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Twilight - A Christian Parent's Perspective

What are Christian parents to think of the Twilight series of vampire novels?
Taking on Twilight Bold by Wendy Nentwig is a helpful Christian article on the phenomena of Twilight. Her main points are outlined below:
  • "When it comes to the vampire storyline, which has a starring role in the books, it’s less offensive than any of the scary movies currently aimed at teens—and a lot more chaste. "
  • "Further complicating things is the Cullen family’s desire to be 'good' vampires."
  • "For me, the biggest issue I’d have letting a teen I know read this series is the one that seems the most innocuous on the surface: the love story"
  • "As Christians, we should give much more thought to everything we allow to entertain us. It isn’t just the wizards and the vampires that pose a threat. In fact, they may be more harmless than the stuff we allow to chip away at our morals everyday. Pop culture is a powerful thing. If you don’t think so, ask your family and friends how many Bible verses they can quote and then ask them how many TV theme songs they can sing. "
Chuck Colson's The Point blog makes these points (two blogs The Wrong Message & Conversations with Your Daughter):
  • an "old, dangerous idea that a 'bad boy' can easily be won and tamed by a 'good girl'—an idea that has brought heartache to untold millions of good girls"
  • "the vampire Edward has disturbing habits like sneaking into Bella’s room and watching her sleep, eavesdropping on her and her friends, encouraging her to deceive her father, and even disabling her truck and kidnapping her to keep her from seeing other friends."
  • "Bella is completely without self-confidence. She’s constantly putting herself down and treating her boyfriend as some superior being, using terms like “god” and “angel” to describe him"
  • "So the bottom line is, be sure you are reading what your kids are reading. That’s a message that my family—and families everywhere—ought to take to heart."

My biggest concern?? That teenagers can and will read 500 page fiction novels, but spend little to no time reading God's Word. It is concerning how teenagers, often learning from the model of their parents, can spend significant hours a week immersed in media & culture but only a few minutes per week with their Lord and Creator.

My challenge to parents?? Take your child to your local Christian book store and encourage them to read Christian books...even if that means starting them out in the fiction section. Help them to prioritize their devotional life and Christian walk over their entertainment life.
1 Corinthians 10:23 "'All things are lawful,' but not all things are helpful. 'All things are lawful,' but not all things build up."
1 Corinthians 10:31 "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
"The children will follow the example, instead of following the advice." -Lord Palmerston
ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS FROM SVBC'S VERY OWN BECCA OWSLEY...
I was reading the Christian perspective on Twilight blog the other day and I don’t think one of the people cited read the books because his evaluation of the characters was wrong and I was surprised to see that it came from Colson b/c I would have thought he would have put more research into it. The below statements are actually not accurate to the book. The vampire in the book is not the “bad guy”. He’s actually more of a gentleman than any character I’ve ever seen in a book since Mr. Darcy. He’s very protective of her, encourages abstinence and pretty much puts her needs above his own. Bella is also not what you would call the “good girl” vs the “bad boy”. Actually she pushes the limits more than he does and he has to remind her to behave. I’m thinking Colson just assumed that b/c he is a vampire his statements below would be true but they are not. I also don’t remember him encouraging her to deceive anyone except to keep them from being eaten by another vampire. :-) They are relatively clean and being a sci-fi nut, didn’t have a big problem with the vampires. I’m not defending the books …I’m just big on making sure the facts are straight on things. I saw a lot of this in the Harry Potter series that I bought into but after reading the books for myself realized most of the criticism came from people who had obviously not read the books and were completely off base. They were noting like what the buzz against them were about. Jonathan’s right though…and I stressed this to my Sunday school class. If we can read those books and spend time taking about it, we should be spending more of that time talking about and reading the Bible. And if you think the Bible is boring than you obviously haven’t read Judges. :-) By all means read, read, read (my vocation depends on it J). But remember to read the most important thing you will every read (the Bible) first and filter all other things you read through it. Colson’s statements that aren’t exactly accurate:
  • "old, dangerous idea that a 'bad boy' can easily be won and tamed by a 'good girl'—an idea that has brought heartache to untold millions of good girls"
  • "the vampire Edward has disturbing habits like sneaking into Bella’s room and watching her sleep, eavesdropping on her and her friends, encouraging her to deceive her father, and even disabling her truck and kidnapping her to keep her from seeing other friends."

Quote - David Brainerd

"As long as I see any thing to be done for God, life is worth having; but O how vain and unworthy it is to live for any lower end!" David Brainerd

Gambling

Have you ever given thought to whether gambling is right or wrong? Do you know where the Bible provides helpful principles to guide a Christian in make decisions about this area? The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention has published a helpful resource on gambling. Some interesting statistics & quotes:
  • 85% of Americans have gambled
  • 60% of Americans have gambled in the past year
  • "Although Scripture does not say “Do not gamble,” gambling clearly violates biblical principles. In addition to doing personal damage to the gambler, it encourages a love of money, legalizes taking from your neighbor, victimizes the poor, corrupts government, produces the wrong attitude toward work, hurts legitimate business, increases violence and crime, and jeopardizes the well-being of families."
  • "Scripture gives Christians principles for living in a proper relationship with God and with each other. Gambling and its promotion violate these principles. It is my prayer that Christians will run from gambling in every form, for there is scarcely no greater act of disobedience and faithlessness than to cast your lot at the feet of a false idol, in this case, the gambling industry." Dr. Richard Land, President of ERLC

They also helpfully include 10 questions to consider concerning one's gambling behavior: 1. You have often gambled longer than you had planned. 2. You have often gambled until your last dollar was gone. 3. Thoughts of gambling have caused you to lose sleep. 4. You have used your income or savings to gamble while letting bills go unpaid. 5. You have made repeated, unsuccessful attempts to stop gambling. 6. You have broken the law or considered breaking the law to finance your gambling. 7. You have borrowed money to finance your gambling. 8. You have felt depressed or suicidal because of your gambling losses. 9. You have been remorseful after gambling. 10. You have gambled to get money to meet your financial obligations.

National Problem Gambling HelpLine Network (800-522-4700).

The Family Foundation (http://www.kentuckyfamily.org ) highlights the top reasons to be opposed to gambling in your area:

  1. The Family is targeted
  2. Businesses will lose
  3. Government will be corrupted
  4. The Vulnerable will be destroyed

Proverbs 15:27a(ESV) "Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household" Jeremiah 17:11 (NIV) "Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay is the man who gains riches by unjust means. When his life is half gone, they will desert him, and in the end he will prove to be a fool." Proverbs 1:19 (ESV) "Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors."

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