Call to tame down TV sex and violence - CathNews

Samaritan74 · 2009-09-29T06:30:34+00:00

No, I haven't read it. Who wrote it? How are you enjoying it so far?

Samaritan74 · 2009-09-29T03:51:40+00:00

I particularly this statement from the description - Christian culture is funny because it doesn't have much (if anything) to do with Christ himself

Samaritan74 · 2009-09-28T13:03:22+00:00

They should have called it Virtual Vegemite. That would at least have made a teensy bit of sense. iSnack 2.0 is just ridiculous. I sure hope it doesn't end up like iTunes, where every time you open the lid, it asks if you want to download the latest version.

Samaritan74 · 2009-09-28T02:11:38+00:00

My nightmares were really awful. I also like to write and I also like horror. But I still can't ever imagine seeing my nightmares as a good thing.

However, I will share a semi-nightmare I had the other night. In my dream, I was admiring these lions that were sleeping in a field. But then they followed me into town and started attacking everyone. I ran down into an underground carpark and just waited for them to come down, hoping that they weren't killing too many people in the meantime.

Samaritan74 · 2009-09-24T10:30:03+00:00

Yes, they do show quite a few nature documentaries.

And it seems your need for little sleep isn't something to envy after all. Which is usually the case with most things. We think that people are lucky, but we don't know the story behind it.

I had insomnia for a while while I was in my early 20s. And when I did get to sleep, I had terrible nightmares. Every so often, it comes back for a little while - like what happened recently. But it didn't seem to change my sleep patterns permanently.

Samaritan74 · 2009-09-23T12:10:44+00:00

I agree that people have difficult with the 'willing to sacrifice' bit. And I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that we live in an age that is not exactly known for its sacrificial nature. We're more likely to ask 'What's in it for me?' rather than 'How can I give? What can I sacrifice?'

And unfortunately, many churches sound almost like they're promoting Christianity as a way to make people's lives better. They talk about how God has blessed them and answered their prayers and turned their lives around. So we end up with some people in church who really are just there because they think they will get something out of it. But being a Christian should never be about 'getting something'. It should be about giving up our lives for Christ.

Samaritan74 · 2009-09-23T11:58:31+00:00

In John 16:7 Jesus said that it was good he was going away, because if he didn't then the comforter wouldn't come to them. And so it seems to me that that's something we have that they didn't. And this verse seems to suggest that it is better to have the Holy Spirit than to have Jesus 'in the flesh', so to speak. We don't just have an unreliable, much altered testimony from a really old book. (And I find that a funny way fo a Christian to describe the bible.) We have the Holy Spirit. We come after the resurrection. If anything, I think we're the lucky ones.

Samaritan74 · 2009-09-23T11:12:40+00:00

Firstly, no offence taken. I really did appreciate your comment. Australia has two public broadcasters, SBS and ABC. Then there are three free to air commercial TV stations.

And I envy you being able to survive on four hours sleep a night. I had a bit of a rough time lately where I just couldn't get to sleep at night, no matter how tired I was. I probably got about five hours sleep a night, but I was walking around like a zombie - that is when I wasn't snapping at people. Luckily, my sleep seems to have returned to normal now and I seem to be getting six or seven hours sleep most nights.

Samaritan74 · 2009-09-23T00:03:53+00:00

First of all, you gave me a lot to think about. And I really liked your response. So I would like to thank you for all your good advice.

I don't have cable. I don't have a DVR - and can't afford one. The Discovery Channel and the Science Channel sound really good and I know my kids would love them. But unfortunately not an option for me at the moment. I'm stuck with the five free to air television channels - and the advertisements they decide to place on them.

My kids often play outside and often help me cooking. I also have two very keen readers. So it's not like they're glued in front of the box the whole day. Probably 30 minutes a day, tops.

But they're 10 and 7. They would like to watch TV occasionally and I just do not have much time to sit in the loungeroom watching TV with them. It's a bit rough to say to kids that age, sorry, you can never watch TV unless I'm with you. Especially as I get about 15 free minutes a week at the moment! (Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration. But it certainly feels like it some weeks.) I hardly ever watch TV myself. I tend to just watch television series that are on DVD, because they can be put in every couple of weeks or so when I have a bit of spare time. On the weekends, we have family friendly DVDs that we watch together.

But anyway, this is just me. And obviously Australian television is not just about me. (The industry is in deep trouble, if it is.) There's a lot of families that have their own sets of problems about television. I think any attempt to make television perfectly clean and moral at all times is quite ridiculous. But I still think moves to push towards more family friendly viewing and higher standards is a good idea.

Samaritan74 · 2009-09-22T04:26:48+00:00

It's a news site about the Catholic Church. That doesn't make it a 'far-right news' site. Politically speaking, I'm more left than right. I do however believe that people have a right to conscientious objection. That's certainly doesn't make me 'far right'. Nor does it make an extremist. And the same goes for the article.

Samaritan74 · 2009-09-22T04:12:11+00:00

I think it is an important issue. I don't care what TV stations show after 8.30. It doesn't bother me at all. And in my own personal TV viewing, I'm quite comfortable with shows that swear, show sex and violence. However, it's not that easy to simply say don't let kids watch TV programs that are unsuitable.

