Saturday night after the kids were in bed it happened. My wife asked me to just sit down and watch a show with her. Understanding that is quality time well spent I obliged.

She said she wanted to watch the new season of Stranger Things. Everyone’s talking about it. It’s the biggest show on Netflix, and so on.

I’m generally unfamiliar with the show. I’ve probably seen a a few episodes. I thought it had kind of a quirky, whimsical, Goonies, 80’s vibe. I’m coming in to this pretty blind.

The opening scene comes on and for the next several minutes I am exposed to some of the most vile and wretched filth imaginable.

It was so graphic, uncomfortably abusive (towards a minor) and blatantly satanic frankly it shocked me.

There was a time when I used to be very into horror movies. I’ve seen a lot of graphic content. I’m familiar with the genre. But I haven’t had any desire for that in a long time.

We barely finished the opening scene and I said “Oh hell no.” and turned it off.

I asked my wife, “Is it just me or was that shocking graphic for an opening scene of a mainstream tv show that is the most popular thing in America?”

1.2 Billion views and counting.

I’m seeing this show cross promoted everywhere. This isn’t some old school underground indie horror movie. Something this graphic used to be fairly niche. This is prime time USA.

I would be horrified if my kids saw that.

My point is that unseen warfare is all around us. Spiritual combat is real. The masses are being desensitized to evil. How can content this vulgar be so widely consumed?

We need to be vigilant about what we allow into our homes. Every black mirror is a window into such darkness.

I literally wish I had not watched that one scene and did not have those images in my head.

Be vigilant at the gates of the mind.

Saint Michael, Defend us in battle.

“I begin this letter with a clarion call and clear charge to you, my sons and brothers in Christ: Men, do not hesitate to engage in the battle that is raging around you, the battle that is wounding our children and families, the battle that is distorting the dignity of both women and men. This battle is often hidden, but the battle is real. It is primarily spiritual, but it is progressively killing the remaining Christian ethos in our society and culture, and even in our own homes. The world is under attack by Satan, as our Lord said it would be.” ). Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix, In to the Breach

Men are built for a battle. It is intrinsic to their very natures. They need a call to action, like the hero in the classic hero’s journey. They need a mission, a goal, a way to know they have achieved something. They need a challenge. They derive gratification and satisfaction from overcoming adversity. Men want to know who they are fighting. They need to know their enemy is real. And they will go to great lengths to protect those they love, and to serve a God who offers them salvation.

Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle.” Psalm 144:1