On Much-Knowledge and Idle Curiosity
Reading the teachings of the holy fathers, one cannot cease to marvel that what they said many centuries ago is addressed also to us who live today. Only technology and means of passing the time have changed; our essence has remained the same.
In conversations with various people, this problem has been discussed repeatedly, and it continues to arise before us again and again. It cannot be said that this topic is so important that everything must be abandoned to focus on it alone. Without a doubt, there are other, more pressing problems. But I would like to discuss this theme by means of comparisons and characteristic examples from our present reality.
“Let the hearing of worldly news be as bitter as wormwood to thee, but the words of venerable men be to thee as honeycombs.”
– St. Basil the Great
It is mid-June, yet the sun is scarcely seen; it is cold. In the garden beds, the carefully weeded and loosened greenery, tended by a diligent mistress, grows poorly. The basil has barely emerged from the ground, shriveled from the cold and turned quite blue, awaiting the sun. This plant reminds me of our souls: just as small, shriveled, utterly blue, exhausted, oppressed by the cold of self-will and pride, and likewise failing to grow. There is no joy over us from our spiritual father; there is little joy even from fellowship with one another. Coldness.
The sun we lack, that gives us strength for spiritual growth, is the Holy Scripture, the teachings, the exhortations, the counsels. All is systematized, published, beautifully bound, and lying on the shelves at home, in the church, in the bookstore. Feed thy soul, warm thyself, grow, bring joy to others, and rejoice thyself! But we have no time—we are preoccupied with the cold, painstakingly scrutinizing: is it warmer in the neighbor’s garden bed? Or over there, at the end of the garden? No? It is bad everywhere! We cannot grow. What then hinders our spiritual growth?
Each day brings a multitude of events and impressions, only to be replaced by another, no less saturated day. One week replaces another; it passes, and the life allotted to us by God for something great and significant melts away in time. We expect this greatness to come later, in the future, without noticing the present vanishing with every second. Let us, for a moment, halt the whirlwind of events and attempt to look impartially at ourselves: what are we occupied with? Upon what do we spend the energies of our soul?
Here is a parishioner with a gray beard, deeply emotional as he relives yesterday’s news. Disdaining the television, he listens to them on the radio. Astonished and very distressed, he shares them with another parishioner. The latter, also troubled, sits in brooding silence…
Respectable men deliberate thoughtfully about tomorrow, trying to predict the consequences of the latest events. What will happen tomorrow, in a year? Their hearts are heavy. Problems in the family, problems at work, problems in the country… For television enthusiasts, problems will be added from Iraq, India, Afghanistan. Becoming engrossed in the news, filling our souls with it, we fail to notice a certain pattern in how it is presented. One might think that life, by nature, alternates: sorrow is followed by joy, after misfortune comes happiness, after a dark stretch a bright one. But turn on the television or radio, open a newspaper or magazine: the government deceives once again, there a robbery, here a shooting, a stabbing, an arson. Everywhere thieves and bandits, assailants. And tomorrow will be worse than yesterday. One recalls the logical reflection: “If the stars are lit, does it not mean that someone needs it?” Who then needs to spread such darkness in such doses? It seems to me that any reasonable Orthodox Christian can answer this question. The deceitful prince of this world offers a corresponding spiritual brew. Need we partake of this deceitful spiritual food?
I am conversing with an old acquaintance, a woman of quite respectable years, a lawyer at an industrial enterprise. We are speaking about faith, Orthodoxy, about the old and new rites. We are clarifying our attachments, comparing our understanding of the meaning and purpose of life—a conversation between two well-acquainted people who have not seen each other for a long time.
“I really like being in church, especially the singing. But, to my shame, I seldom go—I just don’t have enough free time.”
“Have you tried throwing away the television?”
I am curious how much time people, who claim they lack free time, sacrifice daily to this idol, and naturally, I ask this question to everyone in that situation.
She ponders briefly, then, realizing what I mean, begins to justify herself:
“I only watch ‘Field of Miracles.’ And the news. I like the show ‘The Big Laundry’ too.”
“Do you need that?”
“It’s so informative! Besides, I need to stay informed about what’s happening around me.”
I attempt to clarify whether there is even the slightest doubt about the value of spending time this way. The clear gaze, the unshakable conviction in the educational worth and benefit of spending time sitting (or lying) before the television, reveal that these popular talk shows have their fans in every age group. Our conversation gradually fades. We part, feeling a certain dissatisfaction, the kind that usually arises when interlocutors differ sharply in opinion. Just a moment ago we were discussing something with great interest, and suddenly we discovered a diametrical approach to one and the same problem.
But the subject that provoked our mutual misunderstanding is worth pursuing further. If one peels away the outward showiness and glitter of these broadcasts, what remains is the following.
