Mark Driscoll shares his thoughts on the Twilight series and all the new vampire-ish books for preteen/teen girls. Some of you aren’t going to like what he has to say. Please watch and we can discuss in the comments.
HT: Katie Howard
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Monica,
I haven’t known you for very long, so I don’t know which side of the fence you sit on — at all. But I thought I’d be brave enough to go first.
It was really hard to sit through this video. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to listen to one man preach to an adoring crowd, and it generally just rubs me up the wrong way.
As for the topic, previously I may have agreed with MD. But I am learning to see the parables in creation — in nature AND in the things we humans have created — that point to God’s glorious story of redemption through the Christ.
I also agree with the idea that “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”
So I would not judge others who read these books, nor encourage others to do so.
In our household, we test the spirits — not the airy, fairy demons that may be hovering over the pages of a novel — but the breath that comes from the words, the way it makes us feel, the way it draws us closer to God or distracts us from Him. So we would look at each book in its turn and judge for ourselves. With my husband as the head of our house, I trust him to judge correctly where I cannot, and he will be judged for his own judgements in turn.
Lastly, this is a hairy old chestnut, but it’s true. I read those kind of books — mine where Sidney Sheldon, Stephen King, Ken Follett — when I was a teenager. If my parents had been more atuned to our relationship, we could have discussed the books and the characters. But this didn’t happen for me, and I’ll try to pursue that kind of relationship with our girls.
If I hadn’t tasted the foul, the tasteless, the stories lacking nutrition, I also wouldn’t know and appreciate the words that give life.
Part of raising children is to equip them to discern for themselves. This should be happening while they’re teenagers — if you’re still sheltering teenagers, how will they learn for themselves?
So, my verdict on this video and the opinions therein — total waste of time. Not a fan.
I just wanted to add — lest I be misunderstood — that obviously we would all prefer our children to choose their books with discernment.
I guess the question is — when are we going to let our children practise that discernment? It’ll probably be at a different point for each individual.
Also, I self-imposed a Stephen King ban after getting nightmares. That was much more effective than having my parents ban his books in the first place!
Twitter: monicabrand
Hi, Lauren. I don’t have time right now to respond but I will later today.
Anyone else have a comment?
Twitter: monicabrand
I’m back.
I firmly believe as a Christ-following parent it is my responsiblity to instruct, guide and say no to things that are not pure, lovely, honorable (Phil. 4: 8). If my 12 year old daughter came to me today with Twilight in hand, I’d say No with no hesitations. Yes, she needs to learn how to discern for herself, but I believe there is a better way to learn how to recognize ungodly books without exposing her to vampires, werewolves, etc.
As for Mark Driscoll: No preacher is perfect, but I appreciate his taking a stand against these books. I would wager a few pastors would leave such a topic to the parents alone. Perhaps there was a parent or two in the church that day that needed to hear his message. Sadly there are parents that aren’t paying attention to what their kids are reading. That’s one of the reasons I blog about the Twilight books, to help parents know it’s okay to say NO.
I had nightmares after reading King too.
Thanks for commenting, Lauren. I always enjoy getting your perspective on things. We are a lot alike, yet different too.
Choosing to say no seems to be a lost art among parents. The Twilight series is not one that my two teen daughters have gravitated to. I have not had to say no to it in particular, but I have said no to other choices. We teach discernment in our home in everything we see, hear, or read. Discernment does not mean that we have to see all the bad stuff to know what is good. We have to know what is truly good to know what is not. Monica, you brought up a great verse. Philippians 4:8 is a great model for all of us, parents and children alike. I agreed with Mark Driscoll. This genre of witchcraft, demons, and vampires is not one that my girls need to read. There is so much else out there that is good. I believe that saying no is one way to guard your heart. That said, saying no is not always easy. God help us as parents to have the boldness we need to speak up when we have to.
Sandy´s last [type] ..Reckless Words
I don’t disagree that there’s a time to say no.
