TV Bad - Bible Good

[Deleted07]

New Post up on the Bates Blog with lots of statistics basically saying TV Bad and Bible Good!

 

What are your thoughts?

 

http://gilbatesfamily.com/blog/

[CanadianHippie]

Followed promptly by a plug for Courageous the movie.

[terranova]

We don't have a tv and I can name the 4 gospels and 5/10 commandments.

And I'm an atheist.

What does that make me?

[shangrila]

Seen it, seen it! I keep checking out their blog for several reasons : )

That's right. TV BAD. Bible good. OMG, seriously.

[Burris]

Quoth the dumbass:

I was challenged by Erin’s new commitment to read her Bible the same amount of time she spends viewing any DVDs (in addition to her regular daily reading). The accountability of that decision has caused her to think twice before squandering precious time…

So, let me get this straight: Reading the Bible is such a chore that spending two or three hours at it - the same amount of time Erin might spend each day in watching DVDs - has made her want to reduce her DVD time so as not to squander those precious hours.

I'm sure that's not what Bates meant to say, but that's certainly how it comes out.

[Deleted07]

I'm not big on the holy book itself... Too many uncertainties to me about WHO'S word the text's actually are.

I can name the 10 commandments, and the gospels. I watch about 2 hours of television a day and really cannot believe that parents only have 3 minutes of well meaning conversation with their kids in a week!!!

But yeah had to LOL that the post was basically all Bible Good and TV and DVD bad, but hey we're going to see courageous!!! lol!!!

[debrand]

Watching tv is bad because it gives fundies a knowledge of what is actually happening in the world.

There is a tendency to one up one another among fundies. Reading your bible is not good enough, you have to read it two hours a day. If you do anything enjoyable other than reading your bible, that is wrong.

Relaxing isn't wrong.

By the way, I've always thought that Erin would be a bit of a sweet voiced, little prick. She just looks like she would be judgemental of others. Isn't she the one that would be upset to sit next to a green haired kid in college?

I was challenged by Erin’s new commitment to read her Bible the same amount of time she spends viewing any DVDs (in addition to her regular daily reading). The accountability of that decision has caused her to think twice before squandering precious time…

[ophelia]

Yes, she is the one. I think she drank a lot of the koolaid and that makes her really annoying.

[JesusFightClub]

We don't have a telly, partly for political and partly for financial reasons. I have not noticed increased Bible reading as a result ;)

[snarkbillie]

I can name all the books of the Bible and all the 10 commandments. *continues to watch Dr. Who without guilt*

[xReems]

So, pretty much what I got from the post is that if you and your family watch tv than you're walking down an evil path with lots of sin and not being close with one another; however, if you read the Bible pretty much the whole day as a family, suddenly your family will have a freakin halo around one another and be one amazing tight knit family?! no thank you.

My family and I watch tv together all the time. Whatever we're watching, whether it's the news or some tv show, we end up talking about together and learning about our own view points and stance on things. Oh no, the horror of your family all having differing opinions!

Someone needs to tell Kelly Bates to shut it--her family is not any better than those who are actually normal.

[ophelia]

I have to admit that in some points she is right. People in Europe (and probably in the USA too) watch too much TV per day instead of doing something good. I must confess I'm also a TV-junkie, but I often realize how I could have spent my day better... doing something for my classes, preparing my job, meet with a friend for a coffee..

I'm working in a school 3 times a week and after holidays most of the kids usually tell me that they spent nearly their entire time watching tv or playing video games. I really hate that and I feel sorry for the children! Its absolutely fine to watch TV with the whole family (I LOVE it) and to discuss the movie or the show afterwards. Its a great learning oppurtunity and just makes fun. But these kids never even watch TV with their parents because they've got their own TV in their room and the parents are watching in the living room.. that's just not right and I really can't stand it when parents use the TV as their nanny and to give the children something to do instead of spending real quality time with them.

[fundiefan]

Personally, I think the majority of television sucks. But, that's show quality, not an immoral evil. I don't enjoy anything that is on so I seldom watch, even though I have two televisions. I tend to watch a lot of Netflix when I do watch. I also prefer to read. But, I don't read the bible.

