As a child, I found myself constantly between the pages of books, eager to learn as much as I could about the main character’s life, goals and desires. I read up to a book per day, both for pleasure as well as for school assignments.
It was rare for me to not be entangled in a story’s plot, reading under the blankets with a flashlight even after I was told to go to bed. I am a self-proclaimed bookworm. Maybe because I didn’t have cable television, maybe because books have a way of helping me escape to a different world.
Either way, I found myself reading every new bestseller that topped the charts year after year. This year, however, I will not be reading the number one bestseller, 50 Shades of Grey (E.L. James, Random House Publishers), due to the inappropriate and horrific ideas presented in the book.
The novel has already sold over 40 million copies, beating out the entire Harry Potter series as the fastest selling book in the world. Almost everyone is buzzing about the impending movie, and who will be cast as what…yada yada yada. Still, the content of this book adds nothing positive to your mind, or even our world.
Since the release of this book, there has been a large amount of Christian backlash against the series and the ideas presented in its plot.
Christian author Dannah Gresh has taken a stand against the entire series and the coming movie. She states that such material as 50 Shades of Grey is detrimental to marriages around the world, and is similar to pornography and is even a form of adultery.
Gresh states, “anything other than my husband creating arousal in me would be missing the mark of God’s intention.”
Still, many people believe that only Christians should avoid these books because of the inappropriate content. I disagree with that statement. No one should be reading this book.
In addition to the other terrible qualities that do apply more to
Christians than to non-Christians, this book does place the main character, a young woman, in servitude to a man. This unhealthy relationship, described in the book, subtly subjects women to being torn down, belittled, and abused through the influence of words and ideas.
The writer glorifies the domination and abuse, allowing believers to accept things as normal, when they are really not. With the world constantly battling sex trafficking and women being abused in and out of households, this book puts our world back several hundred steps away from solutions to these terrible acts. This widely-read piece of literature is against the treatment of humanity! How can we support that?
I know you will make the decision for yourself when it comes to what you read or watch, but I merely ask you to think before you follow the latest trend. Missing out on what seems to be the “fad” may be one of the best choices you could make.
Sources:
Guardian
Buzzfeed.com