How many hours a day do we watch television? According to a recent report by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, here is what they found:

Watching TV was the leisure activity that occupied the most time (2.7 hours per day), accounting for just over half of leisure time, on average, for those age 15 and over. The amount of time people spent watching TV varied by age. Those ages 15 to 44 spent the least amount of time watching TV, averaging around 2.0 hours per day, and those ages 65 and over spent the most time watching TV, averaging over 4.0 hours per day.

Now, what is even worse is that when we watch TV we spend almost 1/3 of our TV time watching commercials.

So, why do I say we are being set up? It’s because the commercials are so stupid, so inane and condescending to males and females that I believe it destroys brain cells!

OK, maybe it’s not all that bad, but think about the kind of messages these commercials are sending to us, and believe me when I say that because we see them so often they are affecting us, even if we don’t know it.

For the Record: one thing I learned in all the years I was a Salesman is this: if you tell people something often enough, no matter how ridiculous it sounds, after a while they will believe it.

Let’s take some examples:

1. Burger King with the two Whoppers for $6.00 shows a man who opens the bag and sees he has 2 Whoppers. What does he do? He looks around, then closes the bag and pretends he doesn’t know he has an extra Whopper. It may seem funny, but the message it sends is that it is OK to steal if no one knows you did it. The bible tells us if we see something that belongs to our neighbor we are to protect it until we can return it to him (Deuteronomy 22:1), and that we shouldn’t steal (one of the Big Ten.)
2. A Hot Wheels commercial shows a mother and son driving a hot Mustang and trying to jump a span across a ravine with a washed out bridge. When the car crashes, they are just really playing in the living room with the toy cars. The message of the commercial is that hot wheels toys help children to face the challenges in life. Really? Do you believe that your son or daughter will grow up self-determined, confident and have a strong moral center because they played with Hot Wheels cars?  The message is so condescending and inane, yet I don’t doubt there are parents who might actually think playing with toys will make their children morally upright. The bible tells us differently- Proverbs 22:6 says to bring a child up knowing right from wrong and they will always return to it.
3. Have you seen those ridiculous commercials for Icebreakers?  The man eats an Icebreaker mint and suddenly is riding a Unicorn through the office to gain a promotion. Stupid! Or the one where the woman asks for 3 weeks vacation, is told two is the standard, so she pops an Icebreaker in her mouth and a Unicorn appears, rears up and crashes through the office glass wall; as she pets and kisses the horse, she says she is not standard and wants three weeks, which the manager automatically agrees to. What message can this be (other than advertisers are using more drugs than ever before)? It is that a candy mint can give you the confidence to succeed. In other words, you can succeed with something other than hard work, dedication and loyalty. Can you see how the mint can easily be exchanged for an amulet, or a token, or some other item indicating witchcraft?

I know this sounds a little far-fetched, and maybe even somewhat paranoid, but I don’t think it is. I have seen too many people who are mesmerized by TV, even to the point where they are almost in a trance-like state while watching. I know because I am often like that, myself! And when we are in these states of brain-dead, zombie-like stupors, we receive these subliminal messages that we are stupid, that stealing is OK, that things can help us get what we want:  do you see now what I am talking about?

When we accept the commercials without thinking about the real messages they send, we are being set up to accept the more serious and sinful messages the enemy will want us to receive. We will want something, and someone, somewhere, sometime will show us a lucky rabbits foot, or an amulet, or something else that empowers us to get what we want.  And we won’t think about what it really represents, which is witchcraft, because we know it is OK to accept it ; we know that because subconsciously we have seen it done over and over and over, somewhere (maybe on TV?) and the person was OK.

Do you recall what Shaul (Paul) calls Satan? He is called the “Prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2), and how is TV transmitted? That’s right- through the air.

I may be a little over concerned, I’ll admit to that, but I do not think I am that far off base. I am not suggesting you throw your TV out the window or shoot the Satellite dish off your roof with your favorite shotgun, but I do suggest that you pay more attention (or maybe I should say less attention) to the commercials. And especially if you have kids watching- maybe ridicule the commercials and show the child how silly and imbecile they are. Ask the kid if he or she really thinks people are that naive? Teach your self and your children to analyse what the commercial is saying, and not accept that this is real life in any way, shape or form.

The thing that is worse than these commercials is that we watch them, thoughtlessly, with our minds open to suggestion. That’s when the devil sneaks in the open window in the back of our brains.

Hey… it’s OK to watch TV, to enjoy the movies and shows, but just to be safe turn off the sound when the commercials come on, or direct your attention elsewhere.

Better safe than suckered into taking the Mark one day because it was presented as the Happy Meal toy of the week.