If you visit this site long, you will eventually realize my opinions are often a lot different from many Christians. (Although in other ways totally conservative. No wonder I feel schizophrenic at times. LOL) Often I find that the current “Christian” opinion of a book or movie seems too radical or too cut and dried or too cemented in the “status quo” of organized religious thought. This is especially true (or I maybe I just notice it more) in the fantasy and science fiction genres.

         And this always surprises me. I accept the Bible as God’s Word. I do my best to live by its teachings. Every aspect of my life is focused on, formed and evaluated by what I know to be truth as taught by God. If that is so, then why do I find myself so often at odds with current Christian thought?

         My first clash in this area was many, many years age and centered around the very first Star Wars movie (A New Hope). Respected Christian leaders insisted no Christian should watch it, that “the Force” was Satanic and viewing it would make you a pantheist. I, in typical fashion, rebelled. I do that a lot. Maybe it is because I was raised in a non-Christian home and came to the Lord in my teens. Whatever the reason, my first response to all those negative opinions was, “Why?” When no one could give me an answer that satisfied, I ignored them. I do that still. As I’ve gotten older, I’m less rebellious and have settled into my own “status quo”, but I still question and prod and search for what is real and true and right.

         And maybe that is why, even now, at almost 50 years old and after 30+ years of following the Truth, the Life and the Way, I find myself at odds with much common Christian thought. Maybe it is BECAUSE I study the Word, memorize and hid its truths in my mind and compare all I read, all I see, and all I experience to the truth I find there. Maybe the fact that I came to Him as a teen and had to consciously root out wrong thinking and replace it with right thinking keeps me searching the Word, making sure my opinions are formed by His thinking, not just my own. Or maybe it is that, because of all that conscious effort to know and live His truth, I’ve learned to distinguish opinion from principle, fact from favorite teachings.

         That sounds harsh, though. Am I really that different? Surely most Christians read, study and memorize the Word, live their lives by what they learn, form opinions using the Lord’s teachings. Or do they? Is it possible many accept whatever they were taught (or chose in their early years to believe) and don’t expend time and effort evaluating things that don’t interest them? Because of that, they hand out blanket statements, like “any magic in a story makes that story Satanic” or “if Jesus isn’t mentioned at least three times, the story is not Christian”? It IS easier to do that than examine and adjust old opinions, especially if it is an area where you have little or no interest. (Such as, for me, science and politics. LOL)

         Because I enjoy fantasy and science fiction and all things ‘magical”, I have expended a lot of time searching out the Scriptures and discerning what is clearly taught and what is open to opinion and personal preference. Maybe some of my thoughts and observations will help you in the same quest. Hey, who knows? Maybe I’ll even change your opinion on something. Or you will change mine. It’s been know to happen.