Hi Everybody!

Thank you guys for coming back to hear Part 2 of the Exorcist interview.

This discussion was quite interesting for Tim and I because we were able to get into actual cases Fr. John had experienced, some of which were quite unsettling.

One part of the conversation that stuck out to me was the warnings about using occult objects, such as Ouija Boards or wands. Now I'm a huge fan of Harry Potter, I can't stress that enough. HUGE fan! I've read all the books and seen all the films. I remember I was a sophomore in high school when I started the book series, and I burned through them as quickly as they came out.

For me, this discussion raised questions about fear, control, and truth. As many people already know, fear is a very effective way of controlling people. So as I thought about what Fr. John said in the days following, I remember thinking how easily it would be to convince people to follow a religion if you could scare them enough. Insert Satan here. But on the other hand, what if Fr. John's stories were true, as well as the stories from other exorcists? What if kids practicing magic did leave them susceptible to dark forces? Obviously no one knows, and all we can do is go off our own experience. Harry Potter wasn't around when I was little, but we had plenty of imaginative games, including pretending we were active participants in Star Wars, using the Force, etc. We would try to move objects without having to physically touch them. Now you could ask, what's really different between that and using a wand? I would say nothing.

Personally I believe Harry Potter is innocent fun. Kids have wild imaginations, Tim and I were no exception, and from what I've read and watched about J.K. Rowling, I don't believe her to be a Satanist. Since I write quite a bit for narrative projects, I can say that sometimes words do flow from you when you're in the story and you've done countless hours of research and outlines. I've seen several behind the scenes videos where Rowling shows countless pages of notes and outlines as she worked her way through the books. It didn't look like it was easy to me. Quite the opposite.

All that being said, if there is a child who is in pain, who is tormented and is honestly and earnestly seeking for answers in darker places, maybe those games are a way for the devil to access them. If all this really does exist, I don't think that's far fetched at all. But like everything else in regards to children, it comes down to more than them playing with an object, such as their emotional and physical well being.

We'll be sure to touch on this during our next Dad's Panel. Until that time, be sure to check out the links below.

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