I don’t know if it was a
mistake or not, but I slept in today. Then again, I was up later than I
expected last night. During my late breakfast, I decided to start a new anime
since I recently finished Code Geass. So, I did
what I should’ve done a long time ago: I started RoboTech,
a classic of anime. Let me tell you, in just one episode, I found myself reveling
in the ‘80s anime goodness.
This was my first week
back to university after the extended spring break, and today was the first post-coronapocalypse
deadline for my students’ paper drafts. From about 11am until 6pm, most of my
time was spent grading papers. I had “online office hours” from 11am-1pm, which
included a videoconference Skype call with one of my students. That was
different. I took a lunch break at 1pm and watched UltraSeven with Jarod.
Unfortunately, I battled
distractions throughout the rest of the afternoon. Friends kept messaging me.
Amusing things kept happening on Twitter. I kept wondering if it would’ve been
easier if I was on campus, but I’m not sure. What was happening probably wouldn’t
have happened if not for the current crisis, I’m sure.
One of the downsides of
being a writer is the constant “what ifs…?”
Regardless, I managed to
get through all of my first class’ papers. Tomorrow I do my second class’
papers.
On a whim, I decided to
try streaming Street Fighter V on my
YouTube channel as practice for when I do it on my podcast’s
channel tomorrow (Friday) at 7pm EST. I was joined by several friends, including
Sergio (who played against me), Josh (who commented), and Mike (who was on chat
for ten minutes).
Here are the videos (with apologies for my mic issues at first):
I think I might try to
make this a more common occurrence.
After that, I got to work
on the trailer for Kaiju
Quarantine, a big watch party being organized by me and several of my
fellow podcasters. (More on that later).
All the while, I never
left the Fortress of Solitude. I guess that makes me a good citizen.
I will admit this
lockdown has made me try new things, and I’m finding that I like them.
What’d you do today to pass the time in lockdown? What
new things, if any, have you tried?
The foggy scene outside my apartment on day one of the Indiana lockdown. (Photo by Nathan Marchand).
As I mentioned on my
social media, with my home state of Indiana in lockdown and my university going
to online only classes, I’ve decided to increase my creative output to
entertain (and hopefully enlighten) all of you True Believers while in
quarantine. We could all use some relief, and this is one way I can help with
that.
When I wrote my blog last week,
I hesitated to put in my political commentary. I make no secret of my political
leanings (I’m a conservative), but I don’t make a habit of broadcasting them to
the world because it always invites trouble. That’s the climate we live in now.
But I left it in because it was part of my frustration. Predictably, I was
accused of being flippant, propagating misinformation, and not taking the situation
seriously. I ended up adding a “retraction” of sorts to the blog and posting it
as an addendum. This came after I did some more reading and learned a few
things I didn’t know before about coronavirus.
The criticism ignited an
old fear that has dug deeper roots in recent years: perception is reality when it should be truth. In other words, the
actions and decisions of others have more control over my life than I do. I
could be objectively qualified for, say, a job, but the employer could still
not select me. In the case of my blog, I didn’t mean to spread misinformation
or offend anyone. Given that I’m something of a public figure (and the internet
is vicious), damage to my reputation could cost me big time. I’ve seen the
destruction wrought by gossip. I know firsthand how ungracious people can be.
That’s why I went into “damage control mode” to mitigate the problem. I should’ve
known everyone, including myself, is on edge with everything happening. It’s
only natural to respond defensively. I stay up-to-date with the latest reports
on the crisis, but there’s a lot of unknowns out there. Humans fear the unknown
more than most things. That’s why coronavirus is terrifying but the flu isn’t.
Sadly, I saw the internet
tear someone else apart this week over this. J.D. Lees, the editor of G-Fan magazine and the organizer for G-Fest,
sparked the controversy of the week in the kaiju fan community when he posted
coronavirus stats on the event’s Twitter page. Yes, it was a bad PR move, but I’ve
rarely seen such instant hate in this fandom. People called him a “clown” and a
“villain” and said they would cancel their magazine subscriptions and their
G-Fest tickets. I know J.D., so I know he meant no harm, which is why I did try
to stem the hate. That and my recent experience made me sympathetic to his
plight. At least no one bit my head off for it.
So, now almost everywhere
I would go is closed. School, the dance studio, bookstores. Heck, even my church
had to start livestreaming services. To say I feel isolated would be an understatement.
