Pony magic- nefarious or necessary?

[ManaMinori 4,149]

How do you guys feel about pony media, toy lines, and branches of lines that don’t focus on magic? Certain people and religious denominations tend to view magic in general as evil and ungodly, and are quick to point out that MLP falls under that umbrella (I think the unicorns are the main issue?). One of my family members is rather skeptical about this issue and my admiration for the pastel ponies. However, there seem to be a handful of areas in this pony IP that don’t even function around magic. For example, the Takara pony toy line are just fashion forward earth ponies. Same with g2. And g1 pony Tales. The original My Pretty Pony and og 6 were just earth ponies. G3 even was originally earth ponies who hadn’t even heard of unicorns and Pegasi until later on. Does “magic” make the pony franchise what it is, or can it survive without it?

So has anyone ever had an experience with someone outside (or inside) of the pony fandom about this issue? How do you guys feel about it, and has it effected how you collect or consume media of ponies?

Edited December 12, 2020 by ManaMinori

[Goat-kun 2,531]

It's the current year and Satan's eating crepes

 

God, angels, demons, miracles, it's all just magic from another mythology. Anyhow, given that the targets are modern little girls, you will either get a pony with a smartphone or you'll get a pony with a magical horn that acts like a smartphone. I'm talking about the future gens. We'll either get LPS with ponies (basically Pony Life), or it'll be some quasi-fantasy with modern metropolitan shit and convenient magic that will be able to do whatever in order to serve both as a plot tool and as a remarkably unsubtle substitute for our technology. This "magic" is no different than any other weird-ass thing used in kid cartoons and thus is no magic at all but a tool for lazy writers to get a desired outcome under 22 min. One can as well call it a miracle.

 

P.S. Pony magic is nefarious tho

[Jesse Terrence 2,971]

No idea what ya'll talking about, though it seems rather hilarious to meet christian bronies that even feel scared of 5 pointed stars that don't seem to feel unnerved by MAGICAL horses, when magic itself is seen as a feat of the devil if not merely heretic practice by most churches.

Talk about double standards.

Either way, due how most unicorns seem to "use" magic in the show, I have a headcanon that "magic" is more like psychic power and the horns serve as amplifiers to ponies. They just use their minds to manipulate matter, and due their limited understanding of the physical world that surrounds them, most of them can barely use their power to cast telekinesis on stuff.

[HedonismBot 244]

I had always imagined magic (in the context of most fantasy works, MLP included) as just another form of energy, like heat or electricity - merely one which plays by its own rules entirely unlike our laws of physics. One could choose to use it for either good or evil, but that has nothing to do with any inherent properties of the magic itself and everything to do with the pre-existing moral character of whoever's using it (with possible exceptions such as the Alicorn Amulet).

Last I checked, the religious types who blindly equate anything magic-related with devil worship (at least to the point of complaining about this stuff - see also: Harry Potter) are limited to a handful of the most conservative individuals. Certainly nowhere near common enough to justify changing the course of the MLP franchise to accommodate them (it certainly doesn't help that once you reach that level of religious devotion, you start getting a fair amount of overlap with the people who cry bloody murder over the idea of LGBT individuals being treated with human dignity).

[ShadOBabe 19,026]

As a Christian, I had this dilemma when I was a kid dealing with other forms of media. My conclusion was that as long as I wasn’t being driven to try my hand at stuff like spells or rituals, then I was fine.

Really it comes down to the individual. If something temps you to sin, then it’s best to avoid it. What affects one person heavily might not affect another.

[Will Guide 21,371]

Magic is a lot like fire; it can be dangerous if you use irresponsibly but can be very very helpful and a necessity if used responsibly.

Simple as that

[ManaMinori 4,149]

55 minutes ago, HedonismBot said:

I had always imagined magic (in the context of most fantasy works, MLP included) as just another form of energy, like heat or electricity - merely one which plays by its own rules entirely unlike our laws of physics. One could choose to use it for either good or evil, but that has nothing to do with any inherent properties of the magic itself and everything to do with the pre-existing moral character of whoever's using it (with possible exceptions such as the Alicorn Amulet).

Last I checked, the religious types who blindly equate anything magic-related with devil worship (at least to the point of complaining about this stuff - see also: Harry Potter) are limited to a handful of the most conservative individuals. Certainly nowhere near common enough to justify changing the course of the MLP franchise to accommodate them (it certainly doesn't help that once you reach that level of religious devotion, you start getting a fair amount of overlap with the people who cry bloody murder over the idea of LGBT individuals being treated with human dignity).

I'm honestly a little intrigued of your choice of words here. Specifically, your assumption that religious devotees are just going off "blind faith" to assume that the topic in question may be nefarious. Now in no way am I saying that none are, but i think that you severely neglect the groups of those that are dedicated to deep scriptural study and have actual basis for believing such a thing may be the case, as the aforementioned family member is of that pool of people. I think that it may also be worth mentioning that i bring this topic up not just of their wariness, but also due to a person in the pony community who made a recent topic meant to discuss the nature of magic in MLP and it just piques my interest.

 

[HedonismBot 244]

1 hour ago, ManaMinori said:

I'm honestly a little intrigued of your choice of words here. Specifically, your assumption that religious devotees are just going off "blind faith" to assume that the topic in question may be nefarious. Now in no way am I saying that none are, but i think that you severely neglect the groups of those that are dedicated to deep scriptural study and have actual basis for believing such a thing may be the case, as the aforementioned family member is of that pool of people.

 

You can study whatever holy book you want, but without proof of the existence of whichever deity allegedly inspired it, any claim of its moral authority is based on nothing more than blind faith. Most Christians readily admit to that.