Symbolic Awareness - What Is Influencing Our Children?

Christian parents, do you really understand the symbols and imagery contained within our children's programme?

The Ben 10 phenomenon has hit Kenya hard, what with the comics, watches, lunch boxes, T-shirts et cetera that are fast becoming must-haves for the urban Kenyan kid. The Saturday Nation has gone on overdrive promoting the Ben 10 comic. But what really is the force behind this cartoon? Is it just a harmless cartoon?

One particular episode of Ben 10 Alien Force is centered around one of Ben’s enemies – a Mike Morningstar, who ensnares his victims with niceness (girls who were attracted to a “handsome” boy), then drains the energy from them - a bright light surrounding him as he grows in strength from their input, and leaves his mark on their arms – an eight pointed star inside a circle. Firstly – Morningstar is a blatant reference to Satan. And the eight pointed star is an occult symbol. Let’s look a little more into this.

What Does the Bible Say About Morningstar:

Isaiah 14:12: “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! - How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!

Not to be confused with Jesus who is the Bright Morning Star, Revelation 22:16: “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”, the name Mike Morningstar is a direct link to Satan. This cannot be denied. Why else would a character be given this name?

As mentioned above in the brief description of the episode, the character would have a light radiating from him and would hover above the ground, with a proud and haughty look down upon the "good guys". He drew his victims to him, with nice words and looks, to the point where one of the girls in the cartoon had such a dependency on Mike Morningstar, she had to find him or she felt she couldn’t go on. How very like Satan, who masquerades as the “angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14) and draws men unto himself, away from God. Entrapping them into his web of deception that they cannot live away from him.

Mike Morningstar would then leave a mark on his victims’ arms – an eight-pointed star within a circle. It took a little research to remember how many points were on the star, as I couldn’t remember just from watching it. But it is important to remember that most star symbols contained within a circle, have originated from occult symbolism. But for the purpose of this article, let’s look at the specific eight-pointed star:

The Mark Of The Beast

The eight pointed star (aka Star of Isis) is an occult sign of the inviolate deity. The “correct” position for the Star of Isis is rotated at 22 degrees, it is known as the "Sigil of the Beast 666." (Sigil is an image or sign thought to have some mysterious power in magic or astrology).

This leads me to Revelation 13:16-18:“He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.”

Occult Imagery Is Seen Daily:

How awful to think that children all over the world are watching this kind of symbolic imagery in the name of “fun”. And how scary to think that as parents, most of the time we do not fully realise what our children are being exposed to. I cannot say much about the creators of the Ben 10 series at this stage, as I haven’t done enough research into them personally. But what I can say, is that this is not “fun”. This is education. Education of what, by whom, you may wonder?

Reflect on the facts; children are like sponges, they soak up information constantly, as they learn hour-by-hour about the world in which they live. Spiritually, children are a lot more susceptible to things than adults are. It is for this reason, I believe, many cartoon creators link their characters with products, games, toys etc so they can totally soak the child in their “creative assignment”. Children almost want to take on the heroic attributes of their favourite character, and will assign the bad guys names and attributes or powers to family and friends they are playing with.

For a character to be so obviously named after Satan himself, displaying some of the attributes the Bible speaks of in relation to him, is disturbing, to say the least! This is not a hiding of the occult, as was evident when our generation were children. This is something much more blatant.

Spiritual Awareness:

For a child to become so immersed into their favourite action hero, to the point where their reality and imagination become blurred, has always been a part of the “education” Satan offers. I can testify that praying against the “monsters under the bed” is a lot more effective than trying to convince children monsters don’t exist. I have for many years been convinced that the “artistic licensing” of children’s entertainment is based on more that someone’s creative imagination. I have heard too many testimonies and stories of the realm of Satan to deny the power the prince of darkness has over the media in particular, read too many first hand encounters from Born Again Believers whose pre-Christ life had them entrenched in the occult.

What are children being taught – the acceptability of the occult through symbols and activities the characters participate in. from Ben 10 to Pokemon, having the body taken over by a stronger, stranger force is not something to be encouraged or messed around with! This is a reality of those who are caught up in Satan’s kingdom, and active worship, whereby people give themselves over to their spiritual guide or “angel”.

Biblical Discernment:

Parents, we need to pay more attention to what our children are being exposed to, not just occasionally. We need to as the Holy Spirit to guide us with His discernment as to what is happening in the cartoons and favourite programmes they are watching. It’s not healthy for our children to watch too much television anyway, so maybe it is time we took more control over the input into our own child’s lives, and spend more time engaging with them.