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Your Child and the New AgeChapter 11How Toys and Games Manipulate the Imagination |
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Your Child and the New AgeChapter 11How Toys and Games Manipulate the Imagination |
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oy stores are safe, happy places. Right? Some are. But many have traded treasured age-appropriate toys for glamour dolls and occult warriors that catapult even young children into the world of adult conflicts.T
The macho, magical, and macabre have captivated children for ages. Grimm's Fairy Tales filled my own childhood in Norway with images of wicked, spell-casting witches and three-headed trolls who turned children into stone. The tales were fun, exciting, and obviously unreal.
Today's acceptance of counterfeit forces has made the mystical grimly real. By itself, a fairy tale or toy will hardly shape a child's attitudes. But reinforced by school, movies, music, and television, the combined messages generate tolerance and acceptance of the demonic.
My childhood toys freed my imagination to direct the Play. I - not the toy maker -assigned personalities and feelings to my toys and interacted with them according to my understanding of the world around me.
Those traditional toys, if still available, fade in the glamorous light of toys that star in movies, cartoons, and comic books. Complete with built-in personalities, these new playmates both stifle and steer the imagination. G.I. Joe and the Ghostbusters have been outfitted for battle-nothing else. The play naturally moves in that one direction.
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When a child watches a cartoon and then plays with a toy connected to that cartoon, he is no longer projecting himself into the toy. Instead, cartoons have programmed the child to play with toys in a certain way. (Phil Phillips in Turmoil in the Toybox) |
Whether smiley or scary, dolls and action figures come to life through a child's imagination. Through their good or evil characteristics, they teach about life and relationships. As the child plays, he acts out his growing (and often distorted) perception of his world, validating and strengthening the message behind the toy. John Dvorak, writing for the San Francisco Examiner, asks:
When trying to understand the mood of the country, its future, and its direction, where do you turn?
Many journalists follow the annals of Congress; others have deep discussion with learned professors. I go to Toys R Us. Here's where the forthcoming generations are molded. Let me tell you, the future die is cast and the image is a sick one. It's not that the toy business hasn't always been fraught with weird fads, tasteless imagery, and warped symbols that have little value. But now it's worse than ever. One is simply overwhelmed by a plethora of toys best described as gruesome, gory, and irresponsible.1
A Wonderland of Dreams and Magic
Join me on a hair-raising journey through a modern fantasyland - the local toy store. You will meet aliens, demons, ghosts, and goblins. You will see horrendous humanoids, scary supernaturals, haunted humans, and shimmering seductive dolls. You will discover video games that equip you with mystical power and pit you against diabolical forces.
Grab a cart, and we'll start by the left wall of the cavernous showroom. Scanning the endless display of unfamiliar games - undoubtedly many good ones - your eyes rest momentarily on Shriefs and Creeks and Eternia - the homeland of the Masters of the Universe. Then, near a stack of Ouija Boards, you spot Terapy, which promises "fascinating fun with a psychological twist." To the true-or-false question, "Playing hard to get definitely works," it answers: "False. Males ... tend to need encouragement. The most popular girls are open with their emotions, not guarded."
Across from the board games stretches the formidable wall of electronic and computer games. Nintendo sounds familiar, so you stop to examine its display. You breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of good old themes like Sesame Street, Mickey Mouse, and football. But other pictures jump out at you - strange aliens, shrewd sorcerers, hideous demons, fiery dragons. You quickly move on.
The end wall displays books. You notice a "deluxe" color/activity book called Masters of the Universe. Browsing through its pages you see a story that little children can color: "The Snake Pit - Join HE-MAN as he rescues BATTLE CAT from the SNAKE MEN and foils the evil plan Of SKELETOR!" You scan "Slimy Rescue!" "Laser Messages," "Castle Ghoulies," and "Mirror Magic Mazes."
The four-page posters picture "He-Man in the Blasterhawk Battle and Skeletor in the Fright Fighter!" Skeletor, the "Lord of Destruction," controls the dark side of the force. His head is a skull and he carries a ram's head staff, two symbols of death and satanism. You wonder how a little boy could sleep with that awful picture on his wall.
You move down an aisle of guns of every shape and kind, from Neutra-Laser, which fires invisible infrared beams, to Glooper, which fires "globs of oozing, slimy gloop up to 25 feet." A delight to clean up, no -doubt.
