From a story on how clerics in Afghanistan want to ban Indian soap operas...
"Our people are not against modern development or entertainment, but they should not turn our children away from the path of Islam," said Enayatullah Balegh, a member of the council. "I can control my daughter to not have illegal relations with boys, but TV is like Satan -- it is something you cannot control."
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There is certianly a case to be made that artless mass- produced media ought to be banned and one reason is that it is morally deleterious--think about how awful the perosnality of someone whose character was formed exclusivly by watching American soap operas and so-called 'sit-coms,' by reading Anne Rice or Stephen King books, and listeneing to popular music would be, compared to a normal personal who builds his inner resources by enegagment with Shakespeare, Homer, Mozart, Bergman, etc.
Satan strikes me as a very apt metpahor for the endless commerical bomabrdment of mass media. So it may be that this statement is not fundamentalist. He says tlevision is like Satan, not that it is Satan.
"Our people are not against modern development or entertainment, but they should not turn our children away from the path of Islam,"
You say that like it's a bad thing.
"I can control my daughter to not have illegal relations with boys,"
I'd love to hear your definition of: "illegal relations."
"but TV is like Satan -- it is something you cannot control."
Don't your televisions come with off switches, or remote controls?
"I can control my daughter to not have illegal relations with boys, but TV is like Satan -- it is something you cannot control."
Let me guess, you've lost the remote and can't be bothered to heft your fat ass out of the chair to turn the TV off, right?
Someone send them some V-chips and tell them to shut up.
...but TV is like Satan -- it is something you cannot control."
How strange. American televisions come with a V-chip which is used to block programs based on their rating. Mine also came equipped with a few special controls: there's one control that seems to affect which channel I'm watching and another one which is apparently used to switch the television on and off at will.
Either using the On/Off-Switch or not having a TV at all solves everything. Better than restricting the freedom of everyone in the country to watch the programs they like ;)
This seems to be universal for fundies (regardless of religion). If they don´t like something, they always want to restrict it for people in the whole country, regardless of their opinon on this matter instead trying to find ways how to solve the problem without having to affect other people.
Indian soap operas? From what I've heard, characters aren't even allowed to kiss in those because of the ban on public physical affection in India. Now telenovelas, THOSE you could watch out for.
But yes, you do kind of have some control. There's even an item for it, called a remote. Sheesh.
Helene said:
I guess that Helene is the Decider on art and morals
"...compared to a normal personal who builds his inner resources by enegagment with Shakespeare, Homer, Mozart, Bergman, etc."
Either Poe or I don't know any normal people.
"Our people are not against modern development or entertainment, but they should not turn our children away from the path of Islam"
Statement B does not reconcile with statement A.
Of course there is no mention of controlling boys to bleeding-well behave, it always falls on the girl to be the one who is controlled and restricted. So much is the same for all Abrahamic religions, sadly. The anology about TV is stupid, there is such a thing as the off switch.
Helena: It is not a sin to like popular music, television or culture. Quit being a snob, you sound like the fundie.
He can't control the TV (which has buttons for exactly that purpose, often available on a remote device that one keeps in hand for just that use), but he CAN control his daughter, who ought to be a free-willed individual instead of an electronic entertainment center? This guy is seriously messed up, and so is much of his culture -- at least the part of it that he speaks for.
Actually it is self-destructive to elevate popular culture over traditional culture (which could certianly receive the name sin if you want). Its just that the people who do it aren't aware of the gravity of the situation. The responder who doesn't know Shakespeare or Mozart, or even knows anyone who does, makes me terribly sad. But he is right that that condition is more common now than not, which is tragic.
@ Helena:
Citation needed...
<<(which could certianly receive the name sin if you want).
Nonsense...
<<Its just that the people who do it aren't aware of the gravity of the situation.
Gravity of what situation exactly ?
<<The responder who doesn't know Shakespeare or Mozart, or even knows anyone who does, makes me terribly sad.
Much like your post made me terribly sad...
<<But he is right that that condition is more common now than not, which is tragic.
I'd wager that that condition has *always* been more common.
Helene said: "The responder who doesn't know Shakespeare or Mozart, or even knows anyone who does, makes me terribly sad. But he is right that that condition is more common now than not, which is tragic."
There is a difference between:
1. Knowing Mozart.
I never said I did not know Mozart or Shakespeare.
Helene, are your sense of moral and ethics formed by the art/music you are exposed to? In my experience, art/music is something you need to learn to appreciate - it is not something you are born with (i.e there are no such thing as an objective view on what is god or bad art/music).
Just because something is popular and mainstream does not mean that it is bad or of lesser value. [Although I do agree personally that most of today's music is junk, but that's just My Opinion].
Furthermore, you do realize that what you call traditional culture was at a time popular culture?
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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