Entertainment Through Other's Misery

The other night I was flossing my teeth and flipping through TV channels when I came upon one of those crime shows featured on a network news channel.

On this particular night, the host was on-site at a crime scene, where a gruesome murder took place. The host was walking around the site interviewing the lead detective.

The host asked, "Was blood found here?" Then the host asked again, "And did the luminal test show blood?" And it went on and on. "Blood here?" "Blood there?"

After a few moments of this, I got to thinking, "Do I really need to be watching this?"

And then I thought, "Well, somebody sure needs to look at this. A terrible crime took place. The victim and the family need justice. Someone needs to examine the evidence. God sure sees it all."

Then I wondered: "But what about the dignity of the victim and the families? They are suffering badly. Why is it necessary for me to see this evidence?"

The TV show isn't sleazy. It's well respected. And I like the host. But the program left me feeling like I was looking at something that wasn't any of my business.

It was entertainment through other's misery.

I turned it off.