As all regular readers of this blog know, we get many questions about children’s books in which the characters use sorcery in one way or another. In an effort to help Christian parents learn how to discern whether or not this content is suitable for their children, I would like to post insights from Michael O’Brien’s book, Harry Potter and the Paganization of Culture (www.studioobrien.com) which I hope you’ll find useful.
Category Archives: New Age
How the New Age Hijacks 12 Step Programs
EG writes: “I am willing to accept that the 12 step programs are new age with the “God as you understand him” placed in the steps. My husband got over an addiction to alcohol in 1981 through Alcoholic Anonymous and remained sober till his death in 1998….One of the things I have noticed is that the program members are getting involved in the “Course in Miracles”, and I know of members who are starting Self Help Seminar programs that are using some AA materials but without “that god stuff”. Could I get some clarification on this as I find it confusing.”
Congressman’s Wife Dies After Ingesting Supplement
Lori McClintock, the 61-year-old wife of U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock, died from dehydration due to gastroenteritis that was caused by “adverse effects of white mulberry leaf ingestion.”
Auricular Medicine: Quackery on Steroids
VR writes: “I have been getting homeopathy treatment from a chiropractor using Auricular Medicine. It is a bio-energetic medicine testing protocol that enables them to objectively determine which homeopathics are appropriate (and not appropriate) for each patient. Is this New Age medicine?”
Can Satan Heal?
Photo by Elia Pellegrini on Unsplash
JJ writes: “I have a friend and practicing Catholic who has found healing from a medical medium. Even though the Church condemns mediumship, she believes that because she was healed, that it must be of God because Satan cannot heal. I haven’t had any luck researching this on my own, but can Satan provide healing as part of his deception?”
Can Practicing Karate be Considered Good Christian Family Time?
AP writes: “A friend of mine from work, Chris, is a practicing Catholic with 5 children. Before marriage, he was even in the seminary. He is very orthodox. He also happens to have a number of black belts in all sorts of martial arts. I have two teenage daughters and and a 11 year old son. I want them to be able to protect themselves, especially when they go off to college. Last night, Chris came over and gave us family Karate lessons. I thought it was wonderful. The stretching and exercising were great. He talked about the Eucharist. The only thing that was a little bizarre is that in Okinawan Karate, and I think other Karate, they bow when they enter the dojo. . .
Disney Debuts Cartoon Series About Satan
A new adult cartoon series entitled, Little Demon, featuring a pro-Satan plot along with profanity and extreme violence, is set to debut on FXX on August 25.
Science and the Church
MS writes: “If western science shows that practices such as acupuncture work, will the practices become ok to use?”
Woman Builds Altar to Fetal Remains After Chemical Abortion
Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
In a shocking display of the spiritual confusion of our time, a YouTube video featuring a young woman giving instructions to women about how to build an altar to celebrate the “sacred abortion experience” after a chemical abortion has garnered more than 330,000 views.
In an article about the video appearing on National Right to Life News, a woman instructs viewers on how to build the altar in order to “create a space for your sacred container” which will contain the “products of conception” after the chemical abortion is complete.
Although the video is now private, you can view it on the Twitter feed of conservative activist Drew Hernandez.
In it, a young woman encourages viewers to proceed by cleaning the space around their altar, then instructs: “I like to always have a candle going on my altar…and I’m adding an Empress tarot card because she symbolizes feminine fertility and feminine energy,” she says and gives no indication why she worships feminine fertility while preparing to destroy the “products” of her own fertility. Nor does she explain the reason why her altar also contains a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas and the Unborn.
“I also really like to add the abortion pills themselves to the altar to really bless the pills that we will be taking into our bodies during this process,” she continues. “Before having your abortion, I would recommend giving them a nice sage or palo santo or another smoke to really cleanse the energy and really bless them and place your intention for healing into the pills before you take them.” Healing for whom, and why, are questions she never addresses.
She goes on to instruct viewers to “place the container in which you plan to place the products of conception or the fetal remains within to catch that after you pass it and save it for later when you find a way to bury or otherwise…to where we find a way to properly dispose of the fetal remains in a way that gives reverence and support to this sacred abortion experience.” Notice that the reverence is being given to the abortion, not the fetal remains.
In addition to being a place designated for worshiping the “abortion experience,” she suggests that women return to the altar “whenever you want to meditate, whenever you want to think deeply or contemplate any aspect of your abortion. It’s a really beautiful way to just give reverence to the experience and hold the experience in a really sacred way.”
In the end of the video, the woman folds her hands as if in prayer and says, “Thanks so much for building your altar with me today,” she says. “So much love.”
The unintended irony of that closing statement is almost too much to bear, says Dave Andrusko, Editor of National Right to Life News. “More than once I have characterized abortion as a secular sacrament. If ever you were tempted to think I was going overboard, consider this.”
It’s also very indicative of the diabolical disorientation prevalent among the New Age “n.o.n.e.s.” who brag about being “spiritual” rather than religious. They sincerely believe they can mix-and-match religious practices at will – such as placing tarot cards on the same altar with Our Lady of Guadalupe – and as long as the combination makes them “feel good” it’s okay. This dangerous naivete about the supernatural world is leading many of them into darker realms without them even being aware of it until it’s too late.
As one commenter on the video states, “This just shows how evil ‘New Age’ really is. They convince people that EVERYTHING is positive and light if you just do it with a couple quartz crystals and some incense burning. This is dark energy and clearly taking the Left Hand path.”
Another commenter had a similar view: “This is a powerful example of why the modern New Age movement is so very dangerous & insidious. You can get from your local crystal shop to building abortion ritual altars VERY QUICKLY.”
Others just saw the video as pure evil. “Straight from the pits of hell,” one viewer said, while another called it “Ba’al worship.” Others questioned why she didn’t have a picture on her altar of Molech, the god to whom pagan peoples used to sacrifice their children.
All agree that this woman is very confused and seems so intent on denying the reality of abortion that she has created a fantasy-world where the act of killing the innocent is celebrated and considered “sacred” and worthy of reverence, with no regard for the individual whose life was taken.
This video can be described in just two words – pure evil.
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Are Pagan Gods Demons?
ST asks: “Are pagan gods really demons? And if so, how do we know this?”
