Many Christian parents are aware of the evils that our children face daily through our fallen world and the lack of morality permeating society today. We are careful about exposing them to adult television shows, and carefully screen the movies and games they play. Lately, many have noticed a more insidious form of evil creeping into our children’s lives that I wanted to warn parents and families about.
The first is a game called Minecraft. I am not the first to sound the alarm, but as someone who works with children, it frightens me how many children are hooked on this game. The premise of the game is building blocks, exploring, gathering resources, and fighting “mobs and hostile creatures.” It bothers me that our children are exposed to killing of animals in the game but even more so, the killing of zombies in hostile mobs.
There are exploding creatures called creepers, a dark creature that can teleport called an Enderman, and dark dragons called Enderdragons. Once entering the Underworld, there are some very dark elements that should give many parents second thoughts about allowing their children to play Minecraft. This seemingly harmless game contains some elements that definitely put parents on guard.
Deuteronomy 18:9-12 states, “When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.”
Witches are everywhere, and now are portrayed as good. In the extremely popular children’s show, Disney’s Sofia the First, witches are actually good characters.
One of Sofia’s friends is a witch named Lucinda. Sofia teaches Lucinda how to be kind to others. Lucinda uses her magic to help Sofia in many ways in a number of episodes. She can conjure things, use hexes and of course, flies on a broom. Lucinda’s mother is a witch too, although she enjoys hexing people and being cruel (unlike Lucinda who wants to be helpful).
Add in fortune tellers and tarot card readers who help Sofia rescue her friends in other episodes, and one can see Sofia is exposing our children to dark arts.
In Disney’s new show The 7D, two of the “bad” characters are witches, and seem harmless enough with their bumbling ways. They are portrayed as being silly, not scary. A new Nick Junior show titled, Shimmer and Shine is about genies who use their magic throughout all of the episodes. Disney’s very popular summer movie, Descendants focused on children of Disney villains, who were also villainous themselves.
Although in the end the characters learned to be “good” but they were still “cool” when they were evil; and the previews for the show focused on marketing these characters and their evil ways. As Christians, we know witches and genies are not harmless and it concerns me that these shows are marketed for very young, preschool-age children.
It seems as though the media are exposing and desensitizing children to the use of magic and sorcery more and more by making it all seem silly or friendly. Parents, be aware!
Second Chronicles 33:6 states, “He makes his sons pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.”
What should we do?
I don’t claim to have all of the answers. It’s so important to be aware of what our children watch. I hesitate to name any shows as being “safe” because one doesn’t know what the future holds. Watch programs together with your children or record the shows and watch them first. While watching TV and something unexpectedly comes on, use it as a springboard for a conversation about evil with your child. Explain the Bible verses that prohibit such evil.
You can also ask your children what they think about the way the show portrayed the evil and what Jesus would think of the show. Pray always and be watchful. As parents, we are charged to raise our children in Christ.
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).