No, not the vibrators at Walgreens. Not the "exploit me when I'm three because I'm looking sexxxy" high heels and princess boas from Target. This time, we need to get upset about the Ouija boards at ToysRUs.
I'm not buying any of that stuff. Actually, I know people who refuse to play cards at all because it has too much relation to the Tarot card and/or they don't believe people should be playing games of chance at all. YES, that includes Candyland. Checkers are ok, but Trouble, with that evil Pop-O-Matic, is not.
Well, to be honest with you, that's a more consistent viewpoint to hold than the "pitch a fit because a board game that's been on the shelves since 1847 now comes in PINK" seem to be holding.
But whatever. From the article:
"Toy expert and consultant Chris Byrne said he found 'absolutely nothing' wrong with any version of the game.
'And if something doesn't fit your value or belief system, you don't have to buy it,' Byrne said. 'There's absolutely nothing remotely Christian or un-Christian about it. I think people are projecting their belief system on it."'"
Um... Ol' Chris Byrne might be a "toy expert and consultant," but I sorta doubt he has any sort of theological expertise whatsoever. What do you mean there's "nothing remotely Christian or un-Christian" about contacting (or trying to contact, or pretending to contact) spirits of the dead, demons or assorted what-have-you? Patrick coulda told you that was messed-up when he was THREE.
There's a difference between tolerance, stupidity, and outright lies. That comment falls into the latter category.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Look Out, Dad!!
My father is the purple dot above the blue weather station. He's juuust outside Milton's evacuation zone. Well! My brother and I jus...
My only run-in with the Ouija board as a pre-teen seriously freaked me out. I wasn't a believer then, and thinking back on it, I'm sure glad God scared me away from occultish things back then.
ReplyDeleteI think the toy expert is paid to try to sell toys, and since most commercials have lies, it's simply his business. Not saying it's a good thing, it just is what I have told my kids it is for years: LIES.
This is ridiculous. So you're going to avoid a store because they sell a product that doesn't jibe with your religious beliefs? That's hilarious. Do you really think the plastic and cardboard is imbibed with evil? If you believe God is all-knowing and all-powerful, then you'd likewise believe that Ouija Boards were created by him for a purpose you're too small-minded to understand. This is really lame.
ReplyDeleteClaire, I am no expert in the paranormal, but just ATTEMPTING to contact spirits (whether the game gives one a "real" experience or not) smacks of witchcraft.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention that the article bugged me in that some dude, who has NEVER EVEN PLAYED the stupid game, can say with any sort of authority that this is "real" and demonic. Evidence?
Sorry, folks like that make Christians look stupid. I would come out just saying that the PREMISE is wrong, and it shouldn't be something we mess with.
Then again, Mary Poppins makes me upset. My husband has the video and lets the kids watch it over my objections. Stuff like that bugs me, but it doesn't bug me when Spongebob loses an arm, because I am a hypocrite.
Might as well admit it. Even in a marriage, like-minded people can disagree. :)
Kathy, I would respect people who boycott things that don't jibe with their beliefs (or lack thereof!) BUT it bugs me when people are so extremely inconsistent about it. I suppose we are all inconsistent to some extent as HEY! I need to buy groceries somewhere... and almost anywhere you go also sells alcohol and cigarettes, not to mention drugs I disagree with. But I don't walk into the sex stores when I need shoelaces, either.
I guess what I mean to say is... why is the PINK Ouija any different from the regular one? I've seen them in stores forever and do you know what I do??
I just don't buy 'em. Imagine that! :)
Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you see it) I have some knowledge of Ouija boards and how they work. They are not toys. They can and do cause havoc in the lives of the spiritually inexperienced and foolish. Those experienced in the occult will tell you that they dislike them as well as they are an inexact and crude tool and attract the attention of all the wrong kinds of spirits (read: demons). Nuff said.
ReplyDeleteThe people who are marketing it as a toy are idiots. As evidenced by the fact that this pink monstrosity is already on clearance and will not be carried again.
But if I stopped shopping at stores that carried products that I disapproved of, I think I'd be left growing all my own food and trying to figure out how to hide chickens and goats from the neighborhood association.
You speak your mind, you don't buy the product, you encourage your neighbors to do the same, and you teach your children why the products are bad/dangerous/immoral. And you move on to meditate on more important and more wholesome things.
