December 2014
Disney goes goofy over mention of 'God':
"A 10-year-old North Carolina girl is publicly shaming the Disney Channel after the network said
her thanking God on its website was tantamount to profanity.
Lilly Anderson of Angier, North Carolina, was online Sunday for her birthday answering the Disney Channel’s question about what she was thankful for.
'God, my family, my church and my friends,' Lilly wrote. But her answer was not
allowed to appear..."
See
Movie Magic
and Unconscious Learning
June 2014
'Killer virgin' claimed video games changed 'innocent, happy self':
"...quotes from his final YouTube video announcing his murderous intentions seem to come from the
Warcraft character known as Garrosh Hellscream.... In his last YouTube video, Rodger stated....'If I had it in my power,
I would stop at nothing to reduce every single one of you to
mountains of skulls and rivers of blood....'"
See
Toying with Death
November 2013
Who’s to Blame for Battlefield America? Is It Militarized Police or the Militarized Culture?
"It’s hard to pinpoint what exactly is responsible for the growing spate of police shootings, brutality and overreach
that have come to dominate the news lately.... [T]he fact that we are a society predisposed to warfare, indoctrinated through video games, reality TV shows, violent action movies and a series of endless wars that have, for younger generations, become life as they know it..."
See
Role-Playing Games &
Popular Occultism
September 2013
Future technology, in films, can be ominous:
"The ominous specter of Big Brother in George Orwell's 1984 is on full
display in the unfolding National Security Agency [NSA] flap, where big collections of data were
exploited in the name of state security..."
See
Orwell's
1984
June 2013
Latest
Kinect sensors allow games to feed off your fear:
"Microsoft’s depth-sensing camera will gain unprecedented information
about us while we play, allowing games to adjust their difficulty in
response.... This will allow the new Kinect to bring emotional gaming
to your living room. Games can use the biological data to orchestrate
your experience by adjusting the difficulty or intensity in real time,
depending on how excited the system thinks you currently are."
Children's Network Launches
Transsexual Superhero Show:
"Nothing says 'child-appropriate material' quite like gender-bending
underage superheroes. At least that’s the theory over at the Hub, the
network co-owned by Discovery and Hasbro, which is trotting out its
latest soon-to-be-dud, SheZow. That show follows the adventures of a 12-year-old boy named Guy who uses a magic ring to transform himself
into a crime-fighting girl.... When Guy says the magic words...he
becomes SheZow, wearing a purple skirt and cape..."
May 2013
Children's
Network Launches Transsexual Superhero Show:
"Nothing says 'child-appropriate material' quite like gender-bending
underage superheroes. At least that’s the theory over at the Hub, the
network co-owned by Discovery and Hasbro, which is trotting out its
latest soon-to-be-dud, SheZow. That show follows the adventures of a 12-year-old boy named Guy who uses a magic ring to transform himself
into a crime-fighting girl.... When Guy says the magic words...he
becomes SheZow, wearing a purple skirt and cape..."
December 2012
Politics From the Dark Side:
"...Britain’s most recent census figures... show that almost 180,000
people in the UK identify themselves as 'Jedi Knights' (from the Star
Wars films), making this the most popular faith in the 'Other Religions'
category on the Census and the seventh most popular 'religion' overall.
...it served to remind me of an analogy that sprang to mind with regard
to the Star Wars phenomenon and America....
"Despite all of this subterfuge and the fact that America’s gravitation
toward socialism was taking place long before Barack Hussein Obama came
on the scene, it is still intellectually difficult to reconcile the
fact that so few Americans can see what’s playing out before them as
clearly as if they were indeed watching Star Wars.... Millions are
aware of his sinister executive orders, his ties to the Muslim Brotherhood,
the communistic underpinnings of Obamacare, and his ploy to undermine
the Second Amendment via the Fast and Furious gun running program, which
became a political botched abortion of titanic proportions....
"There are dark days ahead for the USA, and when we pass into that period,
most Americans will be caught completely unaware, and this could prove
to be quite dangerous."
See
Hope, Hate & Human Nature
October 2012
The
'New Normal' Christianity?
"NBC's
sitcom 'The New Normal' isn't just trying to remake society for
the Gay Left. It's trying to remake Christianity, which is to
say, destroy it. ...As the plot unfolds... [Brian] cracks gay
jokes in his mind.....When the priest suggests there are churches
'geared to your community,' Brian shoots back 'I don't want to be
forced to use a separate water fountain. Why can't the church just
accept all people?' ...(Unsurprisingly, Murphy is a huge Obama backer...')"
