Disturbing TV (and movies)

For the record, I don't watch Grey's Anatomy...and I didn't see the season finale the other night, but I sure heard plenty about it. A guy getting so angry about his wife dying that he takes a gun and shoots up the hospital. I know, I know....it's just TV, right? WRONG! This similar thing happened just weeks ago in real life in my hometown of Knoxville, TN. A mentally disturbed man thought that a doctor had implanted something into his body during a minor surgery, so he came back and killed innocent people in the parking lot of the hospital when he couldn't take his "revenge" out in the doctor. This is real life, people. So my question is, HOW oh HOW has this kind of thing become entertainment? I am greatly disturbed by this, and I do not understand it. The same thing goes with movies such as the Saw series for example. The fact of the matter is that murder is real, torture is real, and trauma is real. Grief is real. These are real things that happen in our sick and twisted world. These kind of things happen every day. One of my arguments is that some people see these horrible things happen in TV, movies, or video games, and in their twisted mind, they want to do the same thing. We are a people strongly influenced by our culture, and sometimes people make decisions that are influenced by the things they see and are interested in. Think of all of the "copycat" crimes that we hear about today. Mental illness plus rage, and add in something to copy, and you get a very bad combination.

And of course, the age old question creeps into my mind- Where is God in all this? I was recently reminded of a horrible double murder that happened a few years ago in Knoxville where a college couple was raped, tortured, and killed for no reason at all. As a pastor, how would I look at that mother and tell her that God was there with her daughter? How could I tell her that grace will abound?

And finally, how can we live in a culture where all we see on TV and film is violence and murder, and not think that crimes are in any way influenced by what is popular on TV?

Now...back to watching "America's Cutest Puppies" on WE TV...the way TV is supposed to be! ;)