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ChristianGovernance e-letter – October 11, 2010
Kids’ TV filth corrupting young minds
By Tim Bloedow
Parents, I hope you aren’t using the TV as a babysitter. I hope you aren’t defaulting to the regulators to determine what’s suitable viewing for your children.
A couple of our grandchildren were visiting this past weekend, and one of them flipped on YTV and was watching what seemed to be a familiar cartoon program. I was asked to see if it was suitable because the preference was to have her watch a movie of our own choosing.
I still haven’t found out what the name of the program was.
So how long did it take for me to determine the suitability of the TV program that was playing?
I arrived in the room to watch a pink bubble growing larger and larger on the screen. It looked like the opening of the bubble was at the cartoon creature’s rear end.
Then the large balloon floats off and a few seconds later it explodes, and the combination of two other characters collapsing at the explosion and the brown tinge used to colour the air from inside the balloon confirms that the balloon had been filled with flatulence.
At that point the TV was turned off until a movie was found.
So tell me, what kind of insolent, child abusing boors would produce something like this for anybody, let alone for children watching YTV?
This is barbarity at its finest. Our heathen culture is wallowing in filth, moral pollution and barbarianism. That is also why it is a harsh and crass culture of rudeness and disrespect. And our cultural influencers are continuing to lead our children into deeper and deeper levels of incivility.
Think about this for a moment. The airing of the scene recounted above is not simply the result of spontaneous stupidity. It had to be thought up, then its merits had to be considered in the plot line. Once it was approved, at least one other person had to design it for the screen. In the whole process of production, numerous people had to see it, approve it and engage with it.
What kind of moral cesspool exists in the studio where this production team works? What kind of government-schooled group-think produces this kind of intellectual and moral unity among a collection of people entrusted to develop entertainment for children?
What other examples of filth are viewed on this program each week? From week to week? The reality is that this kind of material is now normal. Many people would be shocked to hear someone object to it. It has become part of the background of today’s cultural norms. If your children are in the government schools, they wouldn’t think to mention it to you so that you can object to it because they quickly learn to accept it uncritically as part of normative reality. So you can’t protect them from it. And it has a real impact on their concept of normality for years into the future, and on their level of tolerance for sin and their convictions of right and wrong.
This is child abuse. It’s government sanctioned child abuse. It’s also child abuse sanctioned by the parents who let their children watch the program. Christian parents, make sure you love your children enough to protect them from the moral filth that you can still keep away from them.
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LOL
Everybody poops and farts are funny.
You aren’t scared of poop are you?
Seriously? Cartoons are “barbarity at its finest”?
You need to turn off the TV and get a life, my friend. The world and Canada have bigger problems. Like anti-freedom Christian morons trying to take over the government.
Wow, you’ve got nothing but questions and a 30 second clip from a show you don’t even know the name of, and you jump from there to “government sanctioned child abuse”.
I have worked in children’s TV for quite a while. Both for secular groups like YTV and for faith based groups like “Veggie tales”. As with any organization they are all capable of excellent and less then excellent work. But if they are to be successful they must cater to the interests to children and frankly, kids think farts are funny.
You’d be amazed at the moral lessons you can hide under the smell of a fart.
Or you can judge based on the least amount of information possible.
Man, this site is simply mind-numbingly awful. Folks, this is what religion does to people. I weep for the people of Canada if it becomes infested with colossally ignorant fundie-ism the way the United States is.
PrimevilKneivel, It seems the flatulence has got the best part of your brain. You scare me that you may actually contribute in some way to influence a child. I am guessing that you must be laughing so hard at socially unacceptable behaviour you didn’t get the message that our children are being taught disrespect. Wake up!
A question for you; did you sire Gumby? You people are so ignorant you have to be related.
@Ian Tuck- You completely missed the point of my comment. I made no suggestion that children’s TV is all good, far from it, my point was the level of hyperbole that erupted over an anonymous 30 seconds of TV. There could be any number of reasons that clip existed, perhaps it was the rude act that gets demonstrated to be wrong during the moral reveal portion of the show.
Or maybe it’s a rude fart joke with no redeeming value, I can’t say because I can’t view the clip in question. My point is that’s bad TV at it’s worst, to jump to Government sanctioned child abuse is unsupported given the example.
@SiteEditor- in fairness I did copy/paste the government quote in my first post from your article.
I would also like to talk about the broad assertion that every person in the production chain must be morally degraded. The Irony is that in my experience the Christian production teams I work with are responsible for most of the questionable material. It’s innocent though, usually they are unfamiliar with the slang meanings of the phrases they write, or not conditioned to notice that they inadvertently designed their main character to be the perfect outline of a penis and testicles. It’s during those times that they appreciate me for pointing out what may not be obvious to them but will be to a great many people.
We have different religious perspectives but we both have the same goal, a quality product that fits the parameters they (the client) want.