Turning the corner you almost stumble into the Mad Scientist with lures such as "Dissect An Alien" or "Yank Out Alien Organs Dripping in Glowing Alien Blood."
In the next two aisles you find armies of action figures you recognize from television cartoons. First you spot the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the strange, green humanoid turtles that topped the popularity lists in 1989. Turtles? They look more like musclemen with snake heads.
Next, the Thundercats come with Mumm-Ra's Tomb Fortress, where skeletal Mumm-Ra mystically" transforms into MUMM-RA THE EVERLIVING. Two dragon-tailed Man/Beast (mutants) "Statue Guardians" guard the skull-shaped transformation chamber.
You notice you have entered the occult section of the store, for after Sharkoss, Demon of the Deep from "The Other World" waits Mattel's "Masters of the Universe." The blond, handsome He-Man and glamorous She-Rah contrast starkly with the grotesque creatures all around them. The largest boxes contain the skull-shaped "Castle Grayskull," He-Man's home in "Eternia" and the source of his power.
"The Real Ghostbusters" offers a personal Ghostzapper along with the ghost you want: Ecto-2, Gooper Ghost, Sludge Bucket, Green Wolf - even a Haunted Human if you like. You stare in amazement at Sweet Old Granny who changes into Granny Gross. Her jaw drops down to reveal vampire teeth and a long, extended tongue, while her hat lifts up to expose a second forehead with a third eye.
By the time the child is a teen, unless his parents have installed Christian values in him, he will have more knowledge of the occult than he will have of God. (Phil Phillips in Turmoil in the Toybox)
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By the time the child is a teen, unless his parents have installed Christian values in him, he will have more knowledge of the occult than he will have of God. (Phil Phillips in Turmoil in the Toybox) |
Even Nintendo provides action figures to match its games. One box shows a white mummy-like figure attacking the mighty hero Link. Like a growing number of contemporary action toys, it comes with a short, enticing history that ties an occult myth to a more believable reality.
Two aisles down you find the soft toys. There's a talking Alf with some other alien-life forms. There's PeeWee's green dragonish Pet Pterri and a purple Wooly What's It. But what happened to the old-fashioned teddy bears? These cuddlies have devilish horns, huge lion-like teeth, or chains around their necks. Some have two wild, distorted eyes, others have just one. No question about it-these bright colored, velvety Creatures are monsters!
You head for the dolls. "Be cool!" shouts dazzling Dolly, one of the "Hollywoods." Does cool mean makeup for little girls? The number of little cosmetic cases suggests it. The pink cases contrast sharply with the Halloween makeup on the same shelf. Instead of a pretty face, try one with gray, ghostly skin, bloody streaks, and ghoulish scars.
You're leaving, and on the way out you glimpse Play-doh. Ah, there's a good safe toy! But wait, this Play-doh box wears the title "The Real Ghostbuster - Glow-in-the-Dark Play-doh." You don't even have to form your own imagined ghosts and monsters. Play-doh does it for you!
What Do They Teach?
Toys can help children learn to solve problems, share ideas, express frustration, use their imagination, develop creativity, and concentrate on a project. But these benefits can be misused. We have seen how counterfeit teaching touches our children through schools, movies, and television. The messages from toys fall into the same three categories: altered religion, values, and world system.
A counterfeit religion. Children have learned that ghosts and demons yield to the Ghostbusters' mightier power. The cartoon stories prove that nothing is impossible for them. Humanism (belief in man's infinite capacity) plus New Age power raise these four ghostbuster heroes - and anyone who identifies with them - to spiritual mastery.
Where then is God?
The toy/cartoon linkup commands a strong influence. The child bases his play on the story; lacking a strong enough belief-system of his own, he incorporates the fiction into his life. Whether he visualizes himself as G.I. Joe using his power to defeat his enemies, or as a Ghostbuster subduing demonic spirits, a child plays according to Satan's original lie: You will not surely die ... you will be like God" (Genesis 3.4).
