Televised Poison: “
Spiritually, much of American television is a cesspool that pollutes the mind and tends to muffle the voice of the heart. A new low has been reached with the prime time series, “
This show is gutless ego food. It portrays the judges as gods and the contestants' performances as being crucially pivotal life events, leaving courtesy and compassion completely out of the picture.
Confusion and contradiction are the judges’ habits. They often don’t know how to judge a performer whom they can be thrilled with one moment and dismissing the next. The message underneath: "Even TV stars can be confused. It's good to be confused. I'm confused."
This is just a facet of the propaganda this series exemplifies.
The show’s three judges, who shall go nameless here, are obviously coached in the art of heartlessness. Suffice it to say that one of the judges is a washed-up comedian who never really hit the big time until he became a game show host. Another of the judges is married to a famously drug-addled rock musician. A third judge who has a talent for subtle nastiness is somehow popular in
You might call some of the words above “judgment”. They are simple observations.
Bringing on contestant performers who have never been on the big stage before, many of whom obviously have at least a bit of stage fright to begin with, is an opportunity for the judges to magnify many of the contestants’ fears. Prior to their performances on the most recent show, some were reminded by the judges that they were about to make “the most important performance of their lives”. How’s that for calming stage fright?
Miss a note or miss a step in an otherwise fine performance and the judges imply that you are probably not going to make the cut. If you look a little “slow”, be prepared to have a judge imply that, regardless of your performance, you are probably too stupid to repeat it in
An extraordinary senior citizen who created something of a symphonic masterpiece whistling by blowing into her hands was panned by the cold judges. A sweet guitarist’s vulnerable, open-hearted demeanor was characterized by one of the judges as meek and unprofessional. A fire-thrower was warned he’d probably not make the grade because one of his fire machines failed to ignite, like that was enough to damn him.
The messages:
- “Fear the disapproval of others. Their opinion of you is more important than your own.”
- “Do not mess up because you will be judged and the judgment will hurt.”
- Underneath that message: “Maybe it is wise to just not participate in life so that you do not risk embarrassment or disappointment. It is so much easier to judge others.”
Make no mistake about it: these judges are either witless allies for the dark side or are intentionally feeding a monster whose purpose is to spiritually and emotionally poison an audience that is already quite sick to begin with if they are even watching.
Who wants to model someone who can take delight in the mistakes of others? Who wants to live their lives vicariously as “powerful judges” of performance art who have the influence to send an entertainer to either to the “glory” of
The ultimate message is one in which judgment is glorified as something that gives those who judge power. But wait! In the last episode of the season, the audience will get to judge. The audience will have the power to damn or to elevate. It will have been trained by the show’s judges to be cold, merciless and petty.
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In this sick world in which we live, we have allowed our governments, most of our religions and our entertainment media do more than just judge us. We have allowed them to bleed us of our self-respect, our dignity and our true power by making their ideas about what is important in life more important than our own beliefs.
What is true power? Some would have you think that it has to do with making someone else look smaller so they, themselves, can look bigger. Others may tell you that power has to do with manipulation, bank balances, the kind of car you drive or your ability and willingness to instill guilt or elicit fear. Real power has nothing to do with any of that. It is, at depth, only about loving response and being loving.
My challenge to you is to simply be aware of the kinds of activities and entertainments that pretend to entertain and empower but that really are sucking your energy, depleting your desire to exercise true and loving power.
I believe that we are all here in our lifetimes to realize our loving nature and our Oneness. Watching heartless television programming sends us down a very unproductive path. What path do you intend to be on?
Life is full of propaganda, from news media, from our governments, from our religions and from our entertainment sources. The time has come to be aware of propaganda that is dangerous and destructive, and to identify with the heart and it's loving propaganda. With consistent awareness, the practice of Heart Propaganda can set one free from the self-imposed prison of false, self-destructive belief. What this entails is a clarity about what you truly believe along with the commitment to feed yourself these truths frequently and regularly. This is what the various tools available on the Your Pause Button website is all about.
Feeding one’s brain with the kind of toxic crap found on “
In choosing, rather, to live a more enlightened life and to help create a better, harmonious world, focus on what you intend to create. It is destructive to focus on what you want to avoid. Envisioning regularly and frequently a loving world is a powerful step in the creation of that world. Let's create it together.
