A rant:
Good news… I took of the “snow effect” that I loved so much for all you girls with dinosaur PCs. I was told it took 10 minutes for my blog to load tonight. Bad news… Watch Ang’s readers drop… it’s become a game now hasn’t it? About every four weeks I go off on something and all that ground I was gaining in my readership… insert bomb dropping whistling sound here…
LOL.
I have wanted to tell you for so many weeks now about a T-shirt I saw in the young girls section at Tar-jay around Halloween…
“I Heart Vampires.”
I wish I was kidding.
I Heart friggen’ Vampires.
Unreal.
Now, have you seen my daughters? Have you seen YOUR daughters? Your granddaughters? Have you seen how precious, gorgeous and pure they (hopefully) are?
Forgive me, call me a prude or stick-in-the-mud, this time, I truly don’t care because the last thing our daughters, the daughters in this country where so many go to bed without a Daddy in the house, where so many are raised without knowing how much their Heavenly Daddy loves them… the last thing our girls… or ANYONE’S girls need is this stupid vampire/death obsession that is so chic at the moment.
I know, I have lost a good 85% of you here.
Je suis trés desolée.
But this whole vampire thing has eclipsed sanity, it’s eclipsed discretion and most surely wisdom.
The Bible clearly warns that there will be a time when darkness will be called light and visa versa but, silly me, I would like to think that some common sense would prevail out there as we select what we do and don’t allow into our homes, especially concerning our daughters. How in the world did we decide that it was good for our pre-teen and teenage daughters to become obsessed with vampires? As if our girls aren’t already struggling with a glorification of DEATH? Have you seen the teen girls suicide rates these days? I know my family lost one 4 years ago and almost lost another two years ago!!!
If you are someone who claims the Scriptures to be true and I know that some of my readers do then surely we have to head it’s warnings on the occult and glorification of death. My rant gear is ready to kick into overdrive so I am going to back it down here and say I guess I don’t have too much to say except this, if you are a Believer and have found your self NOT sickened by this whole trend, if you find my words “over the top” than perhaps, oh gosh, I am really going to say this?? Well, may I challenge you that you’ve become a bit desensitized by the culture? Promise me Momma’s and Gramma’s you’re not gonna buy the young girls in your life this crap for Christmas. PROMISE ME! How, tell me, how in the world can the glorification of blood sucking teenagers be something our precious daughters need to process, read and become obsessed with???
Riddle me that.
(If you are new to P.F. yes, I do rant on some of my spiritual, political views now and again… I love to joke that it’s what makes me a bit unique from all the other gorgeous lavender and to-die-for vintage fabric blogs out there! Momma says, “If they don’t like it they can find another Farmhouse”… I say… I’m just trying to give you something to chew on in this world full of icky, baby food, mush.)
Oh, of course I found this hilarious clip by my (if you don’t already know) favorite pastor concerning this subject… hear ‘im out… mute Charlie Brown way down towards the bottom.
You’re not losing this reader! I think most little girls are dressed like tramps. And my number one question is, “Where are the fathers?” What father would allow his little girl to go out of the house with the horrible clothes most of them wear.
I remember the time I had an overnight retreat – at CHURCH! One of the girls (13years old) showed up wearing sweats with the word “sexy” plastered on the butt. The next day her mother confided in me her concerns that her daughter may be sexually active. Ya think?? Oy vey…
You do not want to get me started on this subject or I could be here all day.
P.S. Loved your last post 😉
Is there room on that soap box for two? Move over so I can join you!!!
And can I add a comment to moms everywhere… you CAN say no!!! Seriously, it’s okay. You’re the MOM. God said so. And He said you could say “NO!”.
(Now no one will read my blog either!)
I, too, will stay a faithful reader. I reminded a fellow blogger friend recently that she, like us, is the CEO, President, Chairwoman of the Board, Owner, Founder and Queen of her blog and can say whatever she wants whenever she wants to. You can rant all you want, Angela! You’re the boss!
I am fortunate that my stepdaughter, who just turned 16, has read one or two of the popular vampire books, but thinks they are “not all that” and isn’t even interested in seeing the next movie. She dresses like me – conservative with a European flair – and never ever succumbs to trashy Halloween costumes or scanty prom dresses. I would be so upset if I had to fight that battle with her everyday.
Too many parents these days let their kids take control and I think that is doing the children a great disservice. We are their parents, not their buddies. We are to guide them not cow-tow to their every whim and desire.
Great post!
Adrienne
Not losing me either. I love it when you rant.
I don’t get the entire fixation with vampires. The whole thing creeps me out. I’m old enough to remember the late 1960’s TV series “Dark Shadows”. Back then, the vampire characters were considered evil. I don’t recall anyone at that time seeing them as the “good guys”. But forty years later, they’re the heroes? There is something seriously wrong with a culture that glorifies evil!
