Like the unannounced, quiet entry and the subtle dominance of the abortion indu$try, so also, I believe was the gentle entrance and indoctrination of acceptance and embracing of magic. No, not that magic was new – by no means – especially when we consider God’s Word and His dealings with magicians, sorcerers and diviners throughout; but the universal acceptance and endorsement of magic introduced by Walt Disney is predominately accepted and permanently etched in history and in the daily lives of countless millions. Just consider one of the most common family vacation dreams or destinations… Disneyland or Disneyworld.
I was briefly scanning Doug Phillips’ blog and his comments on the role and influence of Walt Disney in and on our society. He said,
The scope of his cultural legacy is truly massive, impacting everything from our nation’s vision of childhood, family life, and gender roles, to the meaning of a happy family vacation. But his legacy — both positive and negative — has largely gone unexamined by Christian theologians, cultural warriors, and filmmakers.”
I remember something like sixteen years ago our family had the great, or so I thought at the time, great privilege of going to Disneyland for two days as our boy had won a contest and subsequent trip to Disneyland for his family. It was amazing. (Our stay with our family was my most favourite part of the trip! I will never forget those days!). Anyway, It was to our children, the trip of a lifetime… a dream come true. Just like Magic! In so many ways, it really was a delightful time and was matched only by the wonderful warmth, sunshine and family time we thoroughly enjoyed – it was actually quite surreal as the vacation time was so opposite our life and difficult financial circumstances at that time.
But there was another thing that happened during that trip to the “Happiest Place on Earth” — it was the inescapable, unparalleled feeling of oppression and darkness. The realization that magic isn’t cute – it’s deadly and it’s counter to or in opposition to God’s holy Sovereignty. It was that feeling that led to my personal decision to never go there again and to never promote “Disney stuff” in our home. I’m not afraid of it – I’m not a disneyphobe… I just won’t endorse it. There are gray areas, I suppose, to the actual outworkings of this decision, but overall, it’s the back magic, the “white magic” and the fairytales and all that goes with all of that could never/can never have a place in our home again. Though, quite honestly, subtle forms of magic and fairytales present themselves from time to time in our lives. I mean… I am sure I was born to be a princess… and, well, I am.
So, the decisions regarding Disney stuff came some years after our questioning and decision to have nothing to do with halloween. It’s not a cute day… it’s not ‘nothing.’ It’s not innocuous, it’s not innocent, and it’s not just a fun day to dress up. Dress up and play games tonight, if that’s the only motivation. But to ‘c-el-e-b-r-a-t-e halloween’ and ‘trick or treat’ is devilish foolishness. So what if people come to the door looking for free candy… you don’t have to take part in the day in any way… unless the Lord gives you some prompting to just talk to everyone that comes to your door and tell them some Good News … that way you won’t add to their decay… decay in their teeth or decay in their life. I just forget the day entirely – and make it a point to avoid shopping at stores in October. Especially thrift stores.
It’s interesting how things sort of come along in groups… sort of like getting understanding about a matter and it all spills over into other areas, activities or thoughts. Those things sort of all coincided with the decision to eliminate the cultural icon, Barbie, from our home, too. At first, she was so lovely… so fun to play with. I mean, I had Barbies, so they must’ve been okay… was my justification. But then I got to evaluating the doll… her dress(es), her appearance, her lifestyle and her face… her eyes… those alluring eyes… her immodest clothes… and I decided that her appearance, her lifestyle was actually counterfeit… it was counter to the lifestyle, character and qualities of biblical womanhood we were teaching in our home… so: out she went and all her stuff, too… her strapless gowns, her pink convertible and the promotion of her carefree lifestyle.
It was freeing to be able to replace all that stuff with things we wanted to teach and promote in our home… babydolls and items that promoted care and concern for babies, for motherhood and nurturing a family. It was delightful to promote what God was teaching me: respect for modesty, the role of women, wives and mothers, and to be able to communicate that to our daughter and then as each daughter came along, to teach them, as well.
In many ways, much of Disney, Barbie, halloween… and whatever other forces of darkness that are evident around us are all subtle indoctrinations of the enemy of God… the enemy of our souls.
