This is likely to step on some toes.  Especially if you live in  a southern state of the US or consider yourself a conservative Christian.  Religion and politics are very much intertwined here.

Growing up in various churches, I was raised with certain amount of respect and awe for the government.  While campaigns were off limits every other form of government was a part of even church services.  Pledging, patriotic songs, pressure to vote and be a “responsible” citizen were common place topics even in sermons.  Along with the citizenship expectations were the critiques of how poor of a job our government, legislature, judiciary and president was doing.  It seems that Ronald Reagan got a somewhat free ride, but all others since have been fair game.  Granted I was younger when Reagan was president so maybe I just missed some of the critique of him.

Honestly, I’ve always thought of myself as a good citizen.  I voted based on the little information I had about candidates.  I pledged and sang the patriotic songs.  Doing those things gave me a supposedly “God given” right to be critical of the government.  “You can’t criticize if you don’t participate.”

Of course, we all knew the government was only going to get worse.  That is what the book of Revelation says isn’t it?  That the government tyrannizes the world bringing about the end times.  As a child in Southern Baptist and Independent Baptist churches I didn’t even know there were other ways of interpreting the book of Revelation.  The idea of the “Left Behind” series was prevalent in the churches I was in.

It wasn’t until I begin to seriously question everything I had been taught in church that I looked at the “Christian Citizen” idea.  What does the Lord require of us as citizens in relation to the government?  That is quite interesting to study but it takes a lot of time and work.  It also takes throwing out preconceived ideas.

However, books such as The Hunger Games can lead us off track of the appropriate Biblical response by playing with our emotions and directing our thinking to worldly responses to government.  What is the theme in The Hunger Games concerning the government?

~ The government has all the power.  The average man is powerless.  There is no God that is Sovereign.

~ The government gets rich while the masses starve.

~ Government is bad–really bad.  Ordinary folks are good but manipulated and driven to do bad things by desperation.

“The Capitol is hateful, and cruel, and distasteful, and obnoxious, and decadent, and icky . . . but not evil, as measured against any external standard. The Capitol is to be disliked because the Capitol is making people do things they would rather not be doing. But nowhere is there a simple refusal. There is a desire to have it all go away, but everybody participates with an appropriate amount of sullenness.   ”

The story is told with enough detachment and distance that you feel like the participants really do have to cooperate. Resistance is futile . . .

…

in terms of helping Christian young people set their minds and hearts on that which is noble and right, we can’t even give it one star. We would have to assign, in this last category, one burnt out asteroid.

http://www.credenda.org/index.php/Reviews/christians-and-the-hunger-games.html

The government in The Hunger Games plays right into the concept of the government is “evil” and always abusing the citizens.  The AntiChrist view of government.  Satan is in control and seeks to destroy the people through the government.  Man is just an abused pawn in the hands of big government.  Man is forced to kill, cheat and steal in order to survive.

1 Corinthians 6:1  “Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?”

“Better to be wronged than to do wrong.” Thomas Watson

But how should we as believers look at the government?  Is government the ultimate evil manipulated by Satan?

Romans 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

Government is instituted by God for our benefit.  God has placed our government over us for our good.

1 Peter 3:13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.

Yet The Hunger Games portrays the government as the source of all the evil.  Government is not the enemy but is used by God for His purposes.

The other false view of government presented in The Hunger Games is that the right government and / or the overthrow of the bad will lead to saving the people from evil.  Katniss is put forward as a savior of the people, the common ‘good’ people.  She is the ‘political candidate’ that will turn things around and over throw the evil.  Then of course with the right government in place everything will go well.

Neither view of the government is accurate.  Government is not the AntiChrist nor the Messiah.  Government is a tool of the Lord to fulfill His purposes either to punish the evil or to reward the good.

What is your view of government?  Is it Biblical?

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“An implicit confession is almost as bad as an implicit faith;

wicked men commonly confess their sins by wholesale.

