"The main reason to be discerning with media is this: Jesus teaches it," Blythe said. "He has told us to be 'as wise as serpents' in all aspects of our lives - and we know what a large part of our life is affected by media messages."
Referring to Jesus' parable of the weeds and the wheat, Blythe said discernment "is our harvest tool" and helps us distinguish between "useful information" and "throw-away information."
Blythe said many people today "cannot tell the difference between news and entertainment." She said polls indicate that a large percentage of "twentysomething" American males get most of their information about presidential candidates from "The Daily Show," a fake news show starring comedian Jon Stewart.
Discernment will also help us be aware of social injustices in the media, Blythe said - such as the absence of Asian and Native American characters on U.S. television and the effect on programming of pressure exerted on media outlets to make profits for their owners, an ever-shrinking number of large corporations.
To illustrate a process for discernment, Blythe showed clips from the television programs "Without a Trace" and "Joan of Arcadia," and the films "American Beauty" and "K-PAX."
The final step in discerning, she said, is "determining whether this media experience was life-giving for you." She said this process led her to a decision not to watch films containing graphic violence.
Blythe, a former broadcast journalist, became interested in theological analysis of the media as a student at San Francisco Theological Seminary. She has recently become the editor of the media- and book-review section of Presbyterians Today magazine, and also produces online study guides on "Joan of Arcadia" for the PC(USA) magazine. She is also a spiritual director and works as a liturgist and retreat leader at Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson, AZ. |
