'One True God Blog'

Caravaggio's  'Inspiration of St.Matthew' ca.1602, Contarelli Chapel, Church of San Luigi dei Francesi Rome

I would like to start the week with a post which provokes comments relating to the excellent One True God Blog, and the latest question posed by Hugh Hewitt, which is: 'Do I want my MTV?  Is there a way in which watching MTV could be useful to the formation of the soul?'

Todd Hertz over at ChristianityToday.com tackles this issue in his recent article "MTV: The Good, the Bam, and the Ugly", providing a good and I believe necessary starting point by demystifying what he calls the 'realities' in MTV land and then putting those into Biblical context.

Not surprisingly, MTV's chief components ensuring popularity  are based on our fascination for (1) Wealth, (2) Fame, (3) Sex and (4) Fun. Not exactly the most fertile mix of human desires when it comes to aiding the formation of our soul. But widespread, as you and I will no doubt readily admit.

What does in fact aide the formation of our soul most? Surely at the core lies the quest to know ourselves honestly and openly before God and one another in truth, to cultivate intimacy with, growth in, and obedience to Christ, and to help mend souls by the loving power of the Spirit and Word with believers of various cultural backgrounds.

How can MTV help? Well, sometimes the observation of a stark antithesis can be quite a powerful instruction:

Todd poses some very intriguing questions directed at the teenager so as to help him/her to put MTV programming into its proper perspective with regards to its significance and impact on their lives, or the lack thereof:

Reality Check

By thinking about the messages MTV is sending us, we can better understand what is true in the real world and what is true only in MTV land. Here are some questions to keep in mind if watching MTV:

What is this show saying about the way the world works? Is it true?

How is this show different than my daily life?

Am I uncomfortable with the choices these people are making? Should I be?

If my friends and I were in this show, how would it be different? How would people see my faith?

What consequences of people's actions are shown? Is this realistic?

By thinking through these questions, I can best decide whether I should visit MTV's alternate reality … or just keep channel surfing.

But there is hope: I discovered through Worldmagblog last night, a fine young man called Jeff Stiles, who has a site called The Noize. The Noize is an online magazine which reviews the latest new musical efforts with original melodies with Christ-centered lyrics, focusing on the form of music known as contemporary Christian music and gospel artists who perform in the mainstream market. The original paper, which is now a website was founded in 1988 by a group of students at Emmaus Bible College in Dubuque, Iowa, and later grew into a full-color tabloid of reviews distributed throughout the Midwestern United States.

The future of Christian music is bright indeed, and a short answer to Hugh's question: 'Do I want my MTV?'

I was delighted to discover this site by chance whilst spending two full days on the Worldmagblog defending the Miers withdrawal in the Comments section, and in the process meeting the talented Jeff Stiles.

I am tired and quite worn out really, with the discussion over there far from over.  Media Lies thankfully came to my rescue at a late stage last night, after a two day run. It all started with Susan Olasky and an innocent comment to provoke discussion on Worldmagblog:

"All Things Beautiful and Hugh Hewitt best reflect my feelings about what happened to Harriet Miers. Marvin's uncle used to say, "politics is the crookedest bone in the human body," and after watching the tactics used against Miers I'd have to agree. It has not been pretty to see the conservative side rely on unnamed sources, leaks, and innuendo to do in a candidate who deserved a hearing and an up or down vote."

Goodness, have I met some angry and uninformed people there. But then again that will come as no great  surprise to Hugh, who has been relentless in defending Miers, and is most probably quite fed up with the entire discussion.

It is however time to look forward and not back, and what better way to cleanse one's soul of all the slime, which I must say I thought was exclusive to the Democratic line of arguments, but to turn to our dear Lord, and his great calming effect on us all.

Go to the One True God Blog and check out some excellent questions posed by Hugh, but for the moment I am kicking off with the above.

As I have started this post in the early hours of the morning, I expect to be updating throughout the day, as my readers wake up and start the discussion, and I find some more interesting thoughts on the subject to write about.

We will no doubt wake up to a fresh nomination, but at least the cleansing and calming process would have hopefully taken place by then.

It looks as if though the President will announce Judge Samuel A. Alito, as his next nominee to the  U.S. Supreme Court, to be announced at 8.00 E.T

Comments

[spiritofecstasy]

AvM,

I have been distracted. Yesterday was written off. So many comments to overview on Scalitovision. There could be worthy nominees posting comments ...

Today I plan to match wits with something so I will be heavily diverted. Possibly back later.

