Media Watch

OK, I’ll admit it. I have not read any of the books in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga, nor have I seen the popular film. As a general rule, I do not comment on works I have not read or seen.

Yet I am aware of countless teens (and even grown, Christian women) who are swooning over the works, therefore I felt compelled to research whether its runaway popularity is a positive development.

A paraphrase summary I found of the film goes something like this: Seventeen-year-old Bella falls for Edward, who is charming, mysterious, powerful, and dangerous but wise beyond his years and, ultimately, a gentleman. The paragon of self-control Edward will not allow them to have premarital sex. The catch is Edward is a vampire.

The abstinence seems to be why many Christian reviewers have heaped praise on the books and movie. I have found two reviews, however, from sources I trust, The Christian Research Journal and WORLD magazine, who think differently.

In CRJ’s review [not available online] entitled, “The Twilight Saga: A Classic Romance Too Mature for Teens,” Stephen Ross takes a fair and balanced look at the series. His review crescendos with this stinging statement: “The Twilight love saga, then, may be the ultimate female coming-of-age fantasy that our biblically illiterate culture can offer, and, as such, this captivating story evokes dangerlously false expectations in young women that no man could ever satisfy. In fact, given that female sexuality is quite naturally rational, far more so than young male sexuality, the comparison that comes to mind is that Twilight is to female sexuality what pornography is to male sexuality.”

WORLD’s review, written from a woman’s perspective, is no kinder. Read the rest of this entry »

From BP: “A leading nonpartisan fact-checking organization says President Obama was incorrect when he said the congressional health care plans could not lead to government-funded abortion.”

Read the original piece here.

The media silence has been deafening in the wake of the recent murder of a pro-life activist from Michigan. Here is the Associated Press story that has received almost no coverage that took some digging to find:

OWOSSO, Mich. (AP) — A man fatally shot an anti-abortion activist near a Michigan high school Friday, drove to a gravel pit and shot its owner to death and planned to kill a third man, but was arrested before he could act, a prosecutor said.

Harlan James Drake, 33, was charged Friday with first-degree murder in the deaths of James Pouillon, 63, and Mike Fuoss, 61, said Shiawassee County Prosecutor Randy Colbry.

“The defendant had ill will toward these three individuals — not for the same reason necessarily, but had a grudge,” Colbry said.

Before classes were to begin Friday, Pouillon was protesting across the street from Owosso High School about 70 miles northwest of Detroit. Drake then drove by the school and shot Pouillon several times in front of horrified students and parents, officials said.

Owosso Police Chief Michael Compeau said he also believed Pouillon was targeted.

Here is more coverage on The Washington Times: http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/watercooler/2009/sep/11/national-right-life-committee-withholds-attack-unl/

Tell me: had you heard about this until now?