The forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest: “Edward is nothing like any boy [Bella has] ever met…. In no time at all, they are swept up in a passionate and decidedly unorthodox romance — unorthodox because Edward really isn’t like the other boys. He can run faster than a mountain lion. He can stop a moving car with his bare hands. Oh, and he hasn’t aged since 1918. Like all vampires, he’s immortal…. But he doesn’t have fangs…. And he doesn’t drink human blood, though Edward and his family are unique among vampires in that lifestyle choice.”[1]
The author receives the message: “Bella and Edward were, quite literally, voices in my head. They simply wouldn’t shut up. I’d stay up as late as I could stand trying to get all the stuff in my mind typed out. …it’s been a true labor of love, love for Edward and Bella and all the rest of my imaginary friends…”[2]
Wall Street Journal: “‘Twilight’ has targeted the collective soul of teenage America, and will surely have its way.”[3]
Email from concerned parents: “I have seen lots of Christian girls reading this and other books by Stephanie Myers. They are so evil! My daughter tells me that most of the girls at the Christian school are reading them.” Another parent wrote, ”All the girls at school are reading those books. Yes, it is a Christian school.“
If my goal was to undermine Christianity, incite rebellion against parents, eradicate Biblical values, and spread moral chaos, I would urge teens to read theTwilight series. I would prompt them to immerse their minds and emotions in the dark, emotional whirlpool of sensual occultism. And I wouldn’t warn them of the consequences.
Of course, my real goal is the opposite: to expose this assault on Biblical faith and to equip potential readers with information that enables them to resist the temptation to join the collective journey into the mind-changing realm of the occult. The following points show the raging spiritual war that’s sure to intensify in the years ahead.
1. VAMPIRES & WEREWOLVES are rooted in pagan cultures around the world. The various historical expressions of these mythical creature were dreaded, blood-thirsty manifestations of evil spirits. Linked to darkness, they were viewed as supernatural creatures of the night. Today’s more familiar forms were shaped through folklore, fairy tales, and memorable villains such as Count Dracula. Both were re-imagined in more humanized forms through the Harry Potter books and Anne Rice’s popular Vampire Chronicles.
But they’re not benign. Bella’s passionate love for the mysteriously handsome Edward may be fiction, but the obsession felt by teenage readers who “resonate” with Bella is very real! Young super-fans (Twilighters) identify with her plight, sense her fears, and “feel” her passion. They love the storybecause it arouses strong, unforgettable emotions — the kind of enchanting thrills that can best be shared within the peer group, not with parents.
In the process, they also learn to crave the mystical, paranormal stimuli that belong in the forbidden realm God calls evil. Knowing well our human inclinations, He warns us to shun all forms of real or imagined occultism:
“…have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.” Ephesians 5:11-12
“For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?… Therefore ‘Come out from among them and be separate,’ says the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 6:14-17
2. Fantasy and imagination can transform beliefs and values more quickly than reality. Many of our readers defend their love for occult entertainment with this standard justification: “I know the difference between reality and fantasy.” But it doesn’t matter! Know it or not, persuasive fiction and virtual experience can change minds and plant lasting memories more effectively than actual experience!
Popular fantasies, with their boundless thrills and unforgettable images, bypass logical thinking. Their subtle suggestions face little conscious resistance.Designed to stir feelings and produce strong emotional responses, they create new realities in today’s “open” minds! As Harvard Professor Chris Dede, a global leader in the development of education technology programs, wrote, “Sensory immersion helps learners grasp reality through illusion.”[4]
But what kind of “reality” will “learners” find through illusion? And how do those illusions shape their lives? These Scriptures give us a clue:
“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:6
“…they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart…” Jeremiah 11:8
“Jesus said, ‘You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matthew 5:27-28
“Do not be deceived. …he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” Galatians 6:7-8
3. God tells us to “abhor what is evil” and “cling to what is good.” (Romans 12:9) When today’s youth love the emotional thrills of popular occultism, they are desensitizing their hearts and minds to its evil. They are turning God’s truth upside down. And they — with a little help from the marketing industry — are already turning America’s values upside down. It all fits the plans of our globalist leaders and that old serpent in Genesis.
“You can only have a new society,” wrote Marilyn Ferguson in The Aquarian Conspiracy, ”if you change the education of the younger generation.”[5] That process demands that people reject God’s wise boundaries and “abhor” what He calls good. That change is well under way![6]
“You love evil more than good….” Psalm 52:3
“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness…. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” Isaiah 5:20-21
To read the final reasons, click here…
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/08/twilight.htm
longer be any Planned Parenthood offices in the Texas panhandle,” Sedlak explains. “They will all be gone.”
