Does writing about evil make me the Devil?

A month or so ago, my friend Gwen (yes, the same one who is thankfully still attached to Russ at the hip!) emailed me a question that really hit home for me. We had been talking about the fact that she and I and my best friend Rich are all kindred spirits of the dorky variety (i.e. we love Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, etc) when Gwen asked me (being, as she implied, a fairly "experienced" Christian), what I thought about fantasy and science fiction from a spiritual perspective. As I had been pondering that very question at that time, this naturally led to a lengthy rant by yours truly, which I have now doctored up slightly (so that it reads more like a post and less like an email to someone) and reproduced for you reading pleasure.

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I didn't really come into my own in (in terms of my walk with Christ) until I was around 14 or so, but I have always had the belief. I have also had my struggles on the issue of the "Good" and "Evil" inherent in things like fantasy and science-fiction as well as other art forms, specifically music and TV/Movies, etc, etc..

For a long while I really wasn't overly concerned about this, especially in terms of music which has been a big part of my life for a long time. As some of you may have noticed I listen to fairly heavy music and have done so since I was 17 or 18 - I really didn't censor it too much unless it was really blatantly gross or Satanic (i.e. Marilyn Manson), but because I pretty well hated Christian music and loved Industrial/Metal style stuff I got into a lot of Nine Inch Nails and things of that nature. I really had no interest in thinking about whether I should be listening to this or that because I just wanted music I could enjoy regardless of anything else.

It was probably a year or two ago that I really got turned onto Christian music in the vein that I
listen to and started listening to bands like Skillet, Thousand Foot Krutch, Massivivid, etc and realized that music is so much cooler when you connect to it spiritually. Since then I have been very careful about the music I listen to and have realized that there is a huge potential for evil
things to creep in through music and art in general.

Have said all of that - specifically speaking into the fantasy and sci-fi vein of things, I think there is definately a huge potential for both Good and Evil to be glorified through fiction, but I don't feel this is an inherent thing in the genre - rather to me is all dependent on the intentions and spiritual approach of the author.

To take C.S. Lewis for example - The Chronicles of Narnia were extremely allegorical of his Christian Faith and yet you can read it with or without that aspect and still enjoy the story as simply a fantasy story. Even for a non-Christian who reads it just for enjoyment, the spirit of the story will still have an impact because that was what the author intended.

Another example is The Lord of the Rings - to hear it from the author, his intention in writing it
was simply and purely to write a damn good story - he detested "allegory" in all of its forms and wanted to write something that was left up to the interpretation of the reader. Having said that - Tolkien was also a devout (believing) Catholic Christian and that aspect of his personality naturally comes out in his writing. So while he wasn't intentionally trying to "preach" through his books, his worldview and beliefs are in there.

I think this can definately be true of non-Christian writers as well - I've read a lot of "secular" fantasy and Sci-Fi that I have absolutely no problem with.. the author didn't have a purposefully anti-Christian agenda and their worldview and beliefs, while not necessarily Christian are also
not "Satanic" or whatever. One aspect of fantasy that I have always found problematic is the concept of "magic", which is always present but takes on many different forms and has different explanations depending on who is writing the story. I am always careful about any book that glorifies the use of the occult for power - this I have a problem with because intentional or not, the author is basically promoting witchcraft.

In this there is also a huge difference between pure fantasy (as in fantasy based in a completely fictional world with completely fictional spiritual dynamics, etc - i.e. LOTR) and fantasy based in the real world (i.e. Harry Potter). I have always had a huge check in myself about Harry Potter because it is not exactly a fantasy story - it is in fact a story about a boy from OUR world
(meaning that OUR God exists here, and our Devil) who is the hero because of his powers as a Wizard. This is not only promoting the occult and witchcraft on a fantastical/conceptual level, but is DIRECTLY promoting witchcraft and the occult in the REAL world.

