At this point, I have chosen not to read the Twilight saga. Honestly, I have struggled with making this post about it, because it's uncomfortable to make a controversial statement. It wasn't until I had a conversation with a good friend the other day that I realized that perhaps a post like this could be useful.
It frustrates me when Christians make uninformed arguments against popular literature and movies. I'll be the first person to say that people should carefully think through their arguments for and against Harry Potter, and should look at the facts before throwing away the Lord of the Rings movies. (As a matter of fact, I've read one of the Harry Potter books, and am an avid LOTR fan.)
But it also disturbs me when we Christians refuse to think about the literature we devour. Literature, and all other forms of art, have the power to impact the way we think, the way we view our world, and the way we view sin.
Uninformed arguments for or against something, as I mentioned before, are frustrating to all parties concerned. Therefore, I would like to be perfectly upfront. Since I have not read the Twilight saga, I cannot speak to every good or bad theme it may have. However, there are a couple central issues I would like to address.
Vampires are real people. In fact, after the Twilight books and movies came out, both ABC and the Washington Post published articles on these real-life vampires. If this were a fictional lifestyle that no one lived, I wouldn't have as much of a problem with it. But honestly, this is a real practice of the occult that is happening in our country today. These people are, according to the Washington Post article, using the Twilight books to get a good reputation. That alone makes me nervous about thoughtlessly reading the books just for the good story.
Also, when looking on the official website for the Twilight series, I read that the books were inspired by a dream. If you look at the whole counsel of Scripture, it is very apparent that dreams may have spiritual significance. This is addressed specifically in Deuteronomy 13:1-3: "If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, 'Let us go after other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams..."
Do we intend to take Scripture literally? Or is being up on the latest fad more important?
I can't claim to have made the perfect decisions. As I said earlier, I have chosen to read some literature which others find problematic. I have endeavored to read with a critical mind, but maybe there are some areas where even a critical mind is not enough.
Ephesians 5:11 commands us to "take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them." Are our choices of literature and movies reflecting a Christ-like attitude in this area? Are the ways we are discussing them with our friends, saved and unsaved, exposing the works of darkness, or blindly taking part in them? There is no middle ground.
I'm not telling you you cannot read Twilight. I'm just asking you to think about it.
With love from an absolute doll,
Erin Joy
So I've never seen the appeal of Twilight. Perhaps I'm repelled by teenage girls going gaga. Perhaps vampires are just not that interesting to me. Perhaps it was reading Douglas Wilson's reviews over at credenda.org and realizing the writing seems fantastically pathetic.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I would caution you on your thoughts on dreams. Yes dreams can have spiritual significance, but having a story based on a dream doesn't necessarily mean they are claiming to have prophetic dreams. I have had some rather unique dreams and have thought of turning creatures or events from my dreams as inspiration for writing, but that doesn't mean any spiritual significance from the dream would necessarily be translated into the work. I think there is also a cultural aspect to dreaming, in some parts of the world, dreams are more obviously spiritual than they usually are here- for example, I've heard of Muslims converting to Christianity based on dreams.
That said, whether a piece of literature is claiming to be prophetic or not, if it is encouraging us to chase false gods, we shouldn't heed it.
I applaud you for thinking about literature beyond whether or not it is fun.