Electronic Media Negative Effects On Religion And Education

Intro:

Paragraph 1 Religion:

Electronic media most negatively affects religion and education.

Electronic media has drastically changed how we view and practice religion. By televising religion, we will start to view religion as something profane rather than something special and sacred to our lives. Postman begins his argument by stating, “Everything that makes religion an historic, profound, and sacred human activity is stripped away; there is no ritual, no dogma, no tradition, no theology, and above all no sense of spiritual transcendence. On these shows, the preacher is tops. God comes out as second banana” (Postman 116-117). Television has degraded and is transforming religion into something unimportant. Each time a religious service was

People viewing these programs can simply change the channel or leave the room once they get bored or are unamused. Televising religious ceremonies or services is religion at risk of turning it into something just to entertain society rather than teaching society with morals and lessons on life. Postman references the executive director of the National Religious Broadcasters Association, “‘You can get your share of the audience only by offering people something they want’” (Postman 121). Although television is a great way to reach out to people, it is does not give people what they need from religion, only what they want. Therefore, the message the preachers try to convey will be lost because the delivery is not the same. Preachers on TV believe that doing the same thing they do in a church or religious service can be done on TV without losing the message or religious experience. The preachers in these religious programs are usually very good looking to appeal more to the audience more. Again, giving people what they want rather what they need. The preacher’s

In our society, today, we can learn a lot from television; however, we cannot interact with a television like how we interact with each other. Postman uses a well-known example of a children’s show, Sesame Street, to highlight his argument of why the learning from another human is superior than learning from a TV program. Postman begins his argument, “We now know that ‘Sesame Street’ encourages children to love school only if school is like ‘Sesame Street’. Which is to say, we now know that ‘Sesame Street’ undermines what the traditional idea of school represents. Whereas a classroom is a place of social interaction, the space in front of a television set is a private preserve” (Postman 143). Although we know Sesame Street encourages our children to love school, it really encourages our children to love television. Our schools are becoming increasingly like the educational programs on TV because parents expose their child from a young age to these educational program; therefore, the child will be expecting school to be like the TV program they watch at home. And at home, they are not socializing with their teachers or fellow classmates. Just because a child knows how to do math, read, and write, does not mean the child is fully and completely educated. For example, a computer can only have so many programed