On Mark Woods:
From a Harriet’s Place reader on Mark Woods’ article for Christian Today “Five Things Evangelicals Get Wrong About Halloween”
Mark Woods seems to think that introducing our children to symbols of witchcraft and evil is just a bit of harmless fun. He seeks to ‘normalise’ the experience, culturally, and set aside the important scriptural injunctions and warnings. He tells us that “I am fine with witches and ghosts”. This is not the advice I would expect to hear from a Baptist Minister with responsibility for guiding young people in his church and maybe the safeguarding officer ought to look into it?
This exposure of children to symbols of the occult is an exact parallel of the normalisation of violence and killing through computer games which psychologists have now been able to link to acting-out behaviours and the erosion of empathy in young people.
In Galatians 5:19-21 Paul warns that those who engage in such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God. In view of Woods’ intemperate and, to my eyes, vicious articles against Barnabas Fund readers will recall that “hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy” are also listed by Paul as behaviours which will debar inheritance of the Kingdom.
I am led to ask, as I read more and more of Woods’ articles, what on earth is he doing as a contributory editor of ‘Christian‘ Today? Would he not be happier in a Tabloid setting?