PART II
Morung Express News
Dimapur | June 9
There is more to it than the brew of black magic, pentagram rituals, bloodletting sacrifices and supernatural elements damning the so-called ‘Satan’ worshippers in Nagaland.
In the midst of holding ‘Satan’ primarily responsible for all the woes, other underlying and equally vital factors like issues of the family, society, peer pressure, social media, obsession, addiction, mental health etc are being overlooked.
The Longjang village pastor disclosed this telling information. Many of the so-called ‘Satan’ worshippers counseled at the Kotak prayer center came from poor or broken family. In addition, most of them were enticed into it for want of a reward as per their confession, he claimed.
Cases of teens obsessed with online gaming and assumed to have links with Satan worship and sent off to prayer centers by parents are nothing new. ‘Prayer warriors’ also reported how, youths with history of substance abuse, turn into ‘Satan’ worshipping.
A teen from Dimapur, for instance, confessed how he was ‘initiated’ into a cult of satanic worship through inhaling of the dendrite adhesive. This adhesive is sniffed/inhaled for their mind-altering or behavioral effects.
More to the point, counselor at Chathe prayer centre quoting confession of ‘Satan’ worshippers pointed out how the troubled teens were reportedly enticed into the group with promise that “they would get anything that they want,” so long as they obeyed the biding of the devil and performed rituals.
Dr P Ngullie, a psychiatrist practicing in Kohima feels that there is more to it than the devil and such cases of ‘Satan’ worship among teens should be approached through holistic ways.
To deal with such issues, we need a multi-pronged approach: spiritual, medical, psychological as well as social,” Dr Ngullie said.
The psychiatrist said there are also chances that these teens are vulnerable to mental health problem. Instead of giving time to the child, many parents practice the ‘short cut’ of sending them off to prayer centers, he said.
Dr Ngullie also observed that the church, rather than announcing about such issues in the congregation, should delve into the roots on the how and why’s, about the family dynamics and other societal issues with an open mind and without any kind of judgmental attitude.
Viewing from another angle, the psychiatrist, while keeping in mind the rebelliousness and vulnerability of teenagers to different experiments, opined on the possibility of young people being exploited by people in authority for different motives.
The society and family need to truly open up to them and find answers as to what makes them do what they are doing- “Is society failing to cater to their needs? Do they feel that believing or worshipping a different element (‘Satan’ here for instance) gives them more spiritual power?”
Need to understand the culture of young people: NBCC Gen Secy
“I cannot say it is not there. It must be there if people are talking about,” Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) General Secretary Rev Dr Zelhou Keyho responded when asked to comment on the emergence of ‘Satan’ worship particularly among the teens.
Dr Keyho, however, chose to term the situation faced by the young people as a pattern of worship not aligned to Christian worship.
“An alternate form of worship, which is wrong…some that counters with Christian life style, and way of worship is visible,” the NBCC general secretary stated. He also noted that this alternate form of worship, practiced by some youth is not an organized group.
“It’s not an organized group that people have seen or heard, or else it will become apparent,” Dr Keyho pointed out. In a situation such as this, the NBCC general secretary said it was important to understand that the culture of the present young people is very different from what it was before. In music, gadget, lifestyle, the earlier generation have not faced what the young people today are going through.
He said the church has a greater role to play. “Church needs to gear up her ministry for the young people and not just remain confined to graduating children from Sunday schools,” he stated.
Dr Keyho also said there is need to stop the tendency of putting every problem, troubles to prayer centers. “I am not saying prayer centers are bad. Prayer center is good but what we need more right now is good parenting and good counseling center,” he stated.
