I originally wrote this piece in 2005. Did it come true?

James 4:8 (KJV) “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”

I’m getting old. This realization came abruptly to me today as I discovered I no longer have a clue as to what people mean when they say things. For instance, though I no longer watch television (quite frankly, the stuff I’ve seen on it frightens me), I keep up with the news. When I came across a news report that CBS was canceling a nominally Christian show called “Joan of Arcadia” and replacing it with a disturbingly ocultic show called “The Ghost Whisperer” I wasn’t surprised. The electronic media, particularly the big television networks, have done little to promote the Kingdom of God on this earth. What puzzled me was the statement that the head of CBS (Leslie Moonves) made to explain their decision. He said :

“I think talking to ghosts will skew younger than talking to God.”

Think about that statement for a minute and grow old with me. I know what all the words in that sentence mean, but I, quite frankly, didn’t understand HOW those words fit together. “Skew younger”? I thought perhaps the man – certainly a well educated man – was misquoted. So I researched his words and found out that he said exactly what he was quoted as saying. What does it mean to “skew younger”? I looked up the definition to “skew” in every dictionary I could find, and found that it meant:

“to slightly adjust, to twist, to slant an object in one direction, to make crooked, to set at an angle or to turn from a path”

That’s what I thought it meant. Next I looked up the words “skewing show” on the Internet and found the phrases “male-skewing show”; “oldest-skewing show”; “female-skewing show”; and “adult-skewing show”. Hmmm. If “skew” means what the dictionaries say, and the television networks are using this word with various groups of viewers, then I can begin to understand what Moonves meant when he said “I think talking to ghosts will skew younger than talking to God”. A show about talking to ghosts will twist more young people off the path of life and cause them to be focused on this television network. CBS has targeted our young people with it’s show “Ghost Whisperer”, and believes that this show – a show about a woman who converses with the dead – will hook more viewers than the canceled show. And I’m sure it will – though I’m surprised that a CBS executive would come right out and say it.

For years people have, for the most part, fallen in love with television and out of love with prayer and the Bible. The average person spends about 4 hours a day watching television. Does this have an impact? Absolutely! The television networks are busily developing shows that “skew” selected audiences, twisting their minds, drawing them away from God and toward anything that will add to the bank accounts of these executives. What impact do these shows have on our America? Sunday used to be a day dedicated to God, and Sunday morning was a time when most people attended Church services to love one another and worship Him. Now that we’ve been “skewed” many people think that God will smile and look the other way when we pull our children from Church so they can participate in sports activities. “Skewed” young people are taught foul language, poor morality, and a “me first” attitude. “Skewed” people live together outside of Biblical marriage, proudly aborting the product of their unions as just so much tissue. In short, television has “skewed” the conscience of this nation, and it will only get worse – unless we return to God our Savior. We must draw near to “God, Who so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son” (John 3:16). If you draw near to God He will draw near to you. He will grow in your heart, teaching you to love your neighbor. He will show you the path of joy is not in things, but in surrendered living for Jesus Christ our Lord. He will show you peace in the midst of the storm, and eternal life – if you turn to Jesus Christ for salvation. The choice, dear friends, is yours. Choose wisely, for your actions at this time will not only determine your eternity, it will also determine your America tomorrow.

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