Ophelia, you think people watch tv instead of doing something 'good'? I'm not sure I get that thinking. I often have the tv on as I clean or cook. I live alone; the background noise is nice. My sister does a lot of knitting, and she does it on her sofa in the evenings while she watches the shows she has DVR'd and enjoys. Making a 'right' versus 'wrong' judgment upon people you don't live with and see daily is kind of, well, fundie-ish and judgmental. My niece watched a lot of tv on her holiday break. That doesn't mean she didn't hang out with her friends or family or do something 'right'. It means she is used to going to school and dance and extra-curriculars all the time and she had about ten days when none of that was happening so she had a lot more time on her hands than she is used to. And, to be honest, given her schedule, I think she absolutely deserved the 'break'; the rest; the lying on the sofa watching movies or tv or whatever she wanted to watch.

Television viewing is not a moral 'issue'. It is a choice, and it absolutely can be and is done by people who are productive, functional, moral, 'right' people.

[freehannie]

So, suppose I give up TV and read the Bible cover to cover a few times. Then what? How long is this supposed to take? It's one book. I know my understanding of it is supposed to change as I grow as a Christian (according to their theology), but at a certain point, it might be nice to read something else. The constant focus on the one book would drive me insane.

[keen23]

I can tell you the four gospels, and sing a song about it too-

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,

Bless the bed that I lie on.

Four corners to my bed,

Four angels round my head;

One to watch and one to pray

And two to bear my soul away.

As for the 10 Commandments, I can think of 6 off the top of my head.

But the Bates Blog shows one thing for sure- Erin needs a new hairstyle stat.

[kittypie]

HA! I can SING all the books of the Bible, during commercials. :whistle:

I'm doing it right now!

[CanadianHippie]

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,

Bless the bed that I lie on.

Four corners to my bed,

Four angels round my head;

One to watch and one to pray

And two to bear my soul away.

I liked it better before I read past the second line. :twisted:

[MamaJunebug]

Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God, in vain.

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother.

Thou shalt not kill.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Thou shalt not steal.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife nor field nor cattle nor anything that is thy neighbor's.

I could probably give you the "What does this mean?" explanations to the commandments, as learnt in Lutheran school in the 1950s&60s, to most of these if I tried and if somebody bought me a coffee and a loaded bagel sandwich. ;)

But first I'd want to watch Fashion Police, The Soup, any newly recorded Thin Man movies and just for fun, the "making of" DVD of The Big Lebowski.

Plus the evening news. I confess, I watch the evening news!

[lilwriter85]

Sometimes TV can be a waste of time, but overall I don't think TV is evil and people who don't watch TV aren't any better than those who do. Some people aren't readers at all and that is ok. My mom isn't much of a reader and she does like TV but she also does craft work and other hobbies. My mom read the Bible from cover to cover as a teenager and she will occasionally read verses as way of praying. Kelly Bates would probably dislike my mom for being an ebil Catholic.

I have a friend who is a Christian and just doesn't care for television that much, but she doesn't read the Bible daily. She will read various types of books and sometimes she read 2 books a week. There are quite bit of Christians who aren't daily Bible readers.

[ophelia]

fundiefan, I didn't want to be offensive and you are right instead of "good" I should have used another word.. I don't want to judge anybody. It is totally fine when children watch more TV than usual during their holidays. Especially today when children often have a lot of different appointments during the week and need some time off. That was not my point. My point is that the TV shouldn't be a substitution for other things like going out and meeting with friends, playing with friends and especially spending time with your family. I know this can be hard especially for parents that are both working full-time (my mother had two jobs for over 8 years) I just think it is a pity that more and more children lose the ability to spend their time with something else than watching tv!

I also like the TV as a backround sound while cleaning or watching it while Iam doing laundry, but often I keep watching instead of finishing my to do list.. but that just shows my lack of discipline.

[keen23]

I liked it better before I read past the second line. :twisted:

My Grandmother used to sing this to us all the time! It was what she used instead of the "Now I lay me down to sleep" bedtime prayer.

[Daenerys]

I had to do a double take in this picture as Erin looks so PREGNANT!

[pomology]

I'm not even Christian and I can name all four gospels.

But I just like trivia.

I don't give a damn about the New Testament.

But I can recite all ten commandments in Hebrew (as written in Exodus) because I had to do that for school when I was in fifth grade. So, uh, I bet fundies can't do that.

[CanadianHippie]

I had to do a double take in this picture as Erin looks so PREGNANT!

I'm just happy to see neither of them are singing.

[galaxygirl]

So TV=bad, but the internetz are a-ok? Also, I'm pretty sure there are religious channels in my direct-tv packet.