It's strange the things that bother you. I felt very defensive yesterday over something which I wouldn't have expected to get defensive over - a children's TV show that isn't Doctor Who.
My lovely little daughter seems to really like a CBBC show called Waybuloo. I was looking to see whether I could maybe buy her a toy of something from the programme when I happened upon a letter of complaint about the programme. Please read it before reading on:
Note, the author took their page down, but here is a snapshot of it for reference.
That's my daughter's favourite TV show, and he's complaining about some spurious New Age agenda that he claims it has. I couldn't stop myself from commenting. My comment is below, since there's no guarantee that it will get through his moderation process. Indeed, he seems the sort of person for whom reasoned debate is considered a luxury.
I subsequently read more of his site, and he seems to be a strangely conflicted individual. On the one hand he's an IT person, writing very competently about the logical world of computers, on the other hand he's a Christian preacher, explaining how science must be wrong, because it disagrees with the Bible. He's not quite the full-blown extremist hell-fire and brimstone preacher, but he relies on logical fallacies and special pleading to explain how the Bible can be literally right and that science is not to be believed.
We all have our crosses to bear (no pun intended) and I suspect that he's had a number of tests to his faith. I expect that it's difficult to hold onto your beliefs when they're challenged both by life and by logic, so the only way to keep that thin grasp and handle the cognitive dissonance is to demonstrate that faith even more. While you're moving forwards, you don't need to look back.
So by fighting against a silly animated TV show, this guy gets to demonstrate his commitment to a flawed cause.
And by commenting on his blog, I get to defend my decision to sit as enraptured as my daughter, watching a CGI world of Piplings and Cheebies, with cloying music and bad child acting.
My lovely little daughter seems to really like a CBBC show called Waybuloo. I was looking to see whether I could maybe buy her a toy of something from the programme when I happened upon a letter of complaint about the programme. Please read it before reading on:
Note, the author took their page down, but here is a snapshot of it for reference.
 |
| Click to read |
That's my daughter's favourite TV show, and he's complaining about some spurious New Age agenda that he claims it has. I couldn't stop myself from commenting. My comment is below, since there's no guarantee that it will get through his moderation process. Indeed, he seems the sort of person for whom reasoned debate is considered a luxury.
Are you seriously complaining about Waybuloo? Is this a joke? What’s your objection to the trinkets of Zen/New Age mysticism?
If this programme were a genuine attempt to convert children to religious thinking, I would be right on your side, but it’s not. It’s a calming tone-poem of a programme where nothing much happens and there’s lots of music and sparkly things, with a vague story relating to something bland like sharing your toys, or helping each other.
To suggest that there’s a political agenda is as ridiculous as to suggest that a pound shop is trying to make people into drug takers by selling joss sticks.
What’s your political agenda? Are you fundamentalist about religion in some way? Do you think that anything with symbols from a particular culture is somehow damaging?
As for whether Yoga is new age or whether it’s just a way of relaxing with no belief system, I’d refer you to the majority of classes out there which have more to do with the toning of the muscles than the alignment of the soul.
I’m impressed that these watchdogs even dignified your email with a response?
Or are you actually winding everyone up?
If this programme were a genuine attempt to convert children to religious thinking, I would be right on your side, but it’s not. It’s a calming tone-poem of a programme where nothing much happens and there’s lots of music and sparkly things, with a vague story relating to something bland like sharing your toys, or helping each other.
To suggest that there’s a political agenda is as ridiculous as to suggest that a pound shop is trying to make people into drug takers by selling joss sticks.
What’s your political agenda? Are you fundamentalist about religion in some way? Do you think that anything with symbols from a particular culture is somehow damaging?
As for whether Yoga is new age or whether it’s just a way of relaxing with no belief system, I’d refer you to the majority of classes out there which have more to do with the toning of the muscles than the alignment of the soul.
I’m impressed that these watchdogs even dignified your email with a response?
Or are you actually winding everyone up?
I subsequently read more of his site, and he seems to be a strangely conflicted individual. On the one hand he's an IT person, writing very competently about the logical world of computers, on the other hand he's a Christian preacher, explaining how science must be wrong, because it disagrees with the Bible. He's not quite the full-blown extremist hell-fire and brimstone preacher, but he relies on logical fallacies and special pleading to explain how the Bible can be literally right and that science is not to be believed.
We all have our crosses to bear (no pun intended) and I suspect that he's had a number of tests to his faith. I expect that it's difficult to hold onto your beliefs when they're challenged both by life and by logic, so the only way to keep that thin grasp and handle the cognitive dissonance is to demonstrate that faith even more. While you're moving forwards, you don't need to look back.
So by fighting against a silly animated TV show, this guy gets to demonstrate his commitment to a flawed cause.
And by commenting on his blog, I get to defend my decision to sit as enraptured as my daughter, watching a CGI world of Piplings and Cheebies, with cloying music and bad child acting.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home