REALLY OT. LOL. When I was a student, briefly, one of my dear instructors reminisced of her own graduation ceremony. She said (paraphrase): "It was awful, during the commencement address one student stood up and yelled; Caravaggio was a murderer!"

Which is, of course, my first thought, but not inspiration, when finding the thread.

[Alexandra]

Where are you SOE? We are all waiting for you over at 'Joining Forces in Scalitovision', if you talk about mediation that is the ultimate challenge. LOL!

[spiritofecstasy]

I can see it but I am not sure who is flying and for what ...

Is that plane colored pink?

take your time

there is more

and again

[spiritofecstasy]

test

[spiritofecstasy]

NbN,

We are just one year after an election. Kerry/?Edwards, Michael Moore, Arafat, Osama Bin Laden Group, November 2004, et al, etc.

Your remarks are seductive though, not to interrupt us, precipitous at this time. You may want to consider what put the B in Boxer and what put the Land in Landrieu as you consider the science of mediation.

Consider the sudden calm after the storm of Nomination and withdrawal. Another nomination now but the desperate wanting screams have subsided, apparently satisfied or placated. Conversely the nasty F word has been raised and in response the N word option has too.

The last election represents primal rage and emotion. The next cannot match that. The expanded base of the Right will probably prevail because it is more disciplined and the electorate Left will return to dealing with it's eternal inferiority complex. If so Miers could see a cabinet appointment in the next round, for example.

That is an opinion in a nutshell. Everything in the world is going to happen before the next election cycle but I do not think any of it will be nuclear.

Nevertheless the presence of Rice and Rodham is more than symbollic. We are kissing the edges of something. I am not sure exactly where it is going, politically.

I can see it but I am not sure who is flying and for what ...

http://shop.com.edgesuite.net/ccimg.catalogcity.com/220000/226700/226711/products/lg_14377037.jpg

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/04/09/sprj.irq.thumper/

http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/fighters.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4533367.stm

[North by Northwest]

SOE - I like your take on rewarding marketers instead of threatening to walk as punishment. Positive thinking. In a way, that's were we are heading due to enabling interactivity of all electronic media soon to be standard even in TV.

As to mayhem, it's time for a woman to become President, eh. Women mediate so much better, don't you think? Now Condi says no (for now) - so who else from the conservatives? Can't let Hillary move back into the WH...

[spiritofecstasy]

I thought this posted early this :AM?

Re:NorthByNorthwest

That reminds me of some-thing. I know the ratings/ad.revenue equation is a familiar.

Nonetheless, we're familiar with boycotts. Every night, while focused on the next boycott/divestment announcement, the marxist dreams of Western Leftists produce enough REM to power a city bus for a year.

The tactic of boycott could be, appropriately, inverted. "Buycoms" instead of boycotts. Buy-Commodity. Groups could proactively buy from advertisers when the programming was respectable. The invert is that the consumer is actually advocating consumerism which should appeal to businesspeople.

It is an antithesis. Assume that the anti-authoritarian component of society is really just that and not a true human rights vector as claimed. (Now I know that's a stretch, but click your heels three times while focusing.) If they're wrong in premise then their tactics would be flawed too. So instead of condemning society in a self-defeating curriculum of "don't buy" the buycom idea actually promotes the society as valuable and worthy of investment while encouraging programming values. Proactive input through purchasing power which can represent alot of power.

The reason I diverted somewhat in the thread comments is twofold. First; Media is "generally", "quite often" a demoralizing factor in society, at least at this time. From the condascending attitudes projected in programming/ads to the abject abusiveness of stylebook journalism, Media is a demoralizing quantity. The Internet may change this.

http://www.mererhetoric.com/archives/11271869.html

Second; mTV really annoys me. There is no "Rock the Vote." It is not about rock and it is not about cool. They are treating people like idiots with their pseudo discussions and hysterical hyped images. If you are born in Spain you'll speak Spanish, if you are exposed to "x" you'll reflect "x."

I think it is valuable to be aware of such things because in some darwinian fashion these negative stimuli serve little purpose other than to oppress, for lack of a better word. Which brings me to my conclusion. We have just turned the corner from a four years of "brinkmanship" to what is the new world order. The first cue of transition, imo, was when Sen. Chuck Hagel crossed party lines and referenced a virtually Leftist talking point.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/08/22/senator_war_is_destabilizing_mideast/

With all due respect to the Senator,

http://hagel.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Biography.Home

and to any and all debate, I found this breaking of party bonds and gross affront to the Iraq effort to be symbollic. A point of departure. Tide has turned imo and the turn of rhetoric reflects that.

http://www.portaliraq.com/

The archives of this website portray something that escapes the Senator's specific remark. That being the extensive building of of ~extensive infrastructure in Iraq. This points to the future of Iraq and to rhetorical brinksmanship elsewhere.

