Evil and the Occult is a workbook for a 4-week course intended to put junior high school students on the right path and warn them of the dangers of evil practices such as listening to heavy metal music. Like others from the same publisher, it promises "Scripture-Based Learning That Blasts Away Boredom", using the technique of distracting youngsters by making them participate in a series of inane exercises, each supposed to convey a lead-footed moral lesson. The job of the teacher is not to encourage free thinking, but instead to guide pupils to a predetermined conclusion, that conclusion being that certain things are inherently satanic, opposed to Christianity and hence BAD.
As preparation, the would-be tutor is equipped with a series of unsourced anecdotes such as this:
New Jersey—A 14-year-old boy fatally stabs his mother then kills himself. Police point to his fascination with Satan as the primary influence to kill.
Some would have us believe that the police are a bunch of credulous noodles.
The course proper, as I said, is made up of a series of exercises. Here's one called "Truth in Advertising"
Give students magazines, scissors, glue, posterboard and markers. Have them each design an ad—for something bad or dangerous—that makes the “product” look good. Products could include: drugs, poison, hand grenades, nuclear war or swimming in a pool of alligators. For example, someone could design an ad for drugs that says “Leave Your Troubles Behind You” and pictures a happy person.
Have kids each display and talk about their ad.
Ask:
- How are these ads like real ads you see on television or in newspapers and magazines? (Both play up the positive.)
- How are they different? (These are more obviously lies; real ads are more subtle.)
Say: Sometimes advertisers don’t tell you the whole story because they're afraid you won't buy their product if you know the consequences of using it. In the same way, we're often drawn into evil by outwardly attractive benefits that hide terrible consequences.
Any kid who can sell people on the idea of swimming in a pool of alligators has a bright future in today's church.
On the same topic, there's a little playlet called The Big Lie, which is brilliantly written in the hip jive of today's youth:
Narrator: After Jesus was baptized, God told him to go to the desert—to pray and seek God's will for his life. He was there for a very long time—40 days—without a fast-food restaurant or shopping mall anywhere nearby. He didn't eat a bite the whole time.
One day, Satan snuck up behind Jesus and tried to scare him, but Jesus wasn’t afraid.
Satan: Boo!
Jesus: (calmly) What do you want?
Satan: You're supposed to jump when I do that!
Jesus: What do you want, Satan?
Satan: Don't get steamed at me. You must be cranky because you haven't eaten anything for a while. I'm kind of hungry myself. Hey... I bet you could turn this rock here (pause) into a Big Mac. That is, unless what I heard is all a big lie. You do have power don't you?
Jesus: It's written in the scriptures, man does not live by Big Macs alone. God has given me all I need during my time in the desert. You can go ahead and eat without me.
(The Big Mac was invented in 1967. Get with the times, grandad!)
Now you know how to see through Old Nick's deceits, have fun "Bursting Satan's Bubble":
Form groups of three. Give each group a balloon, three magazines and tape. Ask groups to choose pictures or articles that depict evil in the world. Then have them each blow up their balloon and tape the pictures and articles to it to form “Satan's World.”
Then read aloud Hebrews 4:12-13.
Say: Though Satan would like you to think he controls the world, he doesn’t. Jesus died and rose again to take away Satan's power over you and me. And God's Word—the Bible—can give us confidence to battle Satan and his works in the world. For God's Word is sharper than a two-edged sword.
Give students each a pin. Have them pop their group’s balloon at the count of three to symbolize God's sword—the Bible—piercing Satan's lies.
Powerful symbolism there indeed, and there's more to come, as we practise "Paper Plate Praise":
Give students each a heavy-duty paper plate, a marker and a rock. Have them each list on their plate three reasons God can be trusted to take care of them. Then have kids each tape their rock to the bottom of their plate. Take them outside and have them try to fly their plates like a Frisbee.
After a few unsuccessful flights, ask:
- How is the rock taped to your plate like evil’s influence in your life? (It weighs me down and keeps me from flying.)
Say: When the evil in the world brings you down—like these rocks—get away from its influence and draw close to God through prayer, Bible reading and time with other Christians.
Have students remove the rocks and fly their plates. Then close with a prayer of thanksgiving for God's protection and love.
(Well, the tape came off and I accidentally threw the rock at Melvin. I'm sorry and all, but maybe Jesus guided my hand 'cause Melvin sure looks Satanic to me, especially with all the blood and that.)
When the session is winding down, take a moment to give the Big Man his due:
Thank God for overcoming the power of the occult by presenting him with a paper bouquet of balloons.
Surely the most beautiful sentence ever written.
Rick Lawrence isn't done, though, he's BURSTING with ideas. You know what kids like, they like hanging out at the mall, right? With that in mind, why not treat them to an "Occultic Scavenger Hunt"?
Take kids to a mall or shopping center. Form pairs, then give each pair the following list of items to find. When kids find an item, they should write the store name they found it in and the price. Tell everyone to meet at a specified location and time, then set them loose to find the occultic items. The pair that finds the most items on the list wins.
- a Slayer T-Shirt
- a copy of The Satanic Bible
- a Megadeth record album
- 666 on a piece of jewelry
- an occultic fiction novel
- a goat's head in any form
- an ad for a horror movie
Discuss the influence of the occult in the media, fashion and literature. Talk about how kids can influence stores and manufacturers not to produce occult-related items.
Does it count if the goat's head is still attached to a goat? Maaa!
Alternately, the yout dem might prefer a "Satan in the World Retreat", with even more zany fun-packed exercises for them to enjoy:
Bring examples of magazines, newspapers, books, music, videos and TV soap operas (if you secure appropriate copyright permission). Set aside time to focus on each medium, and have kids look for occultic influences in each one.
For example, form groups and give each group a stack of newspapers. Have kids make a posterboard collage of all the articles they find that illustrate Satan's influence in the world.
Have kids watch a short segment of a popular soap opera. Then have groups act out the scene you watched—with a twist: Have them do it the way Christian characters would behave and react.
Read a short segment of a book that’s tainted by occultic influences, such as one of Stephen King’s popular books. Then contrast it by reading a segment of a Christian novel, such as one of George MacDonald's books.
Watch Chariots of Fire, then compare it with a popular horror movie. Have kids decide what the focus and message of each movie is. Then have them read aloud Philippians 4:8, See how well each movie fits into Paul's guidelines for living.
Close the retreat with a celebration featuring uplifting games and Christian music.
Indeed, what right-thinking person would not prefer George MacDonald's The History of Gutta Percha Willie, the Working Genius over the turgid Salem's Lot? However, when it comes to "uplifting games and Christian music", that's when I make my excuses and leave, reflecting pleasantly as I wend homewards on the success of my adaptation of Dirty Den's "Happy Christmas, Ange!" in which a reformed and renamed "Decent Den" gives his wife Ange a copy of Michael and Jenna's Christian Domestic Discipline Marriage and everyone lives stiffly upright ever after.
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