‘Twilight’: A Spiritually Confused Reminder For Christian Parents
by Ted BaehrThis past weekend, over 12 million people voted with their entertainment dollars to see “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.” Several million were no doubt church-going teenagers and young adults..” Several million were no doubt church-going teenagers and young adults.
“New Moon” is a spiritually confused, dangerous work.
On the one hand, it metaphorically asks the question, “How can I overcome my sinful nature and save my soul?” Thus, the “good” vampires in the movie are constantly trying to overcome their lust for human blood, often succeeding but sometimes failing. On the other hand, the movie’s heroine decides she wants to risk the possibility of losing her soul by becoming a vampire so that she can be with the vampire she loves.
Jesus Christ is very clear about the real spiritual dangers in this second message when He asks His disciples in Mark 8:36, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”
The average American citizen today, however (especially the nation’s young people), is biblically illiterate. They do not take seriously the theological teachings of Jesus Christ and His apostles in the New Testament documents.
Numerous polls have confirmed that about 76% of Americans consider themselves to be Christian. Recently, however, USA Today noted that 70% of Americans were unable to name the Ten Commandments. In fact, another recent survey found that Americans were more familiar with the ingredients of a Big Mac hamburger than they were the Ten Commandments, including the command, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13).
Also, according to a survey this past spring by the Barna Research Group, only 9% of Americans have a biblical worldview where they said they have made a personal to commitment to Jesus Christ that is important in their life today and that they are certain that they will go to Heaven after they die only because they confessed their sins and accepted Christ as their savior.
Faced with such spiritual confusion and biblical illiteracy, is it any wonder that “New Moon” almost broke the record for an opening weekend at the box office in the U.S. and Canada? almost broke the record for an opening weekend at the box office in the U.S. and Canada?
The Christian Life
We live in a culture where physical health and getting government handouts are a higher priority than spiritual vitality and theological knowledge.
The Christian life, however, is about living for Jesus Christ and abiding in Him through the power of the Holy Spirit. If Jesus is Lord of your life, He is Lord of your entertainment choices. When you pay for evil movies, you tell God, “You’re not the Lord of me. I’ll do whatever I want.”
The consequence of ignoring God when selecting entertainment is that you push God away. When you push God away, He’s not as close as you’d like when you want Him to be.
Jesus Christ paid the price to restore your relationship to God. You do not earn this relationship by obedience, but you do nurture it. God draws closer to those who draw close to Him.
When you buy tickets to spiritually confused and biblically illiterate witchcraft and vampire movies, or nasty sex comedies, you are NOT drawing closer to God. You are pulling away. You do damage to the most important relationship in your life. God BLESSES those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. When you don’t care about righteousness, you miss out on the best that God has for you and your life.
You may think, “Oh, it’s not a big thing. “New Moon” is just a dumb movie.”
There is no little thing with God, however. To label anything as something God doesn’t care about is to miss the depth of His love for you. He cares about you from the food you eat to the person you marry, from the movies you watch to the career you chose. He wants the BEST for you. You get the best of God by nurturing a close personal relationship with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.
Social Consequences
Our society is made up of people inspired to engage in righteousness or sin. The more who hunger for righteousness, the more honesty, integrity, courtesy, kindness and compassion you will see in the culture. The more people who hunger and thirst for sex, drugs, self-gratification, money, and fame, the nastier your community will be. Rapists, pedophiles, thieves, and murderers are not living by the divine power of God or His Word, the Bible.
Today, the media defines what’s fashionable, and your vote at the box office has a profound impact on what the media will provide in the future. Buy tickets to bad movies and you’ll see more bad movies made. Buy tickets to wholesome movies and you’ll see more wholesome movies made.
The impact of this weekend on the entertainment industry will be profound.
“The Twilight Saga: New Moon” produced the third largest opening weekend in history. Had the churchgoers who bought tickets gone to see “The Blind Side” instead, the message the studios got would have been RADICALLY different. While “The Blind Side” did well, it will not be what defines the box office this weekend.
The Church – in particular parents and youth ministers – needs to understand the importance of media wisdom. The choices that Christian youths make not only impact their walk with God, they CHANGE THE WORLD.
If everyone who considers himself Christian made wise media choices, America would change. The media would be redeemed. We could export to the world movies that glorify God and minister to hurting people. Instead millions of churchgoers vote for more hell on earth with their box office dollars and their television remote.