We are all sinners;

but the true penitent confesses his sins by retail.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thomas Brooks, (1608–1680)

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Several months ago my middle son came running in saying he had seen a bear in the neighbor’s woods.  We didn’t know whether to believe him or chalk it up to an over active imagination.   He is the one though that if there is a snake nearby he will see it.  My oldest daughter went out with him carrying the camera to get a picture of this bear.  Before long they came back and both reported having seen the bear but he was too far away for the camera to pick him up.  Then throughout the day they saw him several times.  I had injured my foot and was unable to traipse around outside very well.  The bear did not seem intimidated by the humans watching him and even was brave enough to come closer to the barn later in the day.

Since bears don’t live in this part of Alabama:

“Black bears in Alabama are primarily limited to Baldwin, Mobile, and Washington counties.  Reports of bears have been confirmed in several northeast counties but are suspected of being transient bears from other southeastern states.”

http://www.outdooralabama.com/watchable-wildlife/what/mammals/Carnivores/bb.cfm

I called a couple of the neighbors to let them know about it. After the kids had seen the bear for the fourth time that day, near our property, I decided to call the Alabama Fish and Wildlife to report it.  The Game Warden came out and my son showed him where he had first seen the bear and the area where they had both seen him.  No evidence was found, of course.  Too many leaves for footprints.  But it began to rain in earnest after being a misty day so the hunt for the bear was cut short.  Essentially we got the impression that either we were mistaken about the bear or that it was just traveling thorough.  Not a big deal. Heard how some folks erroneously report things such as black wolves or cougars.  But of course, cougars aren’t around because if they were they would be getting hit by cars like they are in Florida.

We found footprints and much more evidence (scat, trees scratched and down) over the next few days.  The bear was also seen in our pasture a couple of times shortly thereafter.  But the Pyrs also saw the bear and gave it a furious chase.  Since then we haven’t ‘seen’ the bear in our property but it likes the neighbor’s and has been seen and heard several times since then over there.  It sounds like an elephant walking through the woods.  After it was obvious the bear was sticking around and we had evidence, I called the Alabama Fish and Wildlife again to update.  “The State Biologist will give me a call.”  So far several months later I have yet to receive that call.

One neighbor has told us she has since both seen the bear and had troubles with the bear and garbage cans.  Turns out the bear hauled her garbage can, the large rural dumpster can, to the edge of the woods.  Another time a bag of garbage was carried to the middle of a field.

Here is a picture of one very large bear foot.  This is 9 inches long and 6 inches across.  We got this at the fence area where the bear was coming into our property.

 

 

A game camera failed to get any pictures of the bear.  Nor have we have succeeded in getting pictures.  No one has seen the bear when they have the camera.  The joke is the safest way to be in the woods or on the mountain is to carry the camera.  Once my son and daughter were together and they had the camera.  For a short bit my son walked on ahead with the camera while his sister was behind him some.  She ran up on the bear up close and personal but of course no camera.  The bear had moved on by the time my son returned to her.

Now we have seen multiple bears and cubs so there is definitely a reproducing population of bears NOT LIVING in this area of Alabama. {sarcasm}

I had started this post back in January but was hoping to get a picture of the bear that doesn’t live in Alabama but alas I think the bear is laughing at us.  But that’s OK because bears in Alabama are old news ……….!

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Ahava

Bluegrass Gospel Festival

Friday May 11 and Saturday May 12, 2012.

Friday       1 – 5  Open Picking

5 – 9 PM Bands

Saturday   10am-5pm Bands

a good old pickin’ session until…

Bands:

Golden Valley Crusaders from NC,

Tall Pines,

McCools East,

The Carrell Family,

Wills Valley Bluegrass,

Chords of Glory,

The Sparks Family,

Mary Scott

The Gospel Highway

Donation of $5 Friday and $10 Saturday for ages 16 & up (all others are free).

Food vendors will be on site with hamburger, hotdogs, BBQ, etc.  Handicap parking is available.  Bring your lawn chairs, but not your pets.  Sound will be provided by Isaac Carrell who is also the MC.  There will be local vendors on site with handmade crafts, etc.  Any proceeds after the band costs will go toward the development of Ahava Springs – a facility promoting Biblical leadership and families (Ezra 8).

Located at 1040 Sumatanga Road in Gallant, AL.

