a struggle to stand alone

Originally published May 08, 2012

~ Thoughts on those who are Choosing Not To

First it was Harry Potter.  I remember I was six, and I had an eight-year-old friend who loved Harry Potter. When I showed him my under-the-stairs hideout, he enthusiastically informed me it was just like Harry Potter's room!  I wasn't allowed to read the books, but as a homeschooled, sheltered six-year-old, I didn't feel deprived or pressured.

Next came Twilight.  I was living in England at the time, and a friend told me that she kind of wanted to see the movie.  Another friend wrote me saying I should read the books.  Mom had decided that I wouldn't, and I was okay with that.  I was a preteen and getting more "into" romance stories, but Twilight just didn't seem like my "thing".  (I'm one of those Pride and Prejudice girls).  I arrived in the States and everyone, it seemed, was talking about Twilight.  Everyone was posting about it on FaceBook, talking about it, listening to the music, and most of all, gushing over Edward (or Jacob).  It started to get hard, one friend really wanted me to read the books.  But I had several friends who weren't reading and watching, and after a dreadful year, the craze faded a little, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

The world tried again.  They strung an arrow in the bow of secularism...this arrow was called The Hunger Games.  This one was the worst one yet.  I started out hearing that the books "weren't very graphic" and that they were "very good".  So I asked my mom to look at the book and see if I could read it.  The next morning she said no.  She sent me articles concerning it, and even though this one was harder than ever, I stood firm.  I finally grew tired of being called a "hater" and posted all my reasons why I wasn't reading it on my blog.  Surprisingly enough, that was when my blog actually began to grow.  When I started blogging, I never thought of it as my ministry, just as a random thing that would be fun to do.  But the more I posted about controversial subjects, the more comments and followers I received.

HG died down surprisingly fast, although I still talk and post about it.  But my question now is, what will the next big fad be?  What will be the next magnet that drags teenagers away from God and into the fiery dangers of obsession?  It only gets worse.  Soon there will be very few people left.  I'm not trying to be pessimistic, I'm just trying to be truthful.