Thursday, May 20, 2010

Pink Ouija Boards and Moral Relativism

If you have not read  The Clay Rosary Girl  you really must!  This is a post of hers (bolding is my emphasis). I have edited very slightly.

I just stumbled across an article on from Fox News about Pink Ouija Boards Targeting Young Girls. Yes, it's terrible that ignorant parents may be seduced into buying this cute portal to Hell, but the major underlying problem I have with the defenders of this game is not whether the game is good or evil, but that the mindset behind leaving the game on the shelves (or putting it there to begin with) is one based on the principles of moral relativism.

Moral Relativism is a much more subtle snare which also makes it satan's lure of choice for our modern era. Listen to what this unsuspecting pawn has to say about his pink ouija board.
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."
My problem, Chris Byrne, is that you have a problem with people projecting their belief system. The "hands and minds off" approach is not as innocent as it sounds. It's a version of moral relativism that has dire consequences to our world. A web page dedicated to moral relativism gives this definition:

Moral relativism is the view that ethical standards, morality, and positions of right or wrong are culturally based and therefore subject to a person's individual choice. We can all decide what is right for ourselves. You decide what's right for you, and I'll decide what's right for me
There is nothing wrong with projecting your belief system. I think that Ouija board is intrinsically evil and I don't want that to be marketed to young girls or on the toy store shelves. What's wrong with saying that? When someone doesn't know or has forgotten what is good for them, I believe that letting them know is only the Christian thing to do.

Too often in our modern world, we forget that it's ok to tell people what we believe and even to tell them what is right or wrong based on what we believe.

In fact, as a Christian, we are obligated to do just that, but we are called to do it out of love. I love my fellow human beings, and I don't want any unsuspecting young girls communicating with evil spirits while playing with their cute pink Ouija boards.

I'm reminded of the time my dear friend from home came back from her liberating college experience from St.Benedict's Catholic College in St. Joseph, MN . We were having another enlightening conversation (as college students usually do with each other) and I was trying to enlighten her on Catholic teaching (from my experience at Franciscan University) and she went on to reveal what her professors have schooled her in: Moral Relativism.

No, she did not use that term, but everything she said read like a text book definition.
She said that she doesn't feel that evangelizing is a good thing to do. (you see, moral relativist are really bad at keeping their number one rule: there are no rules)
Evangelizing, she said, is not good because it pushes our beliefs onto someone else. That's not respecting the other person's beliefs, she said.
For the record, evangelizing should always be done in the name of love and with concern for other's- never, never pushy.

But Evangelizing shouldn't be done because I might be telling someone what is for their own good?? How dare we say to another: you really shouldn't put your finger in that outlet, you might get hurt. If you think this seems like a far fetched example, let me give you another one. Imagine someone who wants to exercise some personal "freedom" by killing the baby in their womb. Now imagine a world where we cannot impose our beliefs on this person and tell them it might hurt the baby (and themselves).

I think moral integrity may be the opposite of moral relativism, but I'd have to think about that more.

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I am so very grateful to the authors, website and blog owners for sharing this information, commentary, and knowledge.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree with what Jesus said about Ouija® Boards!
Oh... He didn't say anything about them...

Anonymous said...

I agree with what Jesus said about Ouija® Boards!
Oh... He didn't say anything about them...

Abbey's Road said...

God gave us "free will" but he also gave us His Commandments and His Word in The Holy Bible. THAT is the standard that He gave the WORLD, and by using relativism, one is using free will to make that choice. That choice is to deny the truth of the Gospels and "do as one wishes" ... it's still WRONG in the eyes of God, whether or not we "evangelize" or not.

We Christians certainly do not stand up for our beliefs publicly. We are too complacent and bite our tongues when, by sharing our belief, we might just touch one soul that needs touching to turn away from evil.

As always, an excellent post, my dear friend!

Soutenus said...

The Bible has a few things to say about engaging in activities of this nature:

Leviticus 19:31 - "Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God."

Deuteronomy 18:10-12 - "Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD."

Isaiah 8:19 - "When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?"

Galatians 5:19-20 "The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God."

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