Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Television Termination at the Christian "Booksellers" Convention

On July 12, 2005, a friend offered to pick me up and get me into the Christian Booksellers Convention in downtown Denver. I have attended four of these circuses previously when one of my books was being promoted by one of my publishers. This time I was a civilian taking in the show, and what a show it was.

First, books and booksellers are marginalized—literally. The displays that feature bona fide books were at the edges of the huge convention hall. Most prominent were the religious trinkets—Scripture candy, religious "art," religious jewelry, and so on.

Second, nearly everything was advertised by video screens. One children’s video, "Angel Wars," was hawked by a mountain of various screens all showing the same hyperactive, violent, and nightmarish images. It must have taught "family values."

Third, celebry-ism (or celebrity-itus) was evident everywhere. The hall was filled with posters and videos of the sacred images of the hottest authors and speaker, most mugging for the camera shamelessly. "Little children, keep yourselves from idols," said the Apostle John (1 John 5:21).

Yet, by the grace of God (which also held back the "cleansing of the temple"), four things made it bearable. (1) The companionship, wisecracks, and astute comments of my curmudgeonly friend, Douglas Van Dorn. (2) The fact that solid publishers with good books were in evidence, if in the phenomenological minority. (3) I was able to pick up a few free books (and not because I waited in line to have Jerry Jenkins sign one of his). (4) I brought my TV-B-Gone with me. This is a universal television remote control device that turns off most televisions. I have been learning the esoteric skill of temporary television termination for several months now, but this surfeit of screens made it possible to break my personal record for TV kills in one day: thirteen terminations (eleven at the convention and two at restaurant before that). I was able to hit four of the God-knows how-many screens showing "Angel Wars"—a partial victory, but one I savor. One must use this blessed device discretely, since one doesn’t want to be caught zapping the great Idol of our age. The downside is that you have to usually watch the screen for up to a minute to properly aim the device. (It cycles through possible frequencies in sixty-nine seconds).

What does this convention tell us about American Evangelicalism (if that term has any concrete meaning left)?

  1. Jacques Ellul’s observation that the image has humiliated the word in Western Culture is proved true in this domain, which is supposedly the domain of the word, the world of books! The image has triumphed in the minds of most evangelicals…but not all. The remnant remains. (See Ellul’s masterpiece, The Humiliation of the Word. For some reason, I didn’t see this book advertised.)
  2. Most of the evangelical business represented (some did not publish books at all) are dominated not by the virtues and vision of the Kingdom of God, but by consumer preferences. I remember the sad and oxymoronic phrase coined by Keith Green a quarter century ago: "Jesus junk."
  3. Many of the businesses represented were more concerned with personal religion and subjective values than with propagating biblical truth, which is always sharp, living, and active—exposing reality, no matter what the cost (see Hebrews 4:12). While the truth hurts (beore it heals), it may not sell.
  4. Of course, business, in itself is not wrong. Selling worthy Christian books can and should be a wonderful thing, especially considering that so many countries in the world forbid it or even confiscate and burn Bibles, such as Saudi Arabia.

What is the constructive curmudgeon to do? Keep buying and reading thoughtful books. Recommend them to others. Give them as gifts. Mention and quote them from the pulpit. Review them in newspapers, on Amazon.com, and in your blogs. Develop a substantial church library and put it in the front of the church. Turn off as many television sets as possible through TV-B-Gone or by any means necessary. Be an iconoclast by being a bibliophile.

13 comments:

Chris Meirose said...

Dr. Doug,
Bethel Sem student here (and fellow blogger). Do you have a book list of suggested readings? Your post mentions passing on books, but no books which you do/would like to pass onto others. Just a thought.

Big Chris
Because I said so blog

Susan said...

I dont often say this but ...
I gotta have one of these!
TV B Gone

SA

Jeff Burton said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Jeff Burton said...

I have two questions for the curmudgeon. The first regards this: http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_2845659, which claims that Christian books are the fastest growing segment of the book publishing industry. I can kind of anticipate your reaction, but am curious anyway. The second regards your use of a remote to turn off other people's TV's without their permission. I hate TV as much as you do, but I see your actions in conflict with a number of NT precepts. I guess either you see yourself in the role of Christ cleansing the temple, or perhaps you see your device as the 21st century equivalent of the sword that Jesus urged the disciples to purchase.

Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D. said...

Groothuis on TV zapping:

1. My wife is usually not with me with I zap. I have tried to zap TVs through windows when she and I go on walks, but that failed. I was too messianic about the device at first. We need the Pentagon to work on developing it.
2. The ethics of it: I am not breaking property or doing anything harmful when I zap. I am not "disturbing the peace," but creating some people. "Seek peace and pursue it," says the Psalm. They can always turn the unreality appliance back on, sadly.
3. The best book ever about TV is Neil Postman, "Amusing Ourselves to Death" (1985).
4. A lot of "Christian" books are sold, but most are trashy, bathetic fiction (such as "Left Behind") or terrible, theologically corrupt self-help books such as those by Joel Osteen.

Phil Steiger said...

Dr. Groothuis-

You are a breath of fresh, if not pedagogical, air in the blogging world. I look forward to following your posts.

Phil

Steve Cowan said...

Doug,
Great post! Keep up the good work! You have inspired me to be more courageous--I'm gonna be getting one of those zappers!

Andrew said...

That's punk rock.

Great to discover your blog. Terrific post. I've linked to it from here

Susan said...

Donnyjoe,

As a student of Dr. Groothuis' I have observed that he is a much more gracious soul than you seem to have concluded after reading this post on "Television Termination."

Your appeal to more redemtive forms of action is a good one but I'd love to see that fleshed out more and hoped you had your own blog. I clicked on the link in your profile and the link does not work. Perhaps you could publish a corrected/changed link and post on this?

Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D. said...

More apologetics for TV-B-Gone:

1. I do see a moral difference between zapping someone's private TV (in their home) and public TVs. The chances of zapping an elderly person's TV and causing grief are slight, however. Remember their remote control. I probably wouldn't sneak my TV zapper into someone's home and turn off their TV there from within. I would simply ask them to turn it off. That is more radical. You cannot so ask in public places usually.

I once turned off a TV in an emergency room because it interfered with my wife explaining the frightening symptoms that brought here there. I used my hands to turn it off and would have used my hands to stop the besotted functionary behind the desk from turning it back on.

2. Since TV does so much harm, my motto that TV zapping does no harm seems warranted, since it turns them off. Jesus overturned the money changers tables in the temple. That was a kind of violation of their property. He may have even broken some of the tables! I break nothing, except the comas and torpor induced by the unreality appliance.

3. TV zapping is only one part of my redemptive cultural strategy. See the chapter, "The Fixed Point in the Postmodern World" in my book "Truth Decay" for more. But here are are a few: (1) Value silence and rumination (2) Read good books (3) Relearn the lost art of conversation. The conversations at Schaeffer's L'Abri changed many for a lifetime, as, of course, did Jesus' conversations. (4) Write thoughtful prose that glorifies God.

Thanks for the workout! I do teach ethics, after all.

Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D. said...

Another response to a new critic of TV-B-Gone activism.

Turning off a TV is "a form of theft"? What am I stealing? I am taking nothing. I am simply turning something off that can be turned back on again by the owner. I do not assume ownership, nor do I break anything. I am not breaking into homes to do this. It is not a childish prank. There is an entire philosophy of culture behind it.

Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D. said...

The last two posts get quite high-minded and morally outraged, invoking terms that have no application and even accusing me of not being "manly" in doing it. That's a sexist remark; some of the most courageous people I know are women. The language needs reform. There is no parallel with someone shutting down my blog. I turn off sets for a short period; people turn them back on. That would not be the case witht the blog. I'd have to start all over and would lose content. The TVs do not express the owners' thoughts, but are dominated by others use of images. It is not like not working on the job! That is a form of theft. I am simply causing a small nuisance to make a point. I do, by the way, turn them off manually and ask them to be turned off. But some are out of reach. But here is the main point: If someone can foist a TV on me without my consent in public, I can turn it off.

That is the end of the debate on this one. It is strange that this issue raised more response than any other post.

Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D. said...

The discussion rages on about TV zapping. Thanks to David for his recent post. I'm glad he came back. "The Rocky Mountain News" should be publishing my editorial, "A Civility Manifesto," in the near future. When they do, I'll post it here. It addresses matters of cultural manners, including television. Get ready to attack me, you subwoofer fans!