Author Appleton

Writing. Fantasy. Sci-fi. Mystery

Christianity

Destructive effects of feminism on fiction

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In the worldview of those who agree that God created a natural order of things, we understand that Adam was created first and then Eve. In the world today this is constantly challenged on many levels. From the patriarch Abraham and continuing through the New Testament it was made clear that God’s intention was that a healthy understanding of the place of the man and the place of the woman was key to the success spiritually and relationally. Looking at the move toward stories that are dominated by domineering fictional women, we see a trend and a movement away from the natural order.

This may offend some, and you should feel free to disagree. It is fun to hash out our differences of opinion. But I am a big proponent of understanding things as they were originally intended, not as we culturally want them to be. And our culture is pushing things farther and farther away from how God designed it to work.

Feminism, by definition, is: the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.

I have often heard it argued by other Christians that men and women really are equal. But in order to believe that you have to discredit the tradition as taught by the apostles, that the man is the head of the wife and she is to be obedient to him. You must ignore Levitical law that placed men in preeminence in society and in their households. You must ignore the natural physical dominance of men. And you must discredit the fact that families where the man leads, the wife follows, and the children are in subjection, where the man is trying to lead in the Lord’s will, is the most effective kind of household there is. They are more effective at work, at play, and spiritually more satisfied because they feel secure in the order of authority God placed on the household.

When women seek equality with men (as is being proliferated throughout much of the world today) they remove themselves from their strength zone. Women are naturally more nurturing than men. The most nurturing of men is not nearly so nurturing as the most nurturing of the women. According to scripture they are the weaker vessel. Unfortunately present society instructs us that this is a horrible way to think.

They are spreading lies, and the result is confusion. Spiritual and moral confusion, as well as relational confusion.

How sad that that which is most precious and beautiful is being cast into the mud!

What is beautiful is a woman who is meek, who is a help suitable to her husband. Who is a daughter working diligently and learning under her father’s authority. Who is not independent but is dependent on her male authorities and on God.

It is well said that a man’s sinful tendencies revolve around giving up the authority God wishes him to exercise in his home. It is equally well pointed out that a woman’s sinful inclination is to manipulate that control from the man. To each gender God has given great and unique purpose. And each must beware their weakness.

Fiction writers today, especially those of us who profess Christ, must beware that our writing does not encourage feminism. Through the tale of  a strong heroine do not neglect to demonstrate virtue to the reader. When the heroine is in a position to surmount the man’s authority, let her do so only if his actions are in opposition to God’s. Demonstrate her humility as she puts herself under authority and excels in virtue so that young women will aspire to be more like that heroine. Show a woman that is kind and nurturing, wise and discreet. Make her unlike the modern woman. Show that she thrives on hard work, and show that she loves children.

I truly believe that the corruption of womanhood that we are witnessing in society will be laid bare, exposed for the farce that it is. Rather than freeing women, feminism alienates them from good responsible men and from their God-given strengths.

History shows that societies rise and fall, they change and move on. What never changes is the will of God. He created gender for a reason.

Q: What thoughts do you have on how feminism or the view of the relationships of men and women relate to writing?

Dealing with immorality when writing fiction

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During contract negotiations some years ago my fantasy novel Swords of the Six went before a Christian publishing house’s committee and a couple of editors raised objection with the violence in the story. I remember the acquisitions editor asked for a good response to their concerns. Back then I felt in my soul what I wanted to say, but it was difficult to put it into words. Fortunately another editor had foreseen this and I was able to satisfy their questions by showing them why I believed violence was a necessary element in that novel.

In my books and my short fiction I deal with tough subjects, darker themes. Being a Christian empowers the clarity of good versus evil, yet it presents its own set of challenges when well-meaning parents or readers object to elements of my stories’ content. Violence and romance are a couple of examples.

As a guideline I like to look at what God left us: the Bible. And what is the Bible full of? Along with good deeds it is full of violence, theft, incest, rape, murder, and all kinds of wickedness. But what the Scripture does not do is glorify the sin or the sinner.

Some have argued that those sins are shown only because they are part of history, but it’s important to note that these things are not glossed over. Rather, they are often told in great detail. As to historical context, a simple summary of an evil act or an act of violence would suffice but instead we are often given the details.

A prime example is Ehud who slew King Eglon (Judges 3:12-30). Some would consider the details of Eglon’s death gross and gratuitous. Who wants to picture stabbing someone who was fat enough that his body fat prevented Ehud from pulling the blade back out?

But because of the details we experience disgust, and those who are inclined toward wicked deeds find themselves horrified at the consequences of God’s retribution.

In past ages children were not sheltered as much as conservative Christian American children are from tales of violence and cruelty. Well-meaning parents often miss the point of showing the good along with the bad. The law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, and without a fear of God no one flees into His arms for salvation.

Christianity has the advantage in fiction because it demonstrates love and fear, wonder and evil and horrors. Without the darkness we cannot see how bright the light is.

