The Devil’s Icon

The following piece, a bit dated and slightly edited, was originally published in The WORD magazine (1994). In light of recent comments, I thought others might find it helpful. Mind you, it predates the Internet and Reality TV [sic]. With that in mind, think of how far we’ve “progressed” (how numb we’ve become) …

Years ago, my wife and I decided we could no longer afford our cable TV subscription. Given the usual slate of programming, we thought cable was something we could live without. The lady at the cable office seemed stunned that I was disconnecting my service and NOT moving! She sincerely tried to talk me out of it. It was as if going without cable was equal to having one’s water, electricity, or heart disconnected. That was in March of 1993. I’m sure she thought I’d be back — once I regained my senses. If TV-less is senseless, I am still.

We had just bought a new TV prior to graduating seminary. It was flawed and we had to have it replaced. Finally, after the cable was disconnected, our new model arrived. Yet, in the interval, we’d decided to go without. It was tough at first, especially for my wife — giving up “Star Trek.” She is a much better person than I. Therefore, I’ll not mention the stuff I’ve been saved from viewing.

Knowing that my mom was in the market for a new television, I asked if she would like to buy this brand new one on an installment plan. (Mom’s are great aren’t they?) Her payments would cover my seminary loan for the next 3 months — allowing is to get back on our feet a bit. [Other than Elvis movies, I’ve never known my mom to watch an entire 30 minute program in all her life. Thus, the TV would be in good hands.]

Now, before you agree that I’ve lost my marbles, let me say this: Life is great without TV. We have no regrets. Instead, we are ever grateful that we are no longer addicted to the daily temptations of the television. It is true: You don’t need TV. You can live without it. As yet, there is no law requiring it.

No, we’ve not eradicated sin from our life by throwing out the TV. But, it has definitely helped! And we’re much better for it.

[We still have an old set for the occasional movie rental and rabbit ears for football games. Although there’s limited wholesome and worthwhile offerings on the rental shelves. And, Lord knows, most commercials during the football games are no better than soft-porn.]

You don’t even need the TV news. Whenever I see the news on someone else’s box, I am aware of how the presentations are often filled with commentary that is very liberal and/or anti-Christian. Besides, the commercials are constantly telling you that if you pop some pills you’ll feel better fast! They may even attempt to sell you some contraceptives, beer, and a car — in the same 3 minute break. (What a package deal, huh?)

You can live without soap operas and Oprah — which deal almost exclusively with liberal anti-Christian ideas, vanity, and promiscuous sex. You can even do without PBS. Case in point:

“The TV event of the fortnight was the mini-series ‘Tales of the City’. Based on Armistead Maupin’s soap-operatic novel about life in San Francisco during the 1970’s, ‘Tales’ was notable on three accounts: for the amount of nudity it featured, which was unprecedented for non-cable TV; for the, um, diversity of sexual relationships among its protagonists, including homosexuals, several adulterers, a transsexual, a pederast, and a child porn star, but not even one pair of monogamous heterosexuals; and for the fact that the whole shebang comes to us courtesy of the U. S. Government and its Public Broadcasting System.”

— “The Week,” National Review, February 7, 1994


If you still watch TV, notice the commercials. Usually, the folks portrayed as “happy” are single and sexy. They’re throwing beer parties, swirling zesty hairdos, driving new cars and trucks, wearing new underwear, brushing beautiful teeth, going places and doing wild and fun things.

Notice the “families” portrayed in TV commercials. They’re having problems: wrong toilet tissue, wrong diapers, doofy parents, muddy children, big headaches, bad indigestion …

The TV has become the American ICON of choice. This unholy icon, the TV, tells us how to think, how to act, how to dress, what to reject, what to tolerate. If you are a viewer, you cannot be unphased by the constant barrage of images thrown at you day after day. We tend to forget that nothing on TV is real. We, thus, start becoming what we see in our ICON of choice. We become unreal. God is reality and if we are becoming unreal, we are becoming un-Godlike.

Worse yet, TV familiarizes sin to the point of fashion. It is a tube that spews PALE GAS: Pride, Anger, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Avarice, Sloth. These are the 7 deadly sins that we should beware! Yet, without these 7 prime movers there would be no prime time, no daytime, no nighttime, do late night … Television. This may not have always been the case. Yet one can hardly make the case it isn’t so now. TV, the devil’s icon, is an ever changing, ever glowing image of the ungodly. Motivated by greed, the sponsors who bring you the programs know that you are motivated by the same. Sitting in from of this unholy icon one is vulnerable to all that it has to offer: PALE GAS.

For sure, some shows are worthwhile. However, given our propensity to sin, gossip, and the like, we often stumble from the path of righteousness with itching eyes and ears. There’s easy access with the remote control. Turn it off. Put it away. Live the life that God has given you — sans the devil’s icon.

Opposing views are welcome … save the TV.