Monday, October 29, 2007

Abhorrence of the Malevolent



How about that title, huh? Don't get too concerned, it's not meant to be too serious, but simply a complicated way to state hatred for all of the evil that is spreading over this spinning globe called Earth. For long-time readers, you may remember my blog from last year titled, "Chainsaws, Corpses & Children" where I discussed the affects of haunted houses, ghosts, demons and all of the other "fun" things that make up this so-called holiday. The blog that followed back in November of last year briefly discussed the movie SAW III that had just come out. Although I've never seen any of the movies in this series, I think it's safe to say that this kind of thing is pure evil that's beginning to completely saturate mainstream life. SAW IV came out this weekend, raking in $32.1 Million. I still sit amazed at this kind of thing, knowing that millions of people line up to be "entertained" by this stuff.

"Well, what is it about?", some of you may be asking. "Is it a documentary about lumberjacks in the mountains of the Northwest?" Not quite. Allow me to fill you in with some rave reviews that were posted this weekend: "Sequences of grisly bloody violence and torture throughout." "A fantastic combination of a warped morality tale - mystery, gore-fest, and torture porn." "The film wastes no time getting down to nasty business, ripping, slicing, gouging, piercing, smashing and tearing every part of the human body."

What? Look, I'm no crazed Christian fanatic that holes himself up in his house, afraid of this evil world and all of it's filth, but come on people! If this kind of thing doesn't bother you, I'd encourage you to seek out why. I know several "Christian" friends that watch this stuff so flippantly as if it's no big deal – just some good fun that's not real anyway. But, I say, if you're a follower of Christ, why in the world would this stuff even interest you? This is not some "what movies would Jesus watch" joke, I believe it's serious. Am I saying to boycott the film industry and picket at the theatres? Of course not. I'm simply saying that it's time we raise our standards and realize, that for those who claim to know Jesus as Lord, our lives are not our own and this kind of thing is created to possess your flesh and rot your spirit.

I guess I'm just sick of it. My wife knows as good as anyone how low my tolerance is for this kind of thing. When I hear of "Christians" going to see this kind of thing, I want to slap them. OK, maybe not slap them, but you get my point. But my desire is to get them to step back and see the root of it all. The way I see it, the more prevalent and acceptable it all becomes, the harder it will be to get blinded eyes open. I believe with everything in me that one day, likely in my lifetime, this kind of thing could be deemed acceptable in real life. Is it really that hard of a stretch? Take a good look at the news, it's everywhere.

Last week my wife and I were in Walmart, walking down the candy aisle and a radio under the shelf was blaring some CD of "scary sounds" that could be heard three aisles away. Chainsaws were buzzing and people were screaming in pain. I was so perturbed that I reached down and unplugged the thing. Someone, please tell me why in the world I would want to listen to sounds that make me envision someone being cut into pieces by a chainsaw! To me, it's absolutely crazy to even talk about it.

So as I did last year, I say Halloween come quickly so that we can forget about you for another year. For all of the believers and followers of Christ out there – this is a call to holiness. Let's leave this garbage behind and follow after the pure, the honorable, the right, the lovely, the good and the worthy of praise (Phil. 4:8).

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I completely agree! I was just talking to my sister last night about going to a church fall carnival over the weekend. When I arrived, they had tombstones in the yard, along with skeletons. THen on the hayride, they had men covered in blood jumping out with chainsaws scarring all the riders. Needless to say, me and my kids didn't go on that one! But, what is so hard for me is to explain to my 8 year old son why that stuff isn't appropriate? It's easy for him to understand when he sees "the world" doing it. But when it begins to filter into the church, he gets all confused. And who can blame him! Yes, I think we can find ways of celebrating the "holiday" without the evil presence that goes along with it. "This is the day that the Lord hath made-let us rejoice and be glad in it". And that goes for October 31 as well. I know it wasn't all about Halloween-but with four young kids, this is all about Halloween for me! You know, I was talking to a man this weekend who's friend let's her 2 year old son watch Saw and like movies with her. He talks about "ghosts" and stuff of the sort. AT 2!! My kids didnt' even know what ghosts were at two. It terrifies me more for the children that people are letting this filth get into to. Adults, they have chosen or not chosen the Lord-and they choose everyday movies to watch, music to listen to, things to talk about. Our kids-they are taking in what we put in them. Is is Godly, praiseworthy things that are being eaten by them, or is it perversion, filth, malice, deception, horror, evil? We need to wake up and realize what God has called us to-it is a standard above the worlds. And I think we'll see our children begin to drastically change when we change ourselves.

Joel Spencer said...

Thanks for your comment. I'd have to agree that many church fall festivals sure seem to become more and more "worldly" as time progresses, but then again, why shouldn't they when everything else they do is meant to make "seekers" feel comfortable.

Since I don't have children, I sure don't claim to know how to address the "every other kid is taking part in it" issues, but I do know that there is a generation that is coming forth that will stand out and stand up with no shame in being "different". May your children be part of that generation as you seek to train them up in the way that they should go.

Disciple said...

It is SO GREAT to see that I am not the only one that thinks that the mindless trash sent to desensitize people is pure crap. Halloween - absolutly none of the hate groups (aclu, ffrf etc) seem to have a problem with it, because they are in the same boat.
As a writer, I know for a fact mindless trash is easy to write. Thank you for this wonderful blog. Stay strong!
Monika

Aussie John said...

Joel,

Amen! I couldn't agree more!