Wednesday, July 16, 2008
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Is it Bad For Christians to Read Horoscopes?
After growing up in a tight-knit, conservative Christian community where even Harry Potter was frowned upon, I reacted a little bit strongly when my college roommates started bragging about their horoscopes. Roommate: I need to wear more makeup today. According to my astrological reading, I'm supposed to meet a dark and handsome stranger in the shadows this afternoon.
Me: Do you seriously believe in that stuff?
Roommate: Well, it's kind of weird how true it can be.
Me: You're delusional.I wanted to ask how people who find it ludicrous that I believe in an all-powerful, personal deity put their faith in giant balls of gas. After hearing about horoscopes for awhile, though, I began to take them less seriously. I don't actively keep up with my horoscope because I just can't be bothered. The thing is, a lot of people say that they don't use horoscopes to predict the future, but rather, as reminders of things to reflect on. For instance, I looked at my Daily Single Love Reading today, which says:
Getting along well with others is key if you want to accomplish anything today. Mood swings and temper tantrums block your chances of success. Put your differences aside and work as a team.While I had no problem cooperating with people at work today, it's true that I need to mind my emotions when finishing projects with others. Interesting. Let's check out my Scorpio traits:
Strengths: loyal, passionate, resourceful, observant, dynamic
Weaknesses: jealous obsessive, suspicious, manipulative, unyielding
*Scorpios are fiercely independent and will accomplish anything they put their mind to. They do best when on their own. They are not very social.
*Scorpios are the most misunderstood of all astrology signs. They are all about intensity and contradictions. They like to be in touch with a situation and always know what's going on, figuring this out with their probing mind....To be honest, all of that is eerily true...but at the same time, it's unsurprisingly generic.
Yeah, so the horoscope was a good reminder, and yes, it does apply to me, but it's impersonal, blanket advice. My Scorpio characteristics are more of common human emotions that everyone goes through; I'm sure if someone put an Aquarius' description in front of me, I'd relate to it. I think today's reading could apply to just about anyone.The reason I don't read horoscopes is not because I'm convicted that they're witchcraft and sorcery, as the Bible insinuates, but because I believe in a personal God who DOES know me in and out - a God who "knit me in my mother's womb," as the Psalm goes.
Admittedly, God's answers can come far more slowly (and far more vaguely) than my horoscope reading, but in the end, they are the ones that I remember and actually apply.I'm not so much convicted about horoscope-reading being a sin as convinced that it's pointless for me...if anything, I might skim them when I'm bored, but I know that other people (Christians and non-Christians alike) feel differently about the nature of the zodiac. After all, the Bible blatantly tells us to avoid fortune-telling activities, but then again...that culture took those things way more seriously than our culture does, which, for the most part, has reduced horoscope readings to cute little desktop widgets or Firefox extensions.
Do you have a problem with horoscopes? Is it okay for Christians to read them, as long as they don't use them for serious purposes?
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Comments (95)
I think I'm pretty much of the same opinion as you. I think they're just kind of silly. I don't think anything terrible will come about from the maybe 3 times each year that I happen to glance at a horoscope for pure giggles. And they usually are written in a way that they can relate to everyone. Just like fortune cookies often being written so they come true for everyone.
I do have a particular memory regarding horoscopes from a few years ago though. It was one of those days where I was reading the paper at my parents' house and thought I'd just see what it had to say about me that day. Only...gemini ended a day before my birthday and cancer began the day after and...I was lost. A typo had made my future disappear! If I did believe in horoscopes, that might have been devastating. Instead, it made me cut it out and laugh.
I'm not trying to be rude, but, I noticed that you added me as one of your friends, why? You have no idea who I am. Futhermore, again: not trying to sound rude, but, How can you call some one a friend that you have never met before? Just some food for thought! ;D
Horoscopes can be extremely vague and generic, and the same reading and traits can apply to anyone and everyone. I am not a scorpio, and the traits you listed apply just as equally to me, as they do to my husband (who is also not a scorpio).
I personally do not read the "astrological forecasts," and get offended by those who give me gifts with my "zodiac sign" printed on it. I would rather place my trust in the One who created the stars and celestial bodies than trust in the creation itself.
Yes, it is wrong to read them.... and actually dangerous for your soul. Isn't there warning in the Bible about going to crystal ball readers and things of that sort?? ---- I can't quote anything right now but.. again yes....it's wrong.
thank you..... Patrick
well i think they're utterly pointless first of all. they are so generic that they can apply to anyone. but it falls under the attempting to discern the future, and that's God's domain. besides, why worry when God has the future in his hands?
@lifeasjosh@xanga - I add lots of people as friends on Xanga when I decide to subscribe to them. They have to agree of course. I get a feeling for who they are by their writing.
I agree with Patrick up there.
I don't believe that it is right to depend on anything that is not from God...I always have an uneasiness about astrology. I think it was Saul who wanted to contact a medium so that he could understand the course of events to come, because he did not want to wait on the Lord...and it turned out BAD.
