“A Snowglobe I Carry..”
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Winter preserved within glass prism
The carolers always sing-
Trapped within their tiny prison
Forced smiles forever cling..
Their faces weary with good cheer,
Wrapped warm against the cold,
They stand gripped by nameless fear-
For they never shall grow old.
It is the fear of eternity…
A society composed of men and women who are not bound by convention—in other words, they do not act according to what others say or do—is far more lively than one in which all people behave alike. When each person’s character is developed individually and differences of opinion are acceptable, it is beneficial to interact with new people because they are not mere replicas of those whom one has already met.
Adapted from Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness
Assignment:
Is it better for a society when people act as individuals rather than copying the ideas and opinions of others? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
While complete conformity is a detriment to society, there must be some degree of conformity for a culture to survive. There must be an accepted baseline of behavior and actions, otherwise anarchy is the result.
One reason for conformity is that not all ideas and actions are of equal merit; for instance, if you have a segment of society that ascribes to a violent ideology, such as radical Islam, I think we could all agree that it would be best if those who ascribe to a philosophy of terror would conform to society’s desire for peace.
Another reason for conformity is to avoid misunderstandings – There’s a saying “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” The reason for this is that different cultures have different standards, and failing to comply with these standards can have repercussions – which is why Ambassadors are expected to be well versed in the culture of whatever country they are assigned to.
Science fiction has explored the idea of conformity, with first “The Stepford Wives” and then Star Trek’s “Borg Collective.” In both cases, conformity was taken to an EXTREME. In “The Stepford Wives” men kill off their wives to replace them with “perfect” automatons. In Star Trek, The Borg “assimilate” entire races, overwriting personality and individual thought. In both cases, this was viewed as evil. But look at the other end of the spectrum. Lawlessness, misunderstandings and chaos abound. So it is not a question of which is better, merely a question of finding the delicate balance that will benefit all.
This post quotes a fair bit of scripture, but please don’t feel like I’m preaching at you, or that I have some “holier than thou” attitude – because nothing could be further from the truth. I am not a perfect person, I have many, many, many failings. I’m not a model Christian, and there’s a lot I need to change in my own life. I wrote this note because this subject struck a chord with me, and I feel like it’s something I *have* to say.
There has been a growing push over the past decade or so, to call that which is evil, good. In 1997 “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” was launched, a show about the adventures of Sabrina, an average teenager… who just happened to be a witch. Labeled as harmless fun, a lot of teens, and Christians, watched it. Any Christians who objected to their children watching a series about someone who practiced the occult (albeit humorously) were thought to be loony, Bible thumping, conservative killjoys. I saw part of an episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and it was hilarious, but my siblings and I respected our parent’s wishes. Although most of our age group watched that show, we never did.
The same year Sabrina began airing, Harry Potter made its debut, and it had a considerably darker edge to it’s storyline than the Sabrina TV show. The series caused considerable strife within the Christian community, as it was a well written series, and was fast becoming a major part of preteen/teen culture. Some prominent members of the Christian community actually endorsed the series, whereas others (such as my pastor, Dr. Michael Youssef) objected to it, and recommended that Christian parents not allow their children to read the series. Again, if you objected to Harry Potter, at best you were overreacting, at worst you were being a hateful legalist, trying to deprive children of “harmless fun.”
The uncomfortable truth of the matter is, if you profess to be a Bible-believing Christian, that’s the sort of stance we are directed to take. Deuteronomy 18:10-11 says:
There shall not be found among you [...] one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.
When confronted with this verse, the most common argument raised is “Ok, so we’re not supposed to practice witch craft? So what? It’s still fine for us to read a harmless story, so long as we don’t start muttering incantations, right?” Unfortunately the New Testament cuts this argument off at the knees in Ephesians 5:8-11:
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
That sealed the deal for our family – and to this day I’ve not read Harry Potter. Now it’s 2008, and the Harry Potter series has faded into the background for the most part. The latest teen craze is a series called “Twilight.” When I heard about it, my initial reaction was “You can’t be serious – A ‘good’ vampire? Whatever happened to Vampires being evil?”
So I decided to do some research on vampires, to get my facts straight and avoid being guilty of a knee jerk reaction. I spent a considerable amount of time reading about vampires, and just so we’re clear on this, if you look up any of the vampire origin stories, they are DARK. That I think its dark should tell you something. However, one incontrovertible fact is that Vampires are by their very nature, evil. All Vampire literature follows this idea, from Bram Stokers original novel (Dracula), penned in the 1800’s (the first, defining cornerstone of vampire literature) to the latest novels being written today, vampires are evil. Rudimentary knowledge of vampires and what repels them will help you understand this – Wearing a Crucifix will prevent them from touching you, Holy Water burns like acid, and a wafer such as we take in communion (representing the body of Christ) will force them to flee. Now please don’t misunderstand me, I don’t believe there is inherent power in those symbols to ward off evil. The point is that EVERYTHING holy is anathema to vampires… This should tell you something about their inherent nature. They were referred to as “Hell’s children” in Bram Stoker’s novel for a reason.
