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Abstain from all appearance of evil.

- I Thessalonians 5:22

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

- I John 2:16-17



Neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure.

- I Timothy 5:22b

Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

- III John: 11

Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.

- I Corinthians 10:21

There are two other important practical subjects we need to consider which transgress God's tenth commandment, but also several of the other nine as well. These matters are: first - television, video, and theater; and secondly - music and dancing.

Placing a television set in one's home promotes temptation and sin. A television set is not sinful of itself; it is an amazing invention and its technology is used in many beneficial ways. The evil of television lies in its programming. This does not mean that all television programs are sinful. Some are not, such as various news reports, educational programs, topic documentaries, and wildlife films. However, the majority of modern television programming is objectionable for the following ten reasons.


TEN REASONS FOR AVOIDING TELEVISION

    1. Television supports those who promote sin.

  • The television industry is a money-making industry. Money is made from advertising. The largest amounts are paid to advertise on the shows that attract the most viewers. To be successful, a network must draw a large viewing audience. Not the quality of the program, but the quantity of viewers is the goal. By promoting that which is most attractive to natural (sinful) man, one can best achieve this goal. The "lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" are the most successful in attracting viewers, and are, therefore, widely utilized in television programming.

  • Many actors and actresses are paid enormous salaries. We would classify a woman, who would willingly strip and perform other acts of fornication with all types of men, as an openly sinful person. To go to places where this is taking place is sinful. But a woman who performs these actions in front of numerous cameramen, stagehands, actors, and directors and is filmed while doing them, is glorified to the extent that we will pay her more than the most skilled surgeon in our society today. We must separate ourselves from this glorification of sin.


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