See
God's Warnings for
our Times
Too much TV, computer
can ruin your child's mental health:
"...pre-teen children who spend a lot of time in front of television
and computer screens every day are at a heightened risk of developing
psychological problems, even if those children also participate
in physical activities. Based on an analysis of over 1,000 children
between the ages of ten and eleven, researchers found that children
who spend at least two hours a day in front of a screen are 60 percent
more likely to have psychological problems than children who spend
less or no time."
See
Toying with Death
July 2012
Batman Colorado shooting:
James Holmes fixated by altered states of mind:
"James Holmes, the alleged 'Joker' gunman, described his fascination
with altered states of mind in a lecture to other students, and dosed
up on prescription medication before the atrocity.... After the massacre
Holmes calmly told detectives he had taken 100mg of the prescription
painkiller Vicodin.... The same drug was found in the system of actor
Heath Ledger when he died of an accidental overdose of prescription
drugs in 2008. Ledger played The Joker in the
previous Batman film The Dark
Knight."
Holy Smokes, Batman! 3 Men
Arrested After Making Threats in Separate ‘Dark Night Rises’ Incidents:
"At least 3 men accused of making threats during or after watching the
new Batman movie have been arrested in separate incidents, underscoring
moviegoers’ anxieties and heightened security.... [In Maine,
a man] was arrested when he told authorities that he was on his way
to shoot a former employer a day after watching 'The Dark Knight Rises.'
"...moviegoers around the
country still flocked to theaters to see the film, which was the final
installment of the phenomenally successful Batman trilogy. Warner Bros.
reported that it brought in $160.9 million over the weekend, making
it the third highest opening weekend ever, after 'The
Avengers' and '
Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows...'” Ponder the dark consequences
of such depraved stimuli:
A Devious Plot for a Blinded
Nation -- A deeper look at the Batman shooting
October 2011
Rash of 'Twilight'-induced seizures
prompts warning:
"Shaking, sweating and swooning are par for the course among the passionate
young fans of the 'Twilight' series. But reports that a scene in 'Breaking
Dawn' has been sparking seizures in theaters nationwide has epilepsy
experts on the alert and parents thinking twice about letting their kids
see the movie." See
Twilight Obsession
September 2011
Some
cartoons bad for kids' brains: "Some children's television
shows may be bad for young kid's brains.... It appears that children may
not concentrate and focus very well after watching fast-paced programming.
...The pre-schoolers who watched the fast-paced shows did much worse on
the thinking tests than those in the two other groups, who scored about
the same. " See
The Power of Suggestion
July 2011
The Fast and the Spurious:
"Videogames that allow a 'player' to sit in front of a monitor for hours—and
hours—obliterating realistic images of people are a protected form of 'free
speech.' Thus sayeth the Supreme Court last week, 7-2. On First Amendment
grounds, the decision overturned a California law forbidding the sale to minors
of violent videogames, generally called shooter games, that give players
the option of 'killing, maiming, dismembering or sexually assaulting an image
of a human being.'...
"That
coarsening's history was written some years ago by Rochelle Gurstein....she
argued that its cumulative effect on the culture over time is not so harmless—'the
common world becomes literally shameless.'....You don't have to be a
Baptist parent to feel embattled by the culture today. Social media, nonstop
marketing and digital technology are like massed armies against the average
mom and pop....
"In his
concurring opinion, Justice Samuel Alito cited a recent news story about a planned
videogame...which lets players re-enact the Columbine or Virginia Tech massacres.
Gamers themselves have criticized 'School Shooter,' but they also seem to
believe that so long as the victims are fictional, no amount of slaughter is
off-limits. It's just a game, unless it's about real people."
See
Role-Playing
Games & Popular Occultism
June 2011
(Learning to crave violence and
depravity).
California Cannot Ban Sales of
Violent Video Games to Kids:
"The high court agreed Monday with a federal court's decision to throw out California's
ban on the sale or rental of violent video games to minors. The 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals in Sacramento said the law violated minors' rights under the
First and Fourteenth amendments.
" See
Toying with Death
November
2010
Toy Pig Removed From UK Farm Playsets
to Avoid Religious Controversy
: "The animal was missing from the
Early Learning Centre’s (ELC) HappyLand Goosefeather Farm when a mother bought
it as a gift for her daughter’s first birthday. The set did contain a cow, sheep,
chicken, horse and dog, but the pig sty was empty – even though there
was a button that made an 'oink'noise.
"What? No
accommodation for Hindus who might find a farm cow offensive? When the mothe...
complained, she was told in an email the pig had been removed in case it
upset Muslim or Jewish parents."
