One of the kindest persons I know is a witch. Another kind person is a pagan. And gay men are very kind (I am straight). Some of the nastiest people I know are MAGA Christians.
You forgot about listening to KISS--someone told my dad the band's name stood for Knights In Satan's Service, and their music was banned in the house. I bought my brother their albums anyway. ;)
I protest! D&D actually got started in the early 70's. (I think it was 1973). I think it was 74 or 75, when in Highschool, a friend introduced us to it. I was there man! Only the cheese is as it was! And then came along a young Tom Hanks in an early 80's movie that was about the dangers of something *very* similar to the game. And then came the infamous "Dark Dungeons" (I think that was what it was called) by Chick Tracks. And then the "Satanic Panic" of the eighties. AND THEN a certain reformed "We're not a denomination, we're a movement" church started preaching against it. And all the other stuff you mentioned. I sheeply burned my D&D books so as to be accepted. <sigh> I want my books back!🥴😆😎🤘
Lived through the 80s and heard every one of these. Unfortunately, the panic has not died down. I joked with a co-worker about my love of the show Stranger Things. She sent me an email that explained all the evil and satanic themes. 🙄
Right on! I would make an uneducated opinion though of astrology. I think the creator knew more about physics and laws of attraction than any of us so far. Meaning that there is meaningful understanding of the complexities with the placement and movement of planets at different points of time. The challenge for astrology is finding a person knowledgeable and with integrity who has studied the mysteries of our universe in an honorable way.
There's a wonderful podcast called The Devil You Know with Sarah Marshall. It's all about the Satanic Panic of the 80s and 90s. Really fascinating how powerful fear mongering is, and how devastating it can be for people on the receiving end of it.
As a Christian sex addict, I was told that Satan was somehow at the root of my problems. Or that my problem may have been a sexually transmitted demon (an STD?), or inherited as a family curse to the nth generation. But in falsely naming Satan as my problem I was misdiagnosing myself and missing out on the necessary actions required for my healing. I was doing such a good job destroying myself that Satan would not have needed to expend any evil energy on me - he could just sit back and enjoy the show. Scripture is clear that we are tempted and led away, not by Satan, but by our own lusts, our own hungers and desires. Satan didn’t make Jesus hungry and thirsty - Jesus did that. He was victorious because he made his hunger serve him, he did not serve his desires. I would never presume to say Satan does not take a hand in offering solutions to our desires and hungers, but I no longer presume to recklessly blame and falsely accuse spiritual beings for things I am responsible for. Imagine me standing before the throne, falsely accusing the prosecutor, even as he waits to rightfully accuse me - and he has proof where I only have speculation. People who blame Satan end up being destroyed, not from vengeance or justice, but because blaming Satan for my hungers and my choices never allows me to get to the root problem that is me.
Yes. I just called up Mike Warnke and he confirmed that is true. And if you cant trust the darling of the Myrrh/Word Publishing industry to give you the truth, who CAN you trust?????
I might be showing my age here but does anyone remember the tapes from Brother Bob Harrington demonstating backwards masking on Stairway to Heaven (good training for future DJ's] and that the most satanic music album ever produced was "Tapestry" by Carole King? I think the church owes Carole King an apology.
So good Joe! Love the humor too. "You can stretch your hamstrings without summoning dieties." I also have always felt a deep connection to sacred earth and nature spirituality as in Native American traditions and Celtic paganism. It is really revealing how constricting evangelical Christianity can be with the your- going- to- hell scare if you don't follow the Bible exactly as preached and written by fallible humans. I remember beginning my yoga practice in 1995 and how some friends at church were "worried" about me. Ugh! Eventually they saw that I wasn't "possessed" or wandered away from church. I have always been interested in astrology as my mother was an astrologer and to this day she was the most kind, inclusive, spiritual person I've ever met. She passed away today March 20, 47 years ago. I only had her for 18 years but I have to say she was the most spiritual person I ever knew as she wandered and tended to her lovely gardens, talking to nature's creatures, and appreciated the astral bodies in the heavens.
Ah yes. As a kid & teen in the 80s my youth was squandered by the avoidance of nearly everything out of the fear of Satan's lure. After attending a Bill Gothard seminar, my mother threw away my supposedly evil Cabbage Patch doll that she bought me. I was way more alarmed that she suddenly believed this, than I was over losing the doll. Even then, I thought if she truly believed it was evil, then perhaps she shouldn't depend on a trash bag & a belated trip to the dump to contain it. Thank heavens we are now more educated. Thanks to Chucky & Annabelle everyone now knows that evil dolls cannot be contained & attempted destruction is only step one of a never ending struggle to rid oneself of it.
It’s kinda sad that these phenomena were branded evil… look at all the happiness and community that things like Halloween , Wicca, yoga and D and D have brought to people.
Great post that shows how true faith is open minded and willing to incorporate other cultural traditions .
As I read this my first thought was of how my Mexican Baptist grandmother freaked out when she saw my siblings and I with a deck of cards and scolded us, telling us that they were from the devil. Then when you brought up "666" I recalled my mother sharing the OG book by Salem Kirban. IYKYK. And when I got to the closer, "A worldview that teaches people to fear curiosity", I was reminded of how my parents stressed getting a good education, which keep my curiosity in tact. I eventually realized that their fearmongering tactics reveal how frightened they truly were deep down inside.
One of the kindest persons I know is a witch. Another kind person is a pagan. And gay men are very kind (I am straight). Some of the nastiest people I know are MAGA Christians.
