I saw that Prophet of Zod has a new video up yesterday, “Are Pokemon Demonic? (Part 1 – feat Suris).” I haven’t watched the video (yet), but I have a few thoughts.

First of all, they might be. After all, both Pokemon and demons are fictional creatures. So asking “Are Pokemon demonic?” is akin to debating whether vampires are related to zombies. (Shout out to Hunting the Corrigan’s Blood!) One could very easily spin a story in which Pokemon are demonic. (Also one in which they are not.)

The thing is, I’m not afraid of zombies, and I’m not afraid of vampires. But when I was an evangelical Christian, I used to be afraid of demons. And as I result, I could be made to be afraid of Pokemon.

I used to have nightmares in which demons were after me. I called on the name of Jesus to cast them away and protect me, but I didn’t know whether he actually would. In these recurring dreams, I tried so hard to believe. I don’t remember how the dreams resolved. But after I left the religion, I never had those nightmares ever again.

And then there were the sex demons. By the time I encountered this idea, I was beyond being afraid of preposterous religious scare stories.

But I knew people in my congregation who certainly seemed to take them seriously.