Baby killed for interrupting mom's
Facebook time: "A north
Florida mother has pleaded guilty to shaking her baby to death after the boy's
crying interrupted her game on Facebook. She told officials she shook the boy,
smoked a cigarette to compose herself and then shook him again." See
Toying with Death
September 2010
Depravity.
"Dexter" Killer: Andrew Conley Says
TV Character Inspired Him to Strangle 10-Year-Old Brother:
"Police say Andrew Conley identified himself with 'Dexter'a television serial
killer in the popular Showtime drama by the same name. The 17-year-old told
investigators strangling his 10-year-old little brother satisfied a craving
like a hungry person eating a hamburger. ...The Indiana teen told investigators
his brothers last words were 'Andrew, stop.'...
"Conley
...showed no remorse or emotion as he described choking to death Conner....Conley
said he dragged his brother's body to his car before driving to see his girlfriend,
who told investigators the teen 'seemed happy, more happy than she had seen
him in a while.'... The teen told investigators he had had fantasies about
killing someone since he was in eighth grade, including cutting somebody's
throat....
"The slaying
comes six weeks after 15-year-old Alyssa Bustamante told Missouri authorities
she strangled, stabbed and cut a 9-year-old neighbor's throat because she wanted
to know what it was like to kill someone."
See
Toying with Death
Computer games may be spawning reckless
drivers: "Driving-based
computer games like the Grand Theft Auto series may be encouraging adolescents
to drive recklessly when they take to the roads for real, a study of teenagers'
attitudes to road risks suggests. With around 1000 people under the age of 25
killed on the world's roads every day, Kathleen Beullens... in Belgium wanted
to find out if simple racing games and more reckless 'drive-'em-up' games might
encourage real-world speeding and risk-taking. ...'some drive-'em-ups give you
points for driving into cars or even pedestrians'.
"...reckless
attitudes to both speeding and risky driving were significantly linked with
having played driving games at the age of 16 and 17."
See
The Power of Suggestion
August 2010
Entertainment.
Music Industry Sexualizes Your Children:
"Nearly every major pop star produces pornographic music videos and pushes them
to your children through Facebook fan pages...and YouTube videos, plus MTV.
Live concerts are often worse....
"Wildly
popular with the pre-teen set, [pop star Katy Perry] has long left her Christian
roots behind. In her latest album, 'Teenage Dream,' her nearly naked, pornographic
romp flashes between beach flirtations and sex in a hotel room....The same Katy
Perry was just featured on Nickolodeon’s 'Kid’s Choice' music awards,
guests on Sesame Street this fall, and appears in the 2011 kids’ movie,
The Smurfs....
"Music videos multiply the effect, imprinting pornographic images in our children’s
minds that replay every time they hear the song. Even with 'neutral' lyrics,
the stored images continue to do their damage."
See
The Power of Suggestion
April 2010
Pullman risks Christian anger with
Jesus novel: "British
author Philip Pullman risks offending Christians with his latest book, a fictional
account of the 'good man Jesus'.... The...outspoken atheist, angered some members
of the Catholic Church with a thinly veiled attack on organised religion in
his hugely successful 'His
Dark Materials' trilogy, But 'The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel
Christ' is a far more direct exploration...."
See
The Cross of Christ Feared, banned,
trivialized... yet Triumphant
February 2010
The Mind-changing Myths of AVATAR
-- Blending Hinduism, Shamanism and Goddess Spirituality:
"Largely patterned after today's idealized views of Native Americans, they draw
viewers into an unforgettable encounter with the 'illusions of oneness.' Remember,
behind the 'beautiful side of paganism' lie the same human tendencies that bring
pain and destruction to all parts of the world: greed, violence, competition,
and war."
Avatar's Color Controversy:
"The movie studio that produced the mega-blockbuster, 'Avatar,' had no problem
with the film's alien race being blue -- but it turns out they were initially
concerned about the Na'vi being too green. ...Cameron recollects the studio's
warning as being: '...is there a way to not have so much of this tree-hugging,
'Ferngully' stuff in it?'... I said, 'Not with me making it.... 'Because
that was my purpose in making the film."
See
Avatar
'Satan's
video game' makes Super Bowl appearance:
"The Super Bowl ad claimed, 'Hell awaits,' and players who fire up 'Dante's
Inferno' on their Xbox 360 can dive right in to slay all sorts of demons and
dark lords to save the girl from Satan's grasp. There's even a level where players
can take on knife-wielding unbaptized babies. Kill enough of them, and players
will unlock an 'achievement' called the 'Bad Nanny' award."
See
Toying with Death
Edu-tainment?
