A Lethal Combination ~ TV, Sex and Violence
Television programs that combine sex and violence in a format
designed for teenagers and young adults are of great concern. The
most dangerous subject matter for drama is that which infuses
torture and murder with nudity and other sexual stimulation.
These programs can be an irresistible, lethal combination for
some young men.
During the early teen years, the object of sexual interest is not
well established in most males. It can be influenced or reordered
rather easily during that period of development. It is typical
for a boy in early adolescence to be attracted to a
"cheerleader" image of femininity. Exposure at this
time to sadistic behavior can lead him to associate sexual
arousal instead with females (or males) who are in pain or peril.
Thereafter, his most exciting sexual thought may focus on
killing, raping or torturing those within his power. Does this
happen to every boy who watches violent television? No. But, it
does happen to some, and the damage they can do in a lifetime is
alarming.
This wicked theme is having a profound impact on our society -
especially on the more unstable
individuals who emerge from childhood with a predisposition to
perverse behavior. There are 500 serial killers now at work in
the United States and many others in Canada. They derive great
pleasure from sadistic murder.
These demented murderers were relatively rare until the latter
third of the 20th century. What forces are producing them now?
What is the process by which young children grow up to be such
monsters?
Dr. Park Elliot Dietz, a psychiatrist and former member of the
Attorney General's Commission on
Pornography, examined many serial murderers and sadistic killers.
He concluded that sexually oriented violence depicted in the
media can provide a "script" for those who are
predisposed to sadistic murder. The violent fantasies generated
by television, movies, and hard-core pornography help to
transform some people into warped and heartless killers. Ted
Bundy is the classic case in point; he admitted to killing 28
women and girls in real-life enactments of what he had seen in
pornographic images.
Mr. Bundy urged Dr. James Dobson during an interview he requested
only hours before his death, to warn society that sexually
explicit violence possesses great power over individuals who are
vulnerable to it. He was one of them!
There is another consequence to television violence that should
cause us concern.
Behavioral scientists are worrying about sudden upswing in murder
and mayhem occurring among
today's adolescence. An alarming number of youthful criminals
seem to have no conscience about killing and brutalizing innocent
people.
The process of desensitization is very well-known historically.
In the spring of 1941, some 3,000 men from various walks of life
were recruited by the Nazis for a ghastly assignment. They were
organized into four teams called Einsatzgruppen and were sent on
a mission of murder across Eastern Europe. They were ordered by
Hitler's henchmen to kill Jews, Gypsies and political commissars
indiscriminately in town after town along the march. Within a few
months, these teams had murdered 1.5 million people with
surprising ease. Every day they shot thousands of terrified men,
women and children. Incredibly, few of the killers seemed to
suffer from guilt or remorse. New recruits were sickened at
first, but they soon adapted to it. After the war, hundreds of
these men and other Nazi murderers were examined by behavioral
scientists in the West. It was anticipated that the majority
would have psychopathic tendencies or other emotional illnesses.
Surprisingly, very few examples of mental derangement were found.
Instead, most of those who had mercilessly brutalized unarmed and
pleading victims turned out to be ordinary people like you and me
- with one exception; they had learned not to feel compassion for
the suffering of others.
That part of their emotional apparatus had been sealed off and
rationalized. The examiners concluded that the human mind is
easily capable of adaptation when exposed habitually to the most
horrible acts. Desensitization is the process by which violence
becomes commonplace. See The War Against The Jews, by L.
Dawidowicz.
That, in effect, is what we are doing to millions of viewers -
especially our children - by exposing them to rape and murder on
television and in the movies.
Our children may resist our efforts to screen out the filth and
violence that now permeates the world of television, but they
know it's right to do so.
They respect us for saying, "God gave us this home, and we
are not going to insult Him by polluting it with foul
programming". Then you might share this scripture with the
family:
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever
things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things
are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of
good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise,
think on these things", (Phil. 4:8).
And if the little box simply can't be subdued, you might try
unplugging it, selling it, moving it into the
garage, hacking it with an axe or sticking a shoe in its
flickering blue eye. Then gather the family around and read a
great book together!
You may be surprised to find that besides reading, you will have
a great deal more time for many other things too, like soul
winning, even.
~ Battle Cry