For the Musicians: Bring your instruments.  There will be an open stage time during lunch.  Based on the number interested and time permitting, a limited number will be selected to perform on stage.  See Isaac Carrell when you arrive and arrange with him.  After the bands finish, there will be an open time of pickin’ for everyone to play

Directions:From I59 North-East of Birmingham AL take exit 166 US231 North 3.3 miles toward Oneonta, turn right onto the Gallant road, proceed 3.4 miles, turn right onto Sumatanga road, go 4 miles, Ahava Springs on left.

For information: call (256)538-2602 or visit ahavasprings.com

The Alabama legislature has increased the mandatory school age from 7 years – 17 years to 6 years – 17 years.  All that remains is Governor Bentley to sign the bill.

House bill 141 is proposed to increase the mandatory school age to 18 years.  This one is not passed yet but is heading in that direction.

HSLDA has more information available about the proposed bills in Alabama or other states.

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Suicide, especially teen suicide, is a very touchy subject. Very few people have not been affected by suicide, either by knowing someone who committed suicide or else knowing someone who has attempted suicide. Opinions are all across the board concerning suicide, suicide prevention and the reasons people commit suicide. But I’m not going to look at any of that, just suicide and The Hunger Games series.

Since I did not read The Hunger Games series I can’t tell you how much of a focus the books gave to the suicide concepts. It could have been one or two sentences or whole chapters. But that really is beside the point. There are several instances in the series where suicide is broached.

~ Katniss and Peeta threaten to commit suicide and pretend to eat poisonous berries at the end of the competition when the rule is changed back to only one survivor.

“Without a victor, the whole thing would blow up in the Gamemakers’ faces. They’d have failed the Capitol. Might possibly even be executed, slowly and painfully while the cameras broadcast it to every screen in the country.

If Peeta and I were both to die, or they thought we were …”

~ Foxface eats the poisonous berries and dies. Whether suicide or not is debatable.

~ Seneca is set in a room with poison berries on the table and is pushed to end it all. (This appears to be in the movie and not necessarily the book.)

~ Katniss and Peeta carry poisonous berries in hopes of an opportunity to use them on Cato.

What do stories and books like The Hunger Games teach our children when they include such tidbits of suicide?

1) It teaches our children that they can play around the edges of suicide. They can have a means available, easily available even. They can contemplate suicide. Many might be surprised at how often a teen may play around the edges of suicide and find they get to a point of no return. There is a high that can be achieved just before the point of suicide but crossing that line can mean death. Things like inhaling fumes, choking or even bleeding can produce a euphoric high but many, many times teens find they have gone too far leading to serious illness or death.

2) It propagates the idea that man is in control of his destiny. In the mind of a suicidal person they are in control, God is not Sovereign. While what a man thinks about God’s Sovereignty doesn’t negate God’s Sovereignty by any means, sometimes the Lord does turn man over to his own vain lusts and allow them to reap what they desire.

3) Suicidal manipulation is encouraged. Unless you’ve ever experienced this it might not mean much to you. However, I did growing up and believe me it isn’t pleasant. Suicidal manipulators are those who use the ultimate threat (in their mind’s eye) of suicide to get their way. Out of control teens can easily learn to use threats of suicide in order to manipulate weak parents into giving into their every demand. Adults can manipulate others by threatening to ‘end it all’. What then happens is everyone walks around on eggshells fearing to upset another person’s ‘delicate balance’ in life.

4) Suicide is often used as a means to hurt others. I remember my mom telling of a teen when she was a teen who committed suicide. Why? Because the teen did not get her way in some minor disagreement with her parents. So the teen stormed out and said “I’ll show you!” and killed herself. She hurt her parents by her suicide in order to punish them.

5) Suicide belies the fact that God says He will never give us more than we can bear.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV) No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

6) The Werther Effect means there may be some teens who seek to copy the suicide ideas in The Hunger Games. What is the Werther Effect?