In the end, no matter what mythos or origin story you choose, there is no such thing as a “good” vampire. Besides this unavoidable wrinkle in the storyline, the “heroine” of the story (and I use this term loosely) hardly exhibits behaviors that parents should want their teen to emulate. Orson Scott Card wrote an article for Time magazine, highlighting some of the more questionable reasoning Bella employs.
” Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight does raise some questions, and I’ve asked [parents] ‘You really want your teenage daughter to live inside the story of a girl who lies to her parents, invites a boy to sleep in her bed and trusts him not to take advantage of her?’”
The single most disturbing aspect of this story is best told by someone who read the entire series, start to finish. Steven Isaac wrote in his review of the “Twilight” series for Pluggedinonline.com (A Focus on the Family website):
“Consumed as she is with young love and the unblinking conviction that as a human she’s nothing more than an awkward ugly duckling, she not only refuses to let anything or anyone stand between her and Edward, but also her self-determined destiny of vampiric perfection and immortality. Not her family. Not her friends. Not her life. Not even her soul—when Edward attempts to convince her that becoming a vampire will doom her to eternity without hope of salvation. “Compared to the fear that he didn’t want me, this hurdle—my soul—seemed almost insignificant,” she thinks. And then, a few pages later she says to Edward, ‘So let’s both just be hopeful, all right? Not that it matters. If you stay, I don’t need heaven.’ “
That…does not sit right with me. While storylines such as those found in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” posit that it is indeed possible to redeem a vampire – that is not what Twilight does. Instead of “Twilight” being the story of Edward’s redemption, the story instead focuses only on Bella’s desire, and eventual success, in joining him in his existence – despite the fact that Edward warned her that to be a vampire is to be damned. What kind of reasoning is this? Christ said in Matthew 16:26 “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” The idea of selling your soul for “love” seems to fall in the same vein.
It worries me that so many of my friends are interested in this series, and that so few people have a clear understanding of what “Twilight” is. The Bible is very clear on the occult, and on evil. As Christians, as Children of the Light, we are to have nothing to do with darkness, “For how can light have fellowship with darkness?”(2 Cor. 6:14) This command is easy in some ways – for instance, I have no desire to go watch horror films about the occult, or play computer games where I can control the legions of Hell (Diablo I,II, & III anyone?)… But what about when it’s hard? When almost every teen your age is reading a series about something the Bible fairly clearly says we should avoid? I felt that pull more strongly for Harry Potter than for Twilight, but it is the same dilemma.
Christ said “If you love me, you will keep my commands.” The true test of the Christian faith comes when what He commands and what we desire conflict. Whether we choose to die to self or overlook what He said for convenience’s sake – whether you go along with a popular trend, or take your stand with Him. I read once that “You are what you do when it counts” and nowhere is this truer then in the Christian faith. Twilight must give way to either darkness or light.
Walk in the light, as He is in the light.
I wrote this in 25 minutes, and I think I was chiefly limited by the fact that I type about 10x faster than I write lol. Hooooooly crap I’m screwed. If anyone’s interested, my funeral will be held on Oct. 4th, immediately following the SAT…
When asked “Does Fame Bring Happiness?” The Answer is fairly simple – No, it doesn’t. When stars talk about the burden of fame, they are not merely trying to evoke sympathy from their fans – they are telling the honest truth. Fame comes with a hefty price tag.
Firstly, for all intents and purposes, you go from the relative comfort, peace, and privacy ordinary Americans take for granted, to being stopped in the street by fans who want to meet their favorite stars. Ordinary tasks such as grocery trips become a hassle, and on some occasions, dangerous, as the deaths of past Hollywood starlets will attest. Life in a fishbowl with reporters and dogging your footsteps, and paparazzi photographers hiding in your bushes, is part of fame’s price.
Secondly, fame tends to exacerbate problems that are already in existence. The addition of fame and wealth is often too much for strained relationships, and the constant scrutiny of the public, and of gossip rags all too eager to get the latest scoop, is often too much. For example, Britney Spear’s younger sisters’ pregnancy was leaked to the press by her own mother, in exchange for several million dollars. Fame, Money, and Greed damaged the relationship between mother and daughter.
In the end, what we have is a comparison of lifestyles, and while there are perks to fame, I am reminded of Aesop’s tale of a country mouse and a city mouse. The country mouse had less, but he had peace and security. The city mouse had more, but lived in constant danger. At the end of the tale, the country mouse concludes that “It’s better to live quietly and have humble fare, than to dine like a king and risk being supper.” Fame and what comes with it cannot bring happiness, and fame creates an environment where true happiness is about as likely to be found as water in the Sahara.