I will do you the favor of not pretending that all of children’s TV is fine and dandy. Can you do me the favor of not using a random 30 seconds as cause to condemn an entire industry as a government goon squad for the destruction of our children?
Some of us care and work hard to make a difference.
PrimevilKneivel, you want to be given the benefit of the doubt re. your commitment to constructive engagement. You might also give me the benefit of the doubt that my broader comments on the degenerate nature of modern offerings to children, dumbing them down and degrading their development stem from a fuller observation of what’s taking place than just one 30 second segment of one TV show. Give me a break. Example, my wife was a professional elementary school teacher for 12 years – in a former British colony of the Caribbean, not in Canada, so within the context of a more respectful and respectable culture than Canada today. A very popular Canadian children’s store teller is some guy called something Munch. She’s looked at some of his stuff and from both a professional and Christian ethical perspective, she recognizes his stuff as crass, rude, debased, mindless, gutter-feeding nonsense.
This debasement of culture happens gradually, so it’s not surprising that many young adults today are oblivious to it, and how sharp a decline there’s been over the last couple of generations. You almost have to stand outside the system like my wife from overseas. Of course, if you are a relativist, you don’t see any moral superiority to previous years anyway so the contrast isn’t seen as relevant. End of discussion.
You mention Christians involved in the debasement as though that somehow negates the criticism, but many Christians, especially those who have uncritically imbibed the culture, which is exactly what happens to most of the large majority of Christians who are still schooled in the government schools, embrace depravity as good. As you say, it is an irony, but it is what it is.
SiteEditor said: “We’ll save you from yourself when we democratically win leadership because we will reintroduce genuine liberty, the rule of law and civilization to the country.”
I fully support your desire, as clarified in the comment quoted above, to use government coercion in order to forcefully instill Christian values upon the vast unChristian minority in Canada.
Much like Jesus stated in the Great Commission: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, unless I take a couple of thousand years to return to claim My Kingdom – in which case, feel free to settle into a decent job and enjoy a middle-class lifestyle, but get yourself voted into positions of government power in order to shove the Joy of the Spirit down the throats of the heathens and heretics in your nation!” Why waste precious time and effort spreading the Gospel and worrying about personal Salvation, when it is much easier to manage the levers of power to instill Jesus as the Lord of Canada!
Don’t hide your light under a bushel, scream it loud and proud for the Lord: “Government-imposed adherence to a specific brand of Christian morality is the only hope for Canada!” Once we get that message out to the populace, I’m certain the Silent Christian Majority will vote for our Godly politicians in a landslide! Besides, not stating our true intentions would be bearing false witness, which would be a sin, and we don’t want to make baby Jesus cry, right?
sinned34, nobody is advocating foisting Christianity upon anyone. Parents need to wake up and instruct their children according to THEIR moral wishes. Others are having a very big influence on children and parents are asleep at the wheel. This is about Christians parents mostly, but it still applies to anyone who wants to raise a child they will be proud of. Whether someone has religious views or not has little to do with the topic. Do you wish to raise a child to be a crude, rude and socially unacceptable person? I would hope not!
Clearly the message is too much Government control, there simply isn’t any advocating for more, so your comments are nothing but dishonest smear tactics. Sorry if I made baby sinned34 to cry.
Oh and Canada is already sporting a lot of Christian values, it is what made this country great and free. Do not murder is a Christian value, so is do not steal or that everyone is equal. The destruction of Christian values is what is reducing quality of life for many Canadians due to reduced freedoms.
Try some honesty, I’m sure you’ll like it.
Then maybe you should have provided one. You wrote an post attacking an entire industry, don’t expect those whom you’ve slandered to make your argument for you.
Apparently you are not open to constructive engagement.
PrimevilKneivel, just because you haven’t been part of my life experience up to now does not mean that I have not already considered your views, principially if not in the particulars, so it’s somewhat presumptuous to say I’m not interested in constructive engagement simply because I have concluded that modern ethics in (children’s) media are wanting. After all, we home schooled our son so that he could cultivate the mature dynamic of intelligent inter-generational relationships throughout his life rather than embracing the pre-civilized mob concept of peer-to-peer “socialization.” Not all institutionally schooled children experience all the worst characteristics of peer-to-peer socialization, but they all experience some of them, and a growing # are group-thinkers instead of independent, creative thinkers, and a growing # won’t step outside of comfort zones and be successful enterpreneurs because they are so afraid of what others think – those who are still alive, not having committed suicide over the cruelty of mob-harassment at peer-to-peer institutions. So, yes I have thought through quite comprehensively the cultural degeneration of our era, the premises and the outcomes, and we have chosen to pursue the proven road of civilization, God helping us, rather than accepting the chains of the pathetically inferior status quo of our day.
You have a right to your opinions but you can’t dismiss people out of hand and claim to be interested in constructive engagement. That requires a discussion, all you have is condemnation.
Ian Tuck,
I completely agree with you. It’s absolutely disgusting the way the Canadian government sends representatives to cartoon companies to ensure that every episode has the required number of fart jokes, ethnic minority characters, and positive homosexual role models!