The best source of information on how to teach your family or students how to be media wise is “The Culture-Wise Family” I co-wrote with Pat Boone.
Cultural Collapse
The United States and Western Europe are on the edge of cultural collapse, brought about, to a large degree, by the mass media of entertainment, along with the public schools and other institutions of mass cultural destruction.
According to Cornell University, nine out of 10 children abandon the values of their parents. According to USA Today, 83% of the youth leave the church, and 80% of the parents are very worried about their children and the mass media of entertainment’s influence on them. A new study of 16- to 29-year-olds by the Barna Research Group shows that America’s youths are growing more resistant and skeptical to Christianity than were people of the same age a decade ago. Thus, currently only 16% of young non-Christians said they have a “good impression” of Christianity and only 3% have a favorable view of evangelicals, compared to 25% of young non-Christians viewing evangelicals in the Baby Boomer generation.
Many Christian parents are concerned about the influence of media violence on their children, but many of those who are concerned don’t know what to do about the problem. The good news is that there are effective ways to teach your children to be media-wise.
Five Pillars of Media Wisdom
As the director of the TV Center at City University of New York, we helped develop some of the first media literacy courses in the late 1970s. Since then, years of research have produced a very clear understanding of the best way to teach media literacy. Specifically, there are five pillars of media wisdom that will help build the culture-wise family.
Pillar 1: Understand the influence of the media on your children. In the wake of the Columbine High School massacre, CBS President Leslie Moonves put it quite bluntly: “Anyone who thinks the media has nothing to do with this is an idiot.” The major medical associations have concluded that there is absolutely no doubt that those who are heavy viewers of violence demonstrate increased acceptance of aggressive attitudes and aggressive behavior. Of course, media is only one part of the problem – a problem that could be summed up with the sage biblical injunction, “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character’” (1 Cor. 15:33). As the results of thousands of studies on youth violence prove, watching media violence causes violence among children. Bad company corrupts good character – whether that bad company is gangs, peer pressure or violent movies, video games and television programs.
Pillar 2: Ascertain your children’s susceptibility at each stage of cognitive development. Not only do children see the media differently at each stage of development, but also different children are susceptible to different stimuli. As the research of the National Institute of Mental Health revealed many years ago, some children want to copy media violence, some are susceptible to other media influences, some become afraid, and many become desensitized. Just as an alcoholic would be inordinately tempted by a beer commercial, so certain types of media may tempt or influence your child at his or her specific stage of development.
Pillar 3: Teach your children how the media communicates its message. Just as children spend the first 14 years of their lives learning grammar with respect to the written word, they also need to be taught the grammar of twenty-first-century mass media so that they can think critically about the messages being programmed for them.
Pillar 4: Help your children know the fundamentals of Christian faith. Children need to be taught the fundamentals of Christian faith so that they can apply their beliefs and moral values to the culture and to the mass media of entertainment. Of course, parents typically have an easier time than teachers with this pillar because they can freely discuss their personal beliefs. Yet, even so, it is interesting to note that cultural and media literacy and values education are two of the fastest growing areas in the academic community – a trend most likely due to the fact that educators are beginning to realize that something is amiss.
Pillar 5: Help your children learn how to ask the right questions. When children know the right questions to ask, they can arrive at the right answers to the problems presented by the mass media of entertainment. For instance, if the hero in the movie your child is watching wins by murdering and mutilating his victims, will your children be able to question this hero’s behavior, no matter how likable that character may be?
Educating the Heart
Theodore Roosevelt said, if we educate a man’s mind but not his heart, we will get an educated barbarian. Cultural and media wisdom involves educating the heart so that it will make the right decisions.
So, how can you protect the eyes of innocence of your children and grandchildren? How can you redeem the culture?
• Teach your family to be CULTURE-WISE.
• Become informed – visit www.movieguide.org daily.
• Spend your entertainment dollars wisely.
• Support the Christian Film & Television Commission®.
Don’t vote for spiritual confusion and cultural collapse. Vote with God and Jesus Christ. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Media Wisdom, and the fear of the Lord is to shun evil and overcome evil with good (Proverbs 8:13 and Romans 12:21).