One should assume that Officials act and speak deliberately. Delay stepped aside as House Leader because the personality of Harry Reid was psychically channeled to Texas. Dreier stepped into the position of House Leader. Dreier has been the target of Left Wing provocateurs, this was not lost on Trent Lott. Smiling pleasantly while expressing confidence in Dreier, on live tv, Lott included the term "attractive" in his apparently commonplace remarks about the Congressman. Lott is never to be forgotten for his campy wit.

That camp is not to be confused with the excesses of mtv. The camp should be construed as a parallel to the underlying joy of a composition, regardless of the title, lyric and overt intent.

What we see now with: Miers, Libby etc. is a shift in focus, less international and more national. It is important to keep emotions in check because now leadership is battling internally, which will produce all types of mayhem, Harriet. More important is that there will be less queues from authority for the constituency. That is a contrast to the last four years; You were either pro-American or anti-American, pro-Democracy or pro-Appeaser-of-anything-else. Now the distinctions are between parties and Within parties. See the change?

It is a psychological vaccum. I say this because I think alot of people are already frustrated with the mayhem. That is, frustrated on both sides of the equation. Even disciplined people will react but not to the extreme absurdity I fear of someothers.

[North by Northwest]

George - consider the emerging liberation of content distribution via the internet. IP-TV, IP-radio, Blogs, Podcasts, Videocasts all burst wide open the previously tightly held stranglehold on content distribution.

Remember, when, quite ironically, at MTV's beginning the major cable operators refused to include it in their programming mix - in particular arch-conservative cable-Baron Jo Malone steadfastly refused to carry this "trash". Only after Bob Pitman, the emerging marketing wiz kid at MTV, came up with the ingenious marketing campaign "I WANT MY MTV", making MTV the 'star' as supposed to the stars shown on MTV, and then getting the very stars to shout out "I WANT MY MTV", only then did MTV manage to get all the kids to nag their parents long enough so that they'd write to the cable operators demanding MTV to be included in their programming bouquet. This took years... And it was only so, because the content distribution was controlled by a powerful few.

All that is changing!

My point: As a teenager, belonging is key. And teenagers are now able to realize how many others share their Christian values. That makes belonging easier than ever before. Communities emerge free from any geographical boundaries. And this is only just the beginning. Services such as Apple's iTunes are fantastic content portals. I've enjoyed many religious podcasts since its launch in May and the choices are growing in leaps and bounds. But so do the smut-casts. Censorship isn't the answer because it no longer works in the IP era. Guidance is what's needed. But at least it's not just guidance in a vacuum, but with plenty of communities of likeminded peers to explore.

[George Berryman]

I grew up on MTV back when it first hit the airwaves in the early 80s. That was a completely different time back then and as far out there as we thought the world was back then today's culture is an All You Can Smoke trip to the crackhouse by comparisson.

I am sort of torn on this. On the one hand I am pleased as punch that we do have a siginificant number of teens turning to God. This isn't reported as often as, oh say "Oral Sex Is Okay for Teens!" but it is happening. So there are some teens that I feel safer about. Then again there are some who are so into the new MTV sex teen culture that I do worry about their physical and psychological health. They're being told falsehoods about life that will do them no service when they get into the *ahem* "Real World."

Then again being exposed first hand to the lefitst neo-hippie culture in college actually made me a stronger conservative later in life. But then even back then I was voting Republican so I already had a head start. Heh.

[North by Northwest]

SpiritofEcstasy - "Viewership is a choice. If the individual has no impetus to discipline, young or old, then there will always be such venues."

So, basically no audience equates to no advertising revenue, equates to pulling the programming, right. And as Kenny points out, "..there are actually a not insignificant number of godly young people who deliberately choose not to conform to their peers' folly in this respect". Still too few to achieve this kind of effect, whilst Hollywood in the meantime aggressively adopts broadly defined product placement strategies, thus only enshrining even more deeply the celebrity cult...

[North by Northwest]

Amen to that, Kenny!

I just came accross the following post by Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts which tells the story of a professional television writer named "Jeff" and how "...he has repeatedly found himself in dialogue with other writers who included humorous filth in scripts for prime time television comedies. When Jeff says, "Wait, you can't say that in a family show" his colleagues don't argue their right to freedom of speech. Rather, they're confused. They have no idea why Jeff finds their humor offensive...".