The sociologist, academician L.A. Kitaev-Smyk, clearly unsympathetic to the current fascination that has seized the minds and time of most Russian citizens, remarks:
“I will give what at first glance seems a harmless example. Today, crossword puzzles and television games like ‘Field of Miracles’ are very popular. These forms of leisure are presented as intellectual. In reality, knowledge that expands the intellect must be systematized. Only by acquiring knowledge in a structured way, from simple to complex, do we truly train our minds. In contrast, scattered facts—the basis of all these crosswords and talk shows—do not aid intellectual development. More than that, they inflict serious harm on some. It is not accidental that in certain forms of oligophrenia, consciousness is fragmented. A person possesses a collection of scattered facts but understands none of their substance.”
These words of the academician brought to mind an event from several years ago. One day, an interesting little fellow came up to me and, with humor and wordplay, began to speak. I stood and listened attentively. Just at the most interesting point, his narrative abruptly broke off. Without changing his tone or facial expression, he began a new story, then another, and yet another… (I suspected he was a sick man. Later, my suspicions were confirmed.) A well-trained, pleasant male voice. For some reason, I thought he might have made a good television announcer.
In just the same fragmented manner, almost all radio and television programs are now constructed. And with every passing year, the broadcasts become ever shorter and more incoherent. With a well-trained, pleasant voice, they present the news: first, they report that someone was shot somewhere; then, how the world’s largest cake was baked and eaten; next, the horrors of floods in Europe and Asia; after that, the death of thousands of children from hunger in Africa; and finally, they roll out advertisements. All of it delivered in one continuous tone, separated by commas, as if these events were equal in meaning.
Lying obediently before the television screen and consuming an incredible amount of utterly unnecessary and harmful information, people become not only oligophrenics but also mankurts—unable to distinguish good from evil, voluntarily submitting themselves to stupefaction and corruption, degenerating as they follow someone’s malicious will.
Here is what Academician I.R. Shafarevich says on this matter:
“Everyone feels what a colossal force the mass media is—especially television. It reaches people of every level—no literacy required. And it presents, as it were, ’life itself.’ A companion comes right into the apartment, but a companion of a special kind: you cannot argue with him, cannot ask him a question. In a book, at least, you can reread the previous page—here you cannot check what he said a week ago. Dialogue is possible, but only a certain kind: questions will only be asked if they are preapproved by an editor. And children’s programming, through imagery and song rhythms, teaches a certain lifestyle from the youngest age. In essence, television creates an artificial world, which people accept as our real one.”
Out of the simplicity of our hearts, we utterly forget that every broadcast is prepared by a team of highly professional specialists. Their task is to keep you from tearing yourself away from the screen. How do they succeed in doing this?
The answer has been found by psychologists. If you bless the basest passions among the people, permit and approve them, then you will no longer be able to deal with that demon. People of the older generation still cannot recall the history of the Soviets without tears.
The methods of controlling us have long been known. They will always show us blood, sex, keep us in tension with horrors in our own country—and if there are not enough horrors here, they will find them abroad. Having turned on the television, most likely, reader, you will not turn it off until late at night. You have fallen into the hands of professionals. Having swallowed all this filth, you will find it hard to cleanse your soul of what you have seen and heard.
Once, the following incident happened. My wife was bustling about in the kitchen, and our grandson, having turned the volume on the television almost all the way down, was quietly sitting in another room (we ourselves only use the television to watch Orthodox videos). My wife, discovering the grandson’s trick, demanded that he turn off the television. He cheerfully answered, “In a moment, Grandma,” and continued watching. The news was on. The same thing happened once, twice, three times. Losing patience, she went to turn it off herself. Everything fell silent. A minute or two passed—the television was still running. Curious about my wife’s strange behavior, I went to see what was happening. The grandson was sitting in a chair. My wife, holding a dish towel in her hand, had frozen in the middle of the room. Both were attentively watching the television. They were showing firearms and a woman who was teaching children to shoot and preparing a gang. The image changed. My wife, taking a step toward the television, froze again. The news anchor then began to terrify the audience with talk of a comet that would soon destroy us all. We are doomed. Reports, forecasts, and “proofs” followed, affirming that our final hour was near…
Summoning heroic effort, amid the loud protests of the grandson and my wife (and to be honest, my own curiosity as well), I switched off the tormentor. My wife regained her movement, the grandson went to do his homework. Peace was restored; the uninvited “prophets” had left our home.
Negative information, stress, social tension—this is a gold mine for the owners of the mass media. Why do they want us glued to our screens? Because that is how they make their money.
Not long ago, an elderly relative of ours came to visit. She was laughing and marveling at herself. She had been sitting at home watching television. During a commercial break, they aired an advertisement for coffee. And she was so overtaken with the desire for coffee that she dropped everything, immediately went to the store, and bought the advertised product. She brewed a cup, but after barely finishing it, found it distasteful. She marveled: “What came over me?”