Italian
teen stabs father in PlayStation row:
"Police said the argument broke out when the 46-year-old storekeeper offered
his son advice on tactics to improve his play, and then turned the television
off in response to his son's behavior. Fetching a knife from the kitchen, Mario
stabbed his father in the neck.... The game had been given to Mario a few days
earlier, as a birthday present." See
Role-Playing
Games & Popular Occultism
January 2010
Social media giants survey their
growing kingdom: "Seven
of the 15 most trafficked Web sites in the world are social sites....
'We now spend between five and six hours per day on media and that is the second
biggest human activity after sleeping!' ... Facebook enjoys something like 130
million unique visitors per day, while Twitter has around 25 million visitors....
"Last year
Facebook came under fire from bloggers and rights groups over its decision to
adjust its privacy settings, a move which would dramatically increase the
amount of personal information people expose online. ....'these changes
are especially worrisome because even something as seemingly innocuous as your
list of friends can reveal a great deal about you."
See
Don't conform
January 2010
Movie Alert: Avatar could tempt
millions to accept “Ancient Wisdom”:
"Avatar has a strong shamanistic, spiritual component and a message that clearly
portrays the mystical and the goddess spirituality." See
Is Earth our Mother?
December 2009
Outrage
over the computer game which glorifies suicide bombing:
"A computer game in which players assume the role of a suicide bomber and try
to kill as many men, women and children as possible has provoked outrage....
Players move a terrorist of Arab appearance along a busy street to get as close
as possible to the most civilians. Players of Kaboom adopt the role of
a suicide bomber who must try to kill as many civilians as possible They then
click their mouse and the bomber opens his coat to reveal grenades strapped
to his body before exploding in a shower of bloody limbs. The more men, women
and children are injured, the more points the player receives."
See
Moral, Spiritual & Cultural Corruption
November 2009
Smash "Twilight" sequel enters record
books: "The 'Twilight'
sequel scored the third-biggest opening weekend of all time at the North American
box office on Sunday, as millions of young women swooned over the complex
love triangle involving a high school girl, a vampire and a werewolf....
Exit-polling data in North America indicated that women accounted for 80 percent
of the audience and half the audience was under 21. ... 'New Moon' revisits
the dangerous romance between high school student Bella Swan... and vampire
Edward Cullen.... Reviews were largely scathing.....
"...the stars
have become sex symbols whose real-life romances with each other... have long
been gossip-column fodder."
Please discourage your children
from seeing it! Read our review:
Twilight Obsession
October 2009
Christian Music? Not so much:
"...many of these people know perfectly well that what they’re putting out there
isn’t fit for Christian consumption. They don’t care! One excuse they use is
that in today’s market CCM has to be edgy to make it to the top of the charts.
Truth is, many in the Christian music industry are driven by greed."
See
Popular Music with Pagan Roots
March 2009
Stealthy gamer Gazillion aims for
gazillions with Marvel, Lego deals
[You may need to copy & paste the url:
<www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_11928516?nclick_check=1>:
"Gazillion Entertainment... announced deals with both
Marvel and LEGO...
in a the lucrative market of so-called 'massively multiplayer online' (MMO)
games. The goal is to replicate and surpass the success of Blizzard's popular
'World
of Warcraft'.... Gazillion's strategy is to focus on pre-teens and
young teenagers first. As players grow up, Gazillion hopes to move them to other
games it would develop.... The online game industry, he said, has recorded double-digit
growth despite the recession."
See
Role-Playing Games & Popular Occultism
Game for 6-year-olds pushes same-sex
marriage: "...even children
can download and play a free trial version of The Game of Life, the first game
ever created by Mr. Milton Bradley in 1860. ...the game invites players to choose
a spouse, regardless of the potential spouse's sex. ...
"
'My
daughter noticed right away (even before I did) and clicked on one of the girls
instead of one of the men and then asked, 'Mom, how come I can marry a woman?'
And then that led into a lot more questions that, quite frankly, I was not ready
to talk to my 6-year-old about.'... 'I went back to the web site and left a
very respectful review of the game just stating that this kind of thing should
be left out of kids' games, and the Shockwave.com administrator removed my post,
stating it was inappropriate.'"
See
Cultural Corruption
February 2009
Teenagers 'spend an average of 31
hours online...
"and nearly two hours a week looking at pornography....They spend... around
two hours on YouTube and in chat rooms. Just over an hour is devoted to looking
up cosmetic surgery procedures... an hour and a half is spent on family planning
and pregnancy websites.... One in four teenagers of the 1,000 polled said they
regularly spoke to strangers online.... One in three admitted trying to hide
what they were looking at if a parent entered the room. But children also use
the internet to help them with homework..."
