Where to start?

So I guess I need to put together some sort of list, if this year I am going to “catch up” to normal.

Some of you may have no idea what I’m talking about. See, I come from a religion, and a family where we did, well, nothing. Let me give you just a little list of things I wasn’t allowed to watch (along with the ‘reason’ why)

FILM AND TELEVISION

Bewitched (magic is of the devil)

I Dream of Jeannie (see above)

Cheers (takes place in a bar)

Star Wars (God is the only Force)

Sorcerer’s Apprentice (C’mon...Sorcerer? Duh)

Any Late Show (I don’t know why)

Saturday Night Live (No one said why--it was just bad)

E.T. (Just seems wrong)

My family didn’t have a strictly no tv rule, per se, but the code was so strict it was difficult to find what was acceptable. Movies were not explicitly forbidden either, although going to the theater was. I do remember watching about half of a lot of movies on tv before someone came in and turned it off because it was inappropriate. Poltergeist was just getting interesting when...well, you know.

READING

In school, we were exposed to Christian literature and the Bible. ‘Secular’ literature (Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Dante, etc) was provided in the form of a digest of short entries studded with disclaimers and examined for misleading ideas of humanism or incorrect theology.

ART

Art was not valued or taught in my school and was briefly reviewed one semester along with proper religious analysis and disdain.

MUSIC

Only Christian or classical music was tolerated, and only some of that. ‘Christian Rock’ of course was evil as was any pop song, rap, etc. Inappropriate music was confiscated. It was a really big deal. I remember several book and music burnings at my church and school.

HISTORY

Even current events were largely ignored unless it involved inauguration of the “right” president, etc. In that case, the evil television set would be moved into the school chapel for us to “witness history.” History that we didn’t like was ignored or rewritten. It was something akin to the modern-day uproar around playing President Obama’s addresses to school children.

MATH and SCIENCE

These subjects were at best weak. We possessed no science lab and I never saw or was involved with even one chemical experiment, science project, reaction or dissection of any kind. Math was self-taught and the teachers mostly couldn’t help us with it either.

I don’t say these things to demean those who tried to educate me and others. They were most likely doing the best they could and most certainly were doing what they thought was right. They strongly believed that filling our heads with Scripture and protecting us from outside influences was the greatest gif they could give. I do appreciate their sincerity, although I believe ti to have been misguided.

However, all that aside. It is now time to catch up. What should I have seen, learned and experienced? What do I need to fill in?

I know there is a lot, but I’m not even sure where to start.