Dear Ms. Ostrow:
Re: "Mayhem for Profit: TV's Assault on Women," by Joanne Ostrow, Denver Post, November 20, 2005.
I do not watch television, but I try to discern what is going on in "the vast wasteland" through reading articles such as yours. I was further horrified, sickened, and repulsed by the heinous acts described in your piece. It seems that most in America have lost any sense of moral discernment, outrage, or restraint. They do not know how to attend to their souls. (Yet Jesus warned that it is possible to lose one's very soul.) These television depictions of atrocities are gratuitous and worse: they desensitize us to real evils perpetrated against women (and others).
Thank you for bringing these things into focus through your article--and for not condoning the insanity that has swept through our culture. I have critiqued the form (apart from specific content) of television in my book, Truth Decay. You can read a chapter from that book here, if you are interested.
http://www.facingthechallenge.org/groothuis.htm
Best,
Douglas Groothuis
Professor of Philosophy, Denver Seminary
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2 comments:
I found your critique of television interesting (the chapter from Truth Decay to which you linked). Does what you said about the television also apply to movies and the theatre? I would think not to the latter because the spoken word is so important to live drama and is a different experience than watching TV.
Also, in light of what you wrote: "In the beginning was the Word, not the image (Jn 1:1). God gave us a book, not a video.", what do you think of the "Jesus Movie" as a vehicle for evangelism.
The Jesus movie is very limited as an evangelistic medium. If used, it must be followed up with literature and conversations. Otherwise, people will probably not understand the gospel, especially in illiterate cultures.
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