A friend named Sailor Writer asks me if it’s okay for Christians to be fans of fan culture works, like Star Wars, Touhou, Megaman, rock music, video games, etc. The truth is that all Star Wars fans, all Touhou Gensokyo gamers, all Megaman speedrunners, rock and roll musicians, video game streamers will become Christian by having faith alone in Christ and be saved. And they will act as a light of Christ within their respective fan communities. Here’s my response.
Muslims oftentimes call Jesus merely a "prophet" and falsely deny the deity of Christ. The truth is that Jesus and the Father God are one, Jesus = God. Jesus is much greater than all the other prophets.
Assuming that by Seiga, a Touhou character’s quote of "foreign prophet who resurrected three days after his execution" is referring to Jesus Christ, then it's literally impossible for anything to be "more divine and magnificent" than Christ's resurrection, since that's the only way that we are saved by sins, faith alone in His sacrifice.
In this case, as a Christian it's important to recognize that Seiga is wrong and evil in this context and that Touhou is fictional, not real. Being a fan of Touhou works when you view Seiga as an antagonist to Christ.
An example, I've met Christians who are Star Wars fans and are able to recognize when the Sith do sinful things, such as murder. Yet some of them even cosplay as Jedi with names, and some even cosplay as "Sith" for the purpose of roleplaying, for telling a story. Take Christian movies about Exodus, one actor has to play Moses and another has to play Pharaoh. In the Bible, the Pharaoh is evil, since he disobeys God, but is it evil for someone to act as the Pharaoh for a movie or a story? No, as long as that person does not worship the Pharaoh. So, for Touhou, someone can even pretend to be a "Seiga" who is evil against Christ, like the Pharaoh, in order to show the point that they are evil. As long as they don't worship Seiga.
For me, I am a fan of what is good about Touhou. Like an Undertale fan can be a fan of the good aspects of Toriel, yet be against the evil aspects of Flowey. Or a Sonic fan can be a fan of the good aspects of Sonic, yet be against the evil aspects of Dr. Robotnik
Also, I checked your profile, and to answer your other threads
“Is rock music demonic?” My answer: No. Music that sounds good with “rock instruments” is just music. It’s up to the mind to worship the Lord. In fact, I listen to some instrumental rock music to work out, helps train my body when going soulwinning spreading Bible tracts in the city.
https://christianforums.net/threads/...4/post-1745912
“Is Megaman a sinful game”. My answer: No. The creator of Five Nights at Freddy’s Scott Cawthon is a Christian and a fan of the Megaman games. Video games are just a tool, like music, it’s like saying all books are sinful, it doesn’t make sense.
The 8bitdrummer has very energizing remixes of songs, and his icon is in a pixel art icon style of Megaman with a cross on it. To quote his website "Jesus rocks and He is where my love comes from!"
The8BitDrummer
https://christianforums.net/threads/...0/post-1742484
And lastly “Is Touhou a sinful game?” My answer: No. As a Christian, we can recognize idols and know that they’re fake. Touhou’s obviously fictional. But we can still appreciate the gameplay, as a video game, and how it sounds, as a music genre.
https://christianforums.net/threads/...ul-game.95078/
We don't have to wait for someone else to spread Christianity into a genre. When Ken Hisuag brought Christianity into Touhou, or Scott Cawthon a Christian made horror games or the 8 Bit drummer made Christian rock music, there's bound to be someone who's doing something for the first time. The truth is that, as Ecclesiastes tells us, anything without Christ is meaningless. Therefore, we must put Christ into everything and transform these things into good.
For instance, with that Touhou quote you mentioned, if all the Christians stayed away from Touhou, who would be there to rebuke that quote? That's my purpose in being a Touhou fan, to go into Touhou communities and bring Christ to them with love <3
Rom. 5:20 "Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more."
It is okay for born-again Christians to play Touhou, as long as they realize and tell others that Touhou is not real.
And as long as they don't commit any sins in the name of Touhou, of course, like evil sexual misconduct with minors the Genshin Impact voice actor for Tighnari "Eliot Ghindi" did. (I've been playing Genshin since Oct 2020 and have evanegelized them because of my knowledge of the series).
Touhou has aspects that are derived from Buddhism, Shintoism, Hinduism, which are all fake, but some people worship them as though they were real "gods" which is wrong. For me, I use Touhou to worship the Lord. I oftentimes go into Touhou communities and evangelize them to Christianity, so having a knowledge of Touhou is useful to relate to them. When I listen to Touhou music, like piano, rock, metal, anime vocals, while spreading the Gospel, it motivates me, because music is music. Good music sounds good regardless of what person made it, or what series it comes from. Why? Because the Lord is the true author of all good music. He created sounds, instruments,
1 Corinthians 8 is a good chapter on the topic.
"So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.”
And we know the Touhou characters are idols because, literally, Keiki Haniyasushin's theme is "Idolatrize World"
Being a fan of fictional works is like eating meat. Some people are vegan because their conscious can't handle eating meat. And that's fine. And other people eat meat, like me, because my conscious can handle it. And that's fine.
Look, my friend. I've noticed your threads on the topic too. And I feel for you. When I was younger, I would obsessively search online for answers to topics, like if playing videogames was acceptable (it is) or watching anime is acceptable (it is). But that's referring to the medium. Video games and anime are tools, like technology. I also asked for more faith, and I was tormented by feelings of panic, scrupulosity, fear. But eventually, the Lord allowed me to overcome my feelings. In fact, many of the questions you're asking here, reminds me of my past self a lot. So I really feel for you.