See
Brainwashing in America
December 2008
Kids learn that killing is fun
at the army's lethal new theme park:
"The Army's new recruitment tool lets high-tech video game centers desensitize,
condition, train and even enlist America's youth.... The video kicks in with
a roar of rotors. ...'Enemy on the right!' 'Look out, RPGs straight ahead!'
Bad guys are shooting at me from the alleys, the shadows, the rooftops, but
I am wasting them. One after another, they get caught in my crosshairs and --
bam! -- their bodies lift and sprawl in haphazard death. We're slammed by an
IED and momentarily engulfed in flame. My hand is getting numb from the rifle
recoil, but my lizard brain has taken over." See
Toying with Death
Scientists ask: Is technology rewiring
our brains? "Do all those
hours spent online rewire the circuitry? Could these kids even relate better
to emoticons than to real people? ... While
violent video games have gotten
a lot of public attention, some current concerns go well beyond that. Some scientists
think the wired world may be changing the way we read, learn and interact with
each other." It does.
See
Toying
with Death
Edu-tainment.
Chill out, parents:
"The $3.3 million study... found that youths use online networks to extend friendships,
acquire technical skills, learn from each other.... In what researchers call
'hypersocial' behavior, media at the fingertips enable teens to always
be connected. And instant messaging, text messages and Facebook have
changed dating as well: Couples 'telecocoon,' creating a full-time intimate
community even while physically apart....
"Teens
view adults lurking online as awkward, creepy and violating trust, researchers
found....The study found that youths perceive erecting barriers — like limiting
computer time — 'as raw and ill-informed exercises of power.' And teens,
being teens, develop 'workarounds,' ways to subvert those barriers."
No respect for parents? No
submission to authority? Kids simply teach each other to do as they please?
See
Don't conform to the ways of the world
November 2008
Teen Vampire Film, 'Twilight':
Based on the first of a series of novels by Stephenie Meyer, "Twilight" cost
just $37 million to make, yet performed at the box office like a comic-book
property driven by special effects, thanks in large part to a core audience
of enthusiastic -- if not crazed -- teenage girls. The movie's draw led to a
disappointing debut for Walt Disney Co.'s computer-animated "Bolt," which also
was vying for family-entertainment dollars. ....Basking in the glow of "Twilight"
box office, Summit announced on Saturday that it would begin production on a
sequel, called "New Moon," also based on one of Ms. Meyer's books."
See
Toying with Death
'Twilight' Barely Sips at Juicy
Vampire Genre: "Edward
is, as he explains to Bella patiently, the vampire equivalent of a vegetarian.
...he and his family restrict their diet to animal blood, though they still
consider the human variety a treat to die for. ... Edward clashes with the slavering
scion of a carnivorous vampire family... for the custody of Bella's soul. 'Twilight'
has targeted the collective soul of teenage America, and will surely
have its way."
Outrage over the computer game which
glorifies suicide bombing
: "A computer game in which players
assume the role of a suicide bomber and try to kill as many men, women and children
as possible has provoked outrage.... The Suicide Bombing Game, which
is freely available to all age groups on the internet, ‘devalues human life’
and should be banned. Players move a terrorist of Arab appearance along a busy
street to get as close as possible to the most civilians.... The more men, women
and children are injured, the more points the player receives."
See
Toying with Death
June 2008
A Planet Without People:
"It's appalling all right.... Few major studio releases are so thoroughly pro-death,
so deeply anti-human. We have arrived at a strange moment in American pop culture
when movie-goers spend two hours in the theater being informed that we all deserve
to die.
"
The
'happening' is millions of men, women and children killing themselves, usually
in creative ways....The genocide, we are told, is condign punishment for our
ecological crimes. The conceit extends a metaphor Al Gore proposed in his 2007
Nobel lecture: If 'we have begun to wage war on the Earth itself,' why wouldn't
the Earth fight back? By the end of the film, the dwindling band of survivors...
repents, and is thus spared hideous death."
See
Green Lies
and
Saving the Earth
March 2008
Mind Games: Dungeons & Dragons Immersed
Players in Another World:
"...Dungeons & Dragons, you see, is all in your head.... D&D is role-playing
first and foremost, not roll-playing. One participant, the dungeon master,
controls the world through which the characters move. He describes the
players' surroundings, decides when they are going to be attacked, tricked or
trapped by some monster or magic spell....
