Our Fascination with the Supernatural

I admit that since I was a child, I’ve had a fascination with the supernatural. Vampires, werewolves, warlocks, dragons, wizards and the such. And America’s fascination with the supernatural seems to be at a peak. When I was a kid, it was “Bewitched” that was a favorite of many. This show portrayed witches as generally good people. Interestingly, the use of magic usually landed Samantha in trouble, though it was also magic that got her back out of trouble.

Today, such shows as “Wizards of Waverly Place” and “Charmed” are popular. The Harry Potter series of books and movies are hugely successful, as is the “Twilight” series. I’ve seen previews of an upcoming remake of “The Wolfman” as well. And of course, Dracula has been remade many times.

Even Christian stories such as “Lord of the Rings” and the Narnia series are rooted in the supernatural. Though, the Narnia series is a Christian allegory. However, if parents don’t explain the allegory to their kids, the kids probably won’t understand that Aslan, the lion, is a representation of Christ. One interesting fact to note, whenever a human performs magic in “The Lord of the Rings” bad things happen. Gandalf is not a human, he is a Mithra, or a race of angels. Anyway, I digress.

I’m not one of those who thinks we should ban or even protest movies such as Harry Potter or “Twlight”. I believe it is up to the parents to educate their children about the supernatural and to both know and decide what is appropriate for their children to watch. However, I do believe there are two major consequences that result from our glorification of things from the occult. And yes, magic, witches, warlocks, etc. are of the occult. They are not sanctioned by God. The Bible is pretty clear on God’s stance regarding the practice of witchcraft:

“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 18:10-13).

Therefore, when Hollywood or an author glorifies witchcraft, or makes witchcraft appear good, they are going contrary to the Bible. This, in of itself, is a problem, and thus parents should educate their children about what the Bible has to say about witchcraft.

Isaiah 5:20 says, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” Movies do this all the time – glorify evil. Our children need to be educated on what is good and what is truly evil.

It is this portrayal of evil as good that is the first danger of our fascination of the supernatural. We are raising generations of children who may believe that witchcraft is good, that divination is good, and that even traditional icons of evil such as vampires can be good. People are attracted to evil. I believe this is the sinful nature inside of us, but I also believe the media shares some of the blame. And by the media I include fiction authors, movie producers, and television producers. “Wizards of Waverly Place” may be a cute, entertaining show, but one consequence of this show is to demonstrate to children that witchcraft is okay, fun, and even useful.

The second consequence of our current portrayal of the supernatural is actually somewhat of an opposite effect. It’s the trivialization of the supernatural. Remember, God is supernatural. The Bible has many many occurrences of supernatural healings, miracles, and other events. And not just through Jesus, but also through his disciples. And witchcraft as well as conversing with the dead is real, as seen in 1Samuel 28 when Saul asks the witches of Endor to consult with the dead spirit of Samuel. There is a natural world and there is a supernatural world. But, we are so bombarded with fictional portrayals of the supernatural that many people may have a tendency to shake off the entire concept as fiction. This, unfortunately, includes God.

I believe the saturation of the supernatural in fiction has a numbing effect on people, leading them to disregard the actual existence of evil supernatural entities (demons) and the actual existence of good supernatural entities (God and His angels). Ignoring either the evil supernatural or the good supernatural can have devastating consequences.

So, what’s the answer? Total censorship! No, that’s not the answer. The answer, as usual lies in the Bible: “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6). Parents, train your children in the ways of the Bible so that they know fiction from reality and so that they know what is truly evil and what is truly good. Of course, if one way you want to train them is by not allowing them to watch shows that glorify evil, then good for you, that is your prerogative. Another way is to watch these shows and movies with your children and explain to them what the Bible says and why what they are seeing is both fiction and dishonoring to God.

And for all of us, we need to read the Bible so that we’re familiar both with what God says about things such as witchcraft and speaking to the dead, and to learn about both the good supernatural and the evil supernatural. We need to educate ourselves and that education should come from the Bible, not from Hollywood. 2Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” The way to fight the world and its portrayal of evil as good is to be equipped with God’s Word.

Our fascination with the supernatural is not a bad thing. God is supernatural. We should pursue the supernatural. It’s just that we need to pursue the right path to the supernatural and we need to learn to call evil evil and good good.