Charlie, Charlie- I wouldn't worry.

So recently a decent number of Christian adults lost their collective minds on the internet. I know, this is hardly a rare enough occurrence to really require talking about but this particular instance struck me as particularly stupid.

For those of you who aren't regular followers of Christianity Today, the Evangelical magazine recently posted an article about a warning from a Catholic "exorcist" warning that the child's game, Charlie, Charlie, poses real danger as it involves "summoning a demon."

Now, I had never even heard of Charlie, Charlie before this article came out, which I am fairly certain is true for most of the adults panicking around it since this article was put out, but looking into it further it looks something like one of a thousand such "fortune teller games" that kids play in school when they're bored and have only paper and writing utensils at hand. Apparently the demon being summoned is from Mexico, and inexplicably named "Charlie."

(Oh, yes, the ancient Mexican Demon Charlie! FEAR!)

Ugh.

I've had a couple of people ask me for my input on this and so, what the hey, I'll share it with you all as well. For starters, to the question; "WHAT CAN THIS ARTICLE TELL US?" It tells us that Christianity Today is apparently not above click-bait in the same way that the sea is not above the clouds.

This article (which I shall not link, but its not hard to find via google if you wish) is curious for a number of reasons, not the least of which is, since when does Christianity Today, a Protestant, Evangelical leaning conservative Christian magazine, give two hoots about what ANYone from the Vatican thinks?

OHHH, but this guy is an EXORCIST. So it's spooky Christian mysticism, is it? OOOOH! I bet people will click to read that.

The great irony of this is that, like I said, games such as this one come and go all the time, played by generation after generation of children, and mass demonic attacks have, as yet, failed to manifest as result of them. We as adults know this, because we played them ourselves, and our souls remain blissfully intact. Part of the Christian faith is the belief that Christ triumphed over the powers of hell. If that triumph can be overcome by some bored kids with notebook paper, then we may want to look into a more powerful divine force.

Also, for the love of God, THINK people! All you need to play the game is some paper and pencils. If you're going to run around like chickens with your heads cut off over this game, forbidding your children to play it, saying that a REAL EXORCIST says that it WORKS, you know what your kids are going to do the moment you're out of eyeshot? The same exact thing YOU did when YOUR parents warned you about Ouija boards.

If you're really worried about demonic communication, you're doing a hell of a job advertising for Charlie.

But that's ok. In time, Charlie, Charlie will be forgotten, and our kids will be scrambling to forbid the play of Paulo, Paulo in an attempt to summon an ancient demon from Bangladesh.