Anyone notice a big increase in "God" shows on tv?

[TorchTheWitch]

I'm not much of a tv watcher and don't even get cable. But I tend to keep the tv on all the time just for noise value. I'm a night worker/day sleeper and it used to be that in the off hours network tv was pretty much all infomercials. Then in the wee hours of Sunday morning, one or two stations would have an hour or two of 700 Club type of shows.

Suddenly most of the networks seem to have these kinds of shows on every night, all night. We even have one whole UHF station that I think got bought out by the 700 Club, so it's "God" shows 24/7 on that channel.

I live in the Philly area... pretty close to the city. This really freaks me out especially for this area. I could see this being normal down south or in the mid-west, but around here?

:scared:

Edit to add... One thing that's really weird is that on weekends especially, they have the 800 number pervert infomercials (the ones with the buxoms babes cooing into telephones "Oooooooo, call us! We're just 18 and hotttttttt for youuuuuuuuuuuu!")... which is then followed by the fundy shows. Now, that's just bizarre.
:crazy:

[Gelliebeans]

1. I didn't see that

Revelations program on TV but it sure seems like the networks are running with it and other various religious themed programs. Yes, it is very scary indeed :scary:

[NMMNG]

2. Holy roller tv

If you get basic cable or extended basic you can enjoy several entire channels of holy roller tv. The Church Channel, The Faith Channel, Inspiration Network just to name a few. Of course you have the religious programming on broadcast channels, and the "family oriented" channels like PAX.

So yes, there is a crapload of god on tv nowadays, despite all the whining the fundies are doing about all of the depravity on the tube.

[cleveramerican]

3. the daily show

I have noticed lots of high minded God type shows,but i think thats fairly normal. In times of great uncertainty people return to devotions to comfort themselves.
I myself always get a laugh out of "this week in God" on the daily show.

[newyawker99]

5. Hi cleveramerican!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[FreedomAngel82]

42. It's all about profiting

Right now it's really big, or so it seems, so they're just jumping on the wagon to profit from it. Why else do channels like CNN and Fox cater to them?

[LeftyMom]

4. Seems like there are a lot of bible themed documentaries

on normal channels like Discovery and the History channel. It annoys the shit out of me, because I pay good money for my satelite package and then there's nothing on because they're doing the 10,000th show on the Shroud of Turin or some other bit of rather obvious fiction.

It's annoying enough when they all turn into the Jesus channel for Easter and Christmas, but it really sucks when I just want to turn the tube on and watch some entertaining and modestly informational wildlife show or something and instead they're searching Mount Ararat for Noah's ark in case the first hundred expeditions looking for it managed to miss the thing.

Anybody dumb enough to thing the whole f'n planet flooded, and two of every species and all thier food and a sizable human family all lived on one boat for six weeks (or whatever) without anybody getting eaten then debarked at one spot and somehow made thier way safely to thier own biomes and reproduced to create geneticly diverse viable populations from one breeding pair deserves to spend the rest of thier life looking for rotten old wood on some mountain, but I really don't want to watch them do it.

[Deja Q]

6. No but I am seeing more church signs with overtly political propaganda.

Anti-abortion or anti-gay stuff.

One church has those tacky grass post signs (ala the political candidate whoring signs), but instead of saying USH or KERRY it reads JESUS.

Okay, where do I write in JESUS on the ballo then?! :eyes: We NEED Jesus, particularly now. Not the anti-matter* version.

[theboss]

7. It's probably just Joel Osteen

He's taking over the world with his weird mix of Billy Graham and Tony Robbins.

[Pockets]

8. I wonder if they really help?

If you watch shows from the golden age of TV you will hardly see any references to God. It would seem producers felt God was a personal issue. That made sense. Anyone with solid faith should not need TV to reinforce it. In fact I can see how God references on TV might repel sincere and good hearted people.

[undeterred]

9. They cancelled Joan of Arcadia, which was a good show

"Revelations" was pretty dark. I don't have cable television but from what I can see of regular network tv theres no substantial change.

What I have noticed is that the Sunday morning news shows have been juggled around so that there are more religion shows on then, and the news shows are in competing time slots. One or two are just church services being broadcast, but the really scary ones are revisionist history- the founding fathers as fundamentalist Christians.

[GiovanniC]

11. I Watched the Entire Revelations Miniseries

I kept thinking, "At some point, this is going to stop being pure horseshit."

But I was wrong.

