We grow up on legends and heroes from a young age. The impressions that The Knights of the Roundtable, The Three Muskateers, Robin Hood & His Merry Men make on us is profound. Gallant deeds, sword fights, and honor capture our imaginations. But there is sinister side to this exposure. Most of the fairytales, legends, and fictions either promote paganism, or humanism; and usually they are anticlerical, antichurch, and antichristian in nature. King Arthur and His Knights of Round Table is compilation of the Norse and Celtic tales about the Graal of the gods, and the Lady of Lake (Water Spirit) gives Arthur and Galahad the most prize weapons ("The sons of god taught men how to make swords," Book of Enoch, the sons of god disobedy the Lord and left their proper abode to have sex with the daughters of men, creating giants, and the men of great feats and heroes of old." -Genesis 6:1-6). Generally, tales were a blending of Christian and Pagan morales, a perfect example being Beowulf who wins all his battle via his own strength (pagan) but gives glory to Lord until the end when He is convinced he is like a god, and the dragon destroys him.
Then enter Alexander Dumas' The Three Muskateers. A swashbuckling adventure and ficition based on history. D'Artagan, Athos, Prothos, and Arimas, all really did exist, and so did Cardinal Richeleu. The problem is that Dumas decides to depict the Muskateers in a romantic light, while depicting the Cardinal and His Guards as the villans; including a disillusioned and later corrupt priest Muskateer named Artmas to boot. What Dumas does is as destructive as Sir Walter Scott did to the Middle Ages, particularly the Norman Conquest with His pseudo-history fiction "Ivanhoe." Dumas paints a France where Muskateers are patriots, and the Cardinal is a foreigner trying to take over with his guard. In real history, Cardinal Richelieu was a French Cardinal, a patriot who lead France when their kings were impotent and impious, and even saved France by leading the defense at the famous Battle of La Rochelle (Wikipedia). The problem is from childhood to adulthood, and if you never were interested in history, you are taught by Dumas' tales that the Cardinal was corrupt and conniving, when he was actually a champion and hero, and the Muskeeters arguably were the villans; causing discord, rivelry, and infighting that France did not need with a weak monarchy.
Dumas is not alone in romanticizing the villans or at least the rabble and miscreats. Howard Pyle made Robin Hood, an outlaw and thief become a hero, Sir Walter Scott made the Saxons (most godless and antichristian race, the Church even had to let them keep their paganism) be heroes and (Ivanhoe is a Saxon) he made unbelieving Jews heroes like Isaac and his daughter, Sir Thomas Malory made Lancelot the Adulterer a sympthathic character and hero (Malory was in jail when he wrote it for raping a woman), and finally Alexander Dumas wrote The Three Musketeers and its sequels (What Happened Afterward: The Four Muskateers, and The Man in the Iron Mask) which makes heroes of drunkards, men of rage, quarrelsome men, divisive, whoremongers, thiefs, and antagonists of the Church. All these writers immortalize and make heroes of what Paul says will not inherit the Kingdom of Heavne, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous1 will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God," (1 Corinthians 6:9-10), "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God," (Galatians 5:19-21), "For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (vthat is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God," (Ephensians 5;5), "understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers," (1 Timtohy 9:1), "Strive for peace with everyone, and for the tholiness uwithout which," (Hebrews 12;14), and Jesus Christ's words, "Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood," (Revelation 22:14-15), and "But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." (Revelation 21:8).
Dunas' The Three Musketeers wants you to swallow many vices to have a few virtues, "You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence." (Matthew 23:24-25). But some may argue, "the Musketeers are loyal and 'All for One, and one for all." So you are saying its alright they revelers, drunkards, sexually immoral, have fits of rage, are vengeful rather than forgiving (see my post on forgiveness), antichrist, antichurch, thieves, liars, and immoral in everyway, but their loyalty makes up for this? By the way, in the sequels, the Musketeers actually break up and become enemies, D'Artangan against Arimas who is now leader of Jesuites and becomes Cardinal, and the next villan. Dumas like many of the other authors I have mentioned create pseudo-histories with their ficitions. While one may argue, "Dumas wrote fiction, he never said it was fact." But ah, the problem is that most people will only read his fiction, not the true history, and because Dumas admits his stories are based on history and true people; that will convince many he is showing them facts.
Thus children are taught watching these pseudo-heroes of D'Aratagan, Athos, Porthos, and Arimas, as well as Robin Hood, Sir Lancelot, Sir Gawain, and others that vices that are condemned in the Bible can be made up for not by repetence, turning to God, and good deeds, but rather through swashbuckling and political intrigue. This has a terrible effect on the hearts and minds of young people, and we wonder why they seem predisposed to terrible deeds, aside from Original Sin nature, they are fed a steady diet of heroes who not not embody virtues, but rather vices and wickedness. Even now the Superhereos like Captian America and Iron Man, who embody patriotism and redemption in their stories are in a Civil War, where all good guys are fighting each other (Captian America: Civil War) and so children's heroes who even had some measure of Biblical values have turned on each other; and good and evil is once again blurred for another generation.
We must be vigilant about what we tolerate as Christians in our homes. Stories and fables that seem harmless, or fictions with gallant and chilvarious folk can be as poisionous as the most wicked songs and movies you would normally avoid. The devil is always trying to find a way into your home, life, and thinking; and these authors and those who adapt their works like Ridley Scott, want to shipwreck people's faith, because they are antichrists, "Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour," (1 John 2:18, cross ref 2 John 17:, 1 John 4:3), and "For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect." (Matthew 24:24). I believe Dumas, and many other authors, as well as directors like Ridley Scott are false prophets; and I believe that signs and wonders to lead astray are not just false mircales, but the movies and magic in their books that make to lead people away from the Pure faith in Jesus Christ. So beware, keep your guard up, and remember that they are not Muskateers, by Muskyteers, who have an odor of sacrilege, antichrist, and impiety.
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