TV Not Teaching Courtesy

The Royal Bank Letter, published in Canada, recently discussed the subject of courtesy and the need for it. However, it pointed out that television is not teaching people courtesy: “Even children whose parents remain old-fashioned enough not to savage each other in front of the children stand to be influenced the wrong way by the bad form they witness on television. The tart-tongued anti-heroes and insult-slinging comedians on the tube offer no guidance in the prime purpose of courtesy, which is to make people feel at ease. Sports celebrities reveal themselves to be egotistical boors, while TV commentators in that field spread the message that winning by fair means or foul is all that matters. Interviewers on public affairs programs grill their subjects​—or their victims—​with a maximum of pugnacity and a minimum of grace. It is all part of a peculiarly aggressive and argumentative age, and aggressiveness and argumentativeness are the enemies of courtesy.”

The Bible foretold this “aggressive and argumentative age,” saying that in the “last days” of this system of things men would be ‘self-assuming, haughty, not open to agreement, without self-control, fierce, headstrong, puffed up with pride.’ (2 Timothy 3:1-5) On the other hand, it is refreshing to be with those who follow the Bible’s counsel to “become kind to one another, tenderly compassionate,” and thus always act in a courteous way.​—Ephesians 4:32.