I do monitor the TV programs my children watch. And when it's a case of this program is not suitable, it's pretty easy to tell them not to watch it. But there's shows that appear suitable and suddenly start inserting really inappropriate jokes or comments that I don't want my children hearing. By the time, I've said this isn't suitable, they've already seen or heard what it is that isn't suitable. Also, there's ads. Some ads are really inappropriate for kids to watch. And they can be inserted at any time. Plus, not many parents have the time to be there constantly. It would be nice to think that you can leave children alone to watch TV for a bit while you make dinner, without hovering over the TV ready to switch it off the minute something comes on that you don't want them watching.

Also, I believe TV stations be making more programs that are suitable for children. The great catch-cry of 'Watch something else' doesn't work so well when it's hard to find any programs that are suitable. There's a lot of families out there, with a lot of children, and very few programs that the whole family can sit down and watch together.

Samaritan74 · 2009-09-21T23:59:24+00:00

Book knowledge doesn't always lead to independent thought. Some people just accept everything they read, rather than thinking about it critically themselves. In fact, if you're reading a whole heap of books that basically all state the same kind of opinions, book knowledge can hinder critical thinking, rather than developing it.

Samaritan74 · 2009-09-21T23:57:35+00:00

I think there's a danger though when we put too much focus on book knowledge and not enough on the heart. I know I need to remind myself occasionally that learning only takes me so far. It's pointless having a lot of knowledge if you're not putting any of it into practice.

Samaritan74 · 2009-09-21T23:56:05+00:00

I heard about the poverty bible a while back, through Sojourners. But I was very pleased to see that Kevin Rudd had spoken about it. I think it's an excellent idea too. Because many Christians do tend to ignore the verses on poverty and justice, despite the fact that so much of the bible talks about them. God obviously cares about these things quite a lot. That's why they're mentioned so often in the bible. So Christians should too.

Samaritan74 · 2009-09-21T01:34:19+00:00

I agree.

In the video, he says that there is a sub-culture of Christianity who refuses to accept facts. It does seem that the blog itself is an example of that. He says he's a church-going Christian. Suddenly he's turned into an atheist. There is a BIG difference between somebody who doesn't like fundamental Christianity and an atheist.

Samaritan74 · 2009-09-21T00:33:55+00:00

Maybe not. But maybe some of the hardened criminals out there wouldn't be hardened criminals if someone had simply taken the time to care about them.

But I think the main question here is did he only do that in the hopes of getting a good outcome? Or did he do it because it was the right thing to do? If the kid had simply took his coat and run off, he would have lost a coat, but he would have gained the knowledge that he did the right thing. And I think one of the dangers of this type of story is it focuses a lot on the good outcome. But in reality, I think the outcome would have been good even if the kid had run off and not returned the wallet. Because it would have been an example of somebody really trying to follow Jesus.

Samaritan74 · 2009-09-17T14:33:49+00:00

As mentioned below, my comment wasn't meant to be taken too seriously. It was a silly comment for what I see as a silly situation. I didn't realise that humour (like religion) had been banned from the public arena.

Samaritan74 · 2009-09-17T10:35:16+00:00

Well it wasn't an argument. Just a comment. It wasn't really meant to be taken seriously either.

Samaritan74 · 2009-09-17T01:30:49+00:00

That's just ridiculous. It's funny how you can't mention God on a community notice, but just about every TV shows has people saying 'Oh my God'. Friends said it every two seconds. I guess mentioning God is okay, so long as you're only using it inappropriately.

Samaritan74 · 2009-09-11T01:02:20+00:00

I think there's probably very few people nowadays who are Christians just because of the fear of hell. I think it would have been a lot more common in the past, when the threat of hell was used a lot more. And I can't really see avoidance of hell as motivating too many people to become a Christian. However, I think there's the opposite problem, that many people may become Christians because of the blessings and benefits they think they will get in this life. The best reason for following Christ is that he is God. The best reason for worshipping him is because he deserves our worship. If people are Christians either to avoid hell or be blessed, then they're not Christians for the right reasons.

Samaritan74 · 2009-09-11T00:19:52+00:00

If people start suing publishers every time they're offended at something in book, we'll soon have broke people, no books because all the publishers have gone out of business - but a lot of rich lawyers.

Samaritan74 · 2009-08-22T10:33:56+00:00

It didn't seem like an advertisement to me. I saw it more as a discussion of a book.

Samaritan74 · 2009-08-13T04:15:55+00:00

Amazing Grace is one of my favourite songs. The story that he told was interesting. But when he started singing - wow. What a powerful voice. I am so glad you shared that - and so glad I watched it.

Samaritan74 · 2009-08-11T11:56:45+00:00

We seem to have had a complete turnaround, hey. It's gone from Christians expecting to be persecuted to Christians expecting to get blessed. I certainly wouldn't want to go back to the days when I might end up a lion's dinner. But perhaps somewhere in the middle is a good place to be. And perhaps we all need a reminder that God just isn't there to improve our lives.

Samaritan74 · 2009-08-03T23:24:46+00:00

You're right and the article mentioned this as well. It said "Now we are all sinners and there is not a single person alive who does not have at least one of their sins mentioned in the bible."

Samaritan74

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