Netflix has released the first season of its highly anticipated spooky series, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Based on the original comic, not the 90s sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch, this series comes with a whole host (pun intended) of reasons not to watch. Now here’s the deal… I consider myself a pretty open-minded person and I do not like the idea of blacklisting particular pieces of mainstream media, but this situation, in particular, is one that I can’t — and I would say you — should not be indifferent to.

This series isn’t just harmless entertainment that takes a unique look at certain aspects of the occult. The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina tells the life of a present-day high schooler who is living between the mortal world and the dark world, and faces the choice of committing herself to the reality of this one or the reality of giving herself completely to the Dark Lord. Now, this isn’t some hokey representation of an evil spirit. As it’s presented in the series, this is Satan himself. Similarly, the rituals highlighted aren’t cinematic imaginations of satanic offerings, they’re real-life practices of satanic offerings.

Real-Life Evil

This show is a real-life invitation into the world of real-life witchcraft, which is a practice that real-life Satan uses to draw souls away from God and into his existence of eternal evil. Satan isn’t masking himself in familiar temptations or culturally accepted sin in this series. He’s come out in this show, not needing any sort of disguise, demanding to become a culturally accepted figure, proposing Satanism as a culturally accepted religion.

Let’s talk about this evil goon for a second. He’s really leaned into the “you do your religion and I’ll do mine” attitude that the world has perpetuated. When relativism becomes our foundation, we corner ourselves into a world where failing to condone Satanic rituals can be considered the grave social crime of intolerance… Rude, to say the least.

In case it wasn’t clear yet, Satan is real. There are real people who worship him, offer their lives to him, and cooperate with him and his demons in carrying forth his plans of evil throughout the world. This show isn’t problematic because it’s going to expose viewers to lifestyles and choices that are contrary to what God made us for; it’s problematic because it, in a very real way, exposes us to very real evil. When we do this, we can invite demonic activity into our lives without even realizing it.

Not Just Entertainment

If you don’t believe me, think about it the other way around. As Christians, we believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and the reality of angels, who exist to draw us closer to God and His divine light. We know that these divine beings are all present in the holy sacrifice of the Mass. Now, if there was a series on Netflix that featured real-life depictions of the Catholic Mass, we’d recognize that viewers would be exposing themselves to the goodness of God and how He works, which might open their hearts to Him and could (even unconsciously) result in inviting Him into their lives.

Unfortunately, Netflix doesn’t have such a series on its lineup yet and instead, has made an attempt to turn real-life evil into mainstream entertainment. By exposing ourselves to this, we’re not simply being entertained; we’re approving of and may even be inviting evil to have power in our lives and in the world. When we do this, we can be led to express a curiosity or even a desire to no longer need or love God, in favor of the promises of an evil fallen angel. (Sound familiar? Ever heard of the Garden of Eden… same dude has been deceiving humans since the dawn of time.) This has big consequences. Eternal consequences. Literally being eternally separated from God — God who is the truest fulfillment of every desire you have ever and will ever have.

Remain Unafraid

While I genuinely believe that watching this show exposes viewers to real evil in a real way, we don’t, however, need to be afraid of it or the evil it presents. We have faith in Christ and in His victory over evil once and for all. Satan is far more powerful than we can imagine, but he is powerless before the Lord. We can trust in the Lord and His victory on the cross. He defeated everything Satan stands for and through His Resurrection, He invites us to live forever in freedom from Satan and all of his works. Have confidence in that truth; draw near to Him; call on His angels, especially St. Michael, to protect you from evil; and ask Our Lady, Satan’s least favorite human, to be the mama-bear queen that she is and forever guard you against all evil.

If you can’t seem to stifle your curiosity for the show, consider reading up on some of the lives and deaths of the martyrs — it’s far more fascinating and way more heroic to read about people who would literally be brutally murdered before letting themselves risk an eternity with Satan. If you’ve watched the show, make your way to confession to renounce evil in a big way and then be free! If you have friends who want to watch the show, politely explain why messing with anything satanic is essentially the least-fun thing you could do on a spooky October evening. If you already were uninterested in the show, party on and happy Halloween!