[undeterred]

16. I watched about 4 of 6- I found it hard to follow

and I really didn't see it as something that would appeal to fundies or Catholics.

[TorchTheWitch]

12. That's pretty much what I mean

One or two are just church services being broadcast, but the really scary ones are revisionist history- the founding fathers as fundamentalist Christians.

It used to be that the one or two early Sunday morning God shows were just a televised regular church service. I actually think that's a good idea especially for those people that aren't physically able to go out and attend church. But the change I've noticed is that the sudden onslaught of "God" shows are the scary Pat Robertson/Jerry Falwell type.

[undeterred]

15. Exactly. There's a Lutheran service that has been broadcast for years

and I imagine that there are a lot of elderly and disabled people who watch it.

Television air time ain't cheap. These fundies sure have a lot of money to spend.

[shrike]

51. I am seriously po'd

'Joan' was great.

[boohootwo]

10. I'd rather have the God shows than the regular filth they spout.

[TorchTheWitch]

13. I admit I have a problem

with the late night pervert infomercials. Girls Gone Wild was particularly irksome, and I really can't stand the boob flashing for Mardi Gras beads constantly on Jerry Springer at 10 a.m. every morning... and this is network/free tv!

But I'd consider the fundy Pat Robertson type of "God" shows just as bad (actually worse).

[Pockets]

14. Don't forget the violence

I was watching some CSI/detective ripoff TV show last night on Fox (broadcast TV) that contained lengthy graphic scenes of bloody mutilated women. Yet showing a nipple is an FCC violation. Go figure.

[Norquist Nemesis]

18. Could you be a little more specific about the filth?

I keep looking for entertainment, news, and documentaries but all I can find is religion shows. :shrug:

[boohootwo]

23. Raise a child - that'll give you new insight into what's decent

and what's not.

[earth mom]

40. I have a child and childrens t.v. viewing should be monitored

and I absolutely positively monitor my childs t.v. viewing. Anything on after 9 pm is off limits and I think channels should not air anything racy or violent until that time. That being said, I am an adult and if I have to suffer through a gazillion commercials for crap products I have no interest in, I'd better have programming worth my time and energy-and that certaintly isn't some Christian fundie bullshit propaganda. If Christians fundies want that, they let them have their own channel-don't shove it down the rest of our throats. :grr:

[boohootwo]

47. You must have a young child. At what age will you stop

monitoring their TV? At what point do you give up total control over the programs your child is exposed to? Have you watched any sitcoms geared towards teens? If so, how do you feel about their influence on young people?

I would appreciate a discussion rather than the usual attacking I read on DU.

[earth mom]

38. self delete

[thebigidea]

50. as if 99% of those God shows weren't complete filth of the grimiest sort

[Ron Green]

17. It's very difficult to maintain an enlightened democracy.

So instead, they just run soft-core porn and a couple of brands of simplistic religion, and people flock to it like flies to shit.

I don't thing this will turn around; I believe we're just at ringside to watch the end of the world.

[GreenArrow]

19. Tv Execs must have gotten a memo from the "Boss"

[jokerman93]

20. God is a fad

It's like flared pants or big hair. If you're winner these days, or married to one, you're a republican christer. It's all about money. It'll pass - just like disco did.

(no offense intended to those who sincerely follow the christian principles in their lives.)

[Obamanaut]

21. "How god is that!" my sister-in-law

says about anything good that happens (she really says god, not good) but has no similar saying for bad stuff. I offered up "may the Hammer of Thor smite thine enemies" and got a really nasty look from both Mrs ret88 and sister-in-law.

[boohootwo]

24. If you don't mean to offend Christians then you shouldn't talk that

way. It is very offensive. Besides, comments such as yours scare away those Dems & Repubs that are in the middle. Wouldn't it help the Democratic party more if you embraced all types of people irregardless of religious beliefs? To each their own, right?

[The Icon Painter]

27. You Have no Right to Censor Others

If you feel so strongly we must censor our tongues in order not to offend those who do not agree with us, talk to the Christianists. They are the ones who feel free to insult those of us who are secularists in the most demeaning terms. I will always uphold the right to defend my freedom to express my views as I wish. I am not a user of profanity not yet a mocker of the more immature amongst us. I only want to believe as I wish without being coerced by the hypocritical Pharisees. An embrace requires at least two. The day the Jerry Falwells of this sad country embrace those of us who are not Christianists and admit the possibility that one may be moral and ethical without having to be scared into decency is the day I will be inclined to see them as adult and acceptable human beings. I am not holding my breath.

