A Jan. 3, article in USA Today by Cathy Lynn Grossman, says that more and more people are apathetic about religion. A lot of people not only don’t believe in God (or other deities), they don’t even make an effort to believe in them. According to Grossman, a 2011 Baylor University survey shows that 44% of people polled “spend no time seeking eternal wisdom” and 19% said, “It’s useless to search for meaning.”
That’s not surprising to Sam and me.
What is surprising is the rising tide of belief in vampires, Harry Potter-type sorcerers, trolls and all those other extra-worldly types. Surely people who don’t believe God is real can’t honestly believe vampires and those other ghoolies types actually exist. But apparently we are living in a society now where people feel it’s okay to say they are “spiritual,” yet do not consider themselves spiritually curious about God (only ghouls), which is a real conundrum. People want to reserve the right to call on God in times of trouble, but they don’t want to be “pushed” into believing in God.
The reluctance to be pushed into religion is understandable. Sam and I think there is nothing worse than some overly zealous religious fanatic violating our personal space and insisting on knowing if we’ve been saved. I almost wouldn’t care if Sam bit the stupid booger. And I personally have thought for years that so-called Christian missionaries have spread way more bad feelings about God, and hatred toward the United States, than all the bombs in our military arsenal.
Believing in God or a higher deity involves suspending one’s disbelief. Believing in vampires requires that too. But Sam and I suppose suspending disbelief in vampires is easier than suspending disbelief in God. Maybe that explains why so many people, particularly women, are turning to the ghouls. Dr. Belisa Vranich, a clinical psychologist, author and public speaker posting on Huff Post Books July 22, 2010 says, “The sexy monster of all time continues to be the vampire -- the quintessential bad boy who reeks of danger, and is very, very naughty.” She calls vampires charming, elegant, and downright sexy, loners (in a good sense), who are slick, cool, smart and powerful, ala James Dean, Marlon Brando, Elvis and Paul Newman. Vampires are Gothic symbols of manhood as opposed to real men (who don’t quite measure up).
An article at Ask Men.com, titled Top 10 Reasons Women Love Vampires says, “Women love bad boys. Now mix in the fact that a vampire is searching for eternal love and needs a woman to survive; you’ve got yourself the ultimate bad boy. He answers to no one, lives by his own rules, wears nice clothes, and is hated by millions of living people. He is the man her mother warned her about except with more guy-liner and lip gloss than either of them could have ever predicted. He isn’t just bad, he’s dead. Beat that!”
The reason Sam and I are writing about vampires and such is pure jealousy of course. A Midwestern writer named Amanda Hocking has self-published several e-books romanticizing trolls, those bad boys of Scandinavian folklore and her books have earned her a couple million dollars. Too bad God doesn’t get that much attention. Too bad The Red Jacket, the book I wrote, which is not about vampires or trolls doesn’t get that much attention. Three bags of Sam’s poop on being left out of the money. I guess I need to pray about my jealousy. I believe in God, and jealousy is one of the seven deadly sins.
No comments:
Post a Comment