Heated debate within chat room.
Come be a fly on the wall.

Okay, here is something that really sparks some heated debate amongst Christians in regards to Harry Potter, magic, vampires, and the like in fantasy genre writing. I am part of several online groups and a discussion came up with several viewpoints. I thought I would copy and paste some comments and how the feedback went back and forth, including my stance on the issue. This is how it all started...an individual posted the below question: "I have a question about a story I'm working on. In the bible, it says Satan is depicted as a dragon. Multiple characters in my story re dragons, and dragon/vampire hybrids. All of whom are christian. Is it wrong to make them dragons? Should i change this, or is it ok to leave it?" Responses from a couple people went like this: I consider dragons to be synonmous with dinosaurs -- and in a fantasy there should be no problem with 'good' and 'bad' dinosaurs. Satan is called the "Great Dragon", but there is plenty of room for God-praising dragons. "Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps" Psalm 148:7 I would be very careful about the vampire thing...they are demonic creatures, and not of God. I think dragons are different, cause the old testament refers to unicorns,which are rhinocerous, and there is a large speciaes of lizard called thr komodo dragon. Spend some serious time in prayer about it. Vampires in context are evil, but what happens to a Christian who gets turned and dislikes what he/she is? Does that make them evil or is evil a mindset in that scenario? I do not believe a Christian can be a vampire and remain a Christian. It is a demonically inspired and controlled cult. It is a Clever way the devil, satan, has come up with to pervert the Blood of Jesus. Forget all the "Romance" and research were the origins of vampires and werewolves came from. I have a question. As the body of Christ, are we not suppossed to be representatives of Him on this earth? The Bible says to stay away from even the appearance of evil. So how can we justify writing about vampires being Christians? Because its Fantasy? And Im assuming the dragon/vampire hybrids are dragon/human crosses...which is also demonic. If what Im saying is being taken as judgemental, then so be it. I just think that if a writer is going towrite about Christ in their fantasy novels, dont use demonic creatures to express the HolySon of God. If a "Vampire" were to get saved, he/she/it would no longer be a vampire. A vampire is, by definition, demon possesed. Also, any chimera would not have a genuine human soul -- and would not qualify FOR salvation. There's a good change that chimera were the reason the flood had to come and wipe out all non-human lines that were vying for a chance for salvation -- which only comes through the God/man Jesus -- who represents all TRUE humans to the Father. Great discussion, everyone. I won't add to or detract from the 'vampire" discussion, but as far as most fantasy creatures are concerned, one of the most beloved Christian writers ever featured Minotars, Fauns, Centaurs, a witch, and, of course, a talking Lion. I forget the name of his book. I know it's somewhere in the back of my wardrobe... can you prove to me, from the Bible, that making a vampire a christian and living for God is acceptable? Until then, I will not believe that a demonically inspired creature can be used to promote the Word of God! I write sci-fi. I can't prove spaceships in the scripture, nor would I try too, but I have spaceships in my stories. Demonic? Mr. Tumnis, a fawn, was featured in C.S.Lewis' books. Half man, half goat? Oh, yeah, that's godly. Im dusting my feet off on this subject. Its sad to me that Christians have watered down truth and let themselves be swayed by demonic doctrines, humanly rationalizing spiritual principals, for the sake of writing a good story. I am also withdrawing myself from this group. Its apalling to me that anyone would defend evil for the sake of righteousness....that is like saying the works of satan are holy. Okay, WOW! That was the look and feel of the dialogue going back and forth between believers. Really sparked up some interesting conversation. This is my take on the subject because this is actually something that I am writing about and something I have been working with God on. I think we need to write and tell stories that are interesting but with redemptive qualities...classic good vs evil. I don't think we should shy away from fictional characters like vampires. I also think that authors can formulate an amazing storyline featuring these creatures of the night and make them quite fascinating. We should not water down our book with Christianese to get across our sermon, but instead weave a tale that will take our readers on an amazing journey of life and discovery. The Lord will work on their heart where they are at and will use books to reach people. I don't think we need to write smut books or insane demonic crazy stories but we can for sure write about vampires and possibly redeem them. My 2nd book introduces a swashbuckling vampire named Romann de Beaux and he will have a bigger role in the 3rd book titled The Vampire King, where I write about Vampires in search of their souls to be set free of the bondage they are in. I see vamps locked in their own sin, nothing different than seeing someone who doesn't know Jesus locked in their own sin. My point as a writer is to have fun and make sure my story gets across its message. Thoughts anyone?