5. Television's Persuasive Power

New Technology Cult

Cookieman Like the authentic God, television and increasingly the internet are "present everywhere" and "all-powerful." Television and mobile screens are everywhere and have a persuasive power over individuals. Large and small screens bring all nature's wonders and universal secrets into our lives at the touch of a button. Electronic devices give us visions of the future at warp speed to behold new imaginary places. We communicate with one another on Zoom or Skype over vast distances, continents, and oceans in fractions of a second! Television's persuasive power enables us to transport via phone or Skype to places in the Irish News, the Soviet Union, Australia, even the Antarctic. ✞

Television Gurus

We can no longer say of the starving refugee multitudes in Central Africa, "We didn't know." Television shows awful poverty and hunger everywhere. Television prophets are authoritative and forceful figures. Millions of engrossed individuals listen intently to the television gurus like Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, Judge Judy, Oprah Winfrey, and many more. Television's persuasive power creates saints from interviewers, soap opera personalities, and game show hosts not because of sacrificial service to their community but their ability to act out what they are not. Internet companies like Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, and Apple have enormous wealth and power. They wield tremendous authority over nations as large and powerful as the United States, even while hiding profits and avoiding paying taxes. ✞

Electronic Denominations

Television Worship Television's persuasive power creates electronic denominations to overwhelm the Christian Church. Watching TV mesmerizes adults and children everywhere. Television's electronic denominations have injured major historical Christian churches in the sixty or so short years since TV's beginnings. Quentin Schultze (1951-present) at Calvin College asserts that "personal prayer, meditation, and reflection are difficult for all of us in a television age. We're losing grasp of the importance of silence and solitude in our relationships with God." Stewart M Hoover (1951-present), a Colorado University Media Studies professor, says, "Denominational television cannot compete with the electronic church in sophistication, reach, and visibility. Denominations have found themselves in a battle for national prominence and attention that is loaded against them." ✞

Storytelling

Many faithful from the Anglican, Roman Catholic, United Church Christians, even Jews prefer to couch-potato before their televisions or computer screens rather than worship in churches and synagogues. Unrestrained sexual license is encouraged through storytelling on TV soap operas like "The Young and Restless," "General Hospital," "Days of Our Lives," and "ER." Violence is also known to attract younger viewers, so even kids are given what they want with violent programs. Adults have their police dramas like "Cops," and the children watch them too. How does unrestrained sexual license affect the modern church, do you think? People tune in 24/7, not just on Sundays for an hour. ✞

Couch Potato Christians

Children Watching Television One of television's greatest successes is the complete eradication of Sunday evening church services. The traditional churches cannot compete with TV's programming quality. Television defeats other religions not by opposing but quietly ridiculing them. TV systematically strips Christianity's leaders of their ability to influence society. Unrestrained sexual license and Biblical morality's decline cause low moral standards and a compromised church. Our rich culture magnifies Christian leaders' few moral shortcomings out of all proportion. Simultaneously, television vigorously defends its leaders' many failings and blackballs critics with its formidable influence. TV does not believe in truth but prefers free license, being happy to clip out any boring, insightful, or truthful segments for their viewers' pleasure. ✞

No Holiness Justice

Open Bible Unfortunately, the Anglican Church of Canada is happy to compromise also. It clips out of its Bible readings specific passages, verses, even some words that don't fit into its new inclusive and unbiblical theology. The great desire to convince their supporters that "everything in the garden is rosy" means that they must show only a "weak lovey-dovey and ineffective God" and hide his holiness and justice. The result is chopped up Bible Readings and heresy in prayer. It encourages organizations like the Downtown Church Workers Association to give condoms to prostitutes and needles to drug addicts, thus encouraging further drug addiction and sexual immorality. The church forgets the Christian calling to be holy and to hate what is evil. Saint Paul writes in Romans 12.9-10, "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil, cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves." Today, many congregational members today are becoming aware of what the church leaders are doing, therefore withdrawing their financial support. Many others are just leaving from disgust! ✞

Colonizes Electronically

Jim Cramer Television colonizes electronically while the printed page declines, and mobile communication devices are expanding to fill the gap. Television aspires to replace the printed page entirely with the screen. It heralds the end of the "book era," arguing that no one needs to read or write anymore, and the books are available on Google or Kindle. TV forbids references to the Bible or the use of the name "Jesus." I remember doing a short news clip for a local TV station when I was involved in the Norfolk Broads Mission in England. I was told in no uncertain terms by the Director before it began not to mention "Jesus!" As at the Creation, our culture still echoes the Satan snake in questioning the authority of God's Word by asking, "Did God say?" TV's anti-Christian beliefs are publicly denied, of course! ✞

Religious TV

Meanwhile, religions on TV are changing. Worship and Bible proclamation are connected with monetary gain to sell books, programs, and CDs to unsuspecting viewers. Society considers religion a hindrance to their plans and no longer relevant. Television's persuasive power sets out to obliterate Biblical understanding and worship and destroy Christian morality. ✞

Electronic Tabernacle

Stephen Enters Heaven Television's electronic tabernacle has its ministers and sermons to draw people away from face-to-face Christianity. It presents viewers with materialistic heaven on earth, here and now. According to them, "one's sole purpose in life is to possess, and there is nothing beyond death." They take great care to ensure that no one ever suggests an eternity or an afterlife. Because there is no belief in sin, there is no need for a savior, judgment, or even forgiveness. The crucifixion is a huge embarrassment! Television's electronic tabernacle is open twenty-four hours every day of the year. ✞

Television Shrines

Household television ownership in the United States is almost complete, and most homes have more than one set! The average congregation worships at their home television shrine for five hours every day. There are tens of millions of Canadian sanctuaries and hundreds of millions in the United States. Unlike most other religions, there is a wide variety of choices, with over five hundred secular sermons at the touch of a remote control button. Lectures explain the wonders of "mother nature" or of "technology," which has replaced God with an "evolutionary significant force." Alternatively, they focus on storytelling through mind-numbing soap operas. Such a sad situation! ✞

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