Here's one post I made back in 2017 where I would worry about the topic too
https://jesus-saves-all.com/JE/JE78.htm
Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Muslims oftentimes call Jesus merely a "prophet" and falsely deny the deity of Christ. The truth is that Jesus and the Father God are one, Jesus = God. Jesus is much greater than all the other prophets.
Assuming that by Seiga, a Touhou character’s quote of "foreign prophet who resurrected three days after his execution" is referring to Jesus Christ, then it's literally impossible for anything to be "more divine and magnificent" than Christ's resurrection, since that's the only way that we are saved by sins, faith alone in His sacrifice.
In this case, as a Christian it's important to recognize that Seiga is wrong and evil in this context and that Touhou is fictional, not real. Being a fan of Touhou works when you view Seiga as an antagonist to Christ.
An example, I've met Christians who are Star Wars fans and are able to recognize when the Sith do sinful things, such as murder. Yet some of them even cosplay as Jedi with names, and some even cosplay as "Sith" for the purpose of roleplaying, for telling a story. Take Christian movies about Exodus, one actor has to play Moses and another has to play Pharaoh. In the Bible, the Pharaoh is evil, since he disobeys God, but is it evil for someone to act as the Pharaoh for a movie or a story? No, as long as that person does not worship the Pharaoh. So, for Touhou, someone can even pretend to be a "Seiga" who is evil against Christ, like the Pharaoh, in order to show the point that they are evil. As long as they don't worship Seiga.
For me, I am a fan of what is good about Touhou. Like an Undertale fan can be a fan of the good aspects of Toriel, yet be against the evil aspects of Flowey. Or a Sonic fan can be a fan of the good aspects of Sonic, yet be against the evil aspects of Dr. Robotnik
Also, I checked your profile, and to answer your other threads
“Is rock music demonic?” My answer: No. Music that sounds good with “rock instruments” is just music. It’s up to the mind to worship the Lord. In fact, I listen to some instrumental rock music to work out, helps train my body when going soulwinning spreading Bible tracts in the city.
https://christianforums.net/threads/...4/post-1745912
“Is Megaman a sinful game”. My answer: No. The creator of Five Nights at Freddy’s Scott Cawthon is a Christian and a fan of the Megaman games. Video games are just a tool, like music, it’s like saying all books are sinful, it doesn’t make sense.
The 8bitdrummer has very energizing remixes of songs, and his icon is in a pixel art icon style of Megaman with a cross on it. To quote his website "Jesus rocks and He is where my love comes from!"
The8BitDrummer
https://christianforums.net/threads/...0/post-1742484
And lastly “Is Touhou a sinful game?” My answer: No. As a Christian, we can recognize idols and know that they’re fake. Touhou’s obviously fictional. But we can still appreciate the gameplay, as a video game, and how it sounds, as a music genre.
https://christianforums.net/threads/...ul-game.95078/
We don't have to wait for someone else to spread Christianity into a genre. When Ken Hisuag brought Christianity into Touhou, or Scott Cawthon a Christian made horror games or the 8 Bit drummer made Christian rock music, there's bound to be someone who's doing something for the first time. The truth is that, as Ecclesiastes tells us, anything without Christ is meaningless. Therefore, we must put Christ into everything and transform these things into good.
For instance, with that Touhou quote you mentioned, if all the Christians stayed away from Touhou, who would be there to rebuke that quote? That's my purpose in being a Touhou fan, to go into Touhou communities and bring Christ to them with love <3
Rom. 5:20 "Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more."
It is okay for born-again Christians to play Touhou, as long as they realize and tell others that Touhou is not real.
And as long as they don't commit any sins in the name of Touhou, of course, like evil sexual misconduct with minors the Genshin Impact voice actor for Tighnari "Eliot Ghindi" did. (I've been playing Genshin since Oct 2020 and have evanegelized them because of my knowledge of the series).
Touhou has aspects that are derived from Buddhism, Shintoism, Hinduism, which are all fake, but some people worship them as though they were real "gods" which is wrong. For me, I use Touhou to worship the Lord. I oftentimes go into Touhou communities and evangelize them to Christianity, so having a knowledge of Touhou is useful to relate to them. When I listen to Touhou music, like piano, rock, metal, anime vocals, while spreading the Gospel, it motivates me, because music is music. Good music sounds good regardless of what person made it, or what series it comes from. Why? Because the Lord is the true author of all good music. He created sounds, instruments,
1 Corinthians 8 is a good chapter on the topic.
"So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.”
And we know the Touhou characters are idols because, literally, Keiki Haniyasushin's theme is "Idolatrize World"
Being a fan of fictional works is like eating meat. Some people are vegan because their conscious can't handle eating meat. And that's fine. And other people eat meat, like me, because my conscious can handle it. And that's fine.
Look, my friend. I've noticed your threads on the topic too. And I feel for you. When I was younger, I would obsessively search online for answers to topics, like if playing videogames was acceptable (it is) or watching anime is acceptable (it is). But that's referring to the medium. Video games and anime are tools, like technology. I also asked for more faith, and I was tormented by feelings of panic, scrupulosity, fear. But eventually, the Lord allowed me to overcome my feelings. In fact, many of the questions you're asking here, reminds me of my past self a lot. So I really feel for you.
Here's one post I made back in 2017 where I would worry about the topic too
https://jesus-saves-all.com/JE/JE78.htm
Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