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572 Comments
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Big Hollywood, Michael Chavez and DNC DUDES, Mr. Pink. Mr. Pink said: ‘Twilight’: A Spiritually Confused Reminder For Christian Parents http://tinyurl.com/yzqa25u [...]
The End Is Nigh
really? for a fantasy novel? do we really need to remind our teenagers every time they read/watch a fantasy/sci-fi story that it is a FANTASY?
Okay then, remind them.
OMG, it's DANGEROUS!!
Chill out, dude. It actually suggests humans have souls – at least millions of tweenybopper twihards have now encountered that idea and maybe even debated it over cheese fries at lunch with their friends.
This is a wonderful important article for me personally. So I'm e-mailing it to all my Show-biz friends. Who are like yours truly always in a quandary about what projects to get involved in. Thank you so much Mr Ted . Your kind of an Angel in your way or rather… In His Way. Thanks Again.
I would like to point out that nowhere in this piece did Mr. Baehr say that a child should be raised in a Christian environment. He did suggest, and I fully second, the wisdom of creating an appreciation for the philosophy of Christianity. Without knowledge of the basic tenents of good vs. evil, the "gray area" one encounters so often in life gets pretty wide.
You're an idiot.
I hate that Big Hollywood is turning into Focus on the Family.
I for one appreciate this article and am going to show it to my daughter. She does not like the relationship between Bella and Edward. On the one hand, I am of the view that this too shall pass as yet another pop culture phenomenon with nominal side effects…on the other hand, I do think there are some salient points to be made about the kinds of messages this story is sending out. Let's just say I am rather skeptical of Twilights 'Christian' message. As a Christian myself, I do not think the most important things to be said of a spiritual search for God can be made through a young teen who is obsessed over a supernatural creature and has an unhealthy descent into depression because the relationship doesnt work out. The fact that the author is Mormon does not automatically label it a good story, any more than saying that the owner of a questionable enterprise is a hard-core church goer and therefore above reproach. I keep thinking : is this the best that can be done?
So thank you – I had been wondering why my own feelings about the subject matter were coming up but I couldnt define them very well.
Either you are liberal anti-christian troll, or you SERIOUSLY need to attend some sunday school.
I'm Roman. That's all you need to know. You may call them "Christian", but I don't care about your Sunday school fairytales.
Right on!
Please, let's lay off the one or two psuedo-friendlies out there and remember that these people AREN'T CHRISTIANS. You can't expect them to acknowledge what they don't believe in, but when they get pretty close, let's give em kudos and ENCOURAGE them the rest of the way.
oh for heaven's sake… ever heard of "love conquers all" ? obviously, this movie is not intended for balding, bespectacled, old guys with 'christian persecution' issues. it's a teen-crush vampire fantasy, not a treatise on the decline and fall of civilization. lighten up, grampa !
Number one, it's fiction. It's not a new philosophy. It's not a new religion to compete with Christianity. It is in fact authored by a devout Mormon woman that was trying to give young girls a relatively clean alternative to much of the sex laden crap that passes for literature these days. This just goes to show, no good deed goes unpunished. The author is attacked from the left because her books are too goody goody, and she's attacked from guys like this because, well, I haven't quite figured that out yet. Just what is this guys' beef? There's a danger here in confirming the left's stereotype of Christians as a group that's terrified that someone, somewhere, may be having fun.
"The only CHRISTIAN commandment is to love your enemies."
Yeah, lets just ignore that whole "No one comes to the Father but through me" worship of Jesus stuff. You know, the reason the religion exists in the first place. You're not a Roman. You're a troll. Get thee under the bridge, Huffington Post reader.
Tacit-us – love your enemy certainly is not the only Christian command. However, you sound so filled with hate – "I despise you, I despise you, I despise you" – it sounds like you must have a lot of "enemies" to love.
"No one comes to the Father but through me". GJohn, late, rewritten, imperial dogma. I'm more of a GMark kinda guy.
I'm a huge fan of Twilight and a Christian.
I read the books and watch the movies for fun.
That's all the series is. Fluffy fun.
I can't help but laugh at people who start analyzing and dissecting it.
Lemme see, we've got an anti-Catholic Protestant, and anti-Jew, anti-Protestant Catholic, and now there's me — anti-Both youse guys. You're wasting your lives debating which version of a fairy tale is true.
These people AREN'T REAL! (You are talking about the characters in the book, aren't you?)
