Thursday, December 18, 2008

What's the real reason for digital TV?

Last night I turned on WVCY-TV, our wonderful local Christian station, and saw a message to this effect: "Do you receive TV via antenna? Call this number for information about digital TV ..."

I have been wondering for months why we need digital TV transmission. Don't we have more pressing needs in this country? Never mind that this change could be financially crippling for non-profit, non-gov't-supported stations like WVCY-TV; most people don’t care about that. But aren't children in this country going to bed hungry? Aren’t people going without medical care because they have no health insurance? Aren't we all just one paycheck away from being homeless, as Bill Clinton famously warned?

Our federal government's DTV web site gives the following reasons for mandating this enormous expense and, for many Americans, not-so-minor inconvenience:

1. To give us a clearer picture (It's more important to have a clear picture of the latest greatest slasher and sex shows than it is to allow small independent stations to survive? Besides, we now have a digital TV picture in our home; it looks no different to me and the Packers are still losing, so what good is it?)

2. To give us more programming options (I thought the goal was to get Americans, kids especially, to watch less TV? Why do we need more programming options?)

3. To free up airwaves for use by emergency responders (Hmmm. I'd never heard we had a problem with this. Are we running out of frequencies?)

It certainly can’t be a question of reliability, as anyone with digital phone service will be happy to tell you.

I have toyed with the idea that this mandate was designed to crush Christian TV, but that doesn’t really make sense – our government’s going to do that much more easily and cheaply by restoring the Fairness (sic) Doctrine. Once that passes, it may be all over not only for Christian TV, but also profitable (i.e. conservative) talk radio. Welcome back, Carter!

What sense does this make?

But now, having seen this notice about "Do you receive TV through antenna?" it becomes a little clearer: Antennas use the airwaves ... and no one can really control the airwaves, as Radio Free Europe proved.

So now we will get all our televised information via a new kind of transmission infrastructure.

How tough would it be for a democratically-elected tyrant to get control of this new system, at the first whiff of national crisis? And is it true that whoever controls the news controls us?

Consider what Pravda did to the Soviet Union, with its “truth is whatever is good for the Party” approach to news reporting; could that happen to us?

It's not that I think this is a conspiracy of men -- I don't. I think that it’s all Satan, and that he is using, for his own purposes, gullible people who don’t have a clue what they’re really promoting.

Suddenly Revelation 11:9 becomes even clearer: For three-and-a-half days, the whole world will see the dead bodies of the two witnesses in Jerusalem – because there won’t be anything else on TV, and most of us just can’t bear to turn it off!

And as my niece just reminded me, this may give new illumination to Ephesians 2:2’s description of Satan as the prince of the power of the air.

Crazy idea? Or a germ of the truth? Guess we’ll find out soon enough.

1 comment:

. said...

Right-on Kitty! At the very least digital is just another way for some folks to make the big bucks, but at the most it is shady and non-sensical. BUT, we have no TV reception at our house and REFUSE to pay for cable, so we're currently in the dark and will be doubly in the dark once everything goes digital. Oh well, thank God He's our light so tv, digital or not, is not necessary in our home!

Keep writing....I love your thoughts!
Shan in Colorado