"There
was never any earthly reason why devotees of the game should have dressed in
armor or doublets or strapped on swords.... But the game did have a way of
immersing its participants in another realm. A skilled dungeon master
could, with little more than the spoken word, draw a small group of players
into his world so completely that, for hours at a time, its members would
see and feel the landscape.... They might even begin to talk in the voices
that they imagined their characters to have. D&D is, like videogames today,
deeply escapist." See
Toying with Death
January 2008
Sex in Video Game Makes Waves Through
Industry : "A new, best-selling
video game, Mass Effect... allows the characters to engage in explicitly graphic
sexual intercourse. Some game experts and pro-family analysts say Mass Effect
is marketed to young kids and presents a moral danger.... The game is
rated 'M' for mature, as are many video games, and was banned in Singapore last
year, though the decision was later reversed. Mass Effect has sold over 1.6
million copies since its release in November 2007. The game scored "Best
RPG" in the 2007 Spike TV Video Game Awards, and it has been nominated for Game
of the Year....
"'This
is about money,' Ruse said. 'This isn't about a First Amendment debate....It's
putting elements in its games which they think will help them sell more games.
They don't care about what they're doing to kids."
See
Toying with Death
Tolkien's Virtual World Takes Off
(8-28-07):
"The Lord of the Rings Online has enjoyed explosive growth since its April unveiling.
And it'll probably keep doing so—if it remains true to Tolkien's vision ...
In the game, players create avatars
based on characters from the books—hobbits or orcs, for instance—to pursue
quests and battle monsters in an expansive virtual world.... Anderson's team
has proven adept at the dealmaking crucial to extending multiplayer games
around the globe."
See
Role-Playing Games & Popular Occultism
November 2007
The upside-down world of Pullman's
Golden Compass:
"Flying witches, evil specters, talking bears and evolving 'Dust' abound in
Philip Pullman's popular fantasies for children. In this confusing cosmos of
multiple universes, every human is linked to a personal daemon, and telepathic
seekers find answers to life's mysteries through divination, Eastern meditation,
ancient 'wisdom' and ritual magic. These occult practices are essential to the
battle for the 'free' Republic -- against the despised old Church."
October 2007
A Person Could Develop Occult:
"...many shows this season prey on the paranormal. Vampires have day jobs as
detectives, store clerks reap souls for the Devil, reporters time-travel....
Even reality television is getting swept up in the surreal. ...only 'Saving
Grace,' a TNT drama about a dissolute police detective...hints at a benevolent,
all-powerful God [a postmodern, not Biblical God]. On 'The Ghost Whisperer,'
Jennifer Love Hewitt plays a woman who helps dead people transition to the Other
Side, guiding them to a hazy white light. But otherwise there isn’t much of
a religious message....
"Ouija
boards and séances were the 'Heroes' of their time: prime-time entertainment
that opened a door to the magical and the occult.... [In today's] comedies
and dramas, vampires or the Devil’s henchmen infiltrate almost every profession,
from store clerk to homicide detective."
See
Popular Occultism
September 2007
Tolkien's Virtual World Takes Off:
"The Lord of the Rings Online has enjoyed
explosive growth since its April unveiling. And it'll probably keep doing so—if
it remains true to Tolkien's vision.... Unlike other titles such as World of
Warcraft, which though no doubt
influenced by
Tolkien's works has essentially created its own set of fables, Turbine is
rigidly bound to the books. Deviating from the literature could damage the game's
reputation with hardcore players who come to the game specifically for its Tolkienism."
See
Role-Playing Games & Popular Occultism
New TV show urges you: 'Be One of
Satan's Tools': "'Reaper'...
revolves around a '20-something slacker'... who has an unexpected encounter
with Satan....'You're going to work for me here,' says Satan... 'You're just
going to bring escaped souls back to hell. You know, like a bounty hunter. That's
cool!'....The network [CBS]...'strives to be a socially responsible company
with initiatives such as its 'Free 2 B Green' environmental campaign...'"
See
Toying with Death - Learning to
love evil & crave violence
July 2007
While
persecuted Christians refuse to compromise
truth -- even at the cost of their lives, more comfortable and complacent Christians
would rather win popularity than
please God.
The next link
shows the confusing new meanings behind Biblical words. The world's corrupt
values are fast undermining faith and slandering God's truth. Afraid to take
a stand, "Christians" leaders bend over backwards to make the Bible acceptable
to postmodern skeptics. As in Old Testament days -- the two opposites (church
& world) are merging into an unbiblical global community. Many point to some
supposed "biblical principles" (such as kindness, service, noble causes...)
to justify this unbiblical compromise.
See
The Church Walking with the World
Christian?
Tightrope Walking THE SIMPSONS MOVIE:
"The Simpsons movie is a hilarious, witty, engaging big-screen version of the
TV series. In between the edgy humor is a heartwarming, uplifting
story about love, kindness, forgiveness, and redemption.
