Trash TV

ACCORDING to reports in British media, a Pakistani prime-time television show called Amaan Ramazan, aired on the Geo News channel, has given away abandoned babies (most of them female) to childless couple contestants during the holy month of Ramadan.



The Daily Mail reported that game show host Aamir Liaquat Hussain told the studio audience during one of the episodes, “This is a beautiful girl who was thrown on a pile of garbage by somebody. See how beautiful and innocent she is?” The baby was then handed over to a childless couple by Muhammad Ramzan Chhipa, who runs the Chhipa Welfare Association. “We have a lot of babies that are just abandoned, left in garbage or other dirty places,” Chhipa said. “Often we just find the bodies so our message that we make is to tell people to bring their babies to us, don’t just leave them.”



Obviously the adults in the programme are concerned about the welfare of these babies, and it is certainly better to end up adopted in a family, of whatever type, than to end one’s days prematurely in a rubbish heap. Still, babies are not prizes to be handed over to any couple that manages to win a contest! The question, therefore, arises, how can people allow babies to be placed on a ‘list’ to be given away as prizes?



Various humanitarian organisations have complained about the programme, but I fear that matters won’t change much in the near future in that country, seeing that Christian and other religious minorities are targeted almost on a daily basis and that even UNICEF, with all its clout, is having such a hard time in persuading the Pakistanis to accept help and instruction.

In this particular incident it is Pakistani TV that has lost face. However, a closer look at our own (Western) television channels reveals that, after all, our programmes are not much better.



Who would ever have thought that in beautiful Holland, the land of delightful tulips and eco-friendly bicycles, a reality show would be aired in which two of the protagonists ate their own human flesh? From the reports I have read the two contestants both underwent surgery to have a small portion of their muscles removed. They then fried each other’s flesh and ate it right in front of the appalled studio audience.



And what of ‘progressive’ Britain with its programme Drugs Live? The controversial show, which aired last year, saw 25 volunteers, including a vicar and actor Keith Allen, took ecstasy under controlled medical conditions to examine its effects on the brain. Fortunately, the programme aroused fierce criticism, with many accusing the documentary of being a ratings-grabbing advert for a Class A drug and demanded its termination.



Italian television doesn’t fare much better. It has, in fact, gained an international reputation of being gross and filled with female nudity. It is often associated with former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who owns three of the seven main TV channels.

Worthy of mention in this sad list is also the long running programme The Jerry Springer Show, which is still reaping great success across the United States and elsewhere. With the excuse that the tabloid talk show deals with the daily issues of life, the programme is, in actual fact, a perfect example of trash TV, with many episodes containing a staple of swearing, slapping, punching, chair throwing and other forms of verbal and physical abuse.



The Lord has given us the capacity of discerning good from evil, right from wrong. Therefore, we should always choose programs that are interesting, thought-provoking or uplifting. If you want your children to learn, among other things, how to treat and respect others, the sanctity of life and a positive view of sexuality in marriage, then avoid watching programs that show the exact opposite. Naturally, it’s our duty to protest when TV channels are doing something that is morally reprehensible, but we should do this with gentleness, love, passion and, above all, humility, remembering that no one puts on shows unless they get an audience. So if we switch over or switch off, trash TV will die. And if it does, the world will be a better place.