It makes me glad my brother
Jarod moved in with me or else I would die of loneliness. I’ve distanced
myself from online communities to focus on real-life relationships, and now
they’re all I have for the time being.
At least I was able to do some work for InstaCart, and they seem to be staying in operation. At this point, I’ll take any excuse to go outside.
On my first day of
quarantine, I drove to BioLife to donate plasma like I normally do. The stuff
is desperately needed, and it’s good money. Appropriately, fog as thick as
peanut butter blanketed the city at 9AM. It made me think of the people’s
blindness and how fog would deter travel. Beyond that, I spent the day raiding
my overfilled cupboards, watching UltraSeven with Jarod,
doing schoolwork, catching up on my TV viewing, and gaming online with my
friend Bill.
One of the goals on my whiteboard
is, “Add more adventure to your life.”
That just got more challenging.
What are you doing to pass the time in self-quarantine?Comment below!
EDIT: This blog has been edited since it was first posted. After some discussions on social media and a little more research, I realized it had some inaccuracies. The blog was also meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek, and once again I’ve learned that doesn’t always communicate on the internet. The biggest deletion pertained to the hysteria being manufactured to hurt the Trump Administration going into the election. I had no idea this was something started by President Trump on Twitter. It was a conclusion I came to on my own. I am a self-proclaimed “Trump agnostic,” meaning I’m not part of either the Never Trumpers or the president’s cult of personality, which is why I tick everyone off. (I do think someone needs to take Twitter away from him, though). However, I do stand by my assertion that the media is stoking the hysteria because, as Tim Constantine wrote for The Washington Times, “fear sells.” Since this is new (“novel,” which means “new,” is part of the disease’s name, after all) and relatively unknown, people fear it even though there are diseases out there that are far more common and far more likely to kill someone. Humans fear the unknown. However, I also know human nature well enough to know that there will be those who will try to take advantage of the situation for their own benefit, and that’s especially true for those in power. That’s the big reason why I think the hysteria needs to stop, which is the point I wanted to make with this blog. We need to be safe and watch out for those who are the most vulnerable among us (my younger brother has a form of asthma, so I know), but turning the world upside down like the Black Plague has suddenly returned is an overreaction. My apologies for not making that clear in the first published draft of this blog. (EDIT ENDS)
For the first few months of 2020, the coronavirus (or Covid-19 as the media is now calling it) was China’s problem. It was nasty, but it was “over there,” to quote a goofy Superman comic. It was an issue for the elderly and immunodeficient (spellcheck doesn’t like that word for some reason), but so was the flu.
But like black mold
creeping along your floor, the disease kept spreading until it hit the U.S.
California, if I remember correctly. Then Washington State. I figured it would
be contained. The CDC reacted quickly. But then it cropped up in other states.
Again, I didn’t think much of it. Until a man in Indianapolis was diagnosed
with it. Within a few days, another man in the county next door to me was
infected.
By that point, as the old
saying goes, all hell broke loose.
State and local
governments started mandating that large gatherings be postponed. Restaurants and
schools closed. Movies had their releases or productions delayed. Sporting
events were canceled. People were told to stay home in self-quarantine.
Businesses are losing
gobs of money—unless you’re Clorox or Netflix. They’re swimming in money. Hand
sanitizer is liquid gold now. I saw a listing on eBay where someone was selling
four 30-ounce bottles of the stuff for $500. If I’d known, I’d have stockpiled
it and started a black market.
At least The
Babylon Bee has had a heyday with this pandemic panic.
Not only am I going to
Walmart and grocery stores and finding the shelves empty (thankfully, I have
enough toilet paper to last a while), but it has affected my schooling and my
job. My university has decided to extend its spring break a week and make all
classes totally online for the rest of the semester. I’m taking two as a grad
student and teaching two as a graduate teaching assistant. I’ve taken a few
online classes before (and didn’t like it), but I’ve never taught one. Now I
have to find a way to adapt for the last six weeks or so of the semester. And I’d
just started to get to know my students and looked forward to seeing them. So,
my extended spring break has become an extended working spring break since I
now have to figure out how to re-jigger my classes. Meanwhile, I don’t know
what the classes I’m taking will look like. One professor is totally old
school, with the only online stuff he does being e-mail. The other professor
has one foot in old school and one in new school. I’m more confused than a dog
after he catches a car.
Elsewhere, the ballroom
dance studio I attend has started making students not touch each other in group
classes and has canceled their Friday night parties until further notice.
Now I don’t know if I’ll
make it to G-Fest or Gen-Con this summer.