There is Biblical authority for Dobson's work. Turn to II Confabulations, Verses 9-12:
"And he toiled not in the vineyards, nor labored he in the fields; and though he knew not his ass from a HOLE IN THE EARTH, yeah, verily; and though he couldst not find his own ass with both hands, praise Whatever, he prospered might-eh-lehhhhhhh, for he could talk that SHITE-tuh….."
LOL – That was the best comment here! Way to go.
God told him to hate Jews and Protestants. No, really, He did.
I, too, have plenty of problems with Twilight, for the philosophical reasons already mentioned, and because I just think it's crap overall. However, I don't think it's quite as bad as what's being suggested here. You could certainly take it in that direction, of course, but considering the author considers herself a devout Mormon, I think she's only guilty of writing an extremely shallow set of books.
My wife and daughter went to see it. I could care less it looks damn boring. My wife said that just about all the people there were woman. Obviously a chick flick. As far as religion it is simple. Either it is true or not. If it is true the asshats that trash it and live corrupt lives will rot in hell. If it is not well they will be dead and rot like the rest of us someday. I believe in God but could care less what others do.
How can the OT be "crap"? The NT quotes or refers to the OT more than 2000 times. Jesus Himself referred to Noah, Moses, Daniel and David. And if I may quote Luke 24:27 – "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. "
1. The book and movies are fiction
2. So, every other movie in Hollywood is okay to watch? Just not the one written by a Mormon (yeah, I looked it up in Wikipedia because I thought, I would a fundamentalist bigot go to such lengths to cry about this movie when there are so many movies with much worse themes out there? why would he do this? why does he sit back and watch all the adultery and fornication in movies and on tv and not write an article about ALL of that? but has the time to write about this movie–ah, because a mormon wrote it.
3. As a Baptist (and yes I have mormon friends, and yes I talk to them) I actually thought this movie was fiction and appreciate the fact that no one was sleeping around and the vulgarity was kept to a minimum. why couldn't you write about that?
4. you must be a very miserable person
Great article! I think a big danger is to brush things off as 'oh, it's harmless', when really everything we feed into our minds and hearts has an effect. It may be small, but it is cumulative. We must always be on our guard. Nothing paranoid about that…it's just the way it is for now:
"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12
While I don't disagree with the tone of the article I don't thing you should use statistics verifying bad Theology to prove your point.
"…only 9% of Americans have a biblical worldview where they said they have made a personal to commitment to Jesus Christ that is important in their life today and that they are certain that they will go to Heaven after they die only because they confessed their sins and accepted Christ as their savior. "
One doesn't have to accept Christ as their Savior to be saved. One has to be baptized and believe. Get over your egos people, Christ does the work. He first comes to us and saves us.
I saw this movie with my niece and actually enjoyed it. We should have dragged her brother Diego along so he could see how cool guys can treat girls with respect too. That's what this movie showed — cool guys treating girls with the utmost of respect. No premarital sex, no fooling around, not so much as a kiss. That's why I give this movie the thumbs up.
twilight is stupid, jesus christ is stupid, therefore this article is doubly stupid.
Hey, I have to call you out on this one.
There's no reason to call the poor woman a Moron.
Oh, sorry, you said Mormon. Never mind…
LOL — Superior comment. Thanks very much.
Nonononononono. I mean the author, or, more generally, the handful of people turning out harmless, even vaguely moral material for mass consumption.
There is nothing wrong, per se, with a story of struggle across cultural lines in the name of love. And if a writer wants to couch it in a popular meme that's ok. But when our culture slides into the entertainment arena of blindly accepting anything BUT time honored principles – principles that many believe our country to be founded upon – then "guys like" us will speak up and expect to be heard.
Same reason there's a whole sea change in the political landscape. Enough people have had enough crap thrown in their faces, and it's time to subject some common sense on the whole situation. People like this writer see the problem is not just this or that, but a whole lot of things, and we need to start realizing how one thing in our society impacts everything else.
As a fan of Big Hollywood, I was surprised to read this article. No one could disagree with the fact that movies have played a big role in contributing to the ever increased coarsening of our culture. However, for heaven's sake……the Twilight series is way down on this list. First, Meyers is a great story teller, if not a good enough writer for the literary crowd. She connects with girls/womens feelings of that first teenage love and the angst that accompanies it. The characters may be unreal, but the qualities they present are positive…….who doesn't want a love that cares deeply, respects you, treats you with kindness and who's first concern is your happiness and security. Compared to the violence, sex, language and general overall crudeness of some films, Twilight might deal in fantasy, but you don't cringe in your seat when you are viewing it. Perhaps the fantasy is so much more appealing because the world we live in has deteriorated into such a mess.
