sharpened in the process. Not so with television, while you are watching, television does all of those things for you and your brain shuts down. Heck, with TEVO, you don’t even have to remember when your favorite shows are coming on.

Let me leave you with this thought. The word of God tells us in Psalms 127:33 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.

Children are our heritage, our blessings, our riches and legacy, is it really sane to take something so important, and disregard it the way that we do, and call this behavior normal.

P.S Our church will be going out to all of the roads in Jasper County again this Saturday to anoint the thresholds of our community and to pray against drugs, alcoholism, abuse, neglect, poverty, and oppression. We will meet at the church, 397 Funderburg Drive at 9 a.m. and return to the square at 1 p.m. to pray together. Please come and join us as together, we reclaim our community in Jesus’ name!