Out of sheer curiosity, I decided to start reading through Bernard Goldberg’s 100 People who are screwing up America. The book begins with a series of articles detailing the trajectory of television in the last 50 years. The author reveals the stark differences of television in the “I Love Lucy” days and the modern sitcom. These sitcoms are effective in promoting their agenda. In fact, they have done so well inculcating their values into our culture that to criticize their worldview is considered a hate speech. The “attitude” writes Goldberg, is that “anyone who is offended by these values is, by definition, a square” (Goldberg, 13).
But what is most remarkable is the mindless content of modern television. Whereas, it was common to watch shows that dealt with substantive issues in politics and religion some decades ago, our celebrity addicted culture today is more interested in the details of some actor’s love-life, instead of the significant debates of our day.
Christians can hardly blame pagans for doing their job well. They are simply expressing their worldview through a medium. It seems proper, therefore, that before Goldberg mentions 100 people who are screwing up America, we–the Church– need to realize that our message is not being heard, and we may even be part of that number.
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