However, there *is* also a time to say “do you think it’ll be a good book for you to read?”
The age at what this happens depends on the maturity of the child. And a child who is aware of the things of God wouldn’t be interested in this genre in the first place.
In my theoretical future, I wouldn’t buy this genre of book for my children. In fact, we have removed many “harmless” fairy tales from our shelves, and I have been known to tear pages out of storybooks. But this censorship will not continue indefinitely.
When I was a teenager, if a book was banned, it was more desirable… so I would be cautious about banning any book outright.
If I knew someone allowed these books into their home, I would talk to them about their decisions rather than judging them without knowing them. Relationships lead to a greater understanding, a greater acceptance, a greater love. If we seek to create a culture of conformity in the family of God, we will stifle the confessions necessary to truly bond as sisters and brothers in Christ.
When the late Chicago writer Mike Royko learned that his book on Mayor Richard J. Daly was going to be banned from a high school in New York, he contacted the people who wanted to ban the book and offered his full support. He knew that banning his book would boost sales. He went so far as to write the family attempting to ban his book to tell them that he had another book coming out, and he would appreciate anything that they could do to get that book banned, too. I must agree with Lauren on that point. If parents push too hard on the issue of their children reading this book, they might push their children right between the very pages they wish their children would avoid.
I wonder how many times parents and children clashed over reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula. How many people delved into witchcraft after watching Bela Lugosi immortalize Dracula on screen? Which Stephen King novels caused the downfall of young Christians? I would guess that the number is very small, if any at all. I would be more apt to believe that a child would stray into the dark arts as a result of absentee parenting in conjunction with reading a horror/witchcraft series rather than just from reading the books. In other words, the subject matter read and the end result of that reading is a symptom of a bigger problem.
As for Driscoll, his argument has more holes than a new Swiss cheese. 183 years passed between the 1820-ish start of Mormonism and Stephanie Meyers’ June 2003 dream which started the Twilight series. Bram Stoker, the author credited with creating the vampire story (although it existed in many cultures across the globe for decades centuries before that) didn’t write his story until 1897. There has been a multitude of stories, movies, novels, etc. to contribute to the vampire lore between 1897 and 2003, and he ignores them all. Driscoll obviously has a strong distaste for Mormons, but Stoker was born in 1847 in Ireland, so he was probably either Catholic or Protestant. Driscoll’s humorous commentary on the angel Moroni (he calls it “Moron-ee”) was sophomoric. Critically lacking from his presentation was any reference to scripture and what scripture has to say about witchcraft, evil spirits, etc. He gave a Christian opinion piece sorely lacking in God’s ordained word.
This can be a non-issue for families if handled properly, respectfully, firmly, between parents and children. Explained with love, most children will accept their parents “No” on reading such a series of books, or seeing the movies.
Well, I can’t confess to being a Mark Driscoll fan but anyone who pokes a bit of fun at Twilight generally has my respect on that particular topic! I think he makes some solidly good points here.
He does have a rough approach and I wish he’d be a little bit more…academic…in a Biblical sense…rather than just going for a laugh. But in essence, I do agree with his main message.
Glad you shared this!
Respect is the key. And that includes respect towards your children’s freedom of choice.
Since when do children get choices? They have to go to school. They have to listen to mom and/or dad. I’ll be damned if I have to respect a choice that my child makes that I KNOW is wrong! They have the freedom to still make that choice whether I like it or not, but it is still wrong and sooner or later, they will thank me for teaching them right from wrong.
I have a niece who is 20. She is attending college and got a scholarship (academic) to do so. That is about the only nice thing I can say about her. She is disrespectful to her parents and other adults. She does what she wants when she wants with little regard for others. In other words, she is a complete brat! I remember her mother saying in the hospital that she would never tell this child “no”. How stupid is that? Children have to be taught right from wrong, and sometimes, that teaching includes not allowing kids to do certain things.
As for Driscoll, I too wish he was a little more serious in his presentation of this subject because it deserves to be treated seriously.