Simply put, Reality TV is a boot camp, training ground for the vices. It is not only unbecoming of the dignity of man, but it will also contribute greatly to his undoing as well. Reality TV truly is the equivalent of a spiritual poison and individuals will be the lesser for consuming it. And, since society is made up of individuals, it too will suffer as a result of the soul-icide concoction of Reality TV.

The recent Balloon Boy spectacle is but the tip of a very large iceberg. Here we witnessed the exploitation of a child, the media, and the public in an effort to sensationalize a family enough to warrant some network granting this family a reality show of their very own. Yes, the behavior of the family is shocking, but it’s no less shocking than the public’s appetite for these kinds of television shows. As the old saying goes, it takes two to tango and the deadly vices are very much a collaboration of efforts. It’s like Dancing with the Stars, but in this case the stars are the fallen angels . . . your tango partner is none other than Wormwood, co-star of the Screwtape Letters.

So, what’s the main toxin in Reality TV? It’s the age old vice of envy, which these days is either largely misunderstood or watered down so much as to be almost unrecognizable. The loss of the genuine meaning of envy greases the wheels of Reality TV; people in general are that much more susceptible because of it.

We are prone to misusing the word “envy” in everyday speech. For example, to say that we envy someone often indicates admiration or some form of innocuous, congenial longing for someone else’s condition or good fortune. “I envy your plumb job!” and “What a nice car . . . I’m envious!” are just a couple of pretty common utterances. That’s too bad, because it takes the punch out of the word “envy” and therefore makes us more prone to real, genuine envy of the deadly vice variety.

Envy is the state of being where I not only covet the good either possessed or inherent in another, but I also seek or wish its destruction because I don’t have it. It is the natural consequences of radical egalitarianism. It is basically the longing that everyone else be beneath me or, at the very least, precisely at my level . . . up to and including God. Like most vices, envy is also a false promise. It is Captain Ahab’s white whale; it’s the alchemist’s potential gold in a lump of dull lead. The envious will never fully achieve their desires. It is contrary to the way the world really works.

Although Reality TV may not be the big jackpot of envy, it serves up a quick fix of envy and keeps its unwitting customers coming back for more. The entertainment value in watching others belittle themselves or in watching others’ misfortunes lies in envy’s wish to place all others beneath oneself. After all, how long would a show about a functional and loving family really last? If love, goodness, and truth were to triumph in each and every episode of a Reality TV program, that would be anathema to envy which hates and wills for the destruction of good in others for no other reason than the envious do not have it.

So, what does this have to do with politics? Envy lies at the very root of socialism, which threatens our country in the age of Obama. I’ll wager good money that the infamous Obama rally lady who notoriously stated that Obama will pay her mortgage and buy her gas is a rank lover of Reality TV. I’ll bet that those who hate vouchers and love only public education are big fans of reality TV. I speculate that those who support government control over the salaries of banking officials or auto execs never missed an episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8. Reality TV is one of the opiates (if I can borrow the term) that primes the public mindset for an expansion of government courtesy of us vs. them . . . where “us” stands for the capitalist or the Christian or conservatives in general.

If you happen to absolutely love Reality TV, then you’ll probably find this post disagreeable to say the least.  Who, after all, wants to be told they are engaging in a deadly sin when that sin seems so innocuous and so gosh darn entertaining. After reading this post, you may even regard me as full of it . . . perhaps sanctimonious . . . maybe even unrealistic. Heck, it’s just a show, right? Well, I’ll just leave you with a quote from St. Paul . . . for I could never improve on what he said:

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (Philippians 4:8)

Modern translation? Change the channel.