Parents Raise Concerns Over "Charlie Charlie"

[Guest LiterateParakeet]

What do you guys think about this?

 

Parents Raise Concerns Over "Charlie Charlie"

 

I feel torn between --"eww, that gives me the heebeejeebees" and "I wonder if that would really work, I want to try it."   I'm not going to try it, but if as an adult I feel tempted, I'm betting kids do as well.  I remember as a teenager playing Ouija.  I was a good kid, but not a confident one.  I didn't want to play, but couldn't stand up to the peer pressure and say no.  So I played, but I was praying the whole time, LOL!  Nothing happened. But i have a friend who also played Ouija, and had some chilling experiences.

 

Mostly I'm posting this so parents will be aware and can talk to their children about it.  But I'm also curious what you think?  Creepy? or much ado about nothing?

[sxfritz]

I bet most kids come away from it as you (and I) did with the Ouija board and think it interesting but not real. My parents told me it was just a game and I treated it that way. I had no desire to conjure up spirits and so I never did. Just be open in discussing it with children so they have an open mind and not giving weird people influence over them.  So many challenges as a parent, I don't see this one as a biggie.

[Palerider]

Myself I am not interested .... its my personal choice to try and avoid an appearance of evil ... from what I read about it I am not interested. I hope those with children in the home will speak with their kids about this game. All we can do as parents is teach them correct principles and hope and pray when they walk out the door that they will too make good choices.

[prisonchaplain]

Frankly, this is evil.  Of course, like most horoscopes and most fortune telling, most of the time it's entertainment.  In rare cases, actual demonic spirits may engage.  After all, an invitation is given.  Either way, this is ungodly.  Trivializing the spirit realm raises doubts about our godly spiritual beliefs.  Of course, if a demonic entity does engage, that's a whole other kind of trouble.

There are too many scriptural warnings against this kind of activity to dismiss it as harmless.  However, parents are always cautious not to overreact.  We don't want to be THAT parent.  So, with intelligence, genuineness, and passion, we suavely tell our kiddos to avoid this game like the plague. 

[Bini]

It's all nonsense to me. I used to be super superstitious but am no longer a believer in the supernatural. Never heard of Charlie Charlie and I don't put any stock into it, just like ouija boards or Bloody Mary.

[NeuroTypical]

My only interaction with an oija board was as a young teen, and 99.5% of my efforts and attention was geared towards seeing how many square inches of contact I could make between my arm, and the arm of the girl next to me.  

 

She was wearing a soft white sweater.  Her name was Renee. 

 

I honestly don't remember if demons showed up or not.

 

And our church doesn't really seem to take this very seriously any more.  Back when Brigham was delivering fiery sermons about the evils of gambling and wild women, spiritualism was sometimes mentioned.  These days, you go search on "ouija" or "horoscope" or "seance", you only get brief paragraphs in places like the Aaronic Priesthood Manual #2 Chapter 7, advising instructors "If the young men bring up such subjects as Ouija boards, séances, spiritualism, or Satan worship, you should tell them that such things are tools of Satan and that we have been counseled to avoid them completely. Then direct the discussion back to the lesson."

 

Or maybe The Life and teachings of Jesus and His apostles manual - section 7, saying: "Divination is defined as the act of determining the future by such means as cards, horoscopes, dreams, charms, Ouija boards, seances, crystal balls, and so forth. Soothsaying, or the practice of divination, is an ancient art among the ancients (Isaiah 2:6; Daniel 2:27; 5:11); it was and is forbidden to the Lord’s people (Deuteronomy 18:9–14; Joshua 13:22)."

 

It's hardly the subject of General Conference talks.

Edited June 2, 2015 by NeuroTypical

[The Folk Prophet]

In rare cases, actual demonic spirits may engage. 