This enticing illusion fires a child's heart with delicious dreams that lure him away from truth. In time, the child outgrows the vision but grasps greedily for the next one that the deceiver dangles. That next vision might come through video games. In Super Mario Brothers 2 - which is less occult-centered than many other popular videos - you are Mario, the daring rescuer of Princess Toadstool. The evil Wart, who holds her captive, has cast a magic spell on the Land of Dreams. But your power is greater.
Less familiar, but just as ominous, are non-electronic games like Phenomenon - The Game That Goes One Step Beyond. Promising those who are twelve and older "The Extra Sensory Party," it offers to teach you telepathy ("the fun of transmitting images"), clairvoyance ("Is what you see what you get?"), dermal vision ("seeing" with your skin), and psychometry ("Can personal objects reveal your secret past?"). The game's promotion reads:
Everyone has psychic potential. Some call it hunch. Others call it intuition. It's a feeling the telephone is going to ring and sensing who is calling...
Phenomenon... gives you a chance to explore, unlock, and develop your psychic ability during a fun, fascinating game. What's more, you and your friends are doing it together.
In a world that has lost its awe of God and its wariness of His enemy, why not try? Why not experiment with anything that offers secret knowledge, thrills, and power? Who worries about consequences in a New Age that denies sin, guilt and the sovereignty of God?
Counterfeit values. When I was a child, I spanked my dolls when they "disobeyed." Whether we played "house" indoors, built tree houses in the forest, or dug ice caves outside in the five-foot snowpacks, we followed the rules that had become an accepted part of life. Our playtimes generally affirmed honesty, parental authority, and love.
The cartoons behind today's toys create a different atmosphere - where macho pride replaces gentleness, and cruel sarcasm supplants kindness; where unpunished aggression and violence imply the absence of true-to-life consequences. Here a child learns the specific actions and attitudes that define his posable toy.
Supermen call for superwoman, and toy shelves abound with slender beauties modeling physical perfection and flashy fashions. Barbie set the trend and others followed. Today's little girls learn the importance of having all of Barbie's fashion accessories: a styling center with makeup (the box shows a little girl hugging her makeup bag), an incredible wardrobe of designer clothes, a townhouse, furniture, a horse, an all-terrain vehicle and, of course, a boyfriend named Ken. If that isn't enough, she can borrow from Maxi - a Barbie clone - a sailboat, a windsurfer, a scooter, a hot tub.... Enough?
A gorgeous assortment of glittery princesses like Lacy, Spacy, and Ultra Violet compete for little girls' affection. Violet, a Cosmic Beauty Expert, comes with a complete line of Lacy Space fashions.
Less fantastic but just as flashy, Today's Girls know what counts. Kelly, "the most popular girl in school ... has got her scene totally together from her outfit to her accessories.... It's like a party whenever [Katie] is around, with surprises up her sleeve (rock star posters, concert tickets, etc.)...... And Pepper is "always ready for a shopping spree with her truly outrageous outfit."
In spite of the feminist drive for sexual equality, girls' toys emphasize glamour, glitter, and seductive sensuality, while boys' toys encourage macho violence, ugly monsters, and supernatural power.
A New Age Dream World.
In the hands of gullible preschoolers, toy supermen and powerwomen affirm the lie that man can control the "good" forces of the universe and conquer the evil forces. The friendly Care Bears remind them that with loving vibes they can create a world of peace and love.Adults around the world believe that today. So does He-Man, the Master of the Universe. Adversaries to peace in Eternia employ all forms of demonic power - witchcraft, magic, sorcery, and necromancy - to undermine his authority. But wise, handsome He-Man and strong, beautiful She-Rah always triumph. Wouldn't our leader-hungry, evolution-minded earth love a He-Man?
Children flock to video, arcade, and role-playing games filled with supernatural images and demonic suggestions. Blind to the true nature of evil, they play the part of gods in fantasy worlds where dragon power, spell-casting, and sorcery become thrilling solutions to man's struggles.
Jeffrey, a freshman class representative to the student council, played on the high school junior varsity football team in rural Wamego, Kansas. "An average, everyday student," he showed no signs of despondency or other special problems-until the day, February 6, 1985, when he shot himself in the head. All the clues linked Jeffrey's death to Dungeons and Dragons. "He wanted to go to the fantasy world of elves and dwarves instead of the world of reality with conflict," said the coroner. "It led to his death. He had been obsessed with [the game].2
"The National Coalition on Television Violence claims there have been as many as 109 deaths resulting from heavy involvement in the fantasy role-playing game of Dungeons and Dragons. . . . Eighty ... were murders or suicides."3 D & D players live in a fantasy world of mazes, monsters, and magic. Obsessed with the game, many go on to other occult activities.