And as to television and other entertainment and the raising of children. When will those who think like you ever realize that it is not the proper job of society to confine public amusement to that which is suitable for your wee one? It's your job to keep the kid away from stuff you consider inappropriate. There is no cogent reason why I should be unable to watch programs suitable for my age and tastes just because you have abdicated your responsibility to rear your own progeny. When I was a child, I was taught - by my parents - that certain pleasures were reserved for my adult years. You might try that on your own young.

[boohootwo]

28. You're the one who said you didn't want to offend.

Guess it wasn't true after all.

[The Icon Painter]

29. Nothing of the Sort

This is my first response in this thread. I am simply irritated by your whining attitude. Your user name seems fitting.

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[More Than A Feeling]

33. Just a couple of things

First, to both sides I say: don't watch. If you don't like violence, don't watch violence. If you don't like TV God, don't watch TV God. I myself rarely watch anything beyond a little sports these days. If it was just me in the house I probably wouldn't own a TV, and if I did, you can bet I wouldn't pay for cable. There are so many more worthwhile things to be doing beyond the world of TV.

Second, the Democratic Party does embrace all people, regardless of religious belief. It also is a champion of the separation of Church and State, which offends people whose religion involves devaluing people who are not of the same religion, and then using the government to enshrine their version of religion as "the" religion of this country. This cannot be helped.

Third, I have to think people would rather hear it told like it is, which is that a minority of fundamentalist radicals are working overtime to push their agenda on the rest of us. Your comments get us nothing but more mealy-mouthed rhetoric, and frankly, we have quite enough of that already.

[TorchTheWitch]

43. And there's another problem

First, to both sides I say: don't watch. If you don't like violence, don't watch violence. If you don't like TV God, don't watch TV God. I myself rarely watch anything beyond a little sports these days. If it was just me in the house I probably wouldn't own a TV, and if I did, you can bet I wouldn't pay for cable. There are so many more worthwhile things to be doing beyond the world of TV.

If the tv execs decided it would be a good idea to broadcast a lot of shows whose rhetoric proposses that all liberals should be killed, or all women should be barefoot and pregnant, or democracy is overrated and we should just go ahead and crown the current pres as king and let him do to us whatever the hell he wants... would your response be "don't watch"? I wouldn't watch any of those kinds of shows, but does that mean that OTHERS watching them WOULDN'T affect me? Isn't that our complaint about Rush and Coulter, et al.?... that their rhetoric DOES have a dangerous affect on our society?

[TalkingDog]

44. How is it offensive? Please explain.

S/he is talking about a cultural phenomenon, not the religion itself. If you don't understand the difference, then I have no compunction in questioning your faith, sincerity or intelligence.

Embracing others, in a group dynamic, does not mean you blindly accept whatever they bring into the group. It means you negotiate what is acceptable to both parties and THEN allow for individual differences that do not harm the group.

Many (not all, mind you) fundamentalists are intent on forcing their agenda on the entire country, not just other Christians or other fundamentalists. They care nothing for inclusiveness or embracing others; they care nothing for the group. And so many here shun them. As they should.

"To each their own"? You must be talking about Republicans in this sentence. They don't care who gets hurt as long as they get theirs and screw everybody else. Democrats and liberals generally harbor an ideal of the SOCIAL CONTRACT. We participate in society, we benefit from it. We, ideally, get clean water, good meat, roads that are paved and maintained, decent schools for our children and so on. And in return we agree to pay taxes and be good citizens in the best ways we know how, by supporting the weak, the dependent and the downtrodden. That is , by no means, "to each their own."

Think it over, maybe you'll catch on. You'll be able to cover your tracks a little better and it won't be so obvious.

PS Irregardless is not a word.

[TorchTheWitch]

41. Now, that's where I have a problem

It's like flared pants or big hair.... It's all about money. It'll pass - just like disco did.

I suppose it is just a fad, but unlike flared pants or big hair, it's dangerous. It effects the way people think and treat each other. There's no question that continual exposure to grusome violence on tv is desensitizing... and that's dangerous.

Here's an example...

In the past several years, men have been exposed to an enormous amount of propaganda about girl/girl sex. As a result of that, I rarely meet any guys in the past couple of years that don't truly believe that bisexuality in FEMALES is not only the norm, but EXPECTED. Apparently, I'm UPTIGHT because I have no sexual attraction to women... I actually have heard it from several women in the last several years that they truly believe that there is something WRONG with them because they have no interest whatsoever in having sex with another woman.