That’s where SiteEditor was right in mentioning that we Christians, once we have majority power, can lower the amount of government control over families by passing laws that criminalize un-BIblical behavior! If parents want to abdicate their right to raise their children as respectful, Evangelical/Pentecostal/Baptist Canadians, then we will make sure the government steps in to the gap to save the next generation for Christ!
You didn’t make me cry, but the Truth behind your comments brings a tear to my eye! Especially the comment about Canada being built on Christian values! If only we could force everyone to act like Christians again, there will be no more racism, violence, poverty, communists, homosexuals, or atheists/muslims/witches/illuminati (all these groups are the same because they all worship Satan), returning us to the paradise that Canada was for hundreds of years before the 1960s ruined it all!
The move away from Jesus has reduced the freedom to be ashamed of homosexual attractions, of a woman having a career instead of being a baby factory, or requesting a divorce from an abusive husband. God said it best when He stated that the best punishment for a rapist is to force him to marry his victim. We need a government-led return to these great Christian values!
Baby sinned34, I think I did make you cry, or possibly the inhalation of too much flatulence has muddled your brain. Something is at work here to prevent you from clear thought, so what is it? Possibly it is just a choice you’ve made to hate Christians and everything they stand for, even if what they stand for is for the good of your life and society. Is it rational to spew your vitriol against persons who wish to improve society and help you live a good life?
You keep coming back to accusations that Christians are trying to push Christianity down your throat yet you offer no proof. Let me offer a little of my understanding for you: Christianity is not about coercion of other’s to conform, it is not about hatred of others who do not conform. You just make those things up or find some obscure incidence of someone who attended church, at least once, and they represent “Christianity” in your mind.
Be honest baby sinned34, you don’t need to keep crying unless they are tears of contrition.
Ian Tuck,
I’ve devoured a number of articles here, enjoying God’s fingerprints all over Tim’s writings, and I cannot see how you could possibly miss that Tim follows the Lord’s demands to lovingly force Christianity upon the awful heathens and nonbelievers in Canada. Like Tim said, the definition of the word “theocracy” is “government based on Jesus”, no matter what Commie-inspired dictionaries like Cambridge or Webster’s say!
If you are unable to embrace the Biblically-based Truths in Tim’s writings that require True Christians ™ to grasp the reins of power in order to forcibly “improve” nonChristian lives by passing laws preventing them from spreading their Satanic views and opinions in our Godly country, then I recommend you head on over to one of the Communist “Christian” websites. Perhaps you could find a good Anglican site that suits your Liberal anti-Christ spirit!
Thankfully, from what I’ve seen thus far, Tim is smart enough to use vague wording instead of getting into actual details on what policies he’d like to see Christians implement, so as to not give those filthy, all-powerful humanists and atheists ammunition with which to frighten the citizenry! Like any good creationist arguing against an evil evolutionist, it’s best to avoid getting bogged down into particulars and evidence, which seems to be scientists’ strengths, for some unGodly reason!
That said, Ian, I don’t need to make up lies about how Christianity has used coercion to Jesus’ benefit – both history and the Bible are filled with examples of God using both good AND evil in order to save and damn those whom He has predestined to their fates. Every Christian that has read The Word knows the Lord creates both good and evil!
So, you’ll get no crying from me, until my eyes witness the glory of the Lord returning to slaughter His enemies, in His mercy!
Sinned34 “Every Christian that has read The Word knows the Lord creates both good and evil!” You do not understand scripture. God did not create evil, because evil is what is left when you remove God, just like cold is what is left when you remove heat and darkness is what you get when you remove light.
This is why our society is becoming so corrupt and violent, because we’ve told God we don’t want to have Him in anything we do. So when God is gone what is left?
If you wish to quote some bible verses to say God created evil try using a modern translation which understands how words have changed in meaning over time. The KJV uses the word gay but it has a vastly different meaning today than when it was translated. The Hebrew word translated as evil in the KJV is often referring to calamity or adversity. Not at all the same meaning as you intended.
Ian Tuck,
If the KJV was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me! There’s no way that God would or could ever allow His Word to be mistranslated without it meaning precisely what He meant it to read! Words may change over time, but God and His Word never changes, no matter how many experts admit that the earliest manuscripts of the Gospel of Mark ended at chapter 16, verse 8, or that the Gospel of John never originally included verses 7:52 through 8:11.
And I agree – God is not evil, even if He has performed acts that modern western society would consider crimes against humanity and/or war crimes, for which we’ve executed humans for committing. However, our Lord must be held to a higher standard than mere mortals, and so He would have to be acquitted of all charges, were it even possible to get Him to agree to accept a subpoena!
Stay with Christ!
sinned34, I’m glad you have a value system against which to judge people. That proves you’re not a relativist or an atheist, so you’re making progress. Not sure on what basis you make the judgment that your value system is better than the Bible’s.