MrsC: What's wrong with Mary Poppins? Just curious.
ReplyDeleteOne of the few run~ins I've had with ouiji boards I refused to participate & was sitting outside the shed when a fire started in it with all the girls locked inside. They hadn't locked the door but it scared the living daylights out of everyone. These boards are NOT a toy.
I agree, Mary. I can totally *get* taking a stand, but I'm thinking that this is a big over-reaction.
ReplyDeleteGaneida, the magic and stuff on Mary Poppins bothers me. All that flying and jumping through pictures. BUT... it doesn't bother me when Steve on Blue's Clues does it! And I wonder why!
Maybe it's personal preference or just that Mary Poppins rubs me the wrong way. But I'm not boycotting stores that sell Mary Poppins. :)
Doesn't it kind of negate the power of God to believe that this thing can magically do evil stuff? I mean, it just sounds so silly. How can a person who believes that God is everything actually believe that these silly games are real? Is it fear? If I were to make a homemade oiuja board out of a yogurt cup & cereal box would it be magic, too? This stuff is all in people's heads. It only has power if you believe that it does. I don't see how anyone could believe (pink or not) that these things are real. I imagine the pink is marketing to girls. It's just as lame on an ouija board as it is on toy makeup.
ReplyDeleteI don't imagine any "magic" could outpower God, but that there IS a spiritual side to the world that we don't always see (if you think of Elijah and the chariots, or Saul and his vision of Samuel, or Daniel and the angel's recounting to him the reason for his delay).
ReplyDeleteBut I think you might be right about the yogurt cup and the cereal box; I really do. I'm just saying that for me as a Christian, the entire PREMISE of "let's make a game about communicating with the dead and other spirits" sure seems to be explicitly forbidden.
I myself wondered while reading the story if some folks think it's like pool tables... you know, you can hit the balls better with a higher-quality pool table than a wonky cardboard box and a round pebble. Wouldn't Ouija board makers make a "high quality" board with walnut inlay and whatnot for more efficient communication with the spirits? :P
They might just, and here I am, kidding about it. Not sure whether it is REAL or not... whether these spirits are REAL or not that "talk" through Ouija boards or whether it is fueled by overactive imaginations.
And you know, I agree that it's just marketing and people wanting to sell stuff that makes the board pink. You watch: it will be a collector's item now. :)
Mrs. C--I don't like Mary Poppins either. I used to like it and Bed Knobs and Broomsticks--when I was a kid. But when it comes to what my kids fill their brains with, it's different.
ReplyDeleteIs it wrong that what I take away from the article is jealousy because we don't have the Toys R Us franchises in NZ? I miss Babies R Us something awful.
Isn't it fun to have a spiritual conversation with someone who doesn't understand creation and/or free will? It's not the board that's magic in regular or pink. It is the intent behind the actions and opening oneself up to supernatural forces. What an atheist chooses to do is up to them. But Christians are called to avoid things that are devoid of Christ.
ReplyDeleteThat said--I agree, it is a bit silly to pitch a fit now about the marketing of a "game" that has been sold for over a century. As far as people who avoid the store--I can think of better reasons to avoid it, like the toys are over priced. We can't isolate ourselves into little holes.
Bonnie, I love ToysRUs even though they had a section on toys autistic kids might like... brought to you by Autism Speaks. I like to think, well, at least they are TRYING to reach out to their autistic customers, yk?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I used to be an atheist myself, so I do get the mindset. And she has a point about some of the stupid things Christians take a "stand" on.
I like that phrasing, that we should be avoiding things that "are devoid of Christ." Very true!
We haven't been inside a Toys R Us in ages, so I guess saying I'd boycott would be a shame. My mom used a Ouija board to hold up the bottom of her built-in sewing machine . . . :-)
ReplyDeleteLOL That's a new one!
ReplyDeleteIt's disgusting that they sell that game. Uh, duh. How is the freaking thing moving if it's not be spirits and such? It's not battery operated. It doesn't take Einstein to figure that out.
ReplyDeleteAnother question I have. Why is that when people are so anti-God they easily get so angry? Hmmm.....
Just like people have a right to not go into a church or to a certain store, I have the right to not go into a store if they sell something I think is disgusting and they shouldn't be selling to kids.