The kids who think Jesus is stupid are the future child molesters, child murderers, child porn producters, rapists, drug dealers, Madolfs, violent gang bangers, pot rots behind the wheel, other drugged stupefied drivers, terrorists, doowops who thiink 'No God here.'.
doowop, do child molesters agree with you?
guest, he wrote what was important to him. You must be a control freak.
Besides raw political power invested in an emperor, the movies are the closest thing Man has come up with where he can be God.
The movie maker can create the universe, create its population by fiat ex nihilo, write its laws or lack thereof and remove all consequence.
The best we had before was a good story around a fire, then a book or a stage play. Not that effective.
Now we have 3-D high def virtual reality. All of our senses and emotions are touched. All the people are beautiful. Sin and its consequences does not exist because there is no law in that universe. Without law there is no sin.
We think we are so modern, but we are simply practicing the first sin: wanting to be as God.
HumanPersonJr, do sex slave owners think as you do? You know, people who don't live to honor God.
Hey, doowop, (or is it d-g sh-t wop?) that absolutely brilliant comment of yours must have taken you all of roughly 60 minutes to formulate, since it probably took your brain that long to ascend from the depths of whatever oozing slimepit it habituates itself in. It truly amazes me that there are still cretins like you sucking oxygen out of the atmosphere while you tool on through life uttering moral imbecilities like "jesus christ is stupid." And is Squiggy one of your t.v. heroes? I'll bet you spend all of your downtime while not being a Paul Blart clone at the mall watching all his shows. Gee, well THAT might explain why you don't know that JESUS CHRIST is the savior of around 4 BILLION PEOPLE on this planet. And "twilight" MAY be stupid, but YOUR comment re jesus christ and twilight, well now, THAT'S what i would REALLY call ST-O-O-O-PID. Shades of FORREST GUMP! Anyway, GOD BLESS ALL—–MARKRITE
el_polacko, ever heard of the God honoring idea of respecting elders? Do child porn producers like your self-centered, 'look at the cool stuff I wrote', attitude?
I'm still trying to decide how I feel about this post. I'm not a censorship kind of gal, and that may not be what is being suggested here, but it seems awfully close to wanting to put "Twilight" into the same kind of anti-Christian category some people put Harry Potter because of the fantasy elements. I like fantasy, though I pretty much think "Twilight" is angst ridden crap. (Sorry "Twilight" fans, I just don't like it). But saying that "Twilight" fits into an "evil" is a bit much to me. The message went astray for me at that point and the post seemed to move into the zealotry category. Just my 2 cents.
I generally agree. I find heavy violence far more objectionable than teen angst.
XYZ, I like how Big Hollywood has the freedom to allow writers it chooses to have, including your worthless comment.
What an incredibly funny joke…. wait… you're an idiot. Never mind…
if not they're stupid too.
If I recall correctly, Jesus specifically referenced the Ten Commandments as God's laws. Someone more scholarly with the bible than I am might remember the exact passage. I believe it's one of the times when someone asks him how they get to Heaven. I'm sorry I can't provide the exact quote.
So, yes, the Ten Commandments did appear in the New Testament. Jesus was not only a Jew, but even in his death he extended his love and forgiveness to the Jews. Those who put together the Holy Bible chose to include the Old Testament. If you don't trust them then how can you trust the books they chose to include in the New Testament?
But then, your rant doesn't come off Christian to me at all, so I have to agree with those who think you're anti-Christian. Sorry.
I don't really agree with this post on several points. I don't like Twilight, but I understand why teens and women do. I don't like the messages it conveys. I said it before on the other Twilight thread and I just think it's very important to keep abreast of the pop culture your kids are being exposed to. So you know where they've picked up certain behaviors and you can help guide them, like parents are supposed to do.
Most of all, I think it's important for people to give their kids a strong foundation in faith, so it's not in danger because of some fantasy story.
I was reading a Nancy Drew book tonight with my daughter and the author was talking up the New Deal as having been key in ending the Great Depression. I think that kind of BS is at least as dangerous as the literary fantasy genre.
