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| As the Pokemon Go craze continues to sweep the nation, it is inevitable that this game will be hotly debated in Christian circles. |
Is Pokemon Go Evil,
Dangerous or Demonic?
One week ago, a game called Pokemon Go was
launched, and over the last seven days it has become an international
phenomenon. It is the first mass market video game to successfully blend the
real world and the digital world together in a way that the public truly
embraces, and it is making headlines all over the planet.
At this point it has almost as many daily
active users as Twitter does, and Nintendo's stock price is going crazy as a
result. On Monday it shot up 25 percent, and on Tuesday it surged another 13
percent. In other words, Nintendo is now worth billions of dollars more than it
used to be.
But is there a dark side to Pokemon Go? Is it
potentially evil, dangerous or demonic?
Many people would dismiss such questions as
complete nonsense. Unlike most video games, Pokemon Go actually requires people
to leave their homes, get some exercise and visit real places.
This type of game is being called
"augmented reality," and it is bringing people together in new and
interesting ways. In fact, the Washington Post
is reporting that a lot of people are actually ending
up in church as they hunt Pokemon creatures.
But not everything is unicorns and lollipops
with this new game. Over the past week, we have seen people commit robberies at
Pokemon Go locations, and there are very serious data security concerns. The
following comes from Ricky Scaparo...
New reports are now coming in of the practical
dangers of this game such as a recent report out of Baltimore where multiple people were
robbed playing the "Pokemon Go" game last week,
according to the Baltimore County Police Department.
And then there is personal security concerns
that have surfaced as a new report indicated that players that have logged into
the game using their Google account may have given the
app permission to go through all of their Google data, including emails and
website history.
But much more alarming to many is the content
of the game itself. As Mena Lee Grebin has pointed out,
"Pokemon" actually comes from two Japanese words that mean
"Pocket Monster"...
Meaning of the word Pokémon: a contraction of
two Japanese words, "Poketto" and "Monsut," meaning "Pocket
Monster"
Definition of Monster: a creature that is
typically large, ugly, and frightening. Synonyms – rascal, beast, demon,
brute, imp, devil.
Even the Washington Post admits
that there are creatures such as "a flaming demon" in Pokemon Go. As
players progress through the game, they collect these monsters and demons,
train them, and have them fight against Pokemon owned by others. Here is more
from Ricky Scaparo...
The Pokemon are supposed to be
"monsters" that have special powers and share
the world with humans. The idea of the game is to have the children
learn how to collect as many Pokemon as possible, train them,
and use them against other people's Pokemon by invoking the
various abilities of each Pokemon creature.
Pokemon can evolve and pass through various
levels, 100 being the highest. Colored energy cards are sometimes used to aid
the Pokemon.
But "it's just a game" right?
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Everything that we do, whether it is a
"game" or not, trains us or conditions us in various ways. Often
seeing something in a movie or coming across something in a video game can
spark an interest or open a door into something deeper.
For instance, occult organizations admit that
one of their best recruiting tools is Harry Potter. After reading the books or
watching the movies, many have found themselves curious about the occult world.
Realizing that, just consider some of the
things that go on in the world of Pokemon. The following comes from the Christian
Apologetics and Research Ministry...
Is Pokemon dangerous? Potentially, yes it is.
It conditions the child who plays the game into accepting occult and
evolutionary principles.
- Haunter can hypnotize, eat a person's
dreams and drain their energy.
- Abra reads minds.
- Kadabra emits negative energy that
harms others.
- Gastly induces sleep.
- Gengar laughs at peoples' fright.
- Nidoran uses poison.
The psychic type of Pokemon are among the
strongest in the game. Charmander, Haunter, Ivysaur, Kadabra and many
more evolve.
The children are taught to use these creatures
to do their will by invoking colored energy cards, fights and commands. Much of
it is reminiscent of occult and eastern mysticism.
But it goes even farther than that. According
to occult expert Bill
Schnoebelen, Pokemon players engage in all sorts of
activities that would be considered deeply occult if they were done in real
life...
Like many video games, Pokémon is riddled with
occult concepts. Concepts like "magical stones,"
teleportation, ghosts, all-seeing eye, psychic power and using spirits to
achieve results in the real world are all givens in this game realm.
All of this is contrary to scripture.
The Pokémon games and comics, etc., teach what
I have called a magic worldview that is completely opposed to the Bible.
The Magic Worldview is the idea, common to all
occult belief systems, that there is not really any sovereign Deity over
creation. Instead, creation is ruled by a series of occult laws.
In a sense, the universe is like a cosmic
vending machine. As long as you put in the right coin (ritual or spell) you
automatically achieve the desired result.
Particularly disturbing is the concept that
children are being trained to "capture" demon-like creatures, train
and control them, and use them against others. Many believe this very closely
mirrors what many high-level occultists attempt to do with real demons. Here is
more from Bill Schnoebelen...
The magician works from within a specially
prepared magic circle which supposedly protects him from the demon as long as
he stays inside it. He uses special magical weapons like a wand, staff or sword
to threaten the demon and make it do his or her bidding.
Once the ritual is successful, supposedly the
demon belongs to the magician to do his or her bidding—as long as the
stipulations of their contract are kept by sorcerer. Often the demon will grant
the magician occult powers or give him or her special talismans to control
others. This is a large part of high magic.
Now, there is barely a dime's worth of
difference between this and what goes on in the "make-believe"
Pokémon universe!
As the Pokemon Go craze continues to sweep the
nation, it is inevitable that this game will be hotly debated in Christian
circles.
And just like with the Harry Potter books and
movies, many will become extremely upset at the suggestion that there might
actually be something wrong with Pokemon Go.
But we all have a responsibility to evaluate
what we are feeding into our minds, and this is especially true if you are a
parent of young children.
In the end, everyone will do what they think is
best for themselves, but as for me and my house we will definitely be staying far
away from Pokemon Go.
Related Posts:
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