Rev. Roberts then makes an interesting observation:

So here's my thesis in a nutshell. Most of the people who shape our culture, especially those who produce television shows, movies, Broadway plays, rock music, and MTV videos, live in a moral universe that's far different from the moral universe of Christianity. Their perceptions of right and wrong differ vastly from the perceptions held by most Christians. This isn't a gripe. It's simply a fact.

This rings true, doesn't it. He goes on:

So what can we do about this fact? Complain about it? Get mad? Start a boycott? Host a television burning in the town square? Or . . . ?

No further advice from the good Reverend - at least I can't find the promised post. But I instinctively feel uncomfortable with censorship at large. It ultimately boils down to me as a father to guide my daughter through the maze. What are your thoughts?

[Kenny Pierce]

To expand on the previous comment:

You have to remember the words of Augustine in the Enchiridion (if I remember correctly).

For God Almighty..., being supremely good, would on no account permit the existence of any admixture of evil in his works unless he were to such a degree almighty and good as to bring good even out of evil.

This applies to teenagers watching MTV, as well.

Basically, God always has a Plan B. A teenager who watches a steady diet of MTV (and not all of them do, actually; there are actually a not insignificant number of godly young people who deliberately choose not to conform to their peers' folly in this respect) sabotages his own well-being to a certain degree and lets himself in for pain and weakness and frustration that he could otherwise have avoided. But while God is in the business of strengthening and glorifying those who take His advice and live godly lives from the start (e.g., Billy Graham), He is also in the business of redemption and healing for those who wander from the straight and narrow (e.g., Charles Colson). At the point at which you get tired enough of the pain to yield yourself to God, He starts turning the pain itself to good use, having made preparations from the foundation of the world for exactly that redemption of that pain. He is, after all, an exceptionally foresighted and economical being.

But whilst God was perfectly capable of turning David's adultery with Bathsheba (for example) to good use (the greatest Psalm of repentance would otherwise never have been written, and that Psalm has given words to the broken hearts of countless penitents through the centuries), still and all there's not much doubt about the difference between the life of David before Bathsheba and the life of David after that whole "mistake" (as a politician or professional athlete would describe it these days in his "confession" once the P.R. damage reached the point of having to be addressed because of damage reflected in polling data and endorsement revenue). There's no question which of those two Davidic lives -- pre- and post-adultery -- you would have preferred to be living in yourself. Do all things (including even our own sin) work together for the good of those whom God has called? Yes. But does a man reap what he sows? Yes. But does the crop he reap still work for his good? Yes. But would the crop he would reap from sowing godliness also work for his good? Yes. Would one of those two working-out-for-his-good processes be a nicer thing to live through than the other? Yes. But whichever he chooses to sow, if in the end he comes back to God's grace, will that grace be sufficient? Yes.

So there is always hope, because God is full of grace.

You want to spare your kids as much self-inflicted pain as necessary; you also regrettably know that, kids being kids and (even more fundamentally) kids being human, they will inflict pain on themselves through foolish decisions, and watching MTV is hardly going to be the worst thing they do to themselves. So you pray for God's grace to redeem their folly; and He is faithful in that respect.

[Kenny Pierce]

Oh, there's ALWAYS hope, because God is full of grace.

[North by Northwest]

But there is no hope according to your scenario. Every teenager overdoses on MTV! One can only hope for some sort of backlash. Maybe, the very fact that the whole MTV culture is so in one's face and overbearing, eventually contributes to growing tired of the stereotypes and role models. Especially, when the disappointments have been had and digested...

[Kenny Pierce]

Hm, rereading that it wasn't clear...what I am complaining about is not nearly so much "Christian parents who allow their teenagers to watch MTV" as it is "Christian parents who don't train their children in the discipline of meditation." Which I myself have done an absolutely terrible job of; so you can consider myself to have been more the target of that post than anybody else.

[Kenny Pierce]

I think the problem with MTV has to do with the whole spiritual discipline of meditation and why it's important. It has to do with the difference between what we teach our minds and how we train our hearts.

Romans 7 is a description of an unpleasant state of being that every Christian will recognize. It's that stage where your actions and your beliefs simply don't match, and you keep on living in a way you detest, without being able to understand why.

I've decided I'm going to turn that clear thinking class of mine into a series of blog posts; but here's a very short take.

