Monday, January 18 [Jehovah] is a God who requires exclusive devotion.—Ex. 34:14. Jehovah wants us to enjoy life, and entertainment can help us to do that. In fact, God’s Word says that “there is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and find enjoyment in his hard work.” (Eccl. 2:24) However, much of the entertainment in the world can have a bad effect on us. It degrades people’s moral standards, encouraging them to tolerate—or even to love—things that God’s Word condemns. We want to give Jehovah exclusive devotion, so we cannot eat from “the table of Jehovah” and “the table of demons.” (1 Cor. 10:21, 22) Eating a meal with someone is often a sign of friendship. If we choose entertainment that promotes violence, spiritism, immorality, or other fleshly desires and attitudes, we are, in effect, sharing a meal prepared by enemies of God. As a result, we not only harm ourselves but also damage our friendship with Jehovah. w19.10 26 ¶2; 29-30 ¶11-12
Carefull and interesting choice of words. 'promotes'. Astute. If the comment pertained strictly to the 'content', the holy scriptures would be disqualified for all the same reasons. Insipid drivel of media content can be a detrement without the listed concerns. A daytime tv chat show, soap opera or 'reality' show might contain none of the afore mentioned yet be an unspiritual detrement. Perhaps a serious war film or an adversity drama might have value with some of the concerning content that exists in life that we all have to deal with.
__________ I'm afraid I had to do a double-take with this one, as the Watchtower improperly exchanged the written word with their own phrase while simultaneously making it appear as if they were citing Exodus 34:14. Even their New World Translation does not read this way! Having exchanged Moses' words with their own, the Watchtower then goes off on a tangent speaking of entertainment. /smh Using the New World Translation, the scripture actually reads: For you must not prostrate yourself to another god, because Jehovah, whose name is Jealous, he is a jealous God; — Exodus 34:14, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT) As evidenced by Moses' admonishment as recorded through verses 15-17, the issue was the worship of other gods to the extent that one would get involved in the immoral intercourse that was practiced before the idols of these foreign nations. Even in Jesus' day, the Romans practiced "sacred prostitution." While the points the Watchtower raises concerning entertainment are valid, when one has to exchange what has been written by inspiration for other words to make one's argument, it undermines the power of scripture and, quite frankly, is highly offensive-- in effect, putting words into Jehovah's mouth. (Cf Revelation 22:18-19) They would have done better to simply have quoted the apostle Paul's words in his epistle to the believers at Phillipi: Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are of serious concern, whatever things are righteous, whatever things are chaste, whatever things are lovable, whatever things are well spoken of, whatever virtue there is and whatever praiseworthy thing there is, continue considering these things. — Philippians 4:8 NWT Submitted for perusal and consideration, Timothy