Powerful Temptations
Have you noticed that every corner of pop culture seems to be flooded with vampire stories? Teens, especially, seem to be digging the craze. We’ve come a long way from the days of Anne Rice and “Buffy.” Endless book series, TV shows, and movies for every age group are winning new converts right now.
The list includes Stephenie Meyers’ “Twilight” books and the movie adaptations; HBO’s sexually explicit “True Blood” series, based on books by Charlain Harris; and the upcoming network TV series “The Vampire Diaries.” Additional book series popular with some teens: the “Blue Bloods” series, “Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter,” and the “House of Night” series by P.C. Cast and her daughter Kristin. And more are on the way.
Usually this kind of cultural overkill, so to speak, signals the end of the trend. But what makes vampires so alluring for the moment? In part, it has to do with the gut-level issues of temptation and the hunger for eternal life without accountability to God. These stories are about trading innocence for power. In that sense, they are very spiritual—and sometimes spiritually deceptive.
We wish you wisdom in navigating your family’s media choices when it comes to vampires, but the genre definitely raises the opportunity for talking about some of the big ideas of vampire fiction. We’re pulling our talking points from Genesis 3 this week, with an eye for why human beings are often so easily tempted by sin. What do we hope to get out of it? What does it cost us? Why do we want what we know will harm us?
Consider reading Genesis 3 with your son or daughter in preparation for discussing a few of the following questions.
Talking Points
- Have your read or watched many vampire stories over the last few years? Why do you think vampires are so popular right now? Do you have any friends who are big fans of books and movies like the “Twilight” series?
- What are the temptations most often faced in vampire stories? What are the costs of giving in to those temptations?
- Do you think we sometimes like to feel tempted because it seems exciting and dangerous? Is that a healthy appetite to indulge?
- What are some of the temptations most often faced by your friends or your peers at school? Are there ever benefits for giving in to those temptations? What does it cost to cross the line and sin in those ways?
- In the Garden of Eden, Eve was tempted to sin by a serpent we understand to be Satan. He used deception to help her make the choice to sin. His first question to her was something that was obviously wrong: “Did God really say you couldn’t eat from any tree in the garden.” Why do you think he would start with that? [Parent: For one, it was a way to get Eve to participate in a conversation about God’s command and whether it was fair or right.]
- What are some ways your friends get lured into thinking about the sins that are tempting to them?
- When faced with the temptation, Eve showed she knew what God’s rule was—but she added a line to it, something God had not said. Can you think of any ways that humans now add to God’s rules to try to be “safer” with sin?
- Why is it dangerous to add man-made rules on top of God’s commands to us?
- Satan told Eve a half-truth (which is always a whole lie). He said that eating the fruit would make her wise like God, who is all-powerful. In vampire stories, the same half-truth is usually offered to someone, the chance to trade innocence for power. Why do you think giving in to sin sometimes makes people feel powerful?
- Eve makes the choice to eat the fruit, in part, because it looks so good. What are some of the ways sin can look good before we give in to it and then turn bad once we have?
- Eve also decides that she wants the power of being like God. Can anyone ever truly have God’s power? Can giving in to sin make anyone more powerful in any way? Is the effect of sin always, ultimately, destructive? If you don’t think so, what’s an example of sin making someone’s life better?
- Adam apparently ate the fruit immediately after Eve gave it to him. Have you noticed friends of yours that seem to let other people make decisions about temptation for them? How can you avoid following someone else into sinful choices?
- What was the first emotion Adam and Eve felt after giving in to temptation? [Parent: Shame.]
- What was the first thing they did after giving in to temptation? [Parent: Trying to cover themselves and hide from God.]
- Do you think most people who give in to sin feel ashamed afterwards? Why or why not? Do you think most people try to ignore or hide from God when they’re making sinful choices?
- God said Adam and Eve would die if they disobeyed Him about the fruit. But they didn’t die right away. Why do you think that is?
- What did their sinful choice to give in to temptation cost them, really?
UPDATE: Interesting take from Travis Prinzi on Vampires and the Fall over at the Rabbit Room, briefly touching on how vampire stories reflect and/or distort a Christian view of the supernatural and why they appeal to our longing for the eternal and the mystical.
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