You win for the most ignorant statement I have ever seen on this site or any other.
Perhaps if you yourself weren't so biblically illiterate you'd know that Jesus was a Jew who upheld (and then fulfilled the prophecies of) the Old Testament.
Ain't it! I have read some idiocy on the internet but I honestly don't think I've seen anything quite so ridiculous, ignorant and insulting! Truly unbelievable.
I'd bet money you've never read the bible all the way through. And if you have, you fail at reading comprehension!
And you're a person who doesn't have the intellectual capacity to have a discussion or debate on a topic, so the only thing you can do is resort to silly name calling.
And you are illiterate, since you do not know how to write sentences with proper punctuation.
“New Moon” is a spiritually confused, dangerous work."
My goodness! Dangerous work? Really??? I can't believe you and I are on the same team.
Your Comment is the BEST. Haha nice. and you're reply to Wyse was brill…
At least he used the proper spelling of "you're" in this instance. One can find a faint amusement in seeing a drive-by troll leave "Your and idiot!" or "It's you're stupidity!" or similar in their droppings.
If Jesus is Lord of your life, He is Lord of your entertainment choices.
Hahah — priceless!
Here's a news flash: the whole world is growing more skeptical toward Christianity — at least your brand of it. Your particular religion isn't the only way to teach children morals, and it's offensive for you to suggest otherwise.
And finally, what in the world is this post doing on this blog? Credibility going down…
By the way, nothing can "push God away" — you are the one with no faith if you really believe you have to jump through worldly hoops to be with God.
So true! I've never understood why trolls consistently demonstrate such atrocious spelling and grammar skills.
I've only read the first book and haven't seen the movies. But this is my take on it as well.
In fact, I'd say I"m more offended by the poor writing than I am by the content! How does writing of this level even get published?!
1. It's fiction? NO KIDDING?!
2. Nowhere does this article mention the religious views of the author, therefore your accusations of bigotry have no basis.
3. Good for you for realizing it was fiction! I'd love for you to show me where the author of the article (or any of the people commenting) have said or even implied that this is a true story.
4. You must be an illiterate person, judging from the fact you do not know how to capitalize proper nouns and the first word of a sentence. Nor do you seem to realize that the ending of a sentence needs punctuation as well.
Ignorant comment, as you can see by my response.
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Ted, you've made some very important points, but along with many of the other commenters here, I need to throw in a few cents of my own.
1) I was raised Episcopalian, but haven't attended church regularly for quite some time. Nevertheless, my moral upbringing has prevented me from shrugging off religion as easily as much of my generation has (I'm 25). I have not rejected God or Christ, and the internal struggle – the Christian "jihad," if you will – has been a component of my waking life for about 9 years and counting. I suppose you could call me one of those "confused Christians," if you'll allow the phrase.
2) I appreciate your point regarding Jesus as the Lord of our entertainment, but I must say that it is far too broad. Where shall the line be drawn? At what point do the literal teachings of the Bible end and our individual consciences begin? I can cite numerous works of entertainment that are religiously/spiritually ambiguous – not in the sense that they're "sketchy," but that we take from them what we bring to them. We are not mindless drones that take everything we see or hear literally. We each have our own moral foundations, and a book, movie, or record will not necessarily change that. We can appreciate art for many reasons.
3) As a diehard heavy metal fan, I'm more than aware of all the negative stereotypes associated with the genre – satanic, godless, decadent, evil, corrupt, etc. In a certain, superficial sense, they're partially correct. But try this on for size. On December 8, 2004, guitartist Dimebag Darrell (of Pantera/Damageplan) was shot to death during a live performance by a paranoid schizophrenic gunman. In the midst of the melee, three other men were killed trying to save lives and to stop the madness. Their names were Jeffery Thompson (band bodyguard), Nathan Bray (audience member), and Erin Halk (venue security). Were they "evil" simply because they associated with "evil" music? I'm reminded of another important passage: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13.
I appreciate what you're trying to say, but please remember that – forgive the expression – the Lord works in mysterious ways, especially through us, His children. "Spiritual confusion," as you put it, does not always lead to hedonism and godlessnes. It sometimes results in an even stronger faith and love for the Lord and one's neighbor. For the record, I'm not a Twilight fan. I liked the first novel, hated the film, and lost interest thereafter. So forgive the digression of sorts. I just thought this was the appropriate time to comment on such a heavy and important matter.
