Is it wrong for Christians to watch


cartoons with magic powers?


Is it wrong for Christians to watch anime or cartoons with magic powers?


Some Christians online have wondered if it is wrong to see cartoons with magic powers or anime cartoons that demonstrate magic powers or supernatural powers. 


The authority or foundation of all that is true and right is the Bible, God's holy Word, that He gave to man by inspiration of God's Spirit.


The Bible has the solid structure for all that we know to be right. It is the foundation on which a Christian should build his or her life (Matthew 7:24-27). It is our instruction book and source of understanding what is right and what is wrong. Psalm 138:2 says, in part, that God "... hast magnified thy word above all thy name." Psalm 12:7 says of God's words: "Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever." God preserves His Word, the Bible, forever.


So, is it wrong for a Christian to see supernatural powers demonstrated in cartoons (or other forms of entertainment, such as comic books, movies, video games, etc.)? 


2 Corinthians 6:14 says: "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?"


The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6 that Christians are to not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. This is another way of saying that we must not be in agreement with the ways of the world. A yoke of oxen (two oxen) plowed a field together in ancient times. They were in agreement, in other words. Communion, fellowship, closeness, intimacy, working together, or playing with the world's ways is not the lifestyle that God has for His people.  


2 Corinthians 6:14-17


"14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?


15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?


16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.


17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you."


(A demonic character from the Ben 10 cartoon.)

God is saying in verse 16 that we, who are temples of God's Holy Spirit, must not have idols. We must forsake idols and the ways of the world. God desires to have intimate, close fellowship with us, His children (1 Corinthians 1:9, 1 John 1:5-7, Jeremiah 31:3).


The Bible says in Psalm 106 that the ancient Hebrews served idols when they rebelled against God. Verse 37 reveals that there are demonic spirits (devils) behind idols.


Psalm 106:36-39


"36 And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.


37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils,


38 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.


39 Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions."


Can anime or cartoons that portray astral projection, magic powers, channeling, psychic powers, supernatural forces, aliens, mutants, morphing (or shape-shifting), etc. be okay for a Christian to watch?


Today there are people who claim to have such magic powers. There are people who claim that they can leave their bodies and fly around the world. There are people who say that they can levitate or fly through the air. There are also people who say they have been abducted by alien entities.


David J. Meyer, who is now in Heaven, got saved from a life of witchcraft. He became a Christian and a pastor, and exposed the occult in movies and books, such as Narnia and The Lord of the Rings. Listen to what this former witch (David J. Meyer) had to say about magic powers in The Lord of the Rings [1]:


"I was once a witch and was very much a part of the world that J.R.R. Tolkien reveals in his Lord of the Rings trilogy. In the 1960’s, I practiced astrology, palmistry, and numerology among other devices of the craft. I was graciously and mercifully saved out of witchcraft by the Lord Jesus, and I am now spending my life in a mission of exposing occultism and its forces of darkness. I am thus writing this message with a great urgency, for I can spot witchcraft in a moment, and I recognize it well. I can see that the deceptive cloud of witchcraft has descended upon our nation. Even many Christians are being pulled into the forbidden realm of the occult, because they are so ignorant of Satan’s devices.


"Before I reveal the dangers of The Lord of the Rings trilogy and expose it as real witchcraft, I will reveal some things regarding the beliefs and doctrines of witchcraft. First of all, witches and Satanists are not the same thing. Witches do not believe in Satan. The first thing a neophyte or beginner witch is taught is that there is a “force.” The “force” has two sides and can be controlled by magic spells, words, potions, incantations, rope magic, rings, amulets, and so on. Witches believe that there is good witchcraft and bad witchcraft, and the good always triumphs over evil! Witches also teach that battles are fought in the Middle Earth and in the astral plane causing upheavals both above and below. Thus, witches emphasize that good must triumph over evil, but it is all witchcraft.


[...]


"I am amazed because they [professing Christians] say the same things that initiated coven witches are saying, which is that good triumphs over evil! It is all witchcraft, and the good that these professing Christians are defending is witchcraft as forbidden in Deuteronomy 18:9-14."



What does Deuteronomy 18 say about witchcraft and the occult?


Deuteronomy 18:9-12


"9 When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.


10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.


11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.


12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee."


We are to come out from the world and its ways. God wants a Church that loves Him, that desires Him, and that serves Him, with a heart of love for God, because He first loved us. There is no One more loving than God (1 John 4:16). We will truly know His love as we get to know God more personally as our Best Friend.


If you are coming here as a non-Christian, I encourage you to read this. God desires to have fellowship with you, as you make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior.




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References:


[1] "A Former Witch Looks At The Lord Of The Rings." (lasttrumpetministries.org)