Latest / Challenges of Faith Radio Program / How do u identify? Ep 3455

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How do u identify? Ep 3455 · Challenges of Faith Radio Program

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  Speaker 1: Welcome back to Challenges of Faith radio program. I'm Gary McCance.
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  Speaker 1: You're on episode 3,400. Let me see if you've been
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  Speaker 1: walking along with us and keeping up. You know what
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  Speaker 1: episode number it is? 3,455. And the question is, how
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  Speaker 1: do you identify? You know, although less than 1% of
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  Speaker 1: American adults identify specifically as pagan or Wiccan, The interest
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  Speaker 1: in the occult and New Age practices is exploiting. Yep,
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  Speaker 1: you heard it right, exploiting. According to a Pew Research survey,
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  Speaker 1: nearly one-third of Americans believe that spells, curses, and other
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  Speaker 1: forms of magic can influence people's lives. The same percentage
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  Speaker 1: consult astrology or horoscopes, tarot cards, or fortune tellers at
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  Speaker 1: least once a year. And 20% of American adults say
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  Speaker 1: they engage in the practices mostly for entertainment. But another
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  Speaker 1: 10% said they do it because they believe the practices
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  Speaker 1: provide helpful insights. Did you hear that? 6% said they
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  Speaker 1: rely on what they learn from astrology, tarot cards, or
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  Speaker 1: fortune tellers when making decisions. Today's witchcraft has found an
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  Speaker 1: especially receptive audience with young people on social media. Witch Talk, T-O-K,
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  Speaker 1: the section of TikTok devoted to witchcraft, paganism, spells, and
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  Speaker 1: related practices, has attracted billions of views. Videos using the
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  Speaker 1: Witch Talk hashtag have accumulated nearly 50 billion views as
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  Speaker 1: of August. The content ranges from discussions about crystals and
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  Speaker 1: rituals to the use of hexes and curses. Some have
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  Speaker 1: even held ethics discussions regarding how to determine when using
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  Speaker 1: magic to harm someone else is justified. I know you're listening.
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  Speaker 1: The interest in witchcraft has also entered the e-commerce arena. Etsy, E-T-S-Y,
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  Speaker 1: officially prohibits metaphysical services such as spellcasting. However, the online
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  Speaker 1: marketplace permits the sale of supplies related to spell work,
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  Speaker 1: including herbs, crystals, and candles. Tarot and psychic readings are
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  Speaker 1: also permitted when buyers receive a physical or digital copy
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  Speaker 1: of the reading. Products associated with witchcraft are easy to find.
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  Speaker 1: Jewelry and candle searches turn up items marketed for spell work,
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  Speaker 1: spiritual protection, curse removal, and other occult practices whether someone
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  Speaker 1: is looking for them or not. The renewed fascination in
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  Speaker 1: witchcraft has even spilled into fashion. In September, Vogue highlighted
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  Speaker 1: what it called a witch-inspired aesthetic for fall influenced partly
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  Speaker 1: by the new witch movies starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman,
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  Speaker 1: Practical Magic 2. The magazine connected the trend not only
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  Speaker 1: with fashion, but also with ideas of empowerment and spiritual expression.
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  Speaker 1: As Max Berlinger, the senior fashion news editor for Vogue,
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  Speaker 1: put it, You can see a strong sense of a
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  Speaker 1: supernatural presence and subtle shades ranging from the magical to
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  Speaker 1: the maccabee. Another fashion writer, Kristen Bateman, put it even
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  Speaker 1: more bluntly, I feel like people are embracing their darkest
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  Speaker 1: sides more than ever. Are you listening? I know you are.
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  Speaker 1: America's fascination with witchcraft doesn't get packed away with costumes
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  Speaker 1: and decorations. The people consulting tarot cards, following astrology, watching
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  Speaker 1: witch talk videos, and experimenting with spells are all around us.
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  Speaker 1: The witch can now be a movie hero, an influencer,
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  Speaker 1: or an online seller. Tarot readings and horoscopes are available
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  Speaker 1: with a few taps on the phone, while social media
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  Speaker 1: gives practitioners an enormous audience for introducing others to evil
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  Speaker 1: This is more than a troubling cultural trend. It's a
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  Speaker 1: mission field and often a hidden one. We may not
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  Speaker 1: know how or who was dabbling in witchcraft when we
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  Speaker 1: passed them in the store or at the gas station
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  Speaker 1: or at the workplace. That's why it's important that we're
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  Speaker 1: faithful in sharing the gospel as we're led by the
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  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit of God to the people that we meet
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  Speaker 1: on a daily basis.