TV Bad - Bible Good

[CanadianHippie]

I'm pretty sure there are religious channels in my basic cable.

[O Latin]

My mom was a crunchy hippie type who believed that anything with a screen was a soul-draining evil (except educational computer games, those were okay). She was always trying to come up with systems and rules to get us to watch less TV, which mostly never worked because we didn't actually watch that much TV, we just didn't want to give up any of our favorite shows (which, at the time, were mostly stuff like Reading Rainbow and Wishbone). She didn't care if we read the Bible or not, she just wanted us to read, period, or play outside or play with each other, which we did plenty of. I never got the "TV is going to turn your children into status quo-following robots" mentality of the hippie moms she hung out with.

Of course, like most parents, she got much more lax as time went on. My little brother sits on the couch the TV on, his laptop on his lap, and his tablet right next to him.

[shangrila]

Ebil telebision got em nu house. Some people had to spend a LOT of hours watching them on TLC until TLC decided it would be worth to fund the housing which would give them a few watchable episodes.

I would not bash something that I owe something. Eps not if it is a house for my ginormous family and 19 children that lived under very unpleasant circumstances before. Hm. Think about it Kelly.

[galaxygirl]

Wait..aren't they shopping their own tv show around?

[Anxious Girl]

What do they do about the questionable parts of the Bible, such as the genocide of the various peoples in Israel when the Egyptian Jewish people came into the country in the Book of Deuteronomy? Or do they just show their families what they good parts of the Bible such as Jesus's teachings, etc. Or that a Roman soldier under Pontius Pilate killed Jesus, not a Jewish person? Do they not talk about the questionable parts of the Bible such as these? Somebody please correct me if the genocide arc was not in the Book of Deuteronomy, please.

[lizzy]

Bible - boring

TV, movies, video games, other leasurely pursuits - not boring

That my thought.

[shangrila]

It was a bit too much to me when Mrs Bates was in labor and Mr Bates sat next to her in the hospital and JUST had to read his bible instead of talking to her. What a holy man.

[pomology]

Bible - boring

TV, movies, video games, other leasurely pursuits - not boring

That my thought.

I'd add "many books that are not the Bible" to that category, but otherwise, agreed.

I think the Bible can be interesting as a basis for an intellectual discussion. But sitting there and reading it on my own? Ugh, I'd rather watch paint dry.

[emmiedahl]

Growing up, our most consistent family time was spent watching the Simpsons. I can remember when they first came out--Married with Children ran right after them so the children had to go to bed. It isn't that we didn't play, read, whatever, but we had a family date for the Simpsons once a week. Because I am all about tradition, my kids now get ready for bed early so we can watch the Simpsons every night at 7:30.

I just don't see it as an issue. My kids read at least 30 minutes a day, do chores, do well in school, play musical instruments and sports, earn their own spending money, and are generally pleasant to be around. A significant portion of their time is spent playing with blocks and drawing. They can tell you the ten commandments and recite long sections of the Tanakh. I personally watch TV while I clean, and I also read FreeJinger while I do school work. I'm not one of those people who can do one thing at once. I get too distracted. With a planned distraction, I can stay on task for hours.

[Jenesis Jexodus]

" According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the avg. American watches more than 4 hrs. TV each day"

All they are really doing is comparing themselves (favorably of course) to the average American. It's just a self serving ego boost to hunt down and find statistics supporting how much holier they are than the 'average American'. Yes we all know by now that Erin reads the bible more than the average American, just like the rest of your phony family. Hey I have an idea - instead of spending all of that time reading the bible and hunting down statistics to brag about it why don't you feed your dang starving horses you big pile of hypocrites.

[ophelia]

It was a bit too much to me when Mrs Bates was in labor and Mr Bates sat next to her in the hospital and JUST had to read his bible instead of talking to her. What a holy man.

does anybody remember the name of the episode or in which season it was??

[daisyjane1234]

The Bible is a great book and well worth reading. Reading a variety of OTHER resources/books while reading the Bible, or not reading the Bible, might also be a good use of Erin's time.

But God forbid she reads books that improve her exegetical skills, broaden her horizons, suggest that women are equal and have brains and so on.

