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As an author of fantasy fiction, I have often been challenged on some of the things that I choose to write about. Well-meaning readers and concerned parents want to know how I handle violence and romance in the stories. These are fair questions, but might they be handled better by first asking another? Do we censor the Bible for young readers?

I read the Bible cover to cover when I was ten-years-old. It was an eye-opening experience and mind-boggling as well. It was full of good and evil and made me aware of things that were, quite frankly, taboo to young conservative Christian homeschoolers. Do we censor the Bible for young readers in the same way that we do other books, or is a double standard being applied?

Unfortunately the majority of conservative youths will first be educated on sex, romance, violence, betrayal, and many other things when they move out from their parents’ protection… by the secular culture.

Such was the case with me. My first interactions with people in various work environments exposed me to cursing, violence, drug addicts, and promiscuity. Fortunately for me I had already read a lot about these things when I had read the Bible cover to cover. I read about incest, murder, war, cursing, and many other things that corrupt and destroy our world. As a result I was not surprised by them, even though it was a harsh reality to face. Coming into contact with these things in person was far different than simply reading about it.

I made friends with people who were destroying their own lives with drugs and such, and to this day I still think of some of those people fondly but sadly. I was never one to do things just because someone said to. When I wanted to learn about a subject that my parents hadn’t discussed with me openly, I would turn to the encyclopedias and the dictionaries and start researching from there. Later in life the internet played a big part in that as well.

The Bible is not a “sail bright and easy” book. It details horrible deeds. But it also tells the truth of other things that are quite wonderful and often avoided by concerned parents. Some people will disagree, but I believe that it is clear that the Song of Solomon is clearly an erotic tale of a real couple’s experiences.

This brings forward the question: should we censor what is being read by our youths? I do not have a full grasp of this, but I do believe it is folly to let the world answer these questions that our children will raise. An acquaintance of mine once put it very aptly: he would rather that his daughter saw something on a movie that she was watching with him, and that he could then discuss it with her then and there, than that she should see it elsewhere and have someone else interpret it for her. Others who do not have our youths’ best interests at heart are all too willing to teach them, filling in the gaps as it were.

I do not believe that we need to censor the Bible, well probably most any other book as well. But we do need to ground them in a consistent Christian worldview if we want them to make good choices. This is an enormous task but a fascinating one to consider.

When I am writing my fantasy stories, I am looking to create a world that the readers can be absorbed in. I don’t want something that is so watered down that it loses its realism. I do not want to state that something is wrong in the story, instead I want to show the reader. After all, when you live it through the characters’ eyes, the consequences become evident and the choices that they made become clearly good or evil.

Q: Should we censor parts of the Bible for young readers?

Several years ago I remember having a conversation with a fellow author. He also writes fantasy and he was concerned about the impact that fanfiction would have on his brand. Recent battles between major film studios and fan films have brought this back to my mind and I wanted to address it.

As a creative, I totally understand the value of our own work and protecting that. But I think there’s a major difference between someone trying to portray their work as an original (if it is a rip off of someone else’s) as opposed to someone creating a piece of fan fiction and not monetizing it.

A couple of years ago, some of the cast from the original Star Trek series became involved in a rather impressive amateur video production. The online-only TV episode that resulted sought to continue the story that the original television series had never completed. Fans had been producing Star Trek fan videos for a long time, but this one stole the spotlight because it incorporated original cast members and satisfactory special effects. To us Trekkies it was a far better direction than the new films had taken the franchise, because it held true to the fictional universe that is Star Trek the original series, The Next Generation, and others. The studio that owns Star Trek sued the fan fiction producers and, inevitably, won their suit. I think the studio considered it to be a major victory, but from the standpoint of an ordinary citizen it soured the Fanbase, and I think that base is still trying to recoup its former enthusiasm for new Treks. And prior to that Star Trek fans were the greatest advocates for producing new Star Trek television.

Conversely, there is this guy I watch on YouTube, and his fan-fiction for Star Wars hit a historic level in the last couple of years when he produced an impressive 16-minute episode that continued where the movie Revenge Of The Sith left off. He was recently contacted by the studio that owns Disney’s rights and they basically threatened his products, and began to monetize his short film for their own profit. My first reaction upon hearing this, of course was to say, “Oh no, here’s another Star Trek.” But instead of a Trek scenario, Lucasfilm stepped in and shut down the studio’s action! What had been a divisive action, has now been turned into an excellent marketing story that showcases the relationship that Lucasfilm wants with their fanbase. It is, quite frankly, a beautiful thing to see. You can check out the awesome fan film here: Vader: Shards of the Past Maybe, in the future, this YouTuber will be given an opportunity to work with Lucasfilm on high budget Star Wars productions. What better way for them to find talent?

The comparison of these two scenarios, confirms for me that it is better to encourage fans to add to the story worlds that we create. Let them make films, let them write stories, let them create artwork. This doesn’t mean that what they create will be considered canon, but it does mean that they will be marketing the stories they love, and that the stories we create as writers will inspire many more creative minds. Even at its most basic, just allowing for a spirit of generosity and positivity in our story worlds will engender far more success, rather than the hostility generated in situations like CBS with Star Trek. I admire Lucasfilm all the more now.

Q: How does fan fiction impact you?