[Not Biblical redemption!]
... Ned Flanders, the most Christian [What
does that mean in this context?]
character in the Simpsons universe,
plays an important, positive role in helping the family.... Despite this
strong Christian [?],
moral content, however, the movie has some negative content that goes too far
at times. This content includes foul language and edgy humor...
challenging Bart to ride naked on his skateboard, two homosexual policemen who
kiss, cartoon violence, a joke about marijuana...."
[Ted
Baehr, 7-26]
See
God's holy people craving unholy
entertainment then
read the next two links:
Movieguide Mission Statement:
"Good News Communications is a ministry dedicated
to redeeming
the values
of the mass media according to biblical
principles
by influencing media executives
to adopt higher standards imbued with Christian and traditional family values,
and by informing and equipping moral people... to make wise media choices based
on the biblical worldview."
But
true (in contrast to politially correct) Biblical guidelines clash with the
world's mass media.
See
Don't conform
to the world and
Separation
Film festival boasts high profile
judges for films questioning faith:
"[The] Festival... is offering one thousand pounds as a first prize to young
film makers
if they can explain what makes people passionate
about their religion.... The Insight Festival aims to encourage the use
of moving image creativity to promote
community cohesion and understanding;
to offer a platform for creative people of different cultural and faith backgrounds
to explore and communicate the phenomenon and
potency of faith [Politically correct,
unifying, community building religions?]
using contemporary moving images; and to encourage
dialogue, communication and
insight between people of different
faiths...."
Written in the 1820s,
almost two centuries ago, the message below may seem narrow and absurd
to Christians today. We forget that Jesus called us to walk His
narrow road with Him! No matter
how far the Church drifts from its Biblical moorings, God's call and guidelines
remain the same. Like it or not, this is an important warning:
The Christian
and the Theater: "When
you return from the playhouse
[now it's TV,
movies, etc.]..
have you any taste for prayer, for reading the Scriptures, or holding communion
with God in any sacred exercise? ... How common is it to find in the language
of the theater the most unqualified profaneness, and even blasphemy! How often
are mock-prayers and irreverent appeals to the Majesty of heaven, exhibited
on the most trivial occasions! How often is the dialogue interspersed with such
unchaste expressions or allusions as cannot but grievously pain the ear of modesty...
Piety and virtue are made to appear contemptible; and vice, in the person
of some favorite hero, is exhibited as attractive, honorable, and triumphant."
God's Way versus our ways
'Ratatouille': A four-star rat:
"This is an animated movie that's been made for adults, although kids probably
will enjoy it.... Remy [an ambitious rat] realizes one day that he has a gourmet
nose and a taste for life's finer things.... He is
guided
in his unlikely quest by Gusteau's ghost....
The occasional appearances of Gusteau's ghost allow Bird to teach his audience
a thing or two about cooking while the chef explains it to the rat."
Within a Biblical worldview,
this guiding "ghost" would be a demonic spirit guide.
See
Movie Magic & Unconscious Learning
and the first two links below.
June 2007
RATATOUILLE: A Recipe for Success
[By Josh Climo with Dr. Ted Baehr]: "'It's a PIXAR film. That kind of says it
all,' says Patton Oswalt, who voices the main character, Remy
[the gourmet rat].
'[Remy] is all the way committed to what he loves,' Oswalt tells MOVIEGUIDE....
"Despite his mousy complexion, Remy is a positive role model for kids.
'He believes and has faith and doesn't give up.'"
But the focus of his love is
gourmet food! The object of his faith is himself, not God. Don't believe those
who look for Christian messages in self-seeking pragmatism. See the next link:
Edu-tainment.
Ratatouille: In the Pursuit of Happiness
(Ted Baehr): "'Ratatouille' [by Pixar]... opens with Remy the rat narrating
his story.... When the mistress of the farmhouse where Remy's colony resides
tries to blow them off the face of the earth with her shotgun, they all get
carried away on the river, into the sewers to Paris.... When Remy wakes up after
his harrowing escape, he is talking to [his hero, Auguste Gusteau] who died
recently. [Notice how this parallels guidance
by demonic spirit guides]
"
Remy
recognizes that Auguste is a figment of his imagination, but his internal
dialogue leads him straight to Gusteau's famous restaurant.... Remy teams
up with the new garbage boy Linguini, who may be Gusteau's heir, to take the
culinary world of Paris, and Skinner, by surprise. The villains are set against
Remy and Linguini....
