I vividly remember when it happened: Leah and I had been married less than a year. The year was 1995 and it was in April as we were sitting on the sofa watching "Wings" on the television. I turned to Leah and told her that when we had children, we would need to be more selective in what shows we watched. Her response stopped me in my shoes: "Then why are WE watching those shows?" Ouch. She was right, but it still hurt. Being a bachelor until I was 33, I had to have cable to watch the NBA, WWF wrestling, MLB, college basketball and football, etc. I justified watching TV by trying to convince myself there was nothing wrong with the sports I watched on TV. But Leah's words drove straight to my heart, mind and soul. If my kids shouldn't watch it, why was I watching it.
So we made a decision to cut cable. In Kamuela that meant no TV at all, which was a huge step for me. I thought I would miss my sports and favorite shows, but that didn't really happen. We had allowed TV to have a three-fold impact on our lives: (1) It became a noise producer - When we came home from work, the TV was turned on. Even if we weren't watching it, the TV was on. It made our home cluttered with noise, which cut down on our communication and interaction. (2) It became a time stealer - countless evenings I had spent flipping from one show to another, not with any purpose. Before I knew it, two hours were gone. I wasted time watching things that were pointless. (3) It became a pimp of worldly values and culture - The shows rarely reinforced anything which Jesus told me to value. Not only that, but the commercials constantly pushed me towards culturally acceptable practices, norms and values which have little Biblical relevance. The beer commercials told me I needed a beer to really have a good time. Probably half of the commercials had a scantily clad woman telling/showing me what I really needed. Those three issues made the decision to cut cable an easy decision - Not to mention we would no longer be spending the overpriced $35 per month for cable. Here in lies the irony: I had been paying a lot of money to downgrade my life.
Why do I bring this up now? I read an article last week which gave a name to nuts like me who no longer have TV in their homes: Zero TV homes. Here is the article which is worth a look: http://news.yahoo.com/broadcasters-worry-zero-tv-homes-154357101--finance.html It doesn't promote giving up TV, but actually mentions how broadcasters are hoping to lure us Zero TV crazies back into watching TV. Good luck with that. I do need to make a full confession: We do have a television set in our home and have had one ever since we cut cable. We even have Netflicks when we want to watch a show or movie. We even have TV shows we like on DVDs and movies on DVDs. However, for us to watch anything, we must make a choice and decide to watch something. The TV is never on unless a decision has been made for a specific show or movie to be watched. We also are commercial free, which means the pimp is not allowed in the house. We enjoy watching our favorite TV shows like "The Andy Griffith Show", "The Cosby Show", "The Dick Van Dyke Show", "I Love Lucy" and a few more. This Zero TV household gets to choose and control the noise, time and values we allow into our home.
When we first cut cable, I didn't think I would make it. I am a sports-aholic, so I went into withdrawals. But now, I find that I would rather play, coach and watch sports in person than on TV. I actually watched the SuperBowl this year for the first time in over a dozen years because the 49ers were in it. Our church made a fellowship event out of it with a video Gospel presentation at halftime. However, when the commercials came on, I found myself getting very uncomfortable with the pimp hard at work around me. I found myself getting up to get something to eat or check on kids at commercial time. Watching the SuperBowl made me even more appreciative of the decision we made to be a Zero TV family. I find that my mind is not nearly as cluttered as before. I have more time to accomplish tasks that I really want to accomplish or have more time to spend with my wife and kids. We aren't just vegging in front of the TV for hours as a time looking for something good on TV. I also don't mind saving that money each month. I heard that some people pay as much as $100 for their Dish network or cable. For seventeen years, this Zero TV guy hasn't had a cable or satellite bill to pay which has given my bank account some rest. Looking back, I really can't justify any reason for getting TV again.
I know, some of you are reading this and thinking, "You don't HAVE to turn on your TV". "You can be just as disciplined if you have cable or the Dish." I have heard that reasoning from so many well-meaning friends who just can't understand why anyone would go without TV. When we first cut our cable, some people thought we had lost our minds. You should see some of the looks I get from people when I tell them we don't have TV or cable in our home. We had a salesman in Best Buy try to sell us the Dish Network and he had absolutely no response to my telling him that we didn't watch TV. He looked at us like we were from another planet. I guess the training he went to didn't prepare him to discuss the values of the Dish with Zero TV families. I have to admit, it's kind of fun to go against the flow and do something simple that many people consider radical. It's also nice to not get caught up in all the latest fads and "stars" in our culture. I've had friends who tried to become Zero TV families and couldn't do it. So we are counter-culture radicals.
Take a challenge: Cut off your cable or Dish or satellite for only six months. It's just a short six month experiment. See what happens in your household. Take a shot at being a Zero TV household. If you find that I'm wrong and life is much better with TV, then you have at least saved yourself six months of cable/satellite bills. Who knows, the broadcasters may be so desperate to get you back that they give you a fantastic deal. What have you got to lose?
I can't see myself NOT being a Zero TV person. The broadcasters can try whatever they would like to lure me back, but it's not going to happen. After surviving seventeen years with Zero TV, there is little enticement to opening my home to the noise, time-waste and pimp that is Broadcast/cable/satellite TV. I John 2:15-17 just makes way too much sense for me to surrender my Zero TV status. Check out that passage and evaluate your status and TV viewing habits. Keep a log of how often your TV (TVs) is on and to what shows. Keep a log of commercials and the focus on the commercials. Then reread I John 2:15-17 and see if it make sense for you to continue with TV. I invite you to join me as a counter-culture revolutionary who is investing his/her time in that which God values.
Great read. I wonder how many people don't have the 'time' to read this till the end, but will watch 2+ hours of TV today.
ReplyDeleteWhen we moved (almost 9 months ago), we dropped DirectTV. We have been a zero TV family for 9 months now and can see the difference. TV takes up so much time. We also have netflex, but like you said, every thing we watch is a conscience decision. Plus, no commercials! To be fair, we do watch 2 weekly shows on TV (via internet). But we find ourselves behind for weeks sometimes. Just not that important to us. We tend to 'catchup' on our own time schedule and when we want to veg.
We need to focus now on becoming a zero solo-gamer. All those hours wasted playing games on our phones, tablets, computers, etc. We have gained nothing for all the hard work. Play a game with the family or friends, it is always worth it.
Instead of 200+ channels on the tube, we have 100+ board games to play. We interact with each other and can talk about all sorts of things without interrupting the TV.
Keep being the counter-culture rebel that you are.
You make a difference and all sides know it.