Pokemon

All I know is that the trading sessions cause big fights among the kids that collect. Without knowing the particulars of "Pokemon," that's enough to put them "off-limits" for my kids...

 

here are some links to help:

http://cnview.com/on_line_resources/pokeman__another_introduction.htm

http://logosresourcepages.org/Occult/pokemon-.htm

http://www.probe.org/content/view/816/170/

http://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/pokemon.html

 

Those are excellent links eloidalmanutha--

Probe Ministries seems to ride the fence instead of out and out saying that Pokeman is occultic and warning people about the dangers of Pokeman--by saying that there are "Positive Lessons to be learned":

Pokemon has positive lessons to be learned. However, these lessons need to be channeled in a productive manner. Proponents of the game offer several reasons why Pokemon is and can be enriching.

First, the game is a social time for engaging in friendly play.

Second, the game fosters cooperation. It takes the help of one's playmates to capture and train all one hundred and fifty-plus Pokemon.

Third, the game helps the player develop skills in using strategy, thinking, and memorization. The game also encourages a child to develop reading skills so he can achieve mastery.

Fourth, the game promotes negotiation and organization skills that may be useful in life.

http://www.probe.org/content/view/816/170/

David L. Brown's article pretty much sums up the dangers of Pokeman:

So, what's the problem with Pokémon? Its subtle suggestions, images and values are manipulating the minds and feelings of the children who are into it. Pokémon conditions them to accept humanistic wisdom and occult spirituality. Heavy involvement in Pokémon blurs the player's ability to distinguish between fantasy and reality and sears the conscience of the player as well. Pokémon is designed to be a stepping stone to harder occult oriented games like Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons.

God wants his children to have a completely different focus. We are even told where our thoughts should be directed in Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

http://cnview.com/on_line_resources/pokeman__another_introduction.htm

The only positive thing to be learned about Pokeman is to stay away from it!!

 

The contents of all those links are poorly thought out. Anyone can twist anything into any bad thing. Links and ads from those sites are automatically added by Google with no permission or input from the sites themselves.

The logic used to condemn this, that it "blurs fantasy and reality," " tempting promise: supernatural power," would ban all nonrealistic works, including all books of fantasy.

Finally, there is quite outrightly no similarity in content, only in medium, to the occultic practices of other card games. rendering them evil for that reason only is like the old argument that you shouldn't watch any moving pictures for any reason because the motion picture medium can be used to make pornographic images.

 

IF you want to know about Pokeman, turn your tv to cartoon network and and watch it a few times.

If you want to know about the card game, there are guides in any bookstore and no doubt the library.

Then you will be able to compare with what scripture has to say about the ideas protrayed and draw your own conclusion.

 

AF Guy,

If the Spirit tells you to trash the cards, trash them. He has apparently convicted your heart that they are not edifying the children..

I also dealt with that several years back with my nephew. I prayed that God would speak to his heart and show him what the game and the cartoon was about. My nephew has since destroyed his whole collection of Pokemon.

He is now playing a christian card game called Revelation. Has gone to the National Championships two years straight.

 

Ack! You spent actual money buying those cards????

Therein lies my biggest problem with Pokemon. It is a marketing ploy designed to part thousands of children from thier allowances! Same goes for Yu Gi Oh!. It really didn't take my kids that long to figure it out either. Course Mom helped some by pointing out just how many of those little packets of worthless cards they'd have to waste thier money on before they got the card they were really looking for.

Plus those cards are a ploy of the devil's to keep me picking them up from all over the house. Nope! Just not gonna do it!

 

mk,

lol. I think Revelation uses the same ploy. 10 cards in pack for 3.50. My nephew must have over a thousand cards.

It is a cool game, I have attended a few tournaments, but it is so expensive.

 

thanx for pointing that out - I only skimmed through the links to see if they would be helpful. I agree that we should have nothing to do with pokeman.

I did think the last link did a good job pointing out the occultic symbols and this was pointed out in the article:

 

Well if he just has to spend his money on something.....

At least he found something that was overtly Christian.

 

Each card has a Bible character on it, with a verse and instructions on what the card does.

My mistake, the game is Redemption, not Revelation.

Here is a link to some info about the game.
Redemption Card Game

 

Quote:
The Redemption Collectible Trading Card Game Store is your one source for Redemption, a wonderful Collectible Card Game (CCG). We also provide any accessories you may want to use with your Redemption cards. We carry the starter decks as well as all of the expansion game card sets that are available for Redemption. In addition, we carry card deck protectors, card deck carriers, deck organizers and gaming stones.

Almost every card in the game is based on a Bible verse. That makes Redemption a great way to learn about the people and concepts in the Bible. The object of the game is to win lost souls. What a great way to teach evangelism to this generation!
[end quote]

http://www.redemptioncardgame.com/


I don't think there would be a lack of tables for Jesus to turn over if He were here today . . .

 

Eloi, while I do not agree with the price they charge for these cards, I can not say for sure that Jesus would be turning the tables over. Did He throw tables over anywhere beside the temple? He did that because they had made the temple a marketplace.

I am not sure these cards are being sold in the church. If they are, then I would agree with you.

 

The phrase "turning over tables" refers to the selling of the spiritual, of that which is of God. Man's attempt to sell the gospel for witnessing purposes for financial gain is no different than selling animals and birds for sacrifices. To purchase the product makes one an accessory.

1Cr 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

 

So Eloi,

I cannot buy a Bible?

 

Eloi,

I am curious, is there ANY form of entertainment that is appropriate for Christians or Christian youths? I already know your stance on the secular, no need to tread that ground again. What is so wrong with a Christian alternative to Pokemon cards? The fact that they cost money?

 

I think "turning over the tables" gets a little deeper than just "selling the spiritual".

I has to do with the temple hiarchy adding to what God told them to do(for the remission of sin) and then charging people for the additions(which meant nothing to God) while telling them that there was no other way to God.

Basically they had turned God's house into a place for liars and cheats.

I don't believe this game comes anywhere near to the idea that we must all play this game or we can't be saved. If it did, then we should be following Christ's example and turning over some tables of our own.

 

I have been increasingly concerned that the christian community is becoming more and more like the world. Friendship with it is warned against in the Bible. If one replaces a worldly tradition/concept with a "christian" one, where in scripture is that given credance?

How do we teach our kids to "be in the world" and "not of the world" if we take the secular and try to turn it into something Godly? How can we be salt and light if our concepts are only the secular with a different wrapping?

Jesus overthrew the changers in the temple, because they were taking what God had put in place and turned it into the secular - the secular world is filled with lying and cheating to make a buck. The idea of making money on something that is God's has no validity. As Jesus said, you cannot serve two masters - Him or mammon - which is money.

I do not believe that God ever intended that His Word be sold. Did the disciples or Paul requirement payment for God's Holy and Inspired Word? Do we have to purchase Bibles today in order to get His Word - yes - because we have no choice. We don't need a game that trivilizes the Gospel. That only teaches that God's Word is uninteresting and lacking and the necessity for something more challenging, when we can't even get a grip of the surface text.