"'Ratatouille' is a near
great movie. It does have some issues, however. Linguini is plied with enough
wine to get him drunk, the rats are not only difficult to embrace, but
they also steal when told not to do so.... However, there are many
mentions of moral principles to counteract this, and the overall storyline
is very pro capitalist, pro individual and supportive of the gifts that the
individual has.
"...there
is a reference to Heaven. [What does heaven
imply in this amoral context?]
"
The real Christian theology comes in the fact that the movie makes it
clear that anyone can be a chef, although not everyone can be a great chef.
Thus, like the divine meritocracy instituted by the Declaration of Independence,
the movie strongly suggests that all people are created equal by God, who grants
everyone the right to pursue personal happiness while they pursue their individual
service to God's divine authority." Does
this sound like "Christian theology" to you? The "Christian" label sounds like
a deceptive justification of lawlessness, crudity, and immorality to me!
See
The Power of Suggestion
Video games: A psychiatric disorder?
The telltale signs are ominous: teens holing up in their rooms, ignoring friends,
family, even food and a shower, while grades plummet and belligerence soars.
The culprit isn't alcohol or drugs. It's video games, which for certain kids
can be as powerfully addictive as heroin... A leading council of the nation's
largest doctors' group wants to have this behavior officially classified as
a psychiatric disorder...
"...her
17-year-old son, Michael, was a video addict. Over nearly two years, video and
Internet games transformed him from an outgoing, academically gifted teen into
a reclusive manipulator who flunked two 10th grade classes and spent several
hours day and night playing World of Warcraft.... 'We went to therapists, we
tried taking the game away. 'He would threaten us physically. He would curse
and call us every name imaginable.... It was as if he was possessed.'...
"Overuse
most often occurs with online role-playing games involving multiple players."
See
Role-Playing Games & Popular Occultism
May 2007
Animation nation:
"FanimeCon, the annual Bay Area celebration of the Japanese love affair with
animation [took place] in San Jose's downtown convention center.... High school
girls in fishnet stockings. High school boys dressed up as high school girls.
Wizards and geishas, gender-benders in feathered hats and kimonos. Warriors
slinging long swords, and suburban kids with oversize cat bells strung from
their necks. The visitors swam aquarium-style along the convention center's
aisles, past comic-book artists.... creators and purveyors of Japanese anime
and manga, or print cartoons...
"Bible
Black is our bestselling series, about a witches coven of young girls who practice
sexual rituals to get more power,' Brier said."
See
Toying with Death
April 2007
Cats, Warriors,
Penguins and Kids--Changing
beliefs through myth and magic:
“In the wake of
Harry Potter's
popularity, a tidal wave of dark, mystical children's books has arisen. Led
by Scholastic,
publishers across the country have adapted all kinds of occult beliefs and magical
rituals to the tastes of young readers. Now, a decade later, children everywhere
are learning to see paganism and syncretism (spiritual blends) as more 'real'
and 'normal' than true Christianity."
March 2007
It takes a
(virtual reality
online) village:
"...the industry wants to help create better social experiences for gamers.
Developers are trying to mimic popular sites like MySpace, which enable members
to express themselves in their own Web sites and create social networks with
friends.... The hope is that games will
become even more addictive.... Inside
Sony's virtual world, anyone you meet can instantly know your interests, favorite
movies and game achievements. This is happening because people in modern society
are suffering from the 'lost village' syndrome,
says Trip Hawkins, the CEO of cell phone game maker Digital Chocolate.... Hawkins'
theory: We're all basket cases because we no
longer live in closely-knit villages. ... To him, we're all desperately
using technology to restore or extend our social
networks so we won't be isolated anymore....
"Not only
do gamers want new social opportunities,
they want games to be customizable
to their own tastes.
... Designers are even trying to make single-player games more appealing in
social terms. The upcoming 'Fable 2'... will feature a
virtual dog who will be the player's constant
companion.... the dog will be loyal, protective and show the player 'what
it's like to be loved.'"
See
Role-Playing Games & Popular Occultism
February 2007
Video game industry's sales rise
in January: "Thanks to
new game systems -- and an extra week in the month -- industry sales in the
United States rose 78 percent year-over-year in January, according to market
research firm NPD Group. ..The booming sales in a normally quiet month follow
a strong holiday period. Video game sales grew 28 percent in December alone
last year." See
Toying with Death
January 2007
EU moves closer to ban on violent
video games: (Financial
Times, registration required)
Violent video games could be banned
throughout Europe, European Union justice ministers meeting in Dresden said
yesterday. The ministers called for closer scrutiny and co-ordination of national
bans amid concern over the alleged link between playing violent games and brutal
behaviour by children and adolescents."
For previous links, see
Entertainment-2000-02,
2003-04,
2005-06
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