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prostitute who wrote a book pro–
claiming how happy it al! is (while
bitter tears course down her
cheeks)? Perhaps it is a form of voy–
eurism to watch sorne of these
people on the tube, but it a lso gives
us an opportunity to make a per–
sonal judgment about the prime
movers in our world.
Each week television otfers more
than a dozen programs dealing with
travel and animal and nature !ore.
Paris is explored. Australian aborig–
ines studied. A sampan village in
Hong Kong is visited. Or an English
boys' prep school. Life in the remot–
est parts of the sea is delive red to
the viewer in living color. Rapids
are run, animals stalked, safaris
filmed. The average urban man is
learning for the first time how his
planet is seen through the eyes of
the anthropologist, explorer, ecolo–
gist, geologist, oceanographer.
Air time is devoted to minority
people with emphasis on Chicanos,
blacks, Asians, women and the older
American.
The mind could become engaged
through viewing Arthur Fiedler
conducting the Boston Symphony
and spending a few hours each
weekend with a whole array of
world leaders on
Face the Nation,
lssues and Answers, Meet the Press,
Pacesetters, Newsmakers.
etc.
So we really have a choice of how
we enrich our lives. We can read, go
to the theater, attend concerts, turn
on the radio, or put a record on the
old Victrola. What television is in–
capable of giving us we can find
elsewhere. But we can also use this
extraordinary communicator as a
positive part of modern living with–
out apologies to the researchers who
have decided that television viewers
are psychologically damaged nitwits
crying out for mama's womb.
Besides, 1 don't think 1'11 ever get
a chance to visit the bushmen of the
Kalahari Desert, see the giant tur–
tles of the Galápagos islands, track
wild elephants in India, or know
what the weather is in Oshkosh, Os–
sining, or Ogden without that warm,
flickering screen turned on and on
and on. And we'IL return right after
this message from . . . . O
Frances Halpem
is
a free -lance
writer in Los A ngeles, California.
The
PLAIN TRUTH October-November 1978
TOOMUCH
(Continued from page 23)
hinders the full development of
those abilities.
Let us put first things first: The
purpose of life, as readers of this
magazine realize, is to develop the
perfect, holy character of God; this
requires that most of our time be
spent doing much more upl ifting,
productive things than staring at the
tube.
Most television does not consist of
specials on sampan villages and
· iocumentaries on the Kalahari
bushmen. The television which most
of us watch most of the time may be
The purpose of life is to
develop the perfect, holy
character of God; this
requires that most of our
time be spent doing much
more uplifting,
productive things than
staring at the tube.
for the most part pleasant or enter–
taining, but it is really utter drivel!
It is mental junk food. It is a waste
of
time.
The essence oflife is time. Our lives
consist of time. The danger of televi–
sion is that we can literally waste our
lives by spending too much time in
front ofthe "boob tube." The apostle
Paul told the Ephesian church that
they should "walk circumspectly, not
as fools, but as wise, redeeming the
time, because the days are evil" (Eph.
5: 15-16).
For adults in particular, this ten–
dency of television to "guzzle" time
is most dangerous. While current lit–
erature is full of various arguments
against television because of exces–
sive sex and violence on the tube
(see, for example, "Should We
Tame TV?,"
The Plain Truth,
Au-
gust 1976), the factor of time is per–
haps even more insidious. The
"opportunity cost" of watching too
much television is enormous.
Consider the kind of human
beings we adults and our children
could become if we used our spare
time more productively in pursuits
other than television viewing. We
could develop our bodies through
exercise; we could learn new skills ;
we could improve our minds by
reading or attending classes; we
could even engage in the traditional
good works of visiting the sick and
afflicted. We could revive the art of
family communication; we could
make new friends, and add their ex–
perience to ours by talking with
them. Most importantly, we could
support the true Work of God and
become closer to Him through time
invested in prayer and Bible study.
Al! these activities would make us
better persons; they would add to
the quality of life as we experience
it, as well as help make us better
human beings physically, morally,
spirituaUy. Their connection to tele–
vision is simple-time is a scarce re–
source, and there is never enough
time to do the things we ought to be
doing. Watching television com–
petes with other, more uplifting ac–
tivities. Therefore, unless we are
extremely selective in what we
watch, television literally wastes our
human potential.
There is a reason why the kind of
programming which television's
partisans approve of (documentaries
on T. S. Eliot, Kalahari bushmen,
etc.) consistently draws low ratings:
The medium seems inherently bet–
ter suited to entertaining people
than doing anything else. Within
limits, of course, this is fine. There
are times in life, like when we are
tired from a hard day, that we sim–
ply want to relax and be passively
entertained.
But these times should be rare if
we really are striving to develop our
latent talents. And we can do so
only if we are willing to put forth
the effort. Unfortunately, for many
of us, television is just too seductive.
I t really is the easiest way to pass
time known to man, with the pos–
sible exception of sleep.
It
is a path
of least resistance. It is a medium
which, because it is always there in
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