DOWN WITH THE TWILIGHT OBSESSION!!! :(

Check this out and think:

 A number of things about this book that Christian parents might want to know, such as the following:

1) Bella’s extreme (and practically immediate) dependence on Edward. He becomes her counselor, guide and leader, taking the place of her father, who is kept in the dark about her growing relationship with Edward. Her strong reactions to Edward’s physical attractiveness are typical infatuation material, but when she starts going on and on about the delicious smell of his BREATH, you want to tell her to get a grip, already. Parents might want to discuss this infatuation and dependence with their girls, telling them why this is not good.

2) Another thing that parents will want to discuss with their daughters is Bella’s desire to become a vampire. She can’t understand why Edward just won’t bite her so that they can be together forever and doesn’t have the life experience and maturity to realize that this is a MAJOR step that cannot be undone. Not to mention that Edward has vowed with his conscience to only prey upon animals — is her immature love for Edward so consuming that she’s willing to do him harm in order to get what she wants from him? Isn’t this what Christian parents always remind their teens is the exact opposite of true love? That could make for some interesting discussions, especially when applied to teen sexuality.

This desire to become a vampire comes about when she’s known Edward for about six months, which is hardly enough time at age 17 to make a reasonable, rational decision to totally change one’s, er–….life. Not only would she and Edward be together forever, but the vampires don’t even sleep. This love needs to stand the test of time before it can be trusted to eternity, but Bella’s only concern is that she’s going to be forever older than Edward.

He explains over and over again the several ethical violations that would occur if he “turned” her, but Bella sulks and pouts and doesn’t want to listen; which goes to show that she’s not even mature enough for the limited relationship she has with Edward right now, let alone one that’s going to last forever.

3) This next item was something that I just could not get past in the novel and I can’t believe that Stephenie Meyers’s editor allowed it to stand. The part I’m referring to is when Edward tells Bella that he’s been coming into her father’s house at night and watching her sleep.

At first, Bella is concerned by this, but Meyers allows her to quickly acquiesce to this gross invasion of her personal privacy. Bella’s even a bit flattered that her and her father’s personal and property boundaries have been so violated, which just really, really bothers me. Because in the real world, sneaking into someone’s house and hiding there to watch them while they sleep is obsessive, creepy, stalker behavior. IT IS NOT SWEET AND ROMANTIC.

I found it really disturbing that Bella had subjugated herself so much to Edward by this point in the story that she accepted his illegal and WEIRD behavior without a peep. Parents need to talk to their daughters about having an instinct for self-preservation and personal dignity and not allowing some boyfriend — even if he is a moral, sensitive vampire — to hold such sway over them that they excuse behaviors that should be considered completely inexcusable.

4) One more thing: I really deplored the fact that Edward and his family, who are Bella’s main source of guidance by this point in the book, are completely okay with leaving Charlie, Bella’s dad, in the dark about the threat to her life and his. As her parent, he has a right to know that she’s in mortal danger, but the Cullen family and Bella treat him like a little boy who needs to be protected from something that would scare and worry him.

I’m sorry to use such language, but this is a bunch of crap. Charlie is an adult and a father. The Cullens had no right to steer Charlie Swan’s then-minor daughter to deceive her father (she does something deliberately cruel to him in order to provide herself with a “cover” for leaving Forks, and Christian parents need to remind their daughters that Jesus did not operate on the principle that the end justifies the means) and take her away.

Sure, Charlie is unequipped to fight with a predatory vampire. But Bella IS HIS DAUGHTER. And when the Cullens take her away, she’s a minor at that. I think parents would want to strongly relate to their daughters how morally unacceptable this is. Because teenage immaturity might well think how nice it was of the Cullens to spare Charlie Swan from agonizing over his daughter’s possible death. We all know how parents worry, right?

My own daughter is 15 and she DOES have boys on her radar screen. It’s just part of life and my husband and I have often smiled privately over her innocent crushes. Obviously, she’s way too young to date and isn’t even allowed to “go out” with boys in group settings yet. But we feel that this book could open her eyes to a whole new level of teenage involvement with the opposite sex, even though Bella and Edward’s relationship is really very chaste.

She has no experience with the obsessive infatuation and dependence Bella has in this novel, and we’d like to keep it that way. Her dad and I think this book is way too hot for a girl her age. I’ve gone over the book and briefly touched on all the issues I discussed above as an explanation on why we had decided NOT to let her read it right now, although I think it would be an impetus for some great discussions in a year or two.

taken from:

1.      http://thechristianmanifesto.wordpress.com/2008/06/20/twilight-a-review/

THINK!!!!

-Lacy

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