Spirituality and Media

This week's topic is my suggestion. It is intentionally broad, primariy because I had it in mind to  discuss spirituality and entertainment. I really have no concept of that in India, so I left the topic wide open for Ramana - be sure to visit  his blog, Ramana's Musings.

 While channel surfing the other night I came across one of this year's God shows - Evil, That got me thinking about the number of religious/spirituality themed show, It seems like every year there are one or two new shows offered,  few rarely survive. I found a site called Godtube.com which offered these five shows as the top 5 Christian themed shows of all time.

1. The Twilight Zone
2. The Andy Griffith Show
3. 7th Heaven
4. Little House on the Prairie
5. The Waltons

That's an interesting list and not at all what I expected, the author's logic being "Television today is mostly garbage promoting all kinds of sinful activities from pre-marital sex to drunkenness.  Television applauds this type of behavior and, unfortunately, our children are being force-fed an illusion of grandeur.  We as parents and as individuals should reconsider all of the T.V. shows that we watch and ask ourselves, “Is this really beneficial to watch?  Do the cons outweigh the pros?”

Looking  at his list in that light it makes a bit more sense. The stories for the most part feature loving families and every Twilight Zone episode featured a morality tale. It won't surprise anyone that knows me that the only show listed I watched regularly on that list is The Twilight Zone.

I lean more to shows like Supernatural, Dead Like Me (my all time favorite TV show) and the current Evil.

Supernatural: Two brothers - Sam and Dean Winchester - follow their father's footsteps as hunters, fighting evil supernatural beings of many kinds, including monsters, demons, and gods that roam the earth. 

This show has it all. God - coincidentally named Chuck - is a writer and the story of Supernatural is his vision of the world. It's the kind of show that appeals to a person like me - one who refuses to take the rantings and ravings of televangelists seriously.  Any show that includes demons archangels and  has a King of Hell as a primary character is simply looking to give some sense to it all and while they discuss serious morality issues have a bit of fun with the good vs. evil stuff.

Dead Like Me: Dead Like Me is an American comedy-drama television series starring Ellen Muth and Mandy h her lifeas grim reapers who reside and work in Seattle, Washington. Georgia (Muth) is unhappy with her life Wikipedia,
the first scene of the pilot episode introduces an origin-of-death myth where at the dawn of time, god (busy with creation) gave Toad a clay jar containing death which Toad promised to guard. Frog begged Toad to let him hold the jar, something to which Toad finally agreed. An excited Frog juggled the jar and finally dropped it, shattering it on the ground. When it broke open, death got out.When Georgia dies, rather than going to Heaven she joins a team of Reapers tasked with taking souls just before people's tickets are punched.

Evil: Evil is a psychological mystery that examines the origins of evil along the dividing line between science and religion. A skeptical forensic psychologist allies with a priest and a contractor to investigate purported supernatural incidents. It is in some ways a watered down version of The Exorcist - one of the creepiest movies I have ever seen.

 Clearly these shows are not for everyone but they have proven to be to me at least both thought provoking and entertaining. In their own way they all deal with morality and spirituality. There are also shows that appeal - I think - to the born again crowd. God Friended Me immediately comes to mind. It deals with questions like why things happen, why bad things happen to good people and the like. I watch and enjoy God Friended Me. Per Wikipedia, the series chronicles the life of Miles Finer, an outspoken atheist and podcaster, who is sent a friend request on Facebook by an account named "Go
d". This account suggests new friends to Miles, people in his hometown of 
New York City, who will require assistance.

 .
God, religion, Faith and spirituality are touchy subjects these  days to some. Personally, I think they should be open for discussion at any time. Wherever you fall on the faith/religion topic it is something that has a large place in our society. Like it or not, western society is based on tenets and beliefs of Judaism and Christianity. Whether you like it or not, are a believer or not, that is simply a fact. Unfortunately, our tribal tendencies these days make discussions on the matter more difficult. Anything that helps an individual come to grips with their spirituality is a good thing.

That is it for this week's topic - Ramana and I will be back next week with another topic.