I think they missed the point

I read a story a few minutes ago about a South African man who was beaten to death by his wife and two adult children in battle for the remote control. You can read about it here.

The man wanted to watch a World Cup match, which I find understandable. I've been watching a lot of soccer recently, and I've spent much of my life as a sports fan defiantly anti-soccer. It's even more understandable since the World Cup is being played in his home country.

The rest of the family wanted to watch -- I'm not joking -- a gospel show. Now, anyone who would kill their father or husband for a remote control is resoundingly missing the point of a gospel program.

This is yet another case that simply makes me ask, "What is wrong with people?" I really can't figure it out. As I read the headline of the story, I thought it was a case of more crazy soccer fans. How many examples have we all heard of people being trampled trying to get into a soccer match? How about the violence of soccer hooligans?

But this was quite the opposite. While I'm sure the man had to be fighting back for this thing to have escalated like it did, he's the one who ended up with his head bashed in. I'd say his crazy family was the real problem.

When two friends of mine got married several years ago, we all had a chance to write a few lines of advice or well wishes to them in a small book. One of my buddies simply wrote, "The key to a happy marriage is two TVs."

I thought he was nuts at the time, but I can say it seemed to work for his parents. In all the time I spent at their house as a teenager, his parents were usually watching separate programs in separate rooms. They seemed to be happy when they were together, and they never fought over the programs.

My wife and I watch TV together quite a bit, but when there is a difference, one of us can always go in the bedroom or just read a book.

People just need to settle down.