Ted, you have seemed to open up a hornets nest of Pharisees?
What can I say – this is about as nonsensical an article as I've ever seen.
I'm sorry, I disagree. I am a Christian, but I know the difference between fantasy and reality and work hard to see my children do too. I have explained to them that movies like The Blob, Them, Frankenstein and Dracula, AND the Twilight saga are all fantasy. I don't think Nosferatu, produced in the twenties is 'dangerous' nor do I agree with your assessment of this one. What is dangerous is for parents to be so uninvolved with their children as to not be able to explain the MANY things that there are in this world that are fake and make believe. That would include our President at this time. I don't need Hollywood or the NYT to tell me what is dangerous for my children or myself. I just need both to do their jobs. Hollywood should entertain me, and shut the hell up about everything else, and the NYT should report (not create or opinionate) the news. Leave the rest to me to explain and decide.
Mark before you say something is bad theology maybe you should take a closer look at your own theology. First off please try to find where in the bible it says you have to be baptised to be saved. You won't find it. Though it is an important step in a Christian life baptism isn't a means of salvation. Unless you are referring to baptism into the name of Jesus which means to hear about Jesus and believe or accept that he is your savior.
Secondly when you believe what is it you believe? Do you believe the following. "By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures", this is found in Paul's 1rst letter to the Corithians. This is the only way according to the bible. John 3:16-18says "16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." Many people know verse 16 but it is sad that more people don't know verse 18. If this isn't enough to convince you then please read Matthew 7:21-27 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matt%...
The basis for your article is completely false. Bella SAYS she is willing to give up her soul because she doesn't believe it's an issue–she 100% believes that vampires have souls and that the Cullens are not damned. Edward is the one she is trying to convince. But she doesn't believe it. SO BACK OFF!
Oh, so sorry, revered and wise Mo, arbiter of the validity of all comments…
I know it hurts you that my comment was so original. You'll measure up one of these days, but not in any meaningful way.
I can't speak for all the other sex slave owners, only for myself. But I can tell you that there is one reason and one reason only as to why people reject religion. It has nothing to do with the realities or any weakness in the religion's logic or history. It is exactly as you said: We atheists want one thing only, the freedom and ability to become sex slave owners.
Actually, the authoress is a Mormon. There was an interesting article in Touchstone Magazine's latest article that drew parallels between the story arc of Twilight and Mormon theology.
The author is a Mormon, the nuttiest kind of Christian!
Could you be thinking of Luke 10:26-28? Jesus asks a lawyer how he reads the law. The lawyer says, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” vs 27 This goes back to Deuteronomy 6 and is also a summary of the 10 Commandments: Commandments 1-4 are about our relationship to God, 5-10 are about our relationship to each other.
What a waste of money to go see this trash. You know if I had gobs of money I would go back and make good and interesting films. Everything today is full of the F word and taking God's name in vain. And someone gets paid to write this crap? Go back and watch some real movies like the Asphalt Jungle, DOA, Out of the Past, Charlie Varrick with Walter Matthau, Missing with Jack Lemmon, The Killing, Ronin, The French Connection, any one of Humphrey Bogart's movies. Even my son hasn't heard of most of these movies. What a loss to the culture that kids have no interest in good entertainment and would rather engage their attention in B.S. You see this is how the liberal zombies in Hollywood structure things. And now our youth is held captive to crap.
I was once asked to write for Movieguide. I was told that they didn't really care what I thought about the artistic merits of the films I was to review. There were 2 things that were most important.
1. LITERALLY COUNT THE SWEAR WORDS and list every "objectionable behavior in detail." Not just objectionable as in to watch, but if it would be objectionable to DO in real life.
2. View EVERY STATEMENT OR ACTION IN THE MOVIE THOUGHT A FUNDAMENTALIST PROTESTANT PHILOSOPHICAL basis.
These reviews are appropriate to be included in a strict Baptist church's Sunday bulletin, and will be considered too narrow for even half the people there. That's about it.