While pure fantasy in this vein might encourage a child to want to be a great fantasical wizard in a fantasy world (which is not really a good thing, but is also not real or possible), a series like Harry Potter makes little boys and little girls want to actually BE witches and warlocks in OUR world (which is entirely possible and readily available if you know where to look - like your local family book store).

So basically I avoid occultic fantasy in general and real-world based occultic fantasy like the plague. There are tons of good books out there that take the occult out of magic, which I appreciate - Tolkien did this. If you read LOTR and really pay attention to what "Magic" is, there is no mention of occultic power used by the heroes - in fact none of the human
characters or heroes use what can be considered to be "magic". There are Elves, who are thought to be magical and use magic, however the Elven magic is actually an innate characteristic of their nature and is offered up to Illuvatar (God) as worship. Take away Elves and the only "Magic" in that book comes from the dark powers (Sauron) and the Wizards (Gandalf and Saruman). Tolkien's Wizards are often misunderstood as being human beings
with magical powers when in fact they are closer to what we would call angels. As such their "magic" is also infused into the nature of what they are and for what purpose they were created. When Saruman turns to sorcery this is depicted by machines and fires and artificial power destroying and perverting the natural order. This arrangment, of course, was all intentional, not because Tolkien was writing a Christian story but because he was a Christian writing a story.

I've read books where this comes out in the other way - one in specific that I can recall included a journey by the main character at the end of which he runs into a secret society of Elves, whom the book had setup as wise and sagelike people whose job it was to guide the main character to
the right way of doing things. At one point this character sees a painting depicting a meeting of "the gods" in which all of the Gods are portrayed as beams of light. When he questions one of the very wise elvish types about this, the response is "What did you expect the Gods to look like -
yourself? Only a fool believes that he is made in the image of god." As soon as I read that I felt that "slimed" feeling like I've just been party to something spiritually underhanded. The remark just seemed so specifically aimed at Christians and I couldn't get that out of my mind.
I just honestly had the feeling afterwards that the book was just no good, so I got rid of it and felt much better.

I think in the end it requires a lot of discernment to decide what is okay and what isn't - in my mind it is all about the author's intentions and their worldview and beliefs. The genre itself can be used in a very Godly way, or it can (as is usual) be used for something else. I myself have
been writing a very long fantasy story (see "The Chronicle of the Sentinels" under my links if you don't know what I am talking about) that I have intended to contain Christian allegory while being completely removed from the real world. There is "magic" involved, but I am writing this to behave (in an embellished way) the way it does in real life. Basically there are "Saints" who follow the true God and are granted certain powers by that God. These powers are always dispensed by the God of their world and are not contained in the person. Alternately there are evildoers who have access to supernatural powers by way of demonic entities and what we would call the occult. In this way I am trying to make a distinction between what the good and bad guys are drawing upon.. the bad guys use "magic", which is self-serving and evil, while the good guys call upon their power and authority from God and use it for God's purposes. In a way my story is almost like a more adult oriented Chronicles of Narnia - imagine C.S.
Lewis' theme done with a Tolkien-esque skin.

So, to summarize - I believe whole-heartedly that God can used ANY artform for his glory, and that the Devil can take that artform and corrupt into something else. I also believe that what is acceptable for some to read or watch or whatever may be different for someone else. While one person may be able to read Harry Potter without be affected negatively by it, I believe that children and anyone with an unhealthy fascination in the occult should definately stay away.

I am definately tired of fundamentalist types labelling anything that contains characterizations of evil or the occult or the devil as being "Of the devil". And there's a lot of people like that who will look at LOTR and say "Oh look how ugly that thing is! Look that man is a sorceror! This movie (or book) must be evil!". By that logic the Bible would be the most satanic writing in human history. The devil is real, and his tricks are real - portraying these realities is not wrong as long as we don't start to confuse evil with good and make the bad guys the good guys or the good guys good because they are in fact so bad. There is a difference between depicting evil and glorifying it!

Anyway that's enough outta me. Peace out.