"Sirius" Gamble Begins Today
January 9. This is a date that many have been waiting for for a long time. Some hope that it is a great success. Others hope that it is failure in every sense of the word. To be honest, I am in the second group.
This morning at 6 AM Eastern time, Howard Stern began his radio talk show on Sirius satellite radio. The company is committed to paying Stern $500 million dollars and also gave him a $200 million bonus in company stock. The radio company is betting on the self-proclaimed “king of all media” being able to attract millions of new listeners over the next several months.
But, at what cost? Stern is infamous for his sinful sophomoric radio show. His show is filled with cursing, sexual language, drug references and other sinful content. He admits that his favorite guests on his show are lesbians and adult film starlets, and he makes sure he has them on his show often.
However, as the New York Daily News reported, Stern is moving so he can do his show “his way.” He is tired of the Federal Communications Commission being able to tell him what he can and cannot do on the air. Since Sirius is subscription-based, it does not fall under the jurisdiction of the FCC. To Stern (and many others, no doubt) that means that anything goes. The Sirius company ran a series of commercials which touted the new show as “uncensored: at last.” (Oddly enough, however, the commercial “beeped out” at least one curse word.) In his first broadcast, this morning, he reportedly opened his show by using one of the “banned” words in the first minute of his show. He has also promised everything on his show from cursing on on-air sexual acts.
Is this where our entertainment is headed? How many times have we been reminded of how far down our society has gone in her entertainment choices over the past several years? What is a Christian to do?
To answer that question, notice two passages from God’s Word. The first was given in the Old Testament. God told His chosen people: “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil” (Exodus 23:2). With so many subscribing to Sirius just to hear Howard Stern, the Christian may need to make the decision to not follow that crowd!
The other passage comes from the New Testament and makes it even clearer to us what our reaction should be. Paul wrote, “Abstain from every form (appearance, KJV) of evil” (First Thessalonians 5:22). He did not add, “even if it’s funny.” He did not add, “even if it’s popular.” We, as Christians, need to stay as far away from evil as we possibly can.
It is a “Sirius” gamble for a company that has been in the red for several quarters. May no Christians help the gamble to pay off.