By the way, these people rated Harry Potter as "EVIL" not just worrisome, but EVIL.
http://www.movieguide.org/articles/1/411
Ted Baehr "Protect your Children from Harry Potter Occultism." In this article they talk about how they only gave "The Half Blood Prince" a minus 2 INSTEAD OF THEIR LOWEST MORAL RATING OF -4 WHICH THEY HAD GIVEN EVERY OTHER HARRY POTTER MOVIE.
They are so wrapped up in the words "witch" and "wizard" that they can't see the books evolved into an outright Christian allegory– or, they have a lot of fundraising letters to fundamentalists out there, and can raise more money with the hysteria.
Yeah, just saw 2012. It's all over anyway.
The author of the Big Hollywood blog is Ted Baehr. And I don't know (not do I presume to judge) his Christian qualifications. The author of the Twilight series is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And I am not going to judge her either.
(And by the way, I am a nuttiest kind of Christian, too. Whew! Am I glad YOU aren't my eternal judge.)
"Don't think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn't come to destroy, but to fulfill. For most assuredly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished.
-JC
Very well said. I read a great book a few years back called "Hollywood Worldviews" by Brian Godawa which opened my eyes regarding the messages Hollyweird relays in their movies. It's so important to understand that movies, TV, music and even the MSM are the main conveyors of our culture, whether we like it or not. We must be discerning about the prevalent worldview in our pop culture as well as have a firm foundation for our own worldview and be able to debate it convincingly. "Wise as serpents, harmless as doves."
And you're so right about the New Deal ending the Depression nonsense. What it did was turn the Depression into the Great Depression. It was WWII that finally ended it.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
-Aristotle
I said that – that she was Mormon.
God is unity of creation, if you believed in God, you would care profoundly for what other people do, because all people are a part of you.
Im with you on what you say – I can see the point of what the author is saying, but I am not one of those people who will say fantasy is bad. I wish fantasy were treated more as how Tolkien and Lewis thought it should be treated. Their own particular viewpoints are what made their own works (true literary works with excellent writing and punctuation) classics. Ive just been a bit perturbed by people saying Twilight has a Christian message and I appreciate that there is someone who is giving the "cons" side of the argument. Compared to Tolkien and Lewis, Twilight's "Christian" messages don't stand up very well.
"…I have mormon friends, and yes I talk to them…"
Standing on a street corner and yelling at people to repent when they walk past you does not make them your friends.
Calling everything stupid does not make one appear bright.
I'm not a LDS, but I consider them thusly: 50% of non-Mormons think that Mormons are nutty, and the other 50% think they're too square. The law of averages suggests that most Mormons are soundly in the middle, which is a pretty good place to be.
Although, it never hurts to be a little TOO square.
…….who doesn't want a love that cares deeply, respects you, treats you with kindness and who's first concern is your happiness and security…
Isn't that President Obama's job?
Though I've never read the books or seen either of the films, my gullible nature insists that the Twilight series is more inane than insidious.
My problem was that, on who's authority is it decided that Twilight is an evil movie that I shouldnt see?
I should take the word of Ted Behar, or who? I'll make that decision myself. And if it is an evil movie, than I'll do what I am doing with the Obama administration: I'll use it to explain what evil is, and why it is evil. Turn it into a learning moment.
If you hold it up to the mirror and read it backward, you will find the satanic messages.
1. You are going to hell.
2. You are going to burn for all eternity
3. There is no Heavy Metal music in Hell. Just Madonna songs.
WTF?
"Everything today is full of the F word and taking God's name in vain."
I understand what you are saying, but have you even seen or read Twilight? There are a lot of problems that can be found with it, but these examples are not among them. As has been said, this series was written by a Mormon who doesn't like those things either.
Thank you.
To be fair, the author did bring up WWII as the other element, but I don't think any honest comment about the New Deal should say it was a good thing. It was ultimately a disastrous thing for the economy and kids are being taught the opposite. Not only in fiction, but in school. It's codified. Needs to be reversed.
Another way I disagree with this columnist's conclusions is with interpretation of text. I know some girls will emulate the behaviors in the story — obsession, putting themselves in danger, lying to your parents … a lot — but many also will not. That's why I say people should just be aware of what their kids are reading so they can help them get perspective and guide them away from harmful behaviors of characters they might emulate. But each kid is going to interpret the text individually so predicting is inexact at best.
Still, I can't see the teenagers of today getting much from the Christian undertones of CS Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia". Not when there's sexy Prince Caspian to squee over. LOL.
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