The same thing bothers me about this onslaught of freaky fundy shows... with enough exposure, people far too many people WILL start to believe in their rhetoric.

[lumpy]

22. Yes, I hear the word god

a lot on the reality shows.

[boohootwo]

25. Does this philosophy make sense to any of you?

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Any truth to that statement?

[TalkingDog]

45. The philosophy makes sense to me. But as for it being true....

Well, philosophy means, in the simplest terms: thinking about how to live.

Truth is another matter. There is individual subjective truth (i.e my truth) and overarching objective truth (i.e. 2+2=4 ). Then there is Truth with a capital T. Metaphysical Truth, Platonic Truth...the Ideal Truth and so on.

This statement does not fit my subjective truth. I try to treat people the way they want to be treated. I don't like milk in my coffee and to assume that I should treat others the way I want to be treated and give everyone black coffee is egocentric and short-sighted. It takes more effort to reach out to others, but in the end it is kinder and more compassionate than attempting to shove them into my mold.

This statement cannot be an objective truth.

As for being True with a capital T....I don't think it fits there either, so no, it isn't true. But it is a workable philosophy.

What's your point?

[boohootwo]

46. It's the basis of the teachings of Christ.

Treat others as you would like to be treated.

So what's bad about Christianity?

[Obamanaut]

48. I don't want to be "done unto" as the 100,000 dead in Iraq.

I think it is true that this same philosophy mentioned in your post can be found in most religions in some form or another. But is it correct? “Do unto others…“ What if the “others” don’t want to be done unto? Did we ask them before we did unto them, or did we just - do? Do you think the thousands of mutilated survivors might be wanting a little "do unto" about now?

<snip>

The Golden Rule can be used to justify oppression

As with human rights, the Golden Rule creates a moral obligation, which is claimed by its supporters to be self-evident. Once there is a human right, there is a moral obligation to 'respect' it: this is (more-or-less) the definition of a right. So, according to the theory of rights, 'respecting a human right' can never be wrong, and those go around the world 'respecting rights' can not be criticised on moral grounds. No surprise, that this 'licence to act' has attracted the attention of political and military propagandists. "Protecting human rights" has become a standard justification for military intervention. In a less clear sense, human rights and other liberal values are used to justify governments, against opposition.


The Golden Rule is not systematically quoted in this way, but it could be. It is implicit, in statements where military action is justified with an appeal to the supposed wishes of people in another country. For instance "If the people of Iraq could speak freely, they would support an invasion and bombardment of their country". Because the Golden Rule places moral judgment in the hands of the person committing an act, it is easily open to abuse in this way.

<more>


http://web.inter.nl.net/users/Paul.Treanor/golden.rule.html

[boohootwo]

49. Treat others as you would like to be treated. Simple.

[Greybnk48]

26. On NBC Weds evening was God night

for several weeks after the regular lineup ended. I don't know what's on now since I stopped watching NBC on Weds. I was in the NBC habit on weds. for West Wing and American Dreams.

[valis]

31. Channel 7 is WAY out there: Revelations; Medium....

And before Revelations they had 1 hr of religious BS programs... Stuff like the effectiveness of prayer...

[Cleita]

34. Yes, and last night we had an informercial

at 8:00P.M.PST on our local NBC outlet for the whole hour of religious programming. This is prime time folks. Fortunately I watch The Daily show at this time so I caught the tail end of it channel surfing.

[gulfcoastliberal]

35. I've noticed the History Channel is doing a bunch of Xtian themed shows

Very annoying. History International is a far better channel.

[shanti]

39. yes, and pbs does this too

i don't recall ever seeing xtian based shows on pbs before 2000

[earth mom]

36. I'm seeing God Propaganda on the Local News!

Last night they had a segment on the guy who wrote the Purpose Driven Life and at Christmas/Easter time they had a story about a local guy who makes "Jesus" signs for the yard. I got rid of cable a year ago to save money and I've been thinking about ordering it again just so I don't have to be at the mercy of this kind of bullshit! But from what I'm reading on this thread it sounds like the cable channels are pulling the same crapola! :puke:

[valis]

37. We should all send letters saying we are boycotting their channels.

[Generator]

52. Two words: Desperate Housewives

Thank GOD.