Deus, in adjutorium meum intende. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me.
To take a different tack here, I have read some critiques recently about the fascination of young women and girls with the vampire "heroes" in today's books and movies. As I've shown, teen romanticizing is nothing new. A little fantasy is not harmful in itself. Imagining "the one" is probably as healthy and normal as it ever was, or it can be.
But where are the wholesome ideals? The paranormal romances that enthrall our young people trouble me and, I feel, are unhealthy. Anything that promotes the occult in such an enticing way is dangerous, near satanic. I must agree with Mark Driscoll, whose critique of the genre is dismissed in some circles because his is a christian view.
the christian view is most important in critiquing these types of things. There is a real danger in letting the occult into one's life, even something that is used for entertainment and as are these dramas, or even a ouija board. There is an opening to the satanic that can subtley influence a soul and eventually try to control it.
Even Harry Potter, with total emphasis on occult powers, though white and black magic are at odds, is dangerous for very young minds. The powers, good and bad, have a pagan genesis. Children are acting out these fantasy scenarios. It can be a dangerous game.
The Church has trained exorcists for a reason. Movies like "The Exorcist" and "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" show the real power of Satan in the world. It exists and it is growing stronger because of man's apathy or disbelief, or ridicule of the notion. There has been such an increase of Satanism and possessions in recent years that the retired Pope Benedict XVI recommended exorcists be trained for every diocese in the world! It is serious business.
There are plenty of witches in the old fairy tales. They represent the fears all people have of evil and the battles that are fought against it. The stories serve as admonitions as well. They spoke to plain folk and showed children that the weakest had power over evil. In those tales evils are defeated, but unlike the Harry Potter series, they are defeated through love, bravery, and human enterprise, not occult magic against occult magic.
In the vampire genre the love is sensual, sexual and controlling. The "undead" one is the controller. To be enamored of such a "hero" shows a lack of understanding and a morbid need. Where can we find real, live - or alive - heroes in any of today's movies and books? that's a whole different subject.
C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien employ wizards and witches. Again, even though Gandolf in the Ring Trilogy is a wizard, his magic can not defeat the ghastly hordes. It is the bravery of the Hobbits that finally destroys the evil that has dominated Middle Earth. C.S. Lewis uses Aslan as a Christ figure. His sacrificial love and the children's bravery overcome. Harry is brave. Harry loves. He is the victim - sacrifice - hero. But he uses magic that has no basis in spirituality. It is pagan. It is occult. It opens doors that should remain closed to children and young people.
At one time I defended Harry Potter, mistakenly comparing his escapades to the old fairy tales. With further reflexion, and viewing the movies more than once, I have changed my opinion drastically. There is no higher power (God) which defeats evil (Satan), a creation of God gone bad through pride and free will. It is two equal powers of good and evil, not one really superior to the other. It is the fourth century heresy of Manicheism, two kingdoms, one of light and the other of darkness. The heresy was followed by no greater saint than Augustine for several years. The heresy was condemned, but one might say that it has reappeared (though never completely stamped out) in our modern entertainment.
I advise care in accepting these dark stories as simply romantic fantasy. They hold more power than that.
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