One of the earliest known associations between the media and suicide arose from Goethe’s novel Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (The Sorrows of Young Werther). Goethe’s novel was published in 1774 and not long after young men began to mimic the character Werther by dressing in yellow pants and blue jackets. The new fashion trend seemed to be entertaining to the public. A new trend also emerged from the book causing it to be banned in numerous areas. In the novel, Werther commits suicide with a pistol after he fails to get the girl he desires. Many men replicated this trend in an act of hopelessness. In that work the hero shoots himself after an ill-fated love, and shortly after its publication there were many reports of young men using the same method to commit suicide. This resulted in a ban of the book in several places. Hence the term “Werther effect”, used in the technical literature to designate copycat suicides. The term was coined by researcher David Phillips in 1974. Two centuries after Goethe’s novel was published David Phillips confirmed imitative suicides as the “Werther effect.” Reports in 1985 and 1989 by Phillips and his colleagues found that suicides and other accidents seem to incline after a well publicized suicide. Copycat suicide is mostly blamed on the media. “Hearing about a suicide seems to make those who are vulnerable feel they have permission to do it,” Dr. Phillips said. He cited studies that showed that people were more likely to engage in dangerous deviant behavior, such as drug taking, if someone else had set the example first.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copycat_suicide

The Werther Effect reveals that the popular idea of writing and exposing children and teens to tough and serious concepts like suicide in their books in order to aid them in handling the issues doesn’t not always work and may actually cause the issue they are trying to avoid.

Why would we want to expose our children to such?

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Last four days to order the Alpha Omega Publications

curriculum for homeschooling at the 20% discount.

The sale will be over the end of April.

May will have a 15% off sale.

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Finally Prissy had her baby!

She ended up being pregnant for 367 days so some level of orneriness was to be expected but she was way on up there in the bad attitude department.  A week after Honey had her baby Prissy acted suspicious so we began to really watch her, and watch her and watch her ….  For some strange reason Prissy would spend a few hours seeming to be in beginning labor and then she would stop and go on her way.  She did that almost everyday for the next two weeks.  We would observe for a few hours humming, grunting, restlessness, and miserableness but then she would return to normal.

Poor Honey and Miracle got fussed at and spit at quite a bit.  Prissy thinks Miracle, the baby, should read her mind.  “Move it, like yesterday”, … spit, … spit, … SPIT, … Neck Pinning!  Honey is glad Prissy has someone else to spit at.  Cria discipline 101.     Miracle is either really clueless about the spitting thing or else she is just so laid back it doesn’t bother her.  Miracle would often just continue standing there while Prissy pinned her ears and spit repeatedly.

Friends joked that Prissy wasn’t really pregnant she was just fat.  Granted Prissy was huge but yes she was pregnant.  She had developed an udder and we would regularly watch for her baby to move.  Prissy had never had a live baby before.  She had two still born males in her early years and had not been pregnant since in several years.  So we watched her like a hawk.  I had stressed to the kids that once Prissy was actually having her baby we only had about 10 minutes to get it delivered.  Crias have very short umbilical cords and they break before the baby is totally delivered.  Thus a breech or slow delivery could mean the baby lacks oxygen.  Llama mothers also do not clean the sack from their babies like other animals might so if the sack remains over the baby’s face it might die right where born.  So since we knew Prissy’s history we watched her closely.  Llama mothers don’t do baby movement counts like ob/gyn’s have human mothers count baby movement daily.  So we did that for her.  The baby was very active and rather consistent in movement.  It could also pack a wallop so I had decided it must be a big boy.  I was beginning to worry about how big since Honey’s was 20 pounds and Prissy was three weeks later and much larger than Honey ever got.

On Friday April 20th, I went up to the barn to check one last time before bed.  Prissy was grunting, humming and had her tail flipped over her back.  So I settle down in the barn to watch her for a while.  Boy, it was cold for middle April!  We had 80 degree weather all through February and March and now it was 40 degrees.  I left to change into a sweatsuit.  Prissy seemed to be laboring along but slowly.  Nothing near as dramatic as Honey’s labor.  Later I have to go to the house for a blanket.  I’m freezing but definitely don’t want to leave in case she does have that baby as cold as it is.  Around 4:00 AM everything stopped and Prissy settled down to sleep.   What all this for nothing?  I finally go to bed.