I thought my small church
would be fine, but Gov. Holcomb has decreased the size of allowed public gatherings
from 250 to 50. Now President
Trump is recommending it be limited to 10. Even my church wouldn’t be able
to meet if that was in place.
With all this mandated “social
distancing,” I’ve joked this is introverts trying to get revenge on extroverts.
Or its social engineering to wipe out extroverts.
You’d think I’d revel in
that, but I’m a freak among the freaks: I’m an extrovert. I drive my fellow
nerds and writers crazy.
Now when I make jokes about this or point out the hysteria, I get pushback on social media. Someone even said I was being flippant. All I could do was shake my head.
I’m not saying people
shouldn’t be concerned. I’m not saying they shouldn’t take precautions. But
this is a disease that, at most, has a 3% fatality rate (and that’s if you’re
old or have an outstanding medical condition). If this was something both highly
contagious and truly deadly, I could understand the fear, but people are
treating Covid-19 like it’s the T-virus. I get it: hospitals
could be overwhelmed with an influx of patients. However, I’ve heard most
people who get it don’t show symptoms. That being said, it doesn’t justify all
the freaking out.
Well, that’s enough of me complaining about my unimportant first world problems.
In the meantime, if you
want some new books to binge read while in self-quarantine, I have plenty. They’re
all on Amazon, which means they can be delivered to your door so you won’t have
to go out. (Although, one features a bio-weapon plague, but maybe it will be
cathartic for you).
Also, I have 12 episodes
of a kaiju (giant monster) podcast you could binge listen. It’s called The
Monster Island Film Vault.
Yes, I’m not beyond using this for shameless self-promotion. That’s why it’s shameless. 😛
What do you think of the whole situation? Is it legitimate or is it hysteria?
This week I begin my
penultimate semester of grad school. Part of that will be writing a brand new
standalone novel as my creative writing thesis. Amidst all of that, though, I
am also producing a twice-monthly podcast, The Monster Island Film Vault.
The irony is I’ve noticed for a while that it’s become easier for me to do
anything related to the podcast than my writing.
I’m annoyed by this. Some
of it is a time management issue, but I think it goes deeper than that. It certainly
isn’t a lack of passion or ideas (heck, both of my grad school classes this
semester are writing classes). I’ve long joked that I have more ideas than I
have years left to write. I think this shift happened for two reasons: imminent
deadlines and immediate praise.
My podcast’s episodes
drop on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month. Yes, that’s a
self-imposed schedule, but from what I’ve read, the audience comes to expect one
to keep his schedule. This keeps me on my toes and makes me carve out time for
research, recording, and editing. Do I perhaps try to get each episode finished
sooner than it needs to be? Oftentimes. Part of that comes from overestimating
how long it will take. Other times I make excuses like, “I can get more done
editing an episode for 30 minutes than I will writing for 30 minutes.” It’s
illogical, but humans aren’t always logical. (Sorry, Spock!). It simply feels
easier at points to podcast than write (despite the podcast requiring a lot of
writing). I’ve found myself worried that I’ve lost my first love as a creative.
The second reason is
harder to shake off: immediate praise. That isn’t to say that glowing reviews
started coming in within an hour of my first episode dropping or whatnot. However,
as more episodes were posted and I promoted the show, more people listened and
told me they loved it. The positive reviews came faster and more frequently for
the podcast than for any of my books (and it’s not like I don’t promote the
heck out of my books and don’t have readers wanting more of them). There’s a
lot I could say about why my podcast seems to be making a splash in the
kaiju/Godzilla fandom, but those ultimately feed into my need for affirmation.
I don’t consider this a weakness; no, it’s one of the famous “5 Love Languages.” Hearing and
reading positive feedback with every episode incentivizes me to continue. I
think this is why I eventually burned out with my YouTube
channel: I wasn’t getting that feedback as fast or frequently. The
challenge now becomes making sure the praise doesn’t become like a drug. I want
to make this podcast because it’s fun and because I want to be a positive and
unique voice in the kaiju fandom. I can’t let this—or anything, for that
matter—become a crutch for my ego.
Aye, there’s the rub.
All of these combine to
make something that’s new and exciting, so I’m still in the thick of the
novelty of this project. That amplifies the excitement: it’s my “shiny new
thing” right now. Lord help me when I come off that high!
Between grad school, my podcast, and writing, it’s
been a challenge to blog consistently. I’m still endeavoring to amend that.
