"You shall not have strange Gods before me"

Do you think Christians should be watching movies like The Devil Inside and The Twilight Saga? Is it fine to let children read the Harry Potter series and see the films? What about toning and relaxing the body and mind with exercises like yoga and meditation techniques? Should we be reading horoscopes and consulting fortune-tellers? Let's try to answer these questions within a Christian context.

In a recent article in The Telegraph on January 9, 2012, chief Vatican exorcist Fr. Gabriele Amorth says, "Harry Potter and yoga are evil." This may come as a surprise to many of us who over time have allowed New Age beliefs and practises to enter our homes, our families and our lives. To see the evidence for this just notice the number of places in our city that offer palm reading, magic cards and crystal gazing. Similar to Dungeons and Dragons, there's an Internet game called, Magic, also known as The Gathering with over twelve million players. If you're a parent, should you not know if your children are playing these potentially soul corrupting games?

Fr. Amorth, the honorary president of the International Association of Exorcists 1986 and chief exorcist for the Diocese of Rome, has freed many people who were once afflicted with evil spirits. He says, "Yoga is Satanic because it leads to a worship of Hinduism" and “all eastern religions are based on a false belief in reincarnation”. He also warns thast reading JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books is just as dangerous. The Harry Potter books have now become international bestsellers and so may “seem innocuous” but they immerse readers, many of them are young, into the perilous world of black magic and wizardry.

According to Father Amorth, “Practising yoga is Satanic, it leads to evil just like reading Harry Potter. In Harry Potter the devil acts in a crafty and covert manner; he comes in the guise of someone with extraordinary powers, magic spells and curses. Satan is always hidden and what he most wants is for us not to believe in his existence. He studies every one of us and our tendencies towards good and evil, and then he offers temptations.”

In 2003, The Pontifical Council for Culture issued a document titled, Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life. (The publication is a solid reference on the subject to have in our homes.) It's subtitled, A Christian reflection on the New Age to warn Catholics of the potential dangers of yoga, Zen, transcendental meditation and other 'eastern’ practises. These New Age activities could “degenerate into a cult of the body” that debases Christian prayer. Yoga poses could create a feeling of well-being in the body but it's erroneous to confuse that with “the authentic consolations of the Holy Spirit." This document is an excellent resource in regaining the truth in order to fight back all New Age techniques and beliefs not compatible with the Christian faith.

The essential problem with all New Age practices and films glorifying vampires, magic and witchcraft is that they can deceptively contradict, undermine and lead to the outright rejection of our Christian beliefs. There's a spiritual risk in entertaining these ideas or trying them out. In our attempt to live the Christian faith, we need to have a living relationship with Christ. The First Commandment is where it all begins: "I am the Lord your God: You shall have not have strange Gods before me." How do we explain what these strange Gods are? In the Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church, we find this very useful explanation. (By the way, this book is a wonderful spiritual resource especially for teenagers.) The commandment forbids us:

1. "to adore other gods and pagan deities or to worship an an earthly idol to devote oneself entirely to some earthly good (money, influence, success, beauty, youth and so on);
2. "to be superstitious, which means to adhere to esoteric, magic or the occult or New Age practices or to get involved with fortune telling or spiritualism, instead of believing in God's power, Providence and blessings;
3. "to provoke God by word and deed;
4. "to commit a sacrilege;
5. "to acquire spiritual power through corruption and to desecrate what is holy through trafficking." (355)

Any teaching, activity or belief that claims human beings alone can know their destiny and the truth about life through secret powers is spiritually dangerous. It can too easily make us forget God and begin to replace Him with occult activities such as the Ouija boards, astrology and clairvoyance. Human beings, however, are not divine. In New Age practices there's the hidden assumption that redemption is possible without Christ. Christians believe only Christ and God's grace can redeem us from sin and death.

We will end with the sound spiritual advice found in Psalm 40 in dealing with all the New Age deceptions: "I have waited for the Lord,/ and he stooped toward me and heard my cry,/ Blessed the man who makes the Lord his trust;/who turns not to idolatry/ or to those who stray after falsehood." All we really need is God's truth.