An Ominous Fascination With the Hideous
Perhaps you remember the Madballs - grotesque bouncing heads with matching names like Wolf Breath, Swine Sucker, Screamin' Meenie. Their inventor, Ralph Shaffer, commented that his successful minispheres would "take the world of cute-ugly into a new direction."
That was in 1986, when ugly-ugly as well as the cute-ugly were turning the corner and pulling our culture with them. Grotesque, demonic-looking creatures with fiery eyes invaded toy stores - and stayed. Many were mutants - part animal and part human, or a mixture of various animals and monster - and most could wield supernatural power.
They won incredible popularity. Children seem to want these ugly hybrid, mutant supernaturals on their wallpaper, curtains, lunchboxes, and T-shirts. They love to cuddle the little demons. One supernatural, Dark Dragon, has black wings and a huge tail with red scales along the sides. It has a lion's mouth, teeth, and claws. Its eyes are glowing red, and out of the center of its forehead shines a large, green third eye. Its chest opens to reveal a skull. Another, Black Star, rides on a green horse with huge bat-like wings and a long blue, orange, and green dragon tail. Its eyes are glowing red and a long tongue dangles from its mouth.
In a lecture titled "The Rising Interest in the Supernatural," Larry McLain, coauthor of The Early Earth, compares today's grotesque toys to the gods of the ancients:
.4These [creatures] that show up in archeology and what we would call mythology were not just figments of the imagination. They were literal physical demonic entities that appeared to civilizations of the past. These types of demigods or demonic beings were represented as part human and part animal in their characteristics like this bird-human of the Assyrians. [They can be] horse and human like centaurs. Or fish and human like the god Dagon of the Philistines ... or part jaguar and part human.
Notice that tongue hanging out over the chin - which is a universal symbol of demonic possession ... One of the most popular combinations is human and serpent. You can find them on the toy shelves. It's not surprising that pagan religions worshiped serpents and dragons, for the Bible tell us in Revelation 12 that the old serpent, the dragon, is Satan the devil
Nor should today's growing popularity of demonic Symbols surprise us. The Bible prophesies that demonic activities will escalate before and during the reign of the Antichrist. Could the multiplication of demonic-looking, alien images be part of Satan's plan to prepare us for these awful future events? Even for an invasion of demons?
Some New Agers have circulated an interesting theory concerning the coming disappearance of millions Of Christians: A fleet of UFO's and extraterrestrials will suddenly swoop down to earth to abduct all who resist mankind's spiritual evolution toward New Age global oneness.
Revelation 9:1-11 foresees a day when the Abyss (the bottomless pit where Satan will be cast for a thousand years) will open with a burst of smoke and release an army of powerful, deadly creatures onto the earth. They will look like a mixture of man, horse, and locust, with wings, "tails and stings like scorpions." Their commander will be Satan himself. Our God will allow it; for man's evil - as in the days of Noah - will call forth this judgment.
Though children are born with a natural fear of ugly, unusual creatures, this protection has been dulled by massive media exposure and training through toys. Children are being conditioned to embrace demonic manifestations, whether they come as intelligent rescuers from outer space or as evolved mutations from earth itself.
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"Our generation won't be shocked by the demonic invasion. They are actually anticipating that extraterrestrial intelligent beings, who look very different from us, will some day contact the earth and help us with ecological, monetary, and political problems." (Larry MacLain) |
Why wouldn't they believe these lies? Today's belief in evolution leads them to trust that other forms of life must have evolved elsewhere. "After all," say humanists, "there is no God, but if He existed, He wouldn't have created the whole universe just for earthlings."
Maybe He would. Maybe God, who sent His own Son to die for us, would create a universe so vast that man's ego - which wants to explain every mystery without God's help - could not be satisfied. Maybe He did it to show us the immeasurable greatness of His sovereign, creative powers and the infinite width, length, height, and depth Of His magnificent love. I believe He did.
Chapter 12: Preparing children to resist manipulation
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