From the dawn of religion, some people have blamed newly created items or services that they did not understand to be foul. While this might have been understandable in the Middle Ages, today it might come as a surprise to hear someone declare that Harry Potter is an envoy of the Devil, or that the Smurfs are small demons disguised as toys in order to corrupt children. From religious symbols and sports to cartoon characters, games and entertainment places, the following items believed to be created by the Devil are as surprising as they are usual aspects of our lives.
1. The Theater
Perhaps the most well known critic of the theater in the early modern Europe was William Pryne. In 1632, Pryne wrote a book named Histriomastix: The Player’s Scourge that was focused on explaining why the theater was a creation of the Devil. He was particularly upset because the paper used for plays had better quality than the one used to print Bibles. Pryne went on to name playwrights and actors drunkards, ruffians and all sorts of sinful names, which in turn got him into trouble. Queen Henrietta Maria had previously performed in a play and thus Prynne was sentenced to pay a fine, additionally to losing his ears and being disbarred.
2. Soccer
Next on our list of items believed to be created by the Devil is a very popular sport. Evang Funmilayo Adebayo, an evangelist from Nigeria was of the opinion that soccer or football is meant to be a way of idolizing the Devil. Her explanation lies in the story about the Tower of Babel, built by men to reach Heaven. As a result, God mixed up their languages so they could not understand each other. On the other hand, soccer is a sport that unites people no matter their origins and makes them idolize teams and players. Furthermore, she believed this is part of a great plan of creating a single government for the whole world which in turn will lead to the rise of the Antichrist.
3. The Cross
The next item might be surprising to some of you, but it seems that those who are part of the Church of the Great God are firm believers of the fact that the cross is one of the items believed to be created by the Devil to trick people. Apparently, the pagan god of nature from Babylonian culture, Tammuz, had as symbol the letter T, similar to the cross. Since this symbol was not used until Emperor Constantine’s vision, these believers think that the emperor actually saw the cross of the Devil, and not God. However, the most logical argument is that Christ has been executed on the cross and thus it cannot be a symbol of God.
4. The Smurfs
The next strange belief comes from Jehovah’s Witnesses. In the 1980s they argued that the Smurfs were a creation of Satan. These remarks were followed by others, most notably in 2008 when someone said that the word “smurf” actually meant “demon” in German, and that the dolls were coming to life to make foul remarks and bite children. Three years later, televangelist Dorothy Spaulding declared that she knew one child who could not sleep at night until all his smurf related items were moved out of his room. Other creation science websites state that the community of the Smurfs resemble a communist society, that Papa Smurf is a representation of Karl Marx, or the Grand Dragon of the KKK, or that the Smurfs are worshipers of Gargamel, the occult wizard.
5. The Dice
As gambling was deemed a sin in the Middle Ages, it comes to no surprise that dices were items believed to be created by the Devil. Gamblers were thought to serve the god of the dice, Decius. John Mirk, an English prior argued that by throwing the dice on the gambling table, one was flinging his soul to Satan. Another preacher named Gaberiel de Barletta was of the opinion that the dice that had 21 points was the equivalent of the 21 letter alphabet created by God. Others believed that the dice was a symbol of the Fall, and thus each pip stood for a holy element: one represented God, two God and Virgin Mary, three the Trinity, four the evangelists, five the wounds of Christ and six the days of the Creation of the World.