The next morning Prissy was perfectly normal, grazing away without a care in the world.  We had plans to attend a birthday party for a few hours but I decided no one had to stay home because we weren’t going to be gone that long and honestly Prissy was never going to have that baby.  Low and behold when we get home from the party we have two crias in the barnyard!

We have no clue about the delivery so we don’t know why her previous babies had been still born.  Don’t know if she tends to have mal-positioned babies or breech.  Don’t know if the sack doesn’t tear like it should.  Really clueless but very thankful that everything went well and that Prissy can have healthy babies.  We do have a Pyr who would be sure to clean up a baby the moment she saw it and keep it warm.

Lady Llaine is white with dark brown ears and top of head and several small black spots.  All four feet are black so it looks like she has boots on.  She weighed only 20 pounds and is alot smaller boned than Miracle.  She doesn’t look too much like her mother, which is a good thing, but more like the daddy who was smaller than the females.

Lady Llaine got her name because when Honey was having her baby I was emailing friends and one friend’s name Laine gave me fits because I would type Llaine every time because of the double Ll in llama.  Finally I got tired of deleting and changing it to the correct way.  So I just sent it on as Llaine.  Well, Laine liked it and suggested we name the baby that.  I said if you pray for us a healthy baby girl I would.  Well, we got a healthy baby girl.

I had teased that we would name her Lady Llaine Fairchilde after Lady Elaine Fairchilde in the Neighborhood of Make Believe on Mr. Rogers, the old children’s television show.  Lady Elaine was fussy, bossy and not known for her beauty so I thought it might fit Prissy’s baby.  But the kids have since vetoed the Fairchilde part because they think Lady Llaine is too pretty for such a name.

We had trouble getting Lady Llaine to gain weight.  She started at 20 pounds and bounced between 19 and 20 pounds for five days!  She never showed much gain, just an ounce or two and then drop down.  Prissy had plenty of milk, baby seemed to be nursing well and her plumbing was working.  I even tried to bottle feed the baby one night.  Then I got to see how strong a cria can be!  No milk got in her – just on her and all over me.  But she got mad and went to nurse her moma.   The next day she did show a 0.4 pound gain without losing it.  Gradually she has begun to catch up in the weight gain area.  She is now 25.5 pounds at 11 days which is 1/2 a pound a day average since birth although really it has been 0.9 pounds a day in the last 6 days.  Which is good!  But nothing like Miracle’s 1 – 1.5 pound gain every single day.

Miracle loves Lady Llaine and follows her everywhere.  They are great buddies and run around wildly like a couple of horse foals.  Boy, I never realized crias would run so much.  We laugh that when Lady Llaine is running “Well, there goes another pound off.”  Prissy is the Alpha female here and Lady Llaine shows she is the Alpha baby.  She has pinned her ears back at Miracle a couple of times.  I think Miracle is too mouthy and wants to chew on ears.  But Miracle takes it all in stride nothing seems to bother her except holding her for a weight, which we can’t hardly do anymore.  Miracle is somewhere between 50 – 60 pounds, and strong.

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Continuing with my “The Hunger Games a Non-Readers Review” here are possible discussion points that may occur when others are recommending the book.

Reading what others have written explaining why The Hunger Games is acceptable really sounds quite strange when you read them with a different Biblical perspective.  Often a person’s first encounter with a book or other media source will be hearing someone else talk about it or seeing a comment on Facebook.  So from there you can get an idea of what the book is about and begin to discuss it with a Biblical perspective.

Here are some quotes from other Christians on other sites who reviewed the book or movie and who saw no problem with the book.  I would like my children to be able to discuss a Biblical response when they hear things like this whether they know anything about the book or not.

 

1)      “Katniss only killed in self-defense or in a mercy killing.”

Only?  So that makes it OK?  I laughed when I read this response as to why the book was OK from a Christian.  Really now?  Mercy killing?  Sounds like the government will have no trouble passing laws for assisted suicide or infant euthanasia.  What is mercy killing but taking life and death decisions into your own hands and playing God?  So much for Pro-Life, special needs adoption and elder care because those all fall under “mercy” killing in the eyes of some.