You forgot about listening to KISS--someone told my dad the band's name stood for Knights In Satan's Service, and their music was banned in the house. I bought my brother their albums anyway. ;)
I protest! D&D actually got started in the early 70's. (I think it was 1973). I think it was 74 or 75, when in Highschool, a friend introduced us to it. I was there man! Only the cheese is as it was! And then came along a young Tom Hanks in an early 80's movie that was about the dangers of something *very* similar to the game. And then came the infamous "Dark Dungeons" (I think that was what it was called) by Chick Tracks. And then the "Satanic Panic" of the eighties. AND THEN a certain reformed "We're not a denomination, we're a movement" church started preaching against it. And all the other stuff you mentioned. I sheeply burned my D&D books so as to be accepted. <sigh> I want my books back!🥴😆😎🤘
Lived through the 80s and heard every one of these. Unfortunately, the panic has not died down. I joked with a co-worker about my love of the show Stranger Things. She sent me an email that explained all the evil and satanic themes. 🙄
Right on! I would make an uneducated opinion though of astrology. I think the creator knew more about physics and laws of attraction than any of us so far. Meaning that there is meaningful understanding of the complexities with the placement and movement of planets at different points of time. The challenge for astrology is finding a person knowledgeable and with integrity who has studied the mysteries of our universe in an honorable way.
Maybe I'm wrong, but just wanted to share.
There's a wonderful podcast called The Devil You Know with Sarah Marshall. It's all about the Satanic Panic of the 80s and 90s. Really fascinating how powerful fear mongering is, and how devastating it can be for people on the receiving end of it.
ohhh, missing halloween with my kids is a parenting fail I blame on my decent into fundieism.
An "evil" I always found odd was some Protestant groups bashing Catholicism, and vice versa. I'm like hey, ya'll both weird but chill!
As a Christian sex addict, I was told that Satan was somehow at the root of my problems. Or that my problem may have been a sexually transmitted demon (an STD?), or inherited as a family curse to the nth generation. But in falsely naming Satan as my problem I was misdiagnosing myself and missing out on the necessary actions required for my healing. I was doing such a good job destroying myself that Satan would not have needed to expend any evil energy on me - he could just sit back and enjoy the show. Scripture is clear that we are tempted and led away, not by Satan, but by our own lusts, our own hungers and desires. Satan didn’t make Jesus hungry and thirsty - Jesus did that. He was victorious because he made his hunger serve him, he did not serve his desires. I would never presume to say Satan does not take a hand in offering solutions to our desires and hungers, but I no longer presume to recklessly blame and falsely accuse spiritual beings for things I am responsible for. Imagine me standing before the throne, falsely accusing the prosecutor, even as he waits to rightfully accuse me - and he has proof where I only have speculation. People who blame Satan end up being destroyed, not from vengeance or justice, but because blaming Satan for my hungers and my choices never allows me to get to the root problem that is me.
Absolute poetry
Thank you Joe
Scare tactics sell books.
I hear if you don’t preorder my book that you may burn in hell.
Yes. I just called up Mike Warnke and he confirmed that is true. And if you cant trust the darling of the Myrrh/Word Publishing industry to give you the truth, who CAN you trust?????
😂😂😂
I might be showing my age here but does anyone remember the tapes from Brother Bob Harrington demonstating backwards masking on Stairway to Heaven (good training for future DJ's] and that the most satanic music album ever produced was "Tapestry" by Carole King? I think the church owes Carole King an apology.
So good Joe! Love the humor too. "You can stretch your hamstrings without summoning dieties." I also have always felt a deep connection to sacred earth and nature spirituality as in Native American traditions and Celtic paganism. It is really revealing how constricting evangelical Christianity can be with the your- going- to- hell scare if you don't follow the Bible exactly as preached and written by fallible humans. I remember beginning my yoga practice in 1995 and how some friends at church were "worried" about me. Ugh! Eventually they saw that I wasn't "possessed" or wandered away from church. I have always been interested in astrology as my mother was an astrologer and to this day she was the most kind, inclusive, spiritual person I've ever met. She passed away today March 20, 47 years ago. I only had her for 18 years but I have to say she was the most spiritual person I ever knew as she wandered and tended to her lovely gardens, talking to nature's creatures, and appreciated the astral bodies in the heavens.
Ah yes. As a kid & teen in the 80s my youth was squandered by the avoidance of nearly everything out of the fear of Satan's lure. After attending a Bill Gothard seminar, my mother threw away my supposedly evil Cabbage Patch doll that she bought me. I was way more alarmed that she suddenly believed this, than I was over losing the doll. Even then, I thought if she truly believed it was evil, then perhaps she shouldn't depend on a trash bag & a belated trip to the dump to contain it. Thank heavens we are now more educated. Thanks to Chucky & Annabelle everyone now knows that evil dolls cannot be contained & attempted destruction is only step one of a never ending struggle to rid oneself of it.
It’s kinda sad that these phenomena were branded evil… look at all the happiness and community that things like Halloween , Wicca, yoga and D and D have brought to people.
Great post that shows how true faith is open minded and willing to incorporate other cultural traditions .
As I read this my first thought was of how my Mexican Baptist grandmother freaked out when she saw my siblings and I with a deck of cards and scolded us, telling us that they were from the devil. Then when you brought up "666" I recalled my mother sharing the OG book by Salem Kirban. IYKYK. And when I got to the closer, "A worldview that teaches people to fear curiosity", I was reminded of how my parents stressed getting a good education, which keep my curiosity in tact. I eventually realized that their fearmongering tactics reveal how frightened they truly were deep down inside.
This is a question, not a comment. What are your thoughts on Oiuja Boards?