When fiction is written to be “safe” it creates unrealistic expectations for relationships and our lives. It paints a picture in our mind of ideal people in ideal or easier circumstances.

It is my conviction that we need less “sanitized” fiction and more honest fiction. We need to stop avoiding evil in story in order that the light can reveal the darkness for what it really is. Too often conservative Christian youths enter the world and find that “Surprise! Sin is pleasurable.” But if they are taught to discern instead of avoid, they will have greater defense against temptation because they know that the pleasures of sin only last for a season.

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for  a whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For  the one who sows to his own flesh  will from the flesh reap corruption, but  the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7,8 ESV)

Instead of interpreting what is good by how we were culturally raised, let’s learn it from how it is demonstrated in Biblical and historical narratives. Instead of worrying how culture will respond to our writing, let’s be excited to share through stories that are true to our earthly existence, even if that means we have to drag readers through darker events and wickedness.

Show the good, but show the bad too. The Biblical cannon demonstrates this repeatedly. Writing is only powerful as long as we are willing to let it take us through the muck as well as the green fields.

Q: Which subjects do you avoid when reading fiction?

Choices and Your Destiny

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You are the sum of your choices, not the victim of your circumstances. Some folks attribute the person they become to the way they were raised, the opportunities they had, who their role models were. But history is replete with people who came out of nothing, even out of bad circumstances, and  rose to greatness. The truth is more challenging than that and understanding it enlightens us as to how heroes come to be.

What separates the average person from an individual who stands out is the choices they make. This is key in writing. You cannot root for a character that wallows in self-pity, yet you can root for one that rises above the muck to follow conscience and vision.

When I was growing up I refused to let discouragements push me away from my dreams and my spiritual convictions. My parents always told me to dream big and to never stop believing that I could fulfill those dreams. I failed many times, of course, yet God would always put me back on track when I made the right choices again.

I hit a rough patch when I left home to join the work force. Starting when I was sixteen the people I spent hours with at work each day did not share my Christian values. Many of them were good people yet they did not understand my convictions. Constantly my convictions were challenged and I discovered that people really do try to pull you into fellowship with their sins. Otherwise you make them uncomfortable. Many times others offered to pay my way into a strip club or go and get drunk. “You don’t know unless you try,” they’d say.

I do not recall these things to build my esteem in your eyes, but rather to remind and warn. Choice governs our destiny. I made some poor choices during that time that set me back spiritually, but thank God I also made better choices that strengthened me to continue growing toward the type of man I wanted to be.

Many young Christians fall during that transition, even fall away from the faith. It is a time of testing to see if the convictions they voice are a conviction in their souls or merely a carry over from the way they were raised. They allow failings to strengthen discouragement until the pattern of their life is a spiritual defeat. I have seen many hearts turned wholly to the world instead of to seeking God.

The world defines someone as a hero if they “follow their heart.” If they stand out as different from the norm with strange, revolutionary thinking. This is especially true if they depart from tradition; historical and Christian values. Little do these folks realize that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. It can be led astray and must be guarded.

A true hero meets those moments when culture challenges them and they stand firm in conviction. In faith and action they demonstrate a desire to grow in favor with God, not with the world.

We are the sum of our choices. Our choices can be guided by wisdom or by the desires of our heart. It’s a hard battle, yet with each right choice we fashion our habits and our destiny in favor with God.

In some ways you could say that true heroes are made, not born. Or, rather, that true heroes are born of their choices. They live with a healthy fear of the God who made them.

Q: To what destiny are your choices guiding you?

Divinity and accountability in Fiction

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When writing I have often pondered the futility of leaving God out of the story. His presence, whether embodied or as a distant spirit-being, omnipresent and omniscient, is necessary even in fiction. Without an ultimate accountability characters lose their punch.

All stories need a level of good versus evil. Characters make choices between right and wrong. Humanism would have us believe that we do not need God to explain the choice between good and evil, whereas the standard of morality we know is completely dependant on Him.

Western society is founded on the moral system passed down by Judeo-Christian values. Without a Common Standard of morality society is left to the whims of its individual members. One person may say that stealing is wrong, but another may say it is not because they believe in survival of the fittest.

Why is sin always sin? Why believe in truth and falsehood? Because we do have a standard in the laws passed down by God through Moses and the prophets and Jesus Christ.

This is pivotal in writing. Literature needs to reflect that God is the same always, whether in the past or in the present or in the future. An eternal being whose standards are not dependant on our desires, whims, or failings.

Without that standard a story becomes dependent on the characters’ perspectives. But when that standard is used the story gains coherancy because all actions, whether good or bad, have consequences temporal . . . and eternal.

Freedom of choice does not mean your characters can escape the fact that they are created beings.

Question: How does accountablity to God factor in the fiction you read and write?

How we create Tomorrowland today

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While watching the new Disney film Tomorrowland I found myself relating to its overriding theme: Negative thinking steers our world toward a negative outcome. Positive thinking steers us toward positive results. I found myself asking, “What kind of a future world do I want to create?”