Since astrology has it's basis in Babylonian polytheistic pagan religious practices my opinion is , No, Christians should not participate in perpetuating it's usage. You can justify a sin any way you wish, but when the Word of God says don't ..welllll...for me that says it all.
i read horescopes
i don't think God will punish us just because we read our horescope.
God didn't say that we can determine our future based on stars.
besides
it's just for fun.
I read them, but I don't follow them constantly. They are generic as you said and they seemingly relate to people's lives because of this. So I don't think anyone should live their life by them.
I've read them after the day is over. They've always been wrong.
How many people have fallen from their Faith as a result of doing things because they're 'just for fun'?
@mattallica24@xanga - way to go. i couldn't have phrased that better.
Christians should not be meddling around with horoscopes, reading them just for fun.
you could be reading your bible during the time you were reading your hororscope. and let me guarantee you, reading your bible will be much more rewarding than a stupid horoscope.
Harmless, really, as long as you don't trust them too much - especially not more than God!
@lifeasjosh@xanga - I also don't want to sound rude, but can't we consider everyone, everywhere to be friends? They're not enemies...
At least I like to think that way.
i read 'em for fun. it's not like i plan or live my life according to what's written there, but it does give a fresh perspective on my life.
@mattallica24@xanga - I completely agree, but this statement could apply to nearly every activity. I probably shouldn't use this as an example because I know there are very different opinions on it, but I don't believe drinking alcohol is a sin. It can be. It can lead people to fall from their faith...but losing faith is not an automatic result of one taste of alcohol.
Even activities generally thought of as "good" in the eyes of most christians can lead to a loss of faith. Most things in excess can be harmful. Simple example: milk. Most believe it's good for you. Drink a lot and it will make you throw up. Do it. I dare you.
It's about moderation. It's about intent. But most importantly, it's about our relationship with God. Not the tabloid headline we happened to read while waiting in line at the grocery store.
I think Horoscopes are harmless as long as you're just looking at them as possibly good advice and completely generic. You could say the same thing about fortune cookies. As long as you don't look to them to guide your destiny, or follow their advice blindly, I don't think they can harm you, spiritually or otherwise.
well... considering that astrology is considered to be addressed in the same light as witchcraft which is equally noted as rebellion against God... I'd say someone...
Someone who has repented of any sin which a blatant crime against God in all shape, definitions, sizes, forms, and beyond semantics... Someone who has repented of their sin and received Jesus Christ the Son of God Savior of the World into their hearts and to be the Ruling King and Director and Guider and Orchestrater and Official Authority of their waking life from the moment He enters in one's heart to the day the person breathe's their last... astrology is more or less in all forms a definite violation of God's presence...
if God created the stars? Why look to them when you can look to the One Who made those starts???
that's the question to ask... the job for the stars is to pulse with praise for the Creator... so they won't tell you much at all... other than, "PRAISE THE MAKER, PRAISE THE MAKER, PRAISE THE MAKER, LET HIM BE PRAISED, LET HIM BE PRAISED, LET HIM BE PRAISED, HE IS GREAT, HE IS GREAT, HE IS GREAT..." and on and on and on and on.... so...
Horoscopes are not something that Christians should be involved with. It's not cute or fun. It is sin.
i don't necessarily have a "problem" with them, just i personally am apathetic and could care less about them. I too agree that God is sovereign in my life, and that for me to spend a few minutes of my day reading some fictional generic written by a grandma thing would be a waste of time and could be spent doing better things, like flossing and picking under my nails. yes, because as menial as those tasks may be, at least they are more productive then reading some weird fake thing. ok, maybe i am more against them then i thought i was.
I always considered them to just be entertainment.
"When people don't believe in God, it's not that they believe in nothing... it's that they'll believe in anything." --G. K. Chesterton
In a civilization there is a great tradition of the reflective few, and there is a little tradition of the largely unreflective many. The great tradition is cultivated in schools or temples; the little tradition works itself out and keeps itself going in the lives of the unlettered in their village communities. The tradition of the philosopher, theologian, and literary man is a tradition consciously cultivated and handed down; that of the little people is for the most part taken for granted and not submitted to much scrutiny or considered refinement and improvement.
Robert Redfield, The Little Community and Peasant Society and Culture (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1956), p. 41-42.
People who actually take those things seriously are superstitious, and taking that stuff seriously is on par with believing in ghosts. Of course giant balls of burning gas are not sentient beings and are definitely not deities, therefore I fail to see how they could have any predictive powers. So either it must be generic (like fortune cookies) or it must be sorcery, in which case the predictions are drawn from a satanic source. If you really think it is sorcery then you ought to avoid it, as the Bible says, culture is irrelevant when it comes to matters of right and wrong. If you are firmly convinced that it is a hoax and not actual sorcery then it is probably harmless to read it, but it is still a waste of time. My reccomendation is that you cease reading that stuff in order to set a positive example for your friends, and remind them how stupid the whole concept is.