A Great Country or What? – Part 1
The wicked strut about on every side, when vileness is exalted among the sons of men [Psalm 12:8].
When I was a kid there were no computers. There were no cell phones. There was no internet, no DVDs, not even VCRs. Television and theater showed black & white shows. Color had yet to be invented for film, much less anything known as HD.
I identify my age in this fashion for a purpose. There is this thing which afflicts us mere mortals. It seems our memory is metamorphosed into revisionist history as we age. There develops in our thoughts this extreme contrast between “the good old days” and “now”, where “now” is better phrased “these crummy sinful times”.
Well, “the good old days” mentality always imagines the grass as being greener on the other side of the fence. The “good old days” mentality remembers the great periods of revival we experienced in our church…even though such things never happened. Old timers like me tend to look at how wicked things are now, and our minds can’t recall it being so bad in the past. Ergo, “the good old days” must have existed.
Sometimes this is expressed as so,
There is too much violence on TV and movies today. Back in the day the shows were much simpler and peaceful. No wonder there is so much terrorism and school killings today. Just look at the TV shows and movies and video games.
We’ve all heard this expressed many times, so we know it is true. Perhaps we’ve flapped our own jaws on occasion to repeat this version of “the good old days”. We’ll call it “the good old days 2.0”.
Funny thing is, I used to watch black and white shows like “Gunsmoke” and “Have Gun, Will Travel”, yea, and even “Zorro”. I can recall only two basic differences between that violence and the violence featured on today’s shows. First, back in the day the violence was in black and white, while today it appears in full color HD. Not exactly much of a difference, if we assume that watching violence on the shows transfers to enacting violence in the schools and other places.
The other difference between then and now is a little more convincing, as an explanation for explaining the violence between then and now. Back then the bad guys got shot by the good guys, and that was it. It appeared on the screen clear as day.
However, now the bad guys get shot, and all the blood and gore are portrayed in full color HD, with minute close-up shots for us to get our jollies off. Yea, even more, corpses in the coroner’s office are displayed naked with a cloth to cover the private parts, while the rest of the corpse is cut open and the insides shown to every Tom, Dick, and Harry who cares to watch the awful mess.
Ah, now that is a big difference. That proves why there is so much more violence today than back in the day. Right? You think? Well, return tomorrow, same time, same channel, and we will see how true this theory is. For now, let’s hie off to Jesus and enjoy a time of spiritual refreshment in His presence.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
When I was a kid there were no computers. There were no cell phones. There was no internet, no DVDs, not even VCRs. Television and theater showed black & white shows. Color had yet to be invented for film, much less anything known as HD.
I identify my age in this fashion for a purpose. There is this thing which afflicts us mere mortals. It seems our memory is metamorphosed into revisionist history as we age. There develops in our thoughts this extreme contrast between “the good old days” and “now”, where “now” is better phrased “these crummy sinful times”.
Well, “the good old days” mentality always imagines the grass as being greener on the other side of the fence. The “good old days” mentality remembers the great periods of revival we experienced in our church…even though such things never happened. Old timers like me tend to look at how wicked things are now, and our minds can’t recall it being so bad in the past. Ergo, “the good old days” must have existed.
Sometimes this is expressed as so,
There is too much violence on TV and movies today. Back in the day the shows were much simpler and peaceful. No wonder there is so much terrorism and school killings today. Just look at the TV shows and movies and video games.
We’ve all heard this expressed many times, so we know it is true. Perhaps we’ve flapped our own jaws on occasion to repeat this version of “the good old days”. We’ll call it “the good old days 2.0”.
Funny thing is, I used to watch black and white shows like “Gunsmoke” and “Have Gun, Will Travel”, yea, and even “Zorro”. I can recall only two basic differences between that violence and the violence featured on today’s shows. First, back in the day the violence was in black and white, while today it appears in full color HD. Not exactly much of a difference, if we assume that watching violence on the shows transfers to enacting violence in the schools and other places.
The other difference between then and now is a little more convincing, as an explanation for explaining the violence between then and now. Back then the bad guys got shot by the good guys, and that was it. It appeared on the screen clear as day.
However, now the bad guys get shot, and all the blood and gore are portrayed in full color HD, with minute close-up shots for us to get our jollies off. Yea, even more, corpses in the coroner’s office are displayed naked with a cloth to cover the private parts, while the rest of the corpse is cut open and the insides shown to every Tom, Dick, and Harry who cares to watch the awful mess.
Ah, now that is a big difference. That proves why there is so much more violence today than back in the day. Right? You think? Well, return tomorrow, same time, same channel, and we will see how true this theory is. For now, let’s hie off to Jesus and enjoy a time of spiritual refreshment in His presence.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
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