I was reading a book by a former professional athlete. He suffered from various addictions. Drugs, alcohol, sex etc. etc. If it was bad for you - he was addicted to it. He destroyed his career, 3 marriages [the third he salvaged before it dissolved totally], led himself to financial ruin [he was MILLIONS of dollars in debt], had trouble with the law and the list goes on.
It is quite remarkable how someone could be gifted with so much talent in one area [sports] while at the same time be so deficient in other areas [the primary area: self-control].
Anyway, he found an Avoda Zara to serve [a renegade Jew whom a billion or so people think is god:-)] and now he has sworn off his bad habits. I don't like the Avoda Zara part but I am glad that he is learning to control himself and that he is very, very clear that having ever imaginable pleasure totally available at all times does NOT make one happy. He had it ALL and was beyond miserable. The classic distinction between PLEASURE and HAPPINESS. People mistakenly conflate the two but one can easily have much of one and very little of the other. In Brisk terminology "שני דינים החלוקים ביסוד גדרם"!
He still likes to wind down and watch TV [do we expect him to spend his spare time doing shnayim mikra or learning the daf?]. When something inappropriate comes on - he turns the channel [what counts as inappropriate? Does the appearance on the screen of an alluring woman count as inappropriate? Well, then he can't even watch the news]. This is where "halacha" comes in. Halacha is GREAT. The Torah and Chachmei Hamesorah don't just tell us to be "holy" but give us very specific guidelines how to achieve this holiness. But he, nebuch, doesn't have such guidelines and guidance. So we know, thank G-d, that what they are putting on that TV screen, even if it is not outright pornography, is antithetical and subversive to our value system. So we don't watch [I hope. Or at least we strive to one day stop watching. I actually once owned a stop-watch. It broke]. But those who don't get it, remain immersed in the lowest levels of pop culture and thus can never extricate themselves from the crass materialism and emphasis on the body in which our society is entrenched.
Follow the guidelines and BE HOLY!!!:-):-)
