Naruto is my homeboy
Wednesday, 22 April 2009 13:15 By Pastor Emil L. Galang and the KKB Core Leaders
One of the most disappointing effects of our culture’s media craze is that it has penetrated so deeply into our society. Concepts endorsed by media are often canonized into norms. Media today are among the most forceful influences to daily life and ideologies. They’re so influential they can even threaten to subvert the Bible’s idea of a Christian lifestyle. And what is the Bible’s idea of a Christian lifestyle? One that is holy and pleasing to God. (Romans 12:1-2).
To be holy is to be set apart from the world and its tendency to feed on appetites that are not characteristic of Godly worship. So when a media product like an anime or Manga series comes around with a main character who has a power source of a Nine-tailed Demon Fox inside his body, Christians should be quick to raise eyebrows and shun the thought of promoting, endorsing, or even contemplating on getting hooked on that kind of story concept. That story concept obviously glorifies demonic activity while, at the same time, overly simplifying the truth about demons.
Not for the Christian
One doesn’t even need to go to the subliminal to know and discern that Manga artist Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto series is not for the Christian to absorb into his system. Naruto is a young ninja-in-training who grew up in a village that once fought the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. The only way to defeat it was to trap it inside the body of an infant. Naruto’s father was a very powerful ninja who heroically died in the battle while successfully sealing the Demon Fox inside the infant boy Naruto. Growing up, Naruto finds himself shunned by the very villagers his father protected. They feared that he would soon discover the truth about the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, and eventually unleash its destructive power. In order to feel accepted, Naruto resolved to become the greatest ninja ever known.
Naruto employs a coming-of-age formula that is similar to the plot of Spider-Man or the X-Men. In this story framework, a young character or characters usually find themselves caught in critical transition periods, complicated by their environment or the forces that antagonize them. Characters learn a lesson by the end of the story. Such formula proves to be highly effective for youth media consumers. Its relevance to youth life, and, in Naruto’s case, the use of imaginative supernatural elements are sure-fire audience nabbers. No wonder even many church-attending youths are hooked on the global Naruto fever.
The plot is so feverishly fantastic that it can easily astonish one’s imagination despite its presentation of a perverted viewpoint on demonic activity. In the Naruto world, demons are real, powerful beings who have great amount of influence over forces of nature. They can inhabit human beings on a level that is similar to a parasite-host relationship. What’s more, they can be “contained” or “entrapped” in a host human body without necessarily overriding the person’s will, or bringing out horrible manifestations upon the person as long as the host body is “in control.”
Truth about demons
Every Christian must acknowledge that the Bible is the only source of truth about demons. From a Biblical perspective, demons should be cast out of—not entrapped in—a human being’s body as it brings about dreadful torment upon a person possessed by it. What’s alarming about Naruto is that the hero sometimes taps into the power of the demon inside him, enabling him to accomplish feats of kindness such as rescuing his friends from danger.
Tapping into demonic power in order to accomplish good? Doesn’t it sound to you like what has been “white” witchcraft’s selling point over the centuries?
In fact, Naruto fans often justify this by magnifying the values of loyalty and friendship which characterize Naruto. So what if it promotes loyalty and friendship? No matter how much of a morality guru something or someone purports to be, no amount of moralizing can erase its perversion as long as it does not align with Biblical truth. New Ager Oprah Winfrey is one of the most generous people in the planet; but does it take away the fact that she says Jesus is not the only way to heaven?
Culture clash
And then there’s the culture argument that says, “Let’s just try to be more tolerant and understanding toward the culture behind Naruto.” To set the record straight, Paul didn’t practice tolerance and “sympathetic understanding” when he publicly went up against the Greeks for their idolatrous culture. Certainly, it didn’t mean that he hated the Greeks. In fact, he loved them so much that he had to expose the nakedness of their sinful culture so they would come to know the truth of God’s Word. (Acts 17:16-34). Culture is the most flawed indicator of whether or not a Christian should act against a demonic message or not.
And some may go as far as saying that, “It’s plain entertainment! I can absorb its moral values while throwing away the bad sides.” The problem with this argument is that it prevents the Christian from making a clear-cut stand on whether or not it is right to like Naruto, or whether Naruto is demonic. That argument makes a Christian not submit to the admonition of 1 Peter 3:15: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”(KJV)
Holy responsibility
It is the Christian’s holy responsibility to reject a media product which main character is inhabited by a demon, and taps into demonic powers in order to win his battles.
Truth be told, Naruto is taking kids and young adults all over the world by storm. And sadly, instead of opposing it, many Christians are among those who fanatically support this unholy story. It is unthinkable for any Spirit-filled Christian to compartmentalize his Christian lifestyle just to accommodate his pop culture consumption, and derive enjoyment from a series that is grounded on demonic activity.
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers [do not make mismated alliances with them or come under a different yoke with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership have right living and right standing with God with iniquity and lawlessness? Or how can light have fellowship with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and Belial [the devil]? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? What agreement [can there be between] a temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them and will walk in and with and among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. So, come out from among [unbelievers], and separate (sever) yourselves from them, says the Lord, and touch not [any] unclean thing; then I will receive you kindly and treat you with favor, And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (AMP)
from: KKB official website: kkbmovement.org •-•-• Well..it's really alarming that our media culture is getting worse than ever and I'm thankful for God's reminder that we must be sanctify ourselves, our heart..for him to easily move in our lives..and must not really equally yoke-in any form of-with an unbeliever..(2 Cor. 6:14-18) It took me quite a long time to accept that verse and finally apply it to my Christian lifestyle.. I hope God will continue to sustain me the courage to do what He wants me to do.. =) |
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