coming out of the Twilght closet

Let me first go on record as being Twilight ambivalent. As a person who works in a children's library I am pleased to see so many girls reading. As a person who loves literary fiction I am appalled at Stephenie Meyers lack of writing talent. (Notice I am overlooking the fact that she has produced volumes of work and has enthralled millions, whereas I haven't even written a blog post for five people in nearly a year.) To Ms. Meyers credit, she did improve with each volume.

Oops, I'm out! Yes, I have read all four books, which takes a proficient reader all of a week at most. I could plead professional curiosity, but in truth I had to see what happened when Edward took a bite of Bella.

I have seen some facebook outrage lately, from both teams. No, not Team Edward and Team Jacob, but Team Righteous and Team Don't Judge Me. Humor me while I attempt to bridge the gap.

What non-Twilight readers don't realize is that this isn't a book about vampires. It is a book romance and restraint. It is a book about how it is possible for a man to care so much about the woman he loves that he will deny his most basic needs and his most powerful urges. That is why it appeals to at least three generations of women who have been socialized to believe that all men are dogs and that their own sexuality is cheap.

In defense of the believers out there who are offended that their sisters are getting so much joy out of these books and movies, popular culture is indeed a miry maze and to say that as Christ followers we don't need to be careful what we put in our heads would be naive at best. If your best tactic in the war to to stay completely away, then you are not missing much. There are other ways to teach our daughters that they are valuable and cherished.

This goes so much deeper than Twilight. It speaks to all the issues that divide us as the Body and there are so many of those. We all go around poking each other in the eye screaming, "Don't judge me!" and, "Don't judge me for judging you!" There is where an is enemy lurking. If we can be thrown off by all the trivial little pish posh in our lives we will miss what is really important.