Perhaps the Bates should expand their motto to:

Bible=good

Housework and babies=good

Brainless obedience=good

Everything else (if you are a girl)=bad

[dairyfreelife]

What do they do about the questionable parts of the Bible, such as the genocide of the various peoples in Israel when the Egyptian Jewish people came into the country in the Book of Deuteronomy? Or do they just show their families what they good parts of the Bible such as Jesus's teachings, etc. Or that a Roman soldier under Pontius Pilate killed Jesus, not a Jewish person? Do they not talk about the questionable parts of the Bible such as these? Somebody please correct me if the genocide arc was not in the Book of Deuteronomy, please.

I believe it was in Exodus after Moses and the Jewish people escaped slavery in Egypt.

Numbers and Judges are also rather harsh books in the Bible. In Judges a group of soldiers "of God" went into a town, killed all the men, boys and non-virgin women, taking all the virgins for themselves. And the story where a man sent his slave (I think it was his slave, maybe his concubine) to some pervs at the door and they step over her as she lay dying the next morning on their doorstep. She died. Godly men indeed.

My bets are they have assigned readings and aren't allowed to really read the whole Bible-just their favorite and sweet parts. The parents themselves probably haven't even read that stuff so they are probably oblivious to the realities of what's in that "Good Book". If that is the case, maybe they will learn a thing or two and begin to question and think on their own. One can only hope. If they come acros Song of Songs-need I say more? Bring on the sexy lovin'.

I remember right after I graduated high school a couple moms complained about a summer reading book and one went to my old church. She stood up and preceeded to tell us that there are talks of violence and inappropriate sex stuff in that book (a character was raped, I believe, in that book). Of course, she opens up her Bible to quote Phil's do whatever is pure stuff. Oh, the irony burns.

So my point? I hope they do read that Bible of theirs-all of it-word for word. I'd love to hear from Erin after she does. And NO SKIPPING PARTS YOU DONT LIKE! All of it, word for word.

[shangrila]

Without the TV they'd still live in a house which was sized for a 5 membered family.

[dairyfreelife]

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

Eh, I don't think she looks pregnant, the shirt just looks a little baggy. ;)

[ophelia]

It would be funny to see how they explained a pregnancy out of wedlock. Probably it is the TVs fault.

[BayLee_10]

Former Lurker, just joined.

Since I know Kelly Bates, although I am not a fundie by any stretch of the imagination, I always feel called upon to defend her. Kelly is a very humble woman who tries very hard to be a good wife, mother and Christian. Some of the messages on her blog reflect her lack of ability to put into writing what she is thinking. Although both she and Gil have drunk deeply of the Kool-Aid, they do not try to push their beliefs on others, and they do freely associate with us heathens. Kelly's older brother is dying of cancer and this is causing her great stress, which might explain some of her topics. I know this is about snark, and I do snark about her belief system, which is, jmho, crack pot. Reading the Bible doesn't interest me, reading anything else, to include the phone book if nothing else was available, and watching TV do interest me. I don't know where Kelly's statistics came from, possibly Gothard induced?

[Jenesis Jexodus]

Former Lurker, just joined.

Since I know Kelly Bates, although I am not a fundie by any stretch of the imagination, I always feel called upon to defend her. Kelly is a very humble woman who tries very hard to be a good wife, mother and Christian. Some of the messages on her blog reflect her lack of ability to put into writing what she is thinking. Although both she and Gil have drunk deeply of the Kool-Aid, they do not try to push their beliefs on others, and they do freely associate with us heathens. Kelly's older brother is dying of cancer and this is causing her great stress, which might explain some of her topics. I know this is about snark, and I do snark about her belief system, which is, jmho, crack pot. Reading the Bible doesn't interest me, reading anything else, to include the phone book if nothing else was available, and watching TV do interest me. I don't know where Kelly's statistics came from, possibly Gothard induced?

That's interesting. Do you live by them? I'm thinking of starting a collection to feed their starving horses. Maybe you could deliver the food.

[slickcat79]

· According to Gallup, only half of adults interviewed nationwide could name any of the 4 Gospels of the New Test.

· Just 37% of those interviewed could name all 4 Gospels.

· Only 42% of adults were able to name as many as 5 of the 10 Commandments correctly.

· Surveys say only 20-25 % of Americans have read through the entire Bible

· In an interview with Assist News Service, Rhodes quotes a recent poll stating 35% of born-again Christians do not read the Bible at all.

· In addition, Rhodes indicates that among those who say they read the Bible, the vast majority only read it during the one h.r they attend church each Sun. morning.

