According to a national survey (1998) the average American watches 3 hours and 46 minutes of television each day! That same survey states that 98% of U.S. households have at least one television. 66% of Americans regularly watch TV while eating dinner. 49% of Americans say they watch too much TV. Average number of hours the TV set is on during the day: 7 hrs., 12 minutes.

Many of you know the drill, you come home searching for something to do, so you sit down and decide to flip on the television. With your body on the sofa and your thumb on the remote control you flip through the channels hoping to find something that will titillate your senses, make you laugh, stir your emotions etc. Thus, we pass precious time doing nothing more than sitting, breathing, and watching flashing dots on a glass window.

Just like hockey in Minnesota and basketball in Indiana, movies in Southern California serve as the locus of culture and entertainment. Opening night at AMC is filled with lively crowds and focused audiences deeply engaging themselves in the cinematic experience. Many Christians—myself included—go to the theater, as movies provide a happy diversion from life. Yet, if unchecked, our cinematic experience can corrupt our consciences, whet our appetites for sin, and implant thoughts and images that will defile our purity.