Your heart has its own "beliefs," which are formed by a process that is very different from the process by which we choose our conscious beliefs. And it's the beliefs of our hearts that we live by, not the beliefs of our minds. Our heart forms its "beliefs" by association, by repetition, by visualization; and it is incapable of recognizing logical negation. If you tell yourself, "I ought not behave like ______," you are training your head to believe that such behavior is bad, but you are training your heart to believe that that behavior is good.

There is a particular Alanis Morissette song ("Forgiven") that I've told my daughter Kasia she ought not listen to for a while yet. I've told her that there will come a day when she needs to understand the very common type of person who grew up Catholic without ever understanding Catholic teaching, and who now lives in a state of constant bitter reaction against something that he calls Catholicism without knowing any better. And when she needs to understand those people, then she will need to listen to "Forgiven," which captures that state of being better than anything else I've ever heard. But right now she's fifteen, and it's much more important for her to get her own relationship with God stable and functional than for her to minister to disenchanged Catholics. So she doesn't listen to that song -- which her conscious mind would reject but which would begin to distort her heart's image of God and the Church.

Your average Christian teenager can sit around and pontificate about how messed up the MTV world is all he wants. But if he is taking in a steady diet of MTV, it will alter his behavior, and it will drag him into the misery of Romans 7, unless the MTV is outweighed by an even more steady diet of Christian meditation or unless he finds peace of mind by rejecting the parts of Christian morality that conflict with MTV programming. Um, how many of teenaged Christians do you know who engage in a regular diet of Christian meditation? In fact, how many teenaged Christians do you know who can tell you what Christian meditation even is?

That's what I thought.

[spiritofecstasy]

MTV? Would that be MozartTV?

"Turc March" from Sonata No. 11 in A, k. 331: Rondo alla Turca {Leipzig Philhamonic Orchestra, cond. by Rudolph Wallerstien*}

Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in G, K. 216: Rondo (Allegro) {Klaus Stein -violin, Berlin Symphonic Orchestra, cond. by Ferdinand Lang}

Eine kleine Nachtmusik KV 525: Allegro {*}

Requim in D minor, K. 626: Lacrimosa {Choir and Orchestra of the Academy of The Cathedral of Utrecht, cond. by Maaten Kooy}

Playing fast and loose, this is a recording that I have and it doesn't represent others which I have not.

~

As a secular American I'll say this; MTV is an insane asylum for proletariat youth and for those who aspire. One is such familiar, it is only my short term memory that fades. Psychological gulag may apply to the mtv stove pot of Leftist style absurdity and low quality debauchery. Regrets for not qualifying my remarks.

There is certainly something punishing about the overall framing of mtv programming. My instinct is that the producers are certain in their subtle anti-something slant. Authority? What came first; Their (producers) belief of what constitutes youthful habits OR youthful habits being exaggerated and reinforced by businesspersons who are an authority?

The ancient rule still applies; Personal responsibility. Viewership is a choice. If the individual has no impetus to discipline, young or old, then there will always be such venues.

Here is the catch; In consumer cultures those who buy property and cars and suvs and cars get the attention. That one hundred percent disposable income, of people who are not old, is mainly dependant on their guardians who buy property etc.

MTVish is a fraction of overall programming. There is little motive to produce other things when the sector is relatively narrow.

(Warhola; Anyone read the VVoice?)

[north by Northwest]

I guess you are right. But the reality is that almost all teenagers are watching MTV & Co. So, I guess, my understanding of what Todd Hertz is trying to do is to instill some awareness, help them reflect on what they are seeing as you can't avoid that.

As to the golden calf - what a powerful image that has always been in my mind. Though maybe the reference to watching MTW might be a bit harsh: When Moses reached the bottom of the mountain, he heard singing and saw revelry around the calf, and he dropped the two tablets and they shattered. He ground up the calf and made 'bitter waters' out of it, which he forced the people to drink, and then he turned on Aaron. And God, we are told, was so angry that he could have just about killed Aaron.

I can just imagine what you would like to do with MTV & Co., producers, cast and crew included... (LOL)

[fd10801]

I'm not sure I want to feast on food that is no good for me, in order to confirm it. I am also inclined to believe that somewhere between the ages of 11 and 16, nearly all teens are extremely impressionable, and, no doubt, will get the wrong impressions from MTV's lyrics and images.

I don't see the good outweighing the bad. Was it a good thing that the Israelites worshipped the golden calf at the base of Mt. Sinai, so they would raise the ire of Jehovah, and Moses? I don't think that was the lesson there. (Exodus 32, KJV)