[Warning from Dr. Jonathon Miles:  The following Blog Post contains a frank discussion of prime-time television, reader discretion is advised]

Recently I had the dreaded stomach flu that is going around and to put it in Victorian terms, I was indisposed. It seemed that the only thing that helped with nausea (besides the prescriptions) was watching sit-coms. I got the 3rd and 4th season of the Big Bang Theory from my library because I am a geek and the show is very funny. In my last post, I said something about the difference between watching a 22 minute show and watching a 3 DVD season of a show:

But one wonders if Aristotle’s philosophy can hold up to an age of Netflix and the 4 DVD collection of Season one of Downton Abbey. One wonders if Paul and Aristotle would scratch their heads or shudder at the thought of  us setting up the theater in our homes every single night after dinner.

Watching back-to-back seasons of Big Bang Theory did confirm to me there is a difference between imbibing a little television and downing the equivalent of a box of Merlot. But I also noticed something else. The sexual content of the show is more noticeable after a 4 hour straight viewing session. As a philosopher I like to engage in thought experiments. So I imagined if I were an alien race listening in on our prime-time television, what they deduce from watching our prime-time sitcoms. One thing is for sure,  they would definitely think sex is one of our top priorities–having, losing it, getting better at it. So suppose this same alien race were to compile a dossier of our sexual behavior via prime-time television. I think it would look something like this: Continue reading …

Some years ago a youth pastor from a nearby community called me. He was concerned about a large group of Vampires that gathered regularly in his town’s park. He thought there were perhaps 300 and some of the churches would show up with bull horns to announce loudly that the Vampires needed to repent. It didn’t seem to be working. I have to confess, other than in films and books I had never heard of any actual vampires roaming the countryside and thought it might be interesting to check it out. We arranged a time to meet and a few of the MOCI volunteers and I headed out on a Friday evening to meet up with the youth pastor. When we arrived we saw several hundred youth, all engaged in something which did not seem to me to be overly threatening so I suggested we swim into the crowd and find someone to talk to. We even took video equipment to record some of the conversations. About a half dozen agreed to sit down and talk and the first question was quickly answered. What they were doing was a role playing game, Vampire: The Masquerade. Each participant had developed a character to play in the acting out of the game: Continue reading …

At first some readers will this is another political diatribe but really the examples I will be using are for illustration of a communication problem which is growing in our nation and culture in not only the political but religious arena. It is the problem of undefined words and concepts. Many claims to be spiritual but not religious. What does that mean exactly? Does God or some sort of deity come into play in the spiritual but not religious life and if so what sort of God? If it remains undefined we might simply call it the Fuzz God. Wispy with comforting colors which help to relax but makes no demands. It is the sort of God that fuzzy undefined language would allow. Continue reading …

I am a sucker for a good story. Strike that. I’m addict for a good story. In this age of 30 million dollar special effects budgets and two-bit writers, I will stay up, literally till 3 am to watch an entire season of a well written show. When I find a good story I am transfixed whether it be TV (Downton Abbey) or Movies (Safety Not Guaranteed), Novels (I just read 450 pp. novel in 2 days) or if my geekiness is really flaring, a graphic novel. I have never watched The Walking Dead on TV but I devoured (pardon the pun) the graphic novels.

I’m in awe of great storytellers like Chesterton, Tolkein, and Neil Gaiman. And here’s where the confession comes in: Sometimes my lust for a good story trumps my discernment. And it worries me. Recently Douglas Wilson wrote on his blog that the most important acronym in our culture may very well be: WMWJWOO. “What movies would Jesus walk out of?” I used to walk out a few movies. I used to tell my students that there are some things which, once you see them, you can’t not see them. Pauly Shore movies are like that. However I worry about my tolerance for vice and debauchery when it permeates a good story. Is is possible that nudity, violence, and crudity can serve a good story? Sure. Is it ever enhanced by it? Rarely. but it does happen. Would Les Miserables be the incredible tale of grace and self-sacrifice without Fantine and the Prostitutes singing the bawdy and heartbreaking “Lovely Ladies” or would The Walking Dead be a penetrating meditation the dangers of anarchy and the value of community without Roamers and Lurkers? Continue reading …