[Ed. Note. This article was submitted
by MovieGuide, an organization headed by Dr. Ted Baehr. The
appearance of this article in The Harbor Lighthouse does not
necessarily imply endorsement of the product.]
Just because your pastor is on vacation
doesn’t mean that God isn’t working through him. About a year
ago, Pastor Jonas Robertson of Abundant Life Church in Harvey,
Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans, was on vacation in Colorado when
he spotted an ad about a product that cleaned up the foul language
in movies and TV programs. As a concerned parent with three kids, he
was very happy to hear about such a product, so he went out and
bought one.
"The product fell short of my
standards," he said, however. For instance, it didn’t catch
the other, more milder vulgarities, or the use of name-calling terms
like "idiot" or "jerk." And, it sometimes
bleeped out valid references to God and Jesus Christ.
So, Pastor Robertson developed another
version of the product and started a company called Curse Free TV.
"We had to clean it up to make it
Christian," said Pastor Robertson, who is also president of
Curse Free TV. "That’s how Curse Free TV was born."
Now, the pastor views his product as not just
a business proposition, but a moral obligation as well.
"People have been praying for a product
like this," he said, including his own family.
Curse Free TV hooks up to your VCR and TV
set. It works by using the closed captioning system now being used
for deaf and hard-of-hearing people. The offensive word is either
blanked out, or replaced by words like "Wow" and
"clown." Of course, the product is not 100 percent
foolproof; it’s only as good as the closed captioning system.
Thus, in the movie E.T., 12 out of 13 offensive words were blocked,
in HOME ALONE, 1 out of 12 offensive words were blocked, but in THE
LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK, all 17 offensive words were deleted or
replaced.
"The newer the movie, the better it
works," Pastor Robertson said.
"With this product, you get to keep
control of your TV set where it belongs–your home, not
Hollywood," said Michael Beck, spokesman for Curse Free TV.
A customer of Curse Free TV, Jacque Flitter
of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, agreed, saying that she and her husband
have more control over what they and their two children, ages 13 and
7, hear.
"It’s worked out great," she
added. "We go camping and Curse Free TV comes with us. The flow
(of the show) is not interrupted. You really get used to it
fast."
For further information on Curse Free TV,
call: 1-877-662-8773; or, write to: 2500 Lapalco Blvd., Suite 7,
Harvey, LA 70058; or, go online at: www.cursefree.com.