Regardless, I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about a certain little movie called Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Perhaps you’ve heard of it? This won’t be a review, though.
Did I hate it? No, I
didn’t. I was thrilled seeing it the first time despite some concerns it would
retcon The Last Jedi, but after
seeing it a second time, the luster has faded. It has its problems, for sure,
and while I don’t think it undoes The
Last Jedi, I can see what Abrams and Disney did to placate the Star Wars mob.
(WARNING: SPOILERS
AHEAD!)
Emperor Mastermind: Palpatine
did it. Yep. He was behind the First Order. He created Snoke in a vat and used
him as a puppet ruler, I guess. Most likely he used the same technology to keep
himself alive by cloning bodies. Maybe. It’s more implied than explained. As
has been common with this trilogy, this is similar to the original Expanded
Universe (now Legends), wherein the Emperor transferred his soul into cloned
bodies using the Force. The problem is, while I knew going in that Palpatine
would be back, he appears within five minutes instead of building toward the
reveal. Giving that time to develop would’ve helped to make his involvement
more natural. As it stands, he seems to come out of nowhere despite the opening
crawl telling the audience his voice was heard a year before. It could be
argued his inclusion was an appeal to nostalgia.
Rey (Skywalker): I
said before that I liked that Rey’s parents were nobodies. Rise doesn’t walk that back, per se, but it clumsily qualifies it.
They chose to be nobodies. Rey’s
father was Palpatine’s son (which raises a slew of questions about what woman
would be crazy enough to have his child), and they hid Rey to protect her from the
Emperor. While it isn’t one of the theories many fans espoused—like that she
was Luke’s daughter, Han and Leia’s daughter, or Obi-Wan Kenobi’s
granddaughter—it could still be argued that it plays into the old attitude that
one must have a special lineage to be special. Admittedly, the same could be
said of Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker, who were a slave and a farmboy,
respectively, and learned later of their special heritage. This trope is also
used in other fantasy stories. That being said, it almost seems like a
concession to fans who didn’t want to accept the fact that their theories about
her parentage were wrong, and that the Force chose her and empowered her. It
sounds a bit elitist, honestly, for them to think only certain families can use
the Force. If anything, this may have been done in response to the criticisms
that Rey is a Mary Sue (which I will admit is a bit difficult to refute).
However, it does work as a character arc for Rey because she is trying to form
her own identity throughout the Sequel Trilogy, so I’ll give Abrams and company
credit for that.
These were a few things
that came to mind. I may think of others later. It doesn’t ruin the film for
me, but honestly, my favorite of this trilogy is still The Last Jedi for its boldness. (You can stone me later).
Admittedly, Abrams was in an unenviable position with the end of the previous
movie. Maybe he was trying to do the best he could. Much like George Lucas,
they made it up as they went. There are famous writers who’ve made careers out
of that (like Stephen King), but it does come with its own perils.
Unfortunately, the
reactions to this is yet another sign that no one hates Star Wars like Star Wars
fans. Any new media in the franchise is automatically divisive.
(Unless it’s The Mandalorian, for whatever reason. I
guess Baby Yoda fixes everything).
I get it: it’s Star Wars. It’s a big deal to many
people. Some even say it’s modern mythology, and by messing with it, it’s doing
harm to the culture psyche. But perhaps we’ve elevated this franchise a bit too
high. It really is to the point of being a religion. Given that ancient
mythologies were originally religious tales, that’s not surprising. Perhaps
this is a sign that people need to find their meaning in something that isn’t
controlled by the whims of a corporate entertainment empire. Just sayin’.
What did you think of The Rise of Skywalker? Did it continue
the ruination of Star Wars, or is it
a case study in people pleasing? Why or why not?
I neglected to post my annual “thankfulness” blog last year for Thanksgiving. It wasn’t because I wasn’t thankful; I just forgot to do it. I’m remedying that this year. So, here are 100 things I’m thankful for in 2019.
God
the Father
Jesus
Christ
The
Holy Spirit
My
salvation
The
Bible
My
wonderful family
My
two nephews
My
amazing friends
My
equally amazing writer friends
The Fort Wayne
Ballroom Company (FWBC)
My “dance family”
at FWBC
That I continue to
perform at FWBC’s showcases and other events with wonderful
instructors/partners
Honda on the set of 1962’s King Kong vs. Godzilla.