 

I wonder about this. Would we not suppose that demonic spirits are just itching for such an invitation. When given, would we not suppose that they would, at some level, be involved? I'm not saying that the engagement is them moving the pencil. I would be dollars to donuts that it can (and probably will) be explained from a physics standpoint. But that doesn't mean said spirits are not gleefully involved at some level, and reveling in the invitation and opportunity to influence young minds.

 

Point of interest. The LDS teaching is that a third of the hosts of heaven were cast down to earth and are the evil spirits. Depending on who you talk to (though I wonder why some make this argument...) the scripture actually says a "third part", and may not mean an actual 1/3rd percentage. I'm a traditionalist though...so we'll go with 1/3rd of all of God's spirit children. If we take all the people who ever lived -- even leaving out those who have yet to live -- and take that estimate (around 107 billion) and cut it in half to get the other third (53 bill) -- that means something like 7-8 evil spirits per person.

[The Folk Prophet]

My only interaction with an oija board was as a young teen, and 99.5% of my efforts and attention was geared towards seeing how many square inches of contact I could make between my arm, and the arm of the girl next to me.  

 

She was wearing a soft white sweater.  Her name was Renee. 

 

I honestly don't remember if demons showed up or not.

 

We can only surmise how the evil spirits were influencing you.      

[Vort]

We can only surmise how the evil spirits were influencing you.      

 

[NeuroTypical]

Dang Vort, I didn't know you were there with a hidden camera.

[Blackmarch]

What do you guys think about this?

 

Parents Raise Concerns Over "Charlie Charlie"

 

I feel torn between --"eww, that gives me the heebeejeebees" and "I wonder if that would really work, I want to try it."   I'm not going to try it, but if as an adult I feel tempted, I'm betting kids do as well.  I remember as a teenager playing Ouija.  I was a good kid, but not a confident one.  I didn't want to play, but couldn't stand up to the peer pressure and say no.  So I played, but I was praying the whole time, LOL!  Nothing happened. But i have a friend who also played Ouija, and had some chilling experiences.

 

Mostly I'm posting this so parents will be aware and can talk to their children about it.  But I'm also curious what you think?  Creepy? or much ado about nothing?

Avoid it. teach the children correct principles. We are only to look to God for divine intervention. I'd treat it the same as any ouija or ghost summoning rite/prank.

[Traveler]

What do you guys think about this?

 

Parents Raise Concerns Over "Charlie Charlie"

 

I feel torn between --"eww, that gives me the heebeejeebees" and "I wonder if that would really work, I want to try it."   I'm not going to try it, but if as an adult I feel tempted, I'm betting kids do as well.  I remember as a teenager playing Ouija.  I was a good kid, but not a confident one.  I didn't want to play, but couldn't stand up to the peer pressure and say no.  So I played, but I was praying the whole time, LOL!  Nothing happened. But i have a friend who also played Ouija, and had some chilling experiences.

 

Mostly I'm posting this so parents will be aware and can talk to their children about it.  But I'm also curious what you think?  Creepy? or much ado about nothing?

 

There are only two possible outcomes that I can think of.  One incredibly stupid and full of nonsense the other is a connection to corrupting influence.  Honestly for those so bored with life - I would suggest at least opening a book on cosmology, physics or sub atomic particles.  Okay so science is of no interest?  why not learn to play a musical instrument?

 

Good grief -- why do kids have so much time with nothing to do???

Edited June 3, 2015 by Traveler

[Vort]

There are only two possible outcomes that I can think of.  One incredibly stupid and full of nonsense the other is a connection to corrupting influence.  Honestly for those so bored with life - I would suggest at least opening a book on cosmology, physics or sub atomic particles.  Okay so science is of no interest?  why not learn to play a musical instrument?

 

Good grief -- why do kids have so much time with nothing to do???

 

Agreed. I can think of a dozen ways it could end badly, ranging from wasting time on superstition to unspeakable evil, but I can't come up with a single scenario that ends well.

