Words have power, maybe, part 03

I started this series answering a question from one of the readers who has been told the same thing that many of us have been told at one time or another. For instance, we get told that we should not take part in the martial arts because back in China or Japan the martial art was connected to wrong religious beliefs. Or we are told that we should not read books that picture characters that have non-Christian beliefs and practice in a positive way (such as the Harry Potter books). Or we are told that we should not engage in games that have a supposed spiritual theme because just playing a game of that type may be enough to open the doors to demonic possession (such as Dungeons and Dragons).

The problem is that usually the same people who claim that Satan can do certain things deny that God can do the same things, even when those things are listed in Scripture. This might be a good time to re-read yesterday’s post. I would actually say that most of the people who make some of the claims I listed in the first paragraph are Anabaptists with regard to the Church while they are Catholic with regards to Satan. What do I mean?

So, let’s look at some of the claims again. If I were to have contact with something that had been once supposedly connected with demonic things I would be in danger of demonic contagion, which I suppose is something like a disease. I say that because diseases can be caught by contagion, whereas I had always previously supposed that one had to make a decision to be involved with something demonic in order to be demonized. Catch the claim that is being made. I can be a good Christian, with no intention of cooperating with Satan in any way, and because I decide to take a martial arts class, even if the teacher does not mention any spiritual issues, or is involved with them, nevertheless I can end up with a demon hanging around me simply because once upon a time the people who taught that martial art linked it to their religious beliefs.

Please note that some of the same people that make this type of claim have serious problems believing that someone can be anointed with the oil from a “weeping icon” or even blessed by a priest and receive a healing unless they have the faith to believe. Some will go even farther and seriously doubt that there is such a thing as blessed items. Yet, while the Bible speaks of blessed items, it does not speak of cursed items, at least not cursed by Satan in such a way that they can contaminate someone automatically. But, the Bible does speak of objects such as the ark of the covenant, and sacraments such as the Body and Blood that are effective even if you do not believe in them. That is why, as Saint Paul says, some who did not judge the sacrament correctly were sick, and some even slept.

I can understand, and agree, with the argument that we need to be careful in our reading. And, it is true that a child is more easily influenced to believe that something is permitted when it is not. But, let’s look again. Were C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien to be writing today, were they to not be established and beloved Christian authors, were the same true about the 19th century writer George McDonald, then some of their writings would not be approved by today’s Christian “protectors.” In the Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion, please note that the elves go to a haven that is different than the one that is reserved for dwarves and humans. Also, there is clear use of magic by both good and evil beings. George McDonald clearly writes about fairies and fairy tales. No, today’s protectors would have never approved them had they not already been approved. There is little doubt that the conservative Christians of the late 19th and early 2oth century had no problem with the use of the imagination to write and read material such as fairy tales, etc.

This is what makes the opposition to tales such as Harry Potter so contradictory. Some of the same people that object to Harry Potter will cheerfully read George McDonald fairy tales and novels. And, having read them, I can guarantee you that some of the fairy tales are every bit as dark as any of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales. Yet no one fears that those reading George McDonald will begin to seriously believe in his characters and be led to the “dark side.” Magic is seriously used in some of the fairy tales, yet no one believes that McDonald’s use of magic in his tales will send Christian children running to attempt magic and thereby submitting themselves to demonic contagion.

The danger in this type of argumentation is that it so easy to spot the inconsistencies, and is, frankly, so extreme within Christian circles historically. It is the use of fear tactics to try to enforce a particular type of supposed orthodoxy. The same type of fear tactic was used forty to fifty years ago when rock and roll first became popular. Do you remember those semi-racist arguments that equated the “African” beats of rock and roll to pagan worship services in which people became excited by the simple drum beats and prone to give themselves up to Satan? Funny, how those same exact beats and licks are now found within Christian music and yet today’s modern protectors are not telling us to refuse to listen to contemporary Christian music and to take it out of our congregations.

But, the worst danger of these modern protectors is that they will vaccinate people against belief in true evil. There really are demons. Satan and evil angels really do exist. They do engage in tempting us. There is such a thing as demon possession. And, there is such a thing as demon oppression. But, we end up not rejecting the extreme statements of these modern protector. And, in doing so, we can all too easily end up going too far and not believing in those things in which we ought to believe.