One unique and unusual
aspect of my current semester of grad school is I’m doing my first ever
independent study. Specifically, a study on several films directed by Ishiro
Honda, the lauded director of many Godzilla films. It took a little work to
convince my university’s resident film professor (and most reclusive man in the
English department) to do this with me, but he agreed. Not only that, but he
actually liked the first film I wrote about in this study, 1955’s Half Human, and said the cinematography
reminded him of Akira Kurosawa! I’m excited to be introducing him to films he
isn’t familiar with.
One fun thing about this
is I got to write my own syllabus for it. Here’s an excerpt:
Objective: The goal of this study is examine six films directed by Ishiro Honda and connect their stories to contemporaneous cultural and historical events in Japan. Films are never made in a vacuum, and knowing and understanding their original contexts is vital to appreciating them.
There will be a special focus on discriminated people groups in this study since half of the films being covered will involve such groups.
While Honda is best known for his Godzilla films, I will be focusing on several of his non-Godzilla genre pictures spanning a ten-year period that included what’s considered the “golden age” of Toho tokusatsu (special effects) filmmaking. Honda also directed dramas, war epics, and light comedies, but these films are sadly unavailable in the U.S. currently.
The films and related
topics I’ll be examining are Half Human/The Ainu; The Mysterians/Japan and the U.N.; Varan the Unbelievable/The Burakumin; Atragon/Japanese WWII holdovers and the
resurgence of Japanese nationalism; Matango/Japan’s
newfound opulence;and Frankenstein
Conquers the World/The
Hibakusha.
This came about because I
wanted to fill a few credit hours and make the research I’m doing for my new
podcast, The Monster Island Film Vault,
count as school credit. Because why not?
There are reasons why
grad school might be the best thing in my life right now. J
I will be tabling at a small
convention, and I have applied to table at another local author event. Both
will be in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The first will be Fantasticon Fort Wayne, which is being held September 21-22, 2019. Eric Anderson, founder of Nerd Chapel and my co-author on the 42 books, will also be there, but we’re not tabling together. The con announced that they would be selling five heavily-discounted tables last week, so I jumped at the opportunity. I wasn’t sure I’d snag a table, but I got lucky (or was “blessed,” if you’re the religious type). I’ll be selling and signing my books (although Eric will be selling the 42, so get them from him) and promoting my upcoming podcast The Monster Island Film Vault, which is launching September 25.
According to the
convention’s website,
Fantasticon is a mid-size show created for true comic book and pop culture collectors and fans. The fans that come to our shows are true collectors that are looking for those rare items for their personal collections. Most leave very satisfied as we pride ourselves on having great dealers and artists at our shows. If you collect it, you will find it at a Fantasticon Show.
Fantasticon is proud to have a presence in multiple cities throughout the mid-west. Currently we are in five different cities, in three different states including Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana.
We also, are very proud of the fact that our admission price is the lowest of any other comparable shows. And the cost for being an exhibitor or artist at the Fantasticon is far less than any comparable comic cons out there.
While I haven’t received a
confirmation yet, I have applied to table to table at the annual Local Author
Book Fair, which will be held November
30, 2019, from 10am-4pm at the main branch of the Allen County Public Library. Find
out more info here
on ACPL’s blog.
Last week saw the start
of my second year of grad school. It was also the start of my third semester as
a graduate teaching assistant (a very different GTA). I’m taking two
classes and an independent study (well, one of the classes was turned into an independent
study). These are Writing for Multimedia, Survey of Children’s Literature, and
an independent study on director Ishiro Honda (hey,
it lets me get school credit for the research I’m doing for my new podcast). This makes my
schedule a bit odd, but I’m getting used to it.
This was the best first
week of teaching I’ve had. Admittedly, I’ve only been doing this a year, but it
was still the best. I’m more confident as a GTA and trying some new methods
that should encourage my students to be more engaged with the material. That’s
hard to do when it’s a gen ed freshman composition class. My students are the
liveliest I’ve had yet, which is exciting, but it does present its own set of
challenges. Now instead of trying to make them talk, I have to keep them quiet.
It’s almost like me a substitute teacher again.
I might be having too
much fun. But you can never have too much fun, right?
Right?!
Have you gone to grad school or
worked as a teacher? What are some fun experiences you had?
Today’s blog will be a
little personal and a lot
theological. This isn’t new for me, but if you’re not interested in such
things, I won’t mind if you skip it. However, it’ll tackle a cautionary tale of
a writer’s influence. In this case, Joshua Harris.