[Palerider]

Frankly, this is evil.  Of course, like most horoscopes and most fortune telling, most of the time it's entertainment.  In rare cases, actual demonic spirits may engage.  After all, an invitation is given.  Either way, this is ungodly.  Trivializing the spirit realm raises doubts about our godly spiritual beliefs.  Of course, if a demonic entity does engage, that's a whole other kind of trouble.

There are too many scriptural warnings against this kind of activity to dismiss it as harmless.  However, parents are always cautious not to overreact.  We don't want to be THAT parent.  So, with intelligence, genuineness, and passion, we suavely tell our kiddos to avoid this game like the plague. 

I agree with you ....its evil.

[Kawazu]

Balancing two pencil on top of each other seems like an unstable construction designed to allow the topmost pencil to spin around, randomly. Definitely a silly kids game.

[Bini]

I don't see these silly sleep-over games much different from going into a supposed haunted house to see if one can witness a ghost. While, sure, there's people hoping to see an evil entity, I would bet that most people do these things out of amusement and entertainment - I did as a kid. 

[Guest LiterateParakeet]

I'm still here...reading. I shared this on FB too, and it's really interesting to hear all the different perspectives.

It's fascinating how far and quickly this has spread.

[Bini]

I'm still here...reading. I shared this on FB too, and it's really interesting to hear all the different perspectives.

It's fascinating how far and quickly this has spread.

 

I hadn't heard about this until this thread and it still hasn't reached my FB feed.

[Guest LiterateParakeet]

I hadn't heard about this until this thread and it still hasn't reached my FB feed.

 

I first heard about it at work.  There was a note in the communication log that the kids had seen it on the news and wanted to try it.  Because this particular staff works at a school (he works for us part time/on call), he has seen it cause a big problem in the school because some kids are afraid of it.  He asked our residents not to do it.  

 

On Facebook there were a few people (from different states) that said it was a big commotion at their kids schools as well.  

[Bini]

I first heard about it at work.  There was a note in the communication log that the kids had seen it on the news and wanted to try it.  Because this particular staff works at a school (he works for us part time/on call), he has seen it cause a big problem in the school because some kids are afraid of it.  He asked our residents not to do it.  

 

On Facebook there were a few people (from different states) that said it was a big commotion at their kids schools as well.  

 

Explains a bit. I am definitely outside of the school loop.

[pam]

I hadn't heard about this until this thread and it still hasn't reached my FB feed.

 

Me either. This is the only place I've heard about it.

[Palerider]

I heard about it in the area where I live because of an article I read.

[Jamie123]

It seems astonishing to me, but according to Wikipedia it took about 25 years for anyone to see anything "wrong" or "sinister" about the Ouija board. I'd never heard of Charlie Charlie before reading this thread, but I tend to view this sort of thing with suspicion. My wife has a bit of a thing for Tarot cards which I'm not totally happy about either (though I do think the pictures on some of them are pretty cool).

 

I'm not totally sure what to think: as a scientist it bothers me that children should be encouraged to put their trust in pseudoscience. As a Christian....well I can't help thinking of Gideon and his fleece. And of course the LDS have the story of the Liahona. Yes...these things were (supposedly) "of God" but who's to say that Charlie Charlie isn't "of God" too? (I don't believe for one moment that it is, but I don't know that I could present a terribly cogent argument why not.)

[The Folk Prophet]

...but who's to say that Charlie Charlie isn't "of God" too? (I don't believe for one moment that it is, but I don't know that I could present a terribly cogent argument why not.)

 

Unless you think Charlie is God's real name, I'm surprised that you feel there's no cogent argument against this.

[Jamie123]

Unless you think Charlie is God's real name, I'm surprised that you feel there's no cogent argument against this.

I didn't say that there wasn't a cogent argument - only that I would be hard-pressed to present one myself. To me laying a fleece out to see if it collects dew sounds uncannily similar to balancing a pencil and seeing which way it spins. But of course I'm no expert on such things.

Edited June 5, 2015 by Jamie123