Whenever I read of another children's book like this, my heart is so deeply distressed there are no words to describe it, and whenever I try to explain it to someone who doesn't feel it on the same level, I feel even more dispair...

I was recently challenged by my dad about my desire to watch Heroes, something that had grown dramatically since watching the first episode. The more I watched, the more I was drawn into the story line, and the more I wanted to watch it to see what would happen next. Weird things happened, sure, but I was ready to defend them because it was just a story, like any other comic book story...

My dad asked me to reassess the show, to step back from my involvement and try and see what themes were being played out and determine whether they were God honouring...

By the end of that episode, I realised that I needed to stop watching the show immediately. It was so full of supernatural (demonic) or evolutionistic (aetheistic) themes, portrayed in a manner that causes one to wish that they were somehow part of that, or that it would be so cool if it were true. I had become so engrossed in this thing, throwing my time, thoughts and praise to it when in fact it dishonours God. Isn't that what Satan wants us to do?

When it comes to children's stories, I hear many arguments. Some parents argue that their children won't be affected. How can a child not be somehow affected when they are fed two opposing opinions, and they're not taught how to differentiate between them, or told which ones are bad and which are good? Obviously, the best thing here would be to teach your children how to discern what is right from wrong....... learning how to analyse like you would learn in highschool English.

Can we expect young children to analyse at a level on par with grade 10, 11, 12 English students? Wouldn't it be far greater to teach our children holy, holy, and even a bit more holy stuff in their early years, allowing them to form a solid foundation for their faith? There are really good reasons why we are meant to dwell on pure and blameless things.

So where do we draw the line? Which stories are ok? What about magical stories like Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty? This could be the hardest question to answer, and I think it should be replaced with the question "What's the wisest thing to do?"

Just because we've grown up with Disney childrens stories, that might not neccessarily mean that they're ok for our own children too. Now I know most people are thinking right now "Well, I'm not affected by those stories I read/watched when I was a child, so they musn't be so bad.... and neither are the modern day versions of magical stories." but all I have to do is ask you the question "Do you think then that the magic in those older fables is harmless?" and it will instantly reveal whether those stories you grew up with have indeed affected you if you can't see that they are full of evil.

Magic, in all it's forms is from the demonic realm. Sure, there are supernatural signs resulting from prayer to the true God, but that's not magic.

We are to having nothing to do with the demonic realm except in battle against it, never to praise any form of it, and shame on those who teach our little ones that it can possibly have any good in it.

Is your conscience seared?
(I hope I made sense with this and didn't ramble, 'cos this is something dear to my heart)

I loved reading these books when I was younger. They were really good books regardless of their atheistic viewpoints and opinions and they are not that blatant to kids reading them unknowingly. If you are looking for them then you will find them. You can't cover up you kids to opposing viewpoints in the world, they need to hear them so they can see their faults and decide for themselves.

I receieved that email too. Worrying.

Why is it that athiests are so angry? So determined that no one else should have a faith?

to be honest I'm not sure what the fuss is about.

In the first instance, the makers of Dark Things will absolutely love it if people try boycott the movie.

boycotts = contorversy = free publicity = bums on seats = pots of money = a sequel

It's far better to ignore it and say nothing and hope that it bombs at the box-office after which it would die a natural death.

Secondly, I'm not keen to wrap up magic stories as something from the devil. Children have the wildest imgainations and I just don't see how saying this story is bad is going to be helpful to them. Surely it would be much better to teach them to ask questions etc. ?? We shouldn't under-estimate what they are capable off.
 
Finally, maybe this could be an opportunity to speak about Christ - in that it puts the topic on the table.

Putting the topic on the table- yes, this is true. But to be honest, most of the time I talk to people, mostly Christians, they end up defending the stories. And I can't understand why? Why do they?

It is so clear in the old testament that we are supposed to stay away from the demonic (magic) realm, and here are books that place magic and other affiliated themes in a good light.

And yes, it is very very important to teach your children to ask questions, but also to teach them right from wrong first, prefferably with a strong knowledge base of what is right before going on to the wrong things. And I'm not sure how many parents would bother doing this, or whether they bother to analyse things themselves. I'm thankful that my dad still points out things to me and teaches me how to determine wrong from right, and I'm still learning.
And... I guess so to give this some credit, my dad's been a missionary for the last 15 years, travelling to or working in Peru, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, India, Russia... and he also lectures at local Bible Colleges on World View and Missions.

i reckon that we should be in culture but not of it. that means not necessarily boycotting stuff like this, but being firm in the truth. in acts, it describes what happens when paul is in athens: "Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you." (acts 17:22-23)
   to me, this seems to show that we must be aware of the climate which we are in. it's obviously important to approach this with a heart to honour God and with wisdom, but i do wonder whether boycotting would be a bit narrow minded.

someone i heard speaking this weekend was saying how
church + culture - gospel = liberalism
church + gospel - culture = fundamentalism

Jesus went to parties with tax collectors because He was bigger than the party, in the sense that He went in and WAS the influence, instead of being influenced