For those who don’t know, Harris wrote and published an infamous book at age 21 in 1997 called I Kissed Dating Goodbye. It was an instant sensation, selling over a million copies. Unfortunately, as the trailer for Harris’ recent documentary on the book’s influence says, “The best-seller became the Bible for Christian romance.” He wrote a follow-up a few years later titled Boy Meets Girl since by that point he’d gotten married.
The cover to his infamous book, which was published in 1997.
Fast forward two decades. In 2016, Harris announced that he regretted writing the book because of the influx of letters he’d received from people who were hurt by his advice. He realized, among other things,
In trying to warn people of the potential pitfalls of dating, it instilled fear for some—fear of making mistakes or having their heart broken. The book also gave some the impression that a certain methodology of relationships would deliver a happy ever-after ending—a great marriage, a great sex life—even though this is not promised by scripture.
The poster for Harris’ new documentary.
This is prompted him to make the aforementioned documentary, I Survived I Kissed Dating Goodbye, and take this book and the sequel out of print.
Things got worse last month. He announced on his Instgram that he was divorcing his wife. A few days later in another post, he confessed,
I have undergone a massive shift in regard to my faith in Jesus. The popular phrase for this is “deconstruction,” the biblical phrase is “falling away.” By all the measurements that I have for defining a Christian, I am not a Christian. Many people tell me that there is a different way to practice faith and I want to remain open to this, but I’m not there now.
There’s been a lot of talk in Christian culture about this, and understandably so. Harris’ influence was pervasive. I myself didn’t read his first book (I thought the idea was dumb), but I did read his second because I thought it had more legitimacy. I’m sure he gave most of the same advice. While I always balked at the idea of “not dating” and letting God providentially give you a spouse, these ideas became so common in the church, I think I absorbed some of them by osmosis. I was young and impressionable and hadn’t yet learned critical thinking skills (well, at least when it came to things espoused by other Christians). Do I count myself as one of the people hurt by Harris’ teachings? Yes, but I was hurt by his “splash damage” (to use a gaming term) and not directly wounded. I’ve been working hard to shed my old thinking for a long time.
Harris has admitted he’s a recovering legalist. He took the strict rules of the crazy, stereotype-creating spheres of homeschooling (#NotAllHomeschoolers) and made them mainstream. Legalism is always destructive. The problem is rules are easier to preach, teach, and enforce than comparatively nebulous principles. Jesus said to “love your neighbor.” That begs questions like, “Who is my neighbor?” and “How do I love them?” Rules regulate behavior. Principles guide motivations. That’s why Jesus spoke against legalism and “religiousness” more than anything else. Just read the Sermon on the Mount. He makes it clear that adultery is an action that stems from lust, which occurs in the heart. It wasn’t enough to stop the actions; the internal sin has to be quelled first.
Legalism frequently drives people away from Christianity. Such an emphasis is placed on rules that it robs churchgoers or young Christians of any joy. I’ve heard countless stories of this. I’m sure the seemingly extreme methods Harris advocated drove people away. It created not only tremendous pressure on young people, but an atmosphere of parental and liturgical tyranny and hypocrisy. Teens weren’t allowed to do the usually innocent things their parents did growing up. “Do as I say and not as I did.” Maybe those parents made mistakes and had good intentions, but as the old saying goes, “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.”
Knowing all of this, it’s no surprise Harris’ life has turned out the way it has. His personal brand of legalism wrecked many people, possibly led to his divorce, and eventually drove him to abandon Christianity. It took twenty years for it to happen, but those consequences caught up with him. Now more than ever the rotten fruit of Harris’ teachings and those of the so-called “Purity Culture” are being reaped. Personally, I think recent events have invalidated all of books (or at least his books on dating and courtship). Regardless, I do hope and pray he finds his way back to the faith.
This should give writers pause for concern. Your words have power. The power to influence. That’s something that shouldn’t be taken lightly. James 3:1 says, “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” What we pen will guide and direct the hearts and minds of our readers. This is why parents often attack rappers, filmmakers, and video games after a school shooting: they think their products made kids go on murder sprees. (Perhaps that’s a bad example). My point is the knowledge and advice we share as writers, which in a way makes us teachers, creates culture and thoughts. Yes, we can’t control how people will respond to what we write and say, but we still yield tremendous power on our readers.
And as the late great Stan Lee wrote, “With power there must also come great responsibility.”
What do you think of the Josh Harris
news? Are you surprised? Why or why not? Did you read his books? How did they
influence you?
A Man from Another Time Exploring Another Universe
