Witches From Christian Homes

[MBM888]

I searched and searched for this topic, but I couldn't find anything that really answered my question, so here it is.

I've been researching witchcraft and Wicca a great deal lately. (Blame Covid and boredom.) What has surprised me is how many witches and Wiccans came from Christian, church-attending homes.

My question is this: Why is this the case? There's an argument to be had that with the influx of things like Harry Potter, that kids are set up for it. However, I recently came across a Youtube channel of an elderly lady who has been a witch since before JK Rowling was a twinkle in her father's eye, so I don't feel like that's really the answer. (I also don't think that just reading HP will automatically turn a person into a real witch; there's a great deal of difference between fictional magic and the kind practiced by real witches and Wiccans.)

Honestly, I can't decide how much this has to do with culture and society at large, and how much actually has to do with at-home parenting. Is it a lack of good parenting? Either nearly not enough interest in a kid's interests, or perhaps too much and overreacting to a kid's interest? Does anyone have any insight into this?

Many thanks ahead of time!

(Caveat: I know what the Bible says. This isn't a thread about Scripture debate. This is trying to understand something social, not Biblical.)

 

[GirdYourLoins]

Satan is always trying to draw people away from God. This is just one way of doing it. HP is just another thing that can attract people to witch crafty. Long before it was written I met people who had been drawn to it starting with Halloween as a kid. The "fun" event glorifying witches had dulled their senses to it being something to be afraid of or stay away from. People always seem to argue that Halloween is harmless fun but its far from it, it is a gateway. Then there are various stories of magic, its a trait of the sinful nature to want power and children dreaming of being able to do real magic is a manifestation of that. Where in the past tales of doing Ouija Boards may have been a way of experimenting with this in the pasty, I'm sure there is a lot of information children can now find on the internet that makes the step from being open/curious about magic to practising witchcraft an easy one to take. The ease with which information can be found is imo the biggest change.

With my children, I always took the view of being honest with them and not trying to hide the realities of the world from them. Ive always taught them that the world can be a hard place and you have to able to look after yourself and understand the challenges out there. They are now getting a little older and seem to be well rounded and happy. they know they need to work hard if they want to achieve success and even then things can go wrong. they know there are people out there who follow evil practices and they need to be wary of them. Although this goes against what a lot of modern parenting tells you to do, they are happy, confident, strong in character and well behaved. In fact they seem far happier than most children their age and I see a lot of the increase in depression being reported all across the Western world being n people who have been brought up in the current trend of telling them they can be whatever they want to be and have whatever they want to have. That leads to disillusionment, depression and seeking fulfilment in things like witch craft.

 

[MBM888]

Satan is always trying to draw people away...

Thank you for your insight!

Information is definitely easier to access! But I also remember when cute, bright pink and purple Ouija boards were for sale in the toy section of Walmart and Toys-R-Us in the 80s and 90s. I always thought that was a little weird.

I just wonder if people go that direction from (supposedly) Christian homes because of abuse, or if it's just because their parents didn't care what they did. (I'm married, but I don't have kids. But, if I did, I imagine I'd have a pretty tight leash on what the could and could not indulge in!)

 

[2PhiloVoid]

I searched and searched for this topic, but I couldn't find anything that really answered my question, so here it is.

I've been researching witchcraft and Wicca a great deal lately. (Blame Covid and boredom.) What has surprised me is how many witches and Wiccans came from Christian, church-attending homes.

My question is this: Why is this the case? There's an argument to be had that with the influx of things like Harry Potter, that kids are set up for it. However, I recently came across a Youtube channel of an elderly lady who has been a witch since before JK Rowling was a twinkle in her father's eye, so I don't feel like that's really the answer. (I also don't think that just reading HP will automatically turn a person into a real witch; there's a great deal of difference between fictional magic and the kind practiced by real witches and Wiccans.)

Honestly, I can't decide how much this has to do with culture and society at large, and how much actually has to do with at-home parenting. Is it a lack of good parenting? Either nearly not enough interest in a kid's interests, or perhaps too much and overreacting to a kid's interest? Does anyone have any insight into this?

Many thanks ahead of time!

(Caveat: I know what the Bible says. This isn't a thread about Scripture debate. This is trying to understand something social, not Biblical.)

To find a potential answer to your question, we'd need to tap into various studies on youth development done by social scientists, and this can be done through Scholar Google and through various research data-bases available through academic institutions.

But just off the cuff, I'm going to offer the non-scientific and overly basic theory that children who live in generally Christian homes but yet decide to take up Wicca often do so because they come to a point where they feel Christian beliefs, even those of their family, aren't personally empowering.

As for the role of Harry Potter as a single entity in the media that may have had influence, I'm going to guess that it has usually been more than just this fictional idea of J.K. Rowling that nudges some young people to fully engage Wicca/Witchcraft.