In general, I’m appalled at the movies, books, clothing, etc. aimed at the teen & preteen market anyway. I don’t have children, but I’m a proud auntie & godmother, and I’m shocked when I go out shopping for the kids and see the crap that the retailers have to offer. Even some of the stuff aimed at young children has sexual overtones. Sad!!
It’s wonderful to see good moms like you who are teaching their children right from wrong, and who are letting their children be CHILDREN.
I posted Mark Driscoll’s clip on my Facebook page knowing that it would not endear me to the other mums at my church who think it is perfectly fine for their daughters and themselves to read the books, watch the movies and obsess over teenage boys ripping off their shirts. I was at a house with other Christian mums who were gushing about one of the movies and describing the shirt ripping scene with merriment. I was appalled and wanted the ground to swallow me up because I was alone in voicing my concerns and was told ‘oh its fine Ann – there’s good morals in it and the author is a Christian!!!’ They had obviously not done their research. There is a great quote I found in a Time magazine article about the Twilight books – it goes something like this ‘ On the outside they are squeaky clean but just underneath the surface they are absolutely deliciously filthy’ – and this is coming from a secular publication!
I am so encouraged when I find people like yourself who are prepared to take a stand and pastors such as Mark Driscoll willing to speak out from the pulpit. I’ve been discouraged recently by stuff I’ve seen on FB posted by young people from Christian families and boy it has opened my eyes to how far we have fallen. I want to go and shake the parents and say ‘What on earth are you allowing that kind of disgusting dialogue for – why do you let them dress like that?’ But I don’t because my problem is I’m far too nice and if I do speak out I’m put in my place.
OH MY!! IM NEVER COMING BACK TO YOUR BLOG AGAIN!!! Just kidding!! Is that all the rant you’ve got!! Dang, girl! I expected more….lol! You are so right about the stupid vampire thing…but have you looked at the rest of the clothes for girls? They make me sick! Print across their butts on the pants, sarcastic and suggestive things on the tshirts all around. Even little girls paties have things on them that are shocking. Oh wait, I just read Adrienne’s comment…SEE! The clothing line all together is bad! Rant on!!!
I agree. I’m a huge fan of your rants because so few are brave enough to speak their minds on blogs for fear of offending or losing readers. I have not read the books or seen the movies. I recall when they became popular it was a phenomenon because mothers were just as into it as their daughters and it was a common bond. Scary. If there is one thing my mom made real clear in my mind while raising me was a healthy disdain for all things even hinting at the occult. I’m grateful for that. If she would have been a vampire fan, I doubt I would have the same respect for her as i do today.
just think of all the readers you have that don’t comment …
you a.r.e. making a difference my dear.
I remember seeing this sermon this summer … and thinking of even young girls in our family enthralled with this crap.
the devil is out to kill steal and destroy.
btw
go check those blogger stats we talked about
you’ll see how many moms read this bold statement
Love your “rants”…and you know, it is one thing for an immature teenage girl to think this stuff is okay…it is quite another that her MOTHER can’t tell her otherwise because her own nose is stuck in the very same book. And before I jump on my own soapbox to join you, let me just say….Thanks for taking this subject on today.
I love your rants!!! I’m normally jumping up and down and waving a red flag by the time I’m done reading them!!! You will not be losing this reader either… I saw that tee shirt at target this fall and thought the same thing, I left feeling so sad, what in the world are mothers and fathers doing to them children by approving this stuff! IT”S EVIL!
It is NOT and WILL NOT be in our home! And my Handsome Hubby agrees 100 percent too!
Oh my don’t get me started…I still need to go make breakfast!:-)
Carissa
PS Love your last post!!! That picture of you in the red coat, STUNNING!
go girl! sadly my daughter put for her FB status, “last i knew if someone loved you they didnt want to bite you” and even her “christian cousins and grandparents” wouldnt chime in for the fact of offending… hmmmmm…
and who cares about being popular anyway… 🙂 God is our biggest fan!
I could not agree more. I couldn’t believe it when I was teaching third grade, and one of my students brought that book to school. I told her she could not read it in my classroom, but my colleagues had students of the same age, and they didn’t feel that they had the right to tell their students what they couldn’t read in class. Can you believe that?
Thank you! This whole phenomenon completely escapes me, but in this culture which glorifies darkness, it really isn’t surprising.
You are a light, Angela. Don’t ever forget that, don’t ever allow yourself to be silenced.
I haven’t understood the culture of death (as I call it) since working at a store that sold all the dios de los muertes regalia. I can almost top the t-shirt you found… whilst baby registry shopping I saw a skull-emblazoned ONESIE. Start ’em early I guess. Imagine what that poor kid will think is cool when he/she’s 5, 10,15.. or, rather, don’t imagine it.
It’s really shameful how parents try to please their children. Should be the other way. My parents didn’t do much shepherding of me, but I still wanted to do right by them. EVEN when i was acting out – it was to get them