One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them; One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

    When I was in middle school, my father made the unfortunate mistake of bringing home a stack of Cosmopolitan magazines. Having little discernment about what was or wan’t appropriate, I grabbed them and began reading a series on Charles Manson which both captivated and horrified me. The graphic details of how his “family” mingled the occult with violence and sex burrowed inside my head. I began to have nightmares and eventually drew crosses on my chest in a futile attempt to keep the demons away. My fears grew until my parents shuttled me off to a psychiatrist who assumed I was experimenting sexually. (He was clearly Freudian–and wrong in his assessment.)

    This was the era of Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, Tales from the Crypt, The Omen, and other chilling, mainstream horror films. More than forty years later, I can still recall specific images and feelings of dread which surfaced in me as I sat in the dark movie houses morbidly gripped by these macabre films.

    Fascination with the occult and horror movies was not a 60’s and early 70’s thing; it’s very much alive and unwell today. Children and adults alike will celebrate Halloween in a few days. Page one of our small town paper displayed images with blood soaked costumes, garishly painted actors, and other gruesome visuals. My husband and I recently went to the theater. Playing in the cineplex were Machete Kills, Carrie 2, and Night of the Living Dead. Google Halloween costumes and you’ll notice that the themes are predominately horror related.

    I am not opposed to dress up or movies. I understand why kids like pretending and getting rewarded with sugar. However, based on my understanding of the spiritual world, there is a nefarious culture of death and violence which infuses this holiday and increasingly, the whole of our lives.

    All cultures and religions have stories, fables, or narratives which depict the epic struggle of good vs evil. Though I don’t have any empirical data to prove my point (which will surely be noted by those of you less inclined to believe in such things), the depravity and carnage of certain events (9/11, Boston Marathon bombings, use of chemical weapons in Syria) references evil powers. Evil has what might be best described as force field which draws us in. In The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, the ring to rule all rings symbolizes this concept. When Frodo or other characters slip this seemingly innocuous piece of metal onto their finger, there is a rapid internal transformation which the director and actors skillfully portray. The longer they keep it on, the more dynamic and obvious is their turning.

    According to Jeff Bjorck, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at Fuller Seminary, “Exposing our children to glorified evil in film, media, and culture is somewhat akin to leaving them with a plate of brownies in a large, empty room and saying, ‘Don’t touch.’ The Father of Lies is extremely adept at making evil attractive. After all, Satan’s marketing campaign has been tripping up even adults ever since the Garden.”

    I don’t doubt that some adults can emerge from a two hour violent or horror movie unscathed. Not so for children. Most children under the age of eight to ten have not developed sufficiently to discern when something/someone is potentially harmful or evil. This factor contributes to why children are most often sexually abused by individuals with whom they are in relationship. Likewise, they ingest ideas and images via books, magazines, video games, television, or movies without understanding how these things affect them.

    Repeatedly watching violence impacts both children and adults on two fronts. As the violence becomes objectified–thus separating the watcher from the consequences–viewers gradually become numb the effect of violence on actual flesh and blood humans. When our souls harden to the plight of others, we tend to become less empathetic and more aggressive.

    Second, individuals who watch violence and horror movies can exhibit symptoms similar to PTSD, including pervasive fear, as was true for me after reading those articles on Charles Manson. This is a common outcome for children who are more sensitive.

    Human behavior and family expert Dr. Gail Gross writes of children who watch violence in the media, “We know that children are psychologically affected by having less empathy, a characteristic we see in bullies; that they are more likely to use aggressive strategies to solve their problems rather than to search for more peaceful methods of conflict resolution; that they tend to be more reactive rather then proactive; and finally, that they appear to be more fearful of social relationships which make them bite before they can be bitten.”

    Given the sheer volume of studies which confirm the deleterious impact of viewing violence, as parents, we need to ask ourselves, “What’s the potential cost to letting my child view or participate in something which has strong, violent imagery?” Though they may push back when we refuse to permit them from watching any of the current horror movies or participating in the gore fests of Halloween week, in the long run, they will benefit from such limitations. Again, this is especially true if you have a sensitive, introverted child who may be deeply impacted but unwilling to speak up.

     If your child eagerly anticipates Halloween, by all means let them participate, but steer them toward innocent costumes which do not represent or symbolize death and dying. Let’s spare them from the harmful repercussions that exposure to violence inflicts upon their souls.