Doom and gloom. The news is full of it, and people gobble it up.

I have collected most of the old Disney family films and one I really appreciate is Pollyanna. Based off of the book, this is the tale of an orphan girl who shares her message of positivity with the negative townsfolk. In my favorite scene of the movie she reads to the pastor from the quote on a locket that her father gave to her.

“If you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.” -Abraham Lincoln

In the movie Tomorrowland we explore the future that is created by our negative thinking. But what interested me most was considering the kind of future we can have if we approach things from a positive outlook.

If we look back through history there have been times of great darkness that only ended because a few brave souls stood against it. They chose to think positively and imagine creatively. Christian martyrs did not let intense persecution stifle their message, the message of Christ that created western society as we know it. Inventors like Tesla did not let negativity or adversity stop them in their ingenuity. The founding fathers of the United States did not let a tyrant or the cost of liberty stop them from proudly touting that message of a nation under God with liberty and justice for all.

For my part I want to return to the positive outlook. The world I see is cars flying instead of driving. Solar and wind-powered cities… More than this, let’s look beyond the technology and anticipate a society that fears and worships God. Where the young and the old care for each other. A return to the values that made this country great.

We are living in the Future our American ancestors Envisioned. Dreams become reality.

Q: What future do you envision?

Magic in Fantasy Fiction: Powers of God and powers of the Devil

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There are many ways that various writers have dealt with the subject of magic in their stories, but most pitch a “good” wizard or witch against an “evil” wizard or witch.

What is acceptable when creating a fantasy story from a Christian worldview? We know that God condemned wizards, witches, sorcerers, mediums, and the like. Some Christians are apt to ignore or else deny that the Devil has real power in the world. He, like God, can perform signs and wonders, but just because there is power in such things does not mean that they are right.

We read of magic in fantasy stories and, interestingly, throughout Biblical history we have stories of what we can term “magic.” Moses’s shepherd staff was empowered by God. At will he or Aaron could throw it on the ground and it would transform into a snake. He stretched it over the Red Sea and the water dramatically divided, leaving a dry path for the Israelites to pass over. Angels of God were seen with flaming swords and chariots of fire and other spirit beings manifested themselves. Even after Biblical history signs and wonders of God continued. In Eusebius’s History of the Church he details a war in the heavens above Jerusalem, and other wonders.

The Devil is a chief imitator. It gives him great pleasure to copycat God’s marvels. God sometimes allows it and certainly he allows it in the devil’s followers.

Magic, if we are using it to refer to all of these things, can be good or bad. In writing fantasy we need to be intentional when dealing with magic. If we are intentional then people can analyze and determine what is proper and good, and what is demonic and wrong.

It is important to remind readers that just because something is unexplainable, miraculous, or extraordinary does not mean that it comes from God. Be sure which Master the “magic” serves.

Question: How does your worldview affect the use of magic in a story?

Counter Culture: Material Gain Does NOT Equal Happiness

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We are constantly bombarded by the material things in our world, and those things promise us easier life and deeper satisfaction. WE ARE BEING CONDITIONED TO COVET WHAT WE DO NOT HAVE. But we must remember that material gain does not grant us happiness.

The mad rush of societies from ancient days until the present is this: we seek riches, luxuries, and pleasures. Our culture teaches that to have more is to live a fuller life. It tells us that without things we cannot be happy. Yet here is a nugget of wisdom we need to remember and encourage one another to teach:

There is not a more wicked thing than a covetous man: for such an one setteth his own soul to sale… and he that is to day a king tomorrow shall die. For when a man is dead, he shall inherit creeping things, beasts, and worms. -Ecclesiasticus 10:9

It is all well and good to enjoy the things God has given us, yet it is easy to be distracted by them and make them our priority. It is prudent for us to remember that the things of this world provide only temporary pleasure. If we put our energies instead into those around us, encouraging each other to live for the Lord, we will have eternal blessings. And imagine how trivial this life will seem after a thousand years have passed on the new Earth. The things of this world pass away, but we are eternal beings and we need to prepare ourselves for that future.

Question for you: In what ways does culture make you place greater importance on Material Gain? What habits help you put material things in their proper perspective?

Book Look! Pilgrim’s Progress

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Pilgrim’s Progress. I must have read that book three times when I was growing up and what an impression it left on me. John Bunyan’s classic allegory for many years was the best-selling book next only to the Bible. Even today its popularity is evidenced by the many various revisions and editions it has populated.

But why does this allegory resonate so well with people?

I think it has to do with the character of Christian and how he changes during the course of the story. After his conviction he follows the narrow way and each challenge along the path brings him closer to Paradise. Through a fantasy-type setting we can relate to Christian’s victories and his failings. We desire the same thing he did: victory over the Evil One and Eternal Life. We must struggle with faith in a physical world populated with individuals who deny God’s very existence or scoff at the necessity of repentance and a following after good works.

This book is timeless and powerful, encouraging us to be the men and women of God-granted potential.

Question: Have you read The Pilgrim’s Progress? Did it inspire you?