Really, though...what is that supposed to be saying? What does it mean if someone could name all the gospels or the commandments or books of the bible? IMO, nothing significant; they just have a good mind for trivial facts. It doesn't make someone a better person because they have knowledge of the bible. I can name the gospels and the commandments but it doesn't make me any less of an atheist.

[2xx1xy1JD]

Ok, without looking at the other answers or googling, I came up with:

Matthew, Luke, John and ? for the Gospels (hey, I'm Jewish!)

Ten Commandments:

1. I'm the Lord your G-d.

2. Don't have any other G-ds before Me.

3. Don't have idols.

4. Remember the Sabbath/Keep the Sabbath holy.

5. Honor your mother and father.

6. Do not commit murder.

7. Do not bear false witness.

8. Do not steal.

9. Do not commit adultery.

10. Do not covet your neighbors' wife or ass.

BTW, I call BS on the stat that 70% of daycares use television. I followed the link for the source, it's just another site which doesn't give the specific source for the number. Unless they are including every mom who takes in a few kids as a "daycare", there is no way that's accurate.

[Daenerys]

Ok, without looking at the other answers or googling, I came up with:

Matthew, Luke, John and ? for the Gospels (hey, I'm Jewish!)

Ten Commandments:

1. I'm the Lord your G-d.

2. Don't have any other G-ds before Me.

3. Don't have idols.

4. Remember the Sabbath/Keep the Sabbath holy.

5. Honor your mother and father.

6. Do not commit murder.

7. Do not bear false witness.

8. Do not steal.

9. Do not commit adultery.

10. Do not covet your neighbors' wife or ass.

BTW, I call BS on the stat that 70% of daycares use television. I followed the link for the source, it's just another site which doesn't give the specific source for the number. Unless they are including every mom who takes in a few kids as a "daycare", there is no way that's accurate.

1. The other one is Mark (number 2) and I only know this thanks to Catholic school!

2. I don't, but I think it's phrased in an alarmist way. My daycare used TV, but not constantly. When the youngest were having a nap, the rest of us would watch a short television programme. The rest of the day it was most definitely switched off!

[pomology]

Ok, without looking at the other answers or googling, I came up with:

Matthew, Luke, John and ? for the Gospels (hey, I'm Jewish!)

Ten Commandments:

1. I'm the Lord your G-d.

2. Don't have any other G-ds before Me.

3. Don't have idols.

4. Remember the Sabbath/Keep the Sabbath holy.

5. Honor your mother and father.

6. Do not commit murder.

7. Do not bear false witness.

8. Do not steal.

9. Do not commit adultery.

10. Do not covet your neighbors' wife or ass.

BTW, I call BS on the stat that 70% of daycares use television. I followed the link for the source, it's just another site which doesn't give the specific source for the number. Unless they are including every mom who takes in a few kids as a "daycare", there is no way that's accurate.

That's part of the second commandment. The third commandment is "Don't take my name is vain".

[formergothardite]

That's interesting. Do you live by them? I'm thinking of starting a collection to feed their starving horses. Maybe you could deliver the food.

They are up there with Miss Raquel in being bad horse owners. Save the neglected horses of fundies!

[samithemage]

Pretty sure that from a Jewish perspective the only laws you have to follow are the Noahide Law:The seven laws listed by the Tosefta and the Talmud are[7]

Prohibition of Idolatry

Prohibition of Murder

Prohibition of Theft

Prohibition of Sexual immorality

Prohibition of Blasphemy

Prohibition of eating flesh taken from an animal while it is still alive

Establishment of courts of law

And if you're Christian the only laws to be concerned about are to love God, and to love your neighbor. Technically speaking, if I remember correctly, the 10 commandments don't apply, because Jesus fulfilled the law.

[emmiedahl]

I probably watch 4 hours per day of TV but I watch them while cleaning or doing other things. It adds up; I watch Jerry Springer while doing dishes and folding laundry (1 hour) and I always watch the Simpsons with my kids and then TMZ before I go to bed (1 hour total). If I put on a documentary to watch while the kids nap and I pick up the house, I have already hit 4 hours. My 4 hours would also include Wii time; my mother bought me the Zumba game so I am getting some exercise during a portion. Maybe a half hour of my 4 hours is spent just sitting on the couch, if that.

I am willing to bet that at least half of daycares are home daycares, in a house that also has a television. Alarmist statistics are alarmist.