Yu-Gi-Oh has got to “you gee GO!”

There are situations which really call for prayerful discernment to know what’s acceptable or not acceptable for my kids to play, read, watch, or to otherwise be exposed. Our culture today has so many influences that are not beneficial to raising strong Christian men and women. I feel a constant tug to allow my kids to have fun and do relevant things but to continue to protect their hearts and minds. There will always be that part of me that wonders if I’m being too strict and I don’t want the kids to grow up in a bubble. I want them to learn to live “in the world” but not be “of the world”.

Away from home recently, my boys picked up a yu-gi-oh card game. We have kept the boys away from all of the Japanese anime-style cartoons like pokemon and yu-gi-oh. When Heather realized what they brought back from their excursion, she told them that we needed to talk about it and they may not be able to keep it.

I read some of the background of the game on the internet from wikipedia and konami (the main company). Some of what I read was a little concerning., especially the use of Egyptian religions and “spirits.” Next, I pulled out the game and read some of the instructions and looked at the cards themselves. That was the point when I knew for sure that this game was going in the trash! The instructions discussed the ability to “Ritually Summon” various monsters to fight each other using “Ritual Spell Cards.” I don’t’ want my kids involved in anything encouraging them to summon any being using a spell. Just so you know some specifics here are the 5 cards that sealed the deal for me:
* Change of Heart is a spell card that has a picture of a lady that on one half looks like an angel and on the other half looks like a demon. I have no problem with the good versus evil theme but there are no “good” monsters or cards – it’s just one side versus the other. In addition, I didn’t like the idea that one “spell” can just make someone change back and forth.
* Koumori Dragon is a monster card. The picture is pretty evil but the description was what got me. His “wicked flame corrupts the souls of its victims.”
* The Puppet Magic of Dark Ruler is a spell card. The name of he card is bad enough “the Dark Ruler” seems to be a clear indication of Satan. The image on the card is of a very evil looking character with red eyes, sharp teeth, and long talons controlling a monster.
* Opticlops is a monster card. At first this seems like a creative type of monster that’s not too bad. Reading the description though really made me understand that they really aren’t hiding anything but putting their occultic tendencies right in the open. The one-eyed giant “serves the ‘Dark Ruler of Ha Des” – could that be any more obvious.

So, I sat the boys down and explained what I had found and why I was throwing the stuff in the trash. They were really cool with it, understood completely, and I had them help me trash the stuff. Hopefully, they will learn to use some discernment of their own through this lesson. I don’t want them to be immediately skeptical of people or things, but having healthy discernment in a situation where something “just doesn’t seem right” will serve them well in life.