Why Would This Be a Sin?

[YEARNING4TRUTH]

Hi everyone, I just wanted to ask why it’s wrong to ask God to be able to do things like magic. I read a post by some person who said that after watching Avatar the Last Airbender, he prayed to God to be able to bend the elements and stuff like that, and Father Vincent Serpa told him that he should go and confess it, which to me implies that it’s a mortal sin. Now, I really like to watch the series, but after reading that post and this other post that said that deliberately placing yourself in a tempting situation is in itself a mortal sin (which by the way I don’t know if it’s true or not), I stopped watching it because i have the same problem as the person that I mentioned above whenever I watch it. I really just want to go back and watch the series, it’s been like a couple of months since i watched it, and looking back at the series, there was a lot of good, moral, things that it had and the abilities that they had were innate and they didn’t really ask for it.

So yeah, I hope that you guys and gals can help me to find out whether or not I can watch the series again. Thanks in advance and God bless.

 

[naomily]

You can ask God for anything you want, but I can say with near certainty that He will not allow you to have control over the four elements.

Instead, how about watching the series and focusing on positive qualities you want to embody? Why not ask for Katara’s compassion or Sokka’s loyalty or Zuko’s passion? Avatar has some GREAT life lessons which far exceed the supernatural elements.

 

[Mary_Ellen]

The Catechism of the Catholic Church shows us that it is a violation of the commandment “You shall not make for yourself a graven image…” in paragraph 2138:
Superstition is a departure from the worship that we give to the true God. It is manifested in idolatry, as well as in various forms of divination and magic.

Also, a violation of “You shall have no other gods before Me” in paragraph 2117:
All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one’s service and have a supernatural power over others—even if this were for the sake of restoring their health—are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices; the Church for her part warns the faithful against it. Recourse to so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil powers or the exploitation of another’s credulity.

 

[MaryT777]

The Bible states do not put your Lord God to the test.
Mary.

 

[BeingSaved]

God is supernatural, why go over onto the dark side, ie Magic, (of course there is illusion, which is tricking the eyes, not dark)

God has gifts that He gives to people to help others. They are supernatural.
You could ask for one of those, ie.gifts of healing, gifts of working wonders, google bible gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Everwhere people need to be healed from sicknesses. This is a very helpful gift.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

You can ask God for anything you want, but I can say with near certainty that He will not allow you to have control over the four elements.

Oh come on, kids can dream now can’t they? If God came to me Morgan Freeman-style and ask how I’d like to be a wizard in a world full of magic, you’d know what I’d say?



Honestly, I think the Church needs to update its lexicon on the term ‘magic.’ It’s definition of the word being a worship of demons or reversion to pagan faiths is really a medieval relic, an outdated construct.

Today magic means shooting lightning out of your fingers through prose and gestures. I wrote a thread that makes the case for this. I think the OP would sleep better at night and enjoy Avatar more if they knew just how far different the Church’s lexicon is from the modern wavelength.