ANSWER by Mr. Joe Meineke on October 8, 2003

Dear Sharon: Thank you for your encouraging words. I can understand your dilemma. It is a bit like trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube. However, as parents, as husbands and wives, it is often our unpleasant duty to be the "bad guy," so to speak, and do the right thing. I recently watched a commercial about keeping kids off drugs. Perhaps you have seen it. It shows several youths who are talking to their parents in a tone of self righteous scorn: "Mom? Dad? You were miserable parents. I snuck out, you caught me. I lied, you knew. I pushed and you pushed back. You invaded my privacy. My PRIVACY! I hated it. I hated YOU! Why couldn't you leave me alone? Just leave me alone. I thought you were the worst parents in the world." And then, the last teen says: "Thank you." Although your situation does not involve keeping your kids off drugs, the situation is, in essence, the same. You are keeping your kids away from something that is just as dangerous to their spiritual health as drugs are to their physical health. Studies have shown conclusively that children who are exposed to occult messages and concepts in "harmless" books, games, etc., are more likely to become involved with the occult. We in the deliverance ministry will probably meet some of those children at some point down the road. As parents, we take certain precautions to protect our children's physical health. We make sure that they are buckled up or in their car seats when we take them for a drive. We make sure that they wear their coats when the temperature is too low. We tell them not to play on the stairs steps. We cover electrical outlets in our homes and put locks on cabinets that contain harmful chemicals, and so on, and so on, and not a single person accuses us of doing the wrong thing. Why is it that when we seek to protect our children's spiritual health, some people will label us as "over reactive" and "freaks" and "overbearing" and "mean" and "not with it?" The answer is simple: We live in a society that teaches us to not value the soul and it's health. It values the body, the mind and temporal things, and has succeeded in convincing a large number of good Christians of its precepts. Plausability, the mindset of this world, tells us, "It's just a book" or "it's just a game" or "it's just a TV show" and "lighten up!" Well, to be blunt - those are demonic lies! Rest assured, Sharon, you are doing the right thing. While your husband and your children may not understand, agree with, or like what you are doing, not doing the right thing is something that you will personally have to give an account for at your death. The answer to your question is to continue to do the right thing for your children. If they ask questions, give them honest answers. And, of course, pray for them. In addition, you may want to consider presenting your husband with the facts about how exposing children to Harry Potter and other such occult type messages can increase the likelihood that they will become directly involved in the occult later on in life. Gaining his support will certainly make your job easier. On the issue of sitting down with one's children while reading or watching such material and believing that by doing this the kids will understand the difference between fantasy and reality, is not true. It is not possible for children to fully understand fantasy from reality. Their brains are not fully developed to the point where they can make such distinctions. As a child grows their abilility to precisely distinguish fantasy from reality grows with him, but nevertheless, the brain is not wired to fully appreciate the distinctions when in childhood. The human brain is not fully formed until around 20 years of age. Even in teenagers, there is an element of not fully appreciating the distinctions of fantasy vrs. reality. This is one reason that a teenager can "know" intellectually that some is bad for them and yet they do it anyway as they have not really incorporated the intellectual knowledge into their being. For that matter even adults have a hard time with this. How many adults get so wrapped up in TV shows that they forget it is a fictional story. Helen Hunt, the actress on the TV show "Mad About You" tells about an experience that illustrates this. On the TV show there were a few episodes where the fictional couple may get a divorce; their marriage (fictional marriage) was on the rocks. One day when Miss Hunt was walking down the street in New York, a woman came up to her and slapped her on the shoulder and said, "Why are you breaking up that lovely marriage." Ah, dear, it is a TV show, not a real marriage!!!! The power of the media is strong. Media is used powerfully for everything from brainwashing and behavior modification to teaching to entertainment. We should never underestimate the power of this medium even for adults and especially for children. For more information on how Harry Potter, et al, are leading kids into the occult, take a look at the following: Boy wizard changing teens into witches? Potter books: Wicked witchcraft? Study: Potter readers more occultic I hope that this has helped. You and your family will be in our prayers. God bless you, Joe Meineke Intake Counselor, SPCDC For Assistance with Spiritual Warfare problems please go to our How We Can Help You page. For a direct link to sample Spiritual Warfare prayers see our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog