This is an unbelievable story out of Iowa of two young girls (eight-year-old Alysha, and ten-year-old Kendra) who were strangled and stabbed to death by their own stepfather (a self-professed pagan) in an occult ritual that went bad.
Read the articles on this sad story from the Sioux City Journal below:
January 8th article: Two dead in ritual killing
January 9th article: Stepfather practiced spells
January 9th article: Suspect kept to himself
And yet, you’ll still have some professing “Christians” claim that Harry Potter (steeped in pagan and occult practices) is somehow of value to Christianity and evangelism.
Christ Alone Wyoming 
This is shocking and sad. The perpetrator was obviously severely unwell.
I followed the link to your Harry Potter post, but am still unclear on the correspondence between the Iowa murders and Harry Potter. The former is fact and the latter is fiction…Harry Potter is fantasy, and bears very little resemblance to Neo-Paganism (“pagan and occult practices”).
So…is the implication that the murders were no surprise, given that the perpetrator was Pagan?
If so, I think one walks on dangerous ground when judging an entire religious and/or philosophical system on the actions of individuals claiming to follow those religions/systems. I can think of more than one instance of homicide (and genocide) carried out by a “Christian” person or people. I’m sure all other Christians would appreciate neither they nor their religion being judged on these events…
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Jerome M.,
Are you serious? Talk about jumping to conclusions! You’re like a bullfrog all hopped up on steroids; that was quite a jump!
The validity of your comments are beginning to deteriorate. Where in this post did you get the idea that I was saying that the murders were no surprise because the murderer was Pagan? Where was that even implied? So the whole premise of your comment was in err from the start.
You are apparently blinded by your prejudices which shows in your comments. And your incessant negative and judgmental comments are quickly getting tiring. (That word “judgmental” is so easy to sling around; I can see why you guys like to use it so much).
Now regarding your comment about “Christian” murders: (this is where if I were to try to avoid the topic I’d divert your attention to something like . . . the war in Iraq).
One of the main points of this blog is that not everyone who claims to be a Christian is a Christian. I’m not sure that if during your time roaming to and fro on this blog looking to scatter your negative (and judgmental) comments, you are actually beginning to understand this.
The problem with much of the visible church today is that much of it is made up of unregenerate false converts (I’m sure you’d agree with me). These people are more commonly known as “hypocrites” and some are even the wolves in sheep’s clothing that Jesus warned about.
Now this problem has always been so, even in the 1st Century Church. This is why the New Testament dealt so much with the topic. It wasn’t foreign to the Church back then, and it’s certainly not foreign to the Church today.
So if you’re hoping that I’ll try to defend the actions of people who profess to be Christians but probably weren’t, you’re going to be waiting a long time. And don’t forget, more (born) people have been murdered throughout history by those running countries with Atheistic philosophies.
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Pilgrim,
Your tone and the direction of your response indicate that I’m not alone in jumping to conclusions, if that’s indeed what has occurred.
If you’d read my comment above more carefully, you’d have seen that I was asking a question:
“So, is the implication…?”
I’m here because I want to know more about how you think and why. So, though it’s clear I’ve worn out my welcome, let me try again to ask what I did a poor job of asking previously:
What is the link between the three elements of this post – paganism, murder, and Harry Potter?
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I did read your post and I saw that you prefaced what you truly wanted to say with a question, but honestly Jerome, if it was a genuine “question” wouldn’t it stand to reason that you would have first waited for a response? The question was more like a springboard for you to interject your views on Christianity.
I am sorry if I failed to answer your question, allow me to do so here:
The link between this post and the Harry Potter (HP) post was due to the fact that HP (which is steeped in the occult) is being promoted by Churches where they have no business doing so. Whether you consider HP fiction or not, it is all about Witchcraft. And whether you agree with it or not, the Bible prohibits Jews and Christians from dabbling in these practices. You don’t have to agree with the Bible, but you have to at least concede that point.
This post on the murders just led me into the HP topic which (at the time) was being debated by some of us on here. One in particular, ColdFire, was all worked up because we didn’t agree with the melding of Christianity and the occult, especially as a “ministry tool.”
That’s all it was. Nothing more, nothing less. If you read read more into it, it may be because you are looking for something that’s not there.
If you’re genuinely seeking to better understand me (why?) then just hang around for a while. I don’t usually mince words so it shouldn’t take you too long to form your opinion. However, based on the post about me on your blog, where I’m condescendingly referred to as a silly fundamentalist, I think you’ve already come to your conclusion.
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