Halloween: What If My Kids Want to Read Occult Books?
"Mom Says/Dad Says," an exclusive Christian parental advice column by Gregory Slayton, former U.S. Ambassador to Bermuda and author of the best-selling book Be a Better Dad Today: Ten Tools Every Father Needs, and his wife, Marina Slayton, author of the new book Be The Best Mom You Can Be. The Slaytons have been featured on Fox and Friends, Focus on the Family Radio and numerous other media outlets. They donate 100% of their royalties from parenting books to fatherhood and family non-profits.
Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman, Governors Jeb Bush and Sam Brownback and Pastors Tim Keller and Luis Palau, among others, have endorsed the Slaytons. In their exclusive series for The Christian Post, both Marina and Gregory will answer thoughtful Christian parents seeking to raise their children up in the goodness of the Gospel and the Glory of God. If you would like to have Marina and Gregory answer your questions, please contact them via momsaysdadsays@christianpost.com.
Parent Question:
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Our child loves to read. The issue is that our local library seems to be stocked with an overabundance of books that deal directly or indirectly with the occult. Why is this and should I be concerned?
Mom Says:
Western culture is increasingly deviating from Godly principles. One of the most damaging, and least discussed, dangers is the increase presence of the occult in the lives of our children. For example It is very concerning that an increasing portion of what our children are given to read at public schools and libraries is related to the occult.
What was cute in my generation (you know, Casper the friendly ghost and pretty bewitched Samantha twitching her little nose) has now become ugly, dark and powerful. And what teenager doesn't want to be powerful?
The devil is clever; he starts out in little ways so he can take an ever increasing share of our lives. Today he takes advantage of the fact that so few actually believe in his existence.
Even in my public library the occult has spilled over into the adult section. The libraries (and teachers) are incentivized to propagate this literature because this is apparently what everyone reads these days. But as spiritual parents who understand that the earthly world is pale reflection of the heavenly world, we cannot allow our kids to be infected by the occult. Ever.
That means no books on the occult, no spells written for class assignments (the teacher said it was a form of poetry!!), no ouiji boards. We must follow the Russian militsry dictum "Not one step back."
No "fun" halloween rituals that include witches, potions, etc. And if your kids have been impacted already in this area, please take the time to talk with them about the occult and help the understand it is evil. Prayer is needed. Our kids may or may not take it fully to heart the first time we speak to them, but we must be honest with them no matter what.
Satan is coming out of the shadows and his followers are increasing and are increasingly brazen. Do not allow your children, or yourselves, to underestimate his power.
We found it helpful in our family to do a Bible study on the nature of Satan. We know that God Almighty is the Final Authority. But we do live in a world where currently the devil has power. It is important to live under God's authority and not allow an inch to the enemy in our own lives and those of our children.
Dad Says:
The Bible (along with history and common sense) tell us that there is a malevolent power in our world that is beyond our natural understanding.
There is no rational explanation for why Hitler took much needed troops and SS batallions out of the fighting of WWII to build an elaborate (and expensive ) network of death camps that were used to exterminate an estimated 7 million Jews and many millions of others.
And who exactly are the black robed death worshipping followers of ISIS serving today? Beheading innocent children for video ratings? Where does that come from?
Likewise there is no rational reason for suicide to be the leading cause of death among US teenagers today. We know too many children from good homes who got sucked into the devils triangle of occult practices, drug use and sexual depravity. In too many cases death has followed closely behind.
I don't pretend to understand the occult. But I know there is evil power there. It's no accident that the words devil and evil are twins. Likewise good and God.
Let's talk openly with our children about Good and evil. They deserve our help. And they need our prayers and protection.
May our Heavenly Father give each of us the wisdom and strength to be good servant leaders of our families in this critical area.
Onward and Upward.