Another example comes to mind. Once I had the opportunity to speak with a man who had left Russia several years ago and was living in “the freest country”—America. I lamented about our television and asked him—how is it “in freedom”? Does he watch that spiritual plague wrapped in a colorful package? He replied that in America, if one wishes, one can watch anything at all, including broadcasts from our television. But he said that such disgrace as is found on our airwaves, you will not find there.
I was surprised by the following information. When preparing a child for school or placing him in a group, like our kindergartens, he is given some kind of dry breakfast along with a glass of milk or juice. But if the product has not been advertised on television, the child will not eat it! Simply will not!
As for the adult population, without television, it is as if they cannot live—no more than they could live without breathing. According to my interlocutor, more manageable and suggestible people are nowhere to be found.
Let us return to our problems. Technological means—including illicit ones—of controlling our minds are now abundant. There is the 25th frame, subliminal messaging through reverse text playback, and neuro-linguistic programming. Therefore, when turning on the television and seating children in front of it, one must remember that the law on information security, which would prohibit harmful methods of influencing the human psyche, did not pass in the State Duma of the Russian Federation. Yet even long before the discussion of this law, it became a frightening revelation for many cinephiles and music lovers, and for most people, that in the songs and films of their idols were encoded calls to use drugs, to love Satan, and other commands that would have horrified them in their normal state. Affecting the subconscious without our consent, these commands surface in us as obsessive thoughts and desires.
Let us also recall that mass media is a powerful factor causing illness and premature death. According to physicians, after the airing of grim scenes on television, the number of ambulance calls, heart attacks, and strokes increases.
According to the Chief Cardiologist of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Yu. N. Belenkov, we could significantly prolong life—especially for men—if we reduced social tension.
In people living under nervous strain and hopeless grief, mechanisms of self-destruction are activated, triggering a series of serious diseases. This has long been scientifically proven. Cancer, for example, can arise as a reaction to the stress of overwhelming grief. The English scientist Cooper demonstrated that among those experiencing bankruptcy, the death of a spouse, or the loss of children, the incidence of oncological diseases is significantly higher.
Voluntarily consuming useless and harmful information is one of the factors leading to spiritual degradation. We glut our insatiable curiosity, desire the undesirable, consume the unworthy. It is to our harm.
The holy fathers long ago explained to us the essence of much-knowledge and idle curiosity.
“Let tales of past events and new information about current happenings pass you by, and let all the upheavals in the world and kingdoms be to you as though they had never occurred; and when someone brings you news of them, turn away from them and cast them far from your heart and imagination,”
say the elders of Mount Athos.
And St. Basil the Great instructs:
“Let the hearing of worldly news be as bitter to thee as wormwood, and the recounting of the sayings of the venerable fathers be as sweet as honeycombs.”
These simple and time-tested truths ring out across the centuries. They are intended not only for the young, lacking life experience, but also for seasoned men who have seen much, know much, and love God. The whirlwind of deceitful information, directed by no less deceitful men, steals away time, health, and peace even from the wise.
Formerly, one of our strengths was that the Old Believers were a very literate, spiritually educated, and reading portion of the population. The reading of spiritual inheritance, the teachings of the holy fathers, is an essential practice, necessary for the purity and development of the mind. This truth was always well known throughout the ages. Now it is gradually being erased by our frantic modernity. In my view, the great spiritual literacy of Old Believers was the foundation upon which Orthodoxy was preserved, despite all storms and upheavals. But how much spiritual literature is read today among Old Believers? Ask any priest—and the answer will not gladden you. Hence the endless confusions and scandals within our communities and Old Believer society as a whole.
With great diligence, dedicating our free time to spiritual communion with the glorious men of the Church, let us preserve and multiply within our hearts the imperishable spiritual heritage given by God. Constantly examining things and events, let us deepen our understanding of them, so as to see clearly which are good and which are evil—not as the senses and the world judge, but as right reason and the Holy Spirit judge, and as the true word of the God-inspired Scriptures, and the spirit-bearing fathers and teachers of the Church judge.
“Where the Holy Books and sacred readings are, there is the joy of the righteous, the salvation of the hearers, and the shame of the devil.
But where there are harps, dances, and applause, there is the darkening of men, the ruin of women, sorrow to the angels, and a feast for the devil.”
(St. Ephraim the Syrian)
A. Stepanov, 2003
Published on the Old Believer magazine Island of Faith (Остров Веры) http://www.miass.ru/news/ostrov_very/index.php?id=10&text=137, and rediscovered on the Suzdal community site of the Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church http://www.suzdalgrad.ru.