Chances are really good that you have either heard someone sneeze already today or have done so yourself. ‘Tis the season for ragweed and pollen and all manner of allergic reactions. Although I used to suffer miserably, I’m thankful to say that my late summers and early falls are much more enjoyable these days.
Why the difference? Have the latest and greatest pharmaceutical formulations delivered clearer sinuses or have I moved to a less infested area? Actually, none of these are factors but rather a series of allergy shots I received a couple decades ago.
After visiting an allergist and undergoing testing, formulations of serum were developed and injected into my body that gradually built immunity to my main triggers. Although it was inconvenient at times to visit the physician for the regular shots, the benefits today made it all worthwhile!
The basic premise of this regimen, as I understand it, is to start with very low doses of the allergens and increase them over time. This allows the body to develop its own resistance and build up the immune system so that it can withstand the annual autumn assaults. If the full dose was administered first, the body would respond so violently that not only would it not yield any benefit, but it could permanently harm the patient.
This treatment routine reminds me of what has happened to our sensibilities regarding nudity, profanity, and offensiveness in the media. On February 5, 1969, ABC aired its first episode of what they planned to be a new comedy. After having been rejected by CBS and NBC, the new offering, Turn On, began at 8:30pm. After just a few minutes, however, several stations abruptly blanked the show because of numerous calls from irate viewers. Future episodes were immediately cancelled and many stations in western time zones never even aired it after hearing from their eastern colleagues.
What was so offensive about this program? Although it included popular comedians and actors, its primary focus was sexual humor. With skits, jokes, and innuendo, line after line was so blatantly disgusting that the vast majority of its audience immediately turned the program off. It went down as one of the epic failures in all of television history.
Ironically, that first episode of Turn On that was discontinued so quickly is now exceptionally tame compared to the regular fare of primetime offerings on virtually all networks every evening. What Americans violently reacted to fifty years ago we now swallow without hesitation. How did this happen?
It happened the same way I developed immunity to allergens: little by little. Hollywood learned a sharp lesson with Turn On and rather than trying to bulldoze America’s sensitive and respectable audience, it went to work injecting us with very small doses of the same serum. Instead of overtly racy humor, a mild joke was inserted here and a veiled innuendo was included there.
Future programming included ever more risqué content and by progressive degrees we were desensitized to the filth that was being pumped into our living rooms each evening. What we once vomited out in 1969, we came to eagerly gulp down and laugh at. What motivated us to call the stations 49 years ago, we now willingly ingest in much higher doses.
While we may point at the producers and actors for such a clever strategy and curse the entertainment industry for polluting our minds, we have no one to blame but ourselves. Like my allergy shots, we have subjected ourselves to this poisonous fare night after night cheerfully drinking at Hollywood’s fountain. No one has forced us to watch, listen, or change our values. We’ve done it completely voluntarily.
While I’m not naïve enough to believe that we are likely to return to 1969 standards anytime soon, I do pray that those of us who claim to follow Jesus will use a very powerful tool virtually unknown then, the remote, and change channels when they spews ideas, language, or content that dishonors our Lord. I pray that we will insulate our families and ourselves from the tsunami of evil that pours forth hour by hour and day by day and that we will invite God to reshape our sensitivities to match His own. Instead of turning it on, the wisest decision is often to turn it off.
Blessings, George