I haven’t had a Thoughts & Ravings post in a while, but tonight I have a soapbox to get out.
Years ago I wrote a post musing whether Christians could write or enjoy horror. I’ve since taken it down because it no longer reflected the theme or tone of my blog, but the short answer was this: yes, they can, under certain circumstances. (Use discernment and know thyself.)
Tonight, during an online prayer meeting, a discussion arose about whether the occult elements in the Harry Potter series are an evil influence and whether the books should be purged from our lives and homes. My response was again a firm no, they are not evil in themselves, but use discernment and know thyself. Other people at the meeting pointed out that you can use such things as teaching moments if your children are reading them. This, I feel, is a healthy attitude toward any book, any movie, any cultural phenomenon. Use discernment and know thyself. Take the good and leave the bad.
Later, however, another attendee at the meeting mentioned that she was close with an exorcist, and he told her that you need to be “very careful” with the Harry Potter books — and indeed even yoga — because they seem innocent, but are in fact secretly evil. The reasons cited were that 1) J. K. Rowling was “very into the occult,” and 2) the physical poses of yoga were poses of “deities, aka demons.”
This statement infuriated me, and to avoid disrupting an otherwise peaceful discussion, I kept quiet until I could sort out my thoughts. I limited myself to one message in the chat: I am extremely skeptical of fearmongering from exorcists. (After all, how do they know? Are the demons telling them? Because demons lie. The rest of it seems like hearsay.)
But my anger goes deeper than that, down to a wound, as anger usually does.
It took me a long time to get out from under an oppressive influence — not from Harry Potter or from yoga, which I enjoy without any particular attachment, but from people with these sorts of dogmatic, superstitious opinions. The whole “it looks innocent, BUT…” pattern popular among religious conspiracy theorists poisons others’ minds with anxiety, usually without any convincing evidence except hearsay and their own tastes and prejudices. This is especially dangerous for Christians who suffer from scrupulosity.
I agree that even small involvement in the occult — palm readings, tarot cards, etc. — is not a good idea for Christians. But reading a fantasy book while recognizing it as fantasy? No. Using yoga routines to stretch the body and calm the mind? No. (And I’d like to note that that “demonic pose” argument has a whiff of racism.)
A healthy Christianity knows how to take the good and leave the bad (or transform the bad) in a given culture, including a cultural artifact. A healthy Christian knows how to discern — and is aware of how one’s own prejudices may affect their discernment.
Avoid books or movies or yoga or whatever if you feel it has a negative influence on you. Just don’t spread fearful rumors about it to make others anxious.
Hi Randi
I found this very interesting as I am sometimes someone who suffers with “ scrupulosity” New word for me but one I have probably been looking for all my life 🙂
I recently wanted to read a book called ‘Think like a Monk’ by Jay Shetty. After looking into it alongside key words in the search engine I quickly found opinions on how this book is not for Christians. These comments left me in limbo.. I was going to speak to the local vicar but feared I’d been seen as a loon. In the end I have just left the book on the side until I can make a better decision on what it would mean to read it. I too used to enjoy Yoga and I also looked into that and again ended up confused.
I found your comments and thoughts helpful.
David
I’m glad!
There are some forms of yoga that are more spiritual, and there are some yoga instructors who take it in a more spiritual direction that would make a devout Christian uncomfortable. These are pretty easy to avoid, though! There are plenty of DVDs and routines available that don’t do that. What gets my goat is this idea that simply doing a particular pose with the intent to stretch or build strength is somehow worshipping a demon.
I’m not familiar with “Think Like a Monk,” but after looking it up, I think it would be more or less innocuous to read if you can take his different religious background into account. It seems no worse than reading some pseudo-spirituality like “The Secret.” But it might be a good exercise in discerning the wheat from the chaff!