Are you inviting dark and evil into your life?

As someone who has participated at one time or another in everything I’m about to try and convince you to now avoid, I need to make it clear that if you choose to disagree with me, that I don’t and won't judge you for it, because I’ve been there. But if you will be so kind as to hear me out to the end, I’d greatly appreciate it. I’m going to ask you to reevaluate some things. With Halloween fast approaching, I’ve been wanting to write about this topic. Although it isn’t a strictly Halloween theme.

​So let me get to the point, it concerns me how much our society embraces, watches, and participates in dark, evil, bloody, satanic media and entertainment whether that be TV shows, movies, video games, or events like the seasonal ones popping up right now of Haunted Houses or Forests.

In full disclosure I have:

• Watched scary/dark/evil movies.
• Played violent/dark/bloody video games.
• Gone to haunted houses/forests, etc.
• Volunteered at a Haunted Forest one time for a non-profit organization (i.e. wore a costume and did my best to scare the living daylights out of people).
• Got paid to pass out flyers for a new haunted house when I was around 13 or 14 years old.

But a while back I reached a point where I decided those types of things aren’t for me anymore, and I want you to consider if they should be for you too. I feel our society is becoming increasingly desensitized to these things and it can only eventually lead to bad outcomes. Allow me to explain.

Just to be clear, I’m not advocating that we shouldn’t celebrate Halloween or that we should never watch a suspenseful movie. There are some who advocate for that, but that’s not me. I personally enjoy the “cheesy” or “kid-ish” aspects of Halloween and I occasionally enjoy a suspenseful movie. Call me lame or old fashioned (you wouldn’t be the first), but I genuinely enjoy the pumpkin carving and little kids dressed up and walking around with their parents trick or treating, and playing kid appropriate Halloween games.

But I think there’s a line of what’s good and light and fun, and conversely what’s dark and evil. It’s not my job to tell anyone where that line is. That’s up to you to decide for yourself. As long as it doesn’t impact someone else negatively, by all means go for it.

But it’s a fact of life that the people or environments or media that you expose yourself to does rub off on you and impact you on some level, whether you think it does or not. There’s just no way around it. That’s why close friends are more often than not, very much alike. You want to know what you’re like, the type of language you use or what your priorities are in life? Look at your closest friends and you’ll get pretty close.

Whether you think it does or not, I believe participating or consuming in what I classify as evil/dark/bloody/satanic activities and media, is not only affecting you negatively, but also our society as a whole.

As you all know I believe in the spiritual aspect of life. No matter what you call it, God, the Universe, etc...I believe we are all spiritual beings as well as physical. I believe there are good and evil spirits in the world and universe (or positive and negative energy if you classify it that way). I also believe that like attracts like. It’s a universal principle. Like molecules, objects, people and spirits are naturally drawn to each other. The more lightness or darkness you have, the more you will draw that same likeness to you.

So the more you expose or surround yourself with evil or dark things, the more it pushes away the good light in and around you. And the less light you have in and around you, the more comfortable you become with and around dark or evil things. This is the spiritual form of desensitization.

Take a moment and assess your life goals. What do you want to accomplish? Are you wanting to be a good, positive, uplifting person with as much “light” as possible? If so, may I suggest that embracing, watching, and participating in dark, evil, bloody, satanic media and entertainment such as TV shows, movies, video games, or events like Haunted Houses or Forests, is not only not helping you accomplish that goal, it is pushing you in the opposite direction.

In my opinion, when you engage in these types of activities, you invite dark and evil. You invite dark/negative/evil spirits and energy into your home or apartment or wherever you are, which in turn drives away good/positive/light/spirits and energy. Think about that for a second and think about the things (media/people/places) you surround yourself with and the type of person you want to be.

I once heard Elder David A. Bednar wisely put it this way: Why would you ever let something in your house...through your TV or computer, that you would never, ever, let through your front door?

For me, the decision has become clear. I no longer choose to watch or participate in dark, evil, bloody, satanic media and entertainment including TV shows, movies, video games, or events like Haunted Houses or Forests. It isn’t worth it. I never come away feeling edified, uplifted, or inspired. I always leave a little more spiritually starved and downtrodden...even if I did get “a thrill” out of it.

I feel like a lot of people get sucked into doing these types of things because it’s popular or trendy and “the thing to do,” especially around this time of year. I mean, who doesn’t go to Haunted Houses and watch scary movies??

I know there can be a lot of peer pressure to participate in these types of activities…”Everyone’s going to this Haunted House or going to watch this movie, you should come!” or “Do you watch this TV show? You don’t?? You totally need to, it’s sooo good!”

I experienced it more often when I was single, but I just got to the point where I would say, “Oh I’m good, thanks though. I’m just not really into haunted houses. You guys go without me.” or “I don’t really like scary movies so I’ll pass on this one.” I’m sure there were some who thought I was lame or dumb for saying that, but most of the time if people pushed or asked why, and I explained my reasoning, they were very supportive.

Again, this doesn’t make me better than anyone else who chooses to do these things, because I’ve done them all. And you may completely disagree with my reasoning or conclusions, which is fine. But I have just reached a point in my life where I now choose otherwise.

So this Halloween season, and even after Halloween has ended, I want you to stop and think about it. Again, think about your end goals and the type of person and society you want to be and create. And then ask yourself if embracing, watching, and participating in dark, evil, bloody, satanic media and entertainment including TV shows, movies, video games, or events like Haunted Houses or Forests is helping you accomplish that. If not, from now on choose to avoid them, even if it is the popular thing to do. I believe that personally and as a society we would all be better off without it.