 

2)      “The book is clearly portraying evil verses good – “… the participants in the games [are] either all-good or all-evil.”

No one is all evil or all good.  That is false according to the Bible.

Matthew 19:17 (ESV) … There is only one who is good….

What the book is displaying is actually evil verses evil. Utter hopelessness as a result of no good options being expressed because the book does not offer anything but “kill or be killed”.

 

3)      “It was kill or be killed, that was the only choice.”

“Kill or be killed” is evil.  The “good” decision would be to refuse to participate even if death was the result.  Early Christian Martyrs died over refusing to say one false word.  They didn’t rationalize that they or their family could survive if they just said what was required.  No they stood firm despite the pressure, the pain and the hunger.  For Christians death is not the ultimate enemy.  Jesus defeated death with His resurrection.  We don’t have to live a life of hopelessness seeking to avoid death at all costs.

 

4)      “The book was clear about the evil of watching as spectators the children killing children; you leave the book or movie knowing how evil it is.”

Really?  What is the difference between what the spectators in the book did and what the reader does?  The spectators watch the children killing children rooting for the one they want to win.  The readers get so swept up in the reading that they find themselves rooting for Katniss to win, even if that means she must “kill or be killed” according to the plot.  What makes the reader of the book or the movie goer any different from the spectators?  The Hunger Games book costs around $10.00 right now and a movie ticket is around $12.50.  So people are paying money to read about or see children killing children.  Does it matter if you are repulsed by the concept?  You have supported it and your emotions get involved and you find yourself rooting against contestants.   You then are no different from the spectators of the Roman Gladiator Games despite how you try to convince yourself otherwise.  The movie garnered $155 million dollars for the opening weekend, who are we kidding?

NPR from David Edelstein:

“Out of 24 participants, only one child will live. And we hope it will be Katniss Everdeen, from the impoverished mining District 12—a teen who, when her little sister is picked in the lottery, volunteers to take her place. Why is it problematic? Kids killing kids is the most wrenching thing we can imagine, and rooting for the deaths of Katniss’ opponents can’t help but implicate us.  But the novel is written by a humanist: When a child dies, we breathe a sigh of relief that Katniss has one less adversary, but we never go, “Yes!” —we feel only revulsion for this evil ritual.

If the film’s director, Gary Ross, has any qualms about kids killing kids, he keeps them to himself. The murders on screen are fast and largely pain-free—you can hardly see who’s killing who. So, despite the high body count, the rating is PG-13. Think about it: You make killing vivid and upsetting and get an R. You take the sting out of it, and kids are allowed into the theater. The ratings board has it backward.”   [bold added]

What would the early Christian Martyrs think about Christians today paying money to read and watch children killing children?

“If nobody watches the Games, then there’s no reason to have them.”

In reading the book or watching the movie you are giving approval to those who practice such things.

Romans 1:28-32 (ESV)

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,

30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,

31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

32 Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

 

5)      “Well the Bible is just as dark”

Yes, the Bible does cover violent and evil things.  However, throughout the Bible it is clear about God’s Sovereignty and that the evil is the result of man’s fallen and depraved choices.  The Bible provides hope thorough Christ whereas the book series offers no hope.

 

6)      “The murders aren’t the story”

Remove the murders, the animals and creatures killing children, the plotting to kill, the striving to not be murdered and the whole reason for the Hunger Games and what will you have?  A couple of pages of dialogue.  The murders are the story.

 

7)      “Not for young children, not for sensitive children, …”

Why is it that some children are sensitive to violence and death and others not?  Have you ever considered why some children are more affected by things than other children?  Is that the negative that society says it is?  Why do we think violence is acceptable for adults and not for children?  Does that just mean we as adults have become hardened to violence?  Now granted there are some subject matters that are better left to adults (marital intimacy, details of childbirth) but do adults really need to expose themselves to violence that is too much for children?  Just maybe the “sensitive” children are the ones who have it right.

 

8)      The book is anti-authority

The book is very much anti-government.  Government is looked at as the source of the evil that is occurring.  However, our government is under the Sovereignty of God and if we are under a bad or horrible government is because that is deemed for our good by God.

Romans 13:1-4 (ESV)

1 Let every person  be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,

4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.

Not only is the book anti-government but it is also anti-adult.  The teens are seen as the wise ones while all the adults are either evil or incompetent.  Remember the Toy Story movies where the single mom is the best parent but the family with a father and mother are incompetent parents of the evil Sid?  There is a message behind portrayals like that.  Why should Christians support propagation of such stereotypes?

Do I have to watch the movie or read the book in order to engage the culture with the gospel as a result of the book? By no means.  Just as I don’t need to have divorced to engage unbelievers in a biblical discussion of divorce.  I can engage in a discussion just from reading reviews and listening to others.  No need to crawl around in the mud first to warn others of a mud hole.

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I generally try to avoid as much of the popular culture as possible. Most is just trash and a waste of time so unless I have a reason to look at what is popular in the forms of entertainment, books, movies or music, I skip it. I usually only look into it when it crosses my line of sight if a Christian begins discussing something that sends up red flags or recommends it to me. A few weeks ago a friend pointed out that one of her teens had asked about reading “The Hunger Games” because another Christian teen had recommended it, but they, the parents, decided not to allow it due to the premise of the book. Now I recognized the title because I had heard hype about the movie coming out but I was clueless. When I had seen the title “The Hunger Games”, honestly, I thought it was a reality show like “Biggest Loser” which I have heard of before. But since other Christians were allowing their teens to read the book I thought I should at least check it out. At least confirm it wasn’t the latest dieting fad. Ha, boy was I wrong!

My oldest two (20 and 17) children said that several of their friends were reading the book and it had been discussed quite frequently. I asked them what they thought and they both said the book and its theme were rather stupid and they weren’t interested. Well good, but not exactly a Biblical reasoning. Was the rejection just a matter of taste or is there a Biblical reason to reject the book?

Now, of course, my natural inclination is to reject anything the world goes crazy over, usually that suffices. But when other Christians are thrilled over something then maybe it is of value or worthwhile. But then again, maybe not. Years ago when my oldest was just starting school I trusted a good Christian friend on her evaluation of C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. I had never read it and when you have children who read voraciously it is very hard to keep up if you didn’t grow up reading sound Christian books yourself. In retrospect I may not have let my children read the Narnia series or at least not as first and second graders. Why? Read here. Not only that but I have actually matured in my faith since my first were young. Imagine that! My view of books and media through the lens of Scripture is quite different now.

So for the benefit of my children I decided to review “The Hunger Games”. But I’m not going to read the book nor watch the movie. Horrors! Review a book without reading it. Yeap! Just as I can write about the horrors of drug abuse with ever having taken illegal drugs, I can review a book without reading it, especially in this internet age. Since the book and the movie are very close I will focus mostly on the book. Generally the movie is said to be milder in the violence described and to have left out portions of the book.

For those who are clueless like I was here is the Amazon description of the book:

Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, “The Hunger Games.” The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat’s sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place.

That would be enough for me to avoid the book right there – “kill or be killed.” If it was turned into a video game, which I’m sure it will be, would you let your children play it? Generally as Christians, I think not. But we seem to think reading about killing isn’t as dangerous as watching it.

So how do you evaluate a book without reading it and with just a general idea of what it entails? First you start with your plumb line – the Bible. Then I would take ideas and concepts from the book and compare the ideology and doctrine back to Scripture. The hard part is recognizing the ideology behind certain concepts. Logic and deductive reasoning was sorely lacking in my public school education and I’ve yet to come across a curriculum that teaches that well. Any suggestions?

We are given some general guidelines in Scripture:

Philippians 4:8 (ESV) Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

1 Thessalonians 5:22 (ESV) Abstain from every form of evil.

1 Corinthians 10:23 (ESV) “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.

That’s nothing new, we all know those. But often the argument is that the Bible is very clear about evil and describes it in detail – gory detail at times. However, the Bible is not literature, not even excellent literature, nor should it ever be lumped into a literature class, but it is the direct words of God to Man, its violence and gore is revealing human nature and how God has worked throughout time.

So I will break this review into several parts due to the length.

 

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