I’m wondering where exactly one can draw the line between “good” and “evil”… I’ll explain. My mother is an extremely devout Christian, which, as you can imagine, gave me a hell of a time growing up. She is insistant that several normal, fun things are “Satanic”. Ex: Pokemon, Harry Pooter, Dungeons and Dragons, Magic- The Gathering, um… Tolkien, RL Stein and etc.
What exactly is the backing behind some of these beliefs, and what draw the line between “Secular” and “Evil”?
I grew up around some Christians who got rabid about various things. My old babysitter insisted that all music that wasn't "Christian music" was Satanic. She wanted me not to bring my radio to her house for fear that her young daughters would be "contaminated." When I got headphones, she bitched that there were little sounds that leaked from them. My mother insisted that I be left alone about the issue, but listening to my babysitter talk to my mom about my path to hell got me thinking.
What interested me was how my old babysitter went off about Satanic influences. She said that Satan could be found in so many things and that if you had anything to do with them you would "let Satan into your mind." It was a very primitive kind of... well, contagion theory of evil. Once you let Satan in, the story goes, you'll start to a snowball effect. First, it'll be Harry Potter, or D&D, or Tolkien. Then, once your morality has been loosened, it will be more Satanic things (music, movies, take your pick). And then it will start to infest your life and you will drag others down with you. It doesn't matter if Pokemon don't appear to be evil. That's the trick, you see. The devil hides himself in things that look innocent in order to trick and deceive and ultimately win your soul. I marveled, at a very young age, at how much power Satan seemed to have, considering that the church said he was bitchslapped into hell by god.
That woman gave the devil so much power in her mind. There was always a hysterical undertone to her voice when she spoke about it, and I’ve heard that undertone in the voices of others. Of course, when I’ve told them that Harry Potter or pop music or D&D isn’t hurting anyone, they look at me like I’m an imbecile and say: “That’s just what he wants you to think. But it is hurting people.” But they have never been able to tell me a real, tangible way that such things hurt people. They have run around in circles and they have cited sources that were disproven, but I have never received a coherent answer. They are not dealing in the tangible. They are dealing in the spiritual, or, as I have come to believe, their own mental fears. What must life be like when you see evil everywhere?
Some Christians have no concept of “secular.” The world is an entirely religious experience for them, and everything can be traced back to their own religious beliefs. (This can happen to members of other religions as well.) The bible and church gave them a filter through which to view life. Things that appear normal and fun seem Satanic to them. The bible and church once again provide, by giving them the means to condemn whatever they like: scripture. People have used scripture against D&D, Harry Potter, and all sorts of things (nevermind the saying that even the devil can quote scripture to suit his own purposes). With the ancient authority of the bible behind them, some Christians feel they are qualified to condemn whatever they see as evil.
[Note: I say “some Christians” because I’ve known plenty who didn’t act in the above described ways. Hell, my friend Jim collects comic books even though his dad condemns them as pornographic and evil…]
Coming from a non-loony Christian here…
WOuldn’t that be fun? ALl of life is a religious experience? Kind of like an eternal O
Kloudes, have you asked your mother where she draws the line? You may gain some insight into her beliefs.
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