Pastor Adapts Product to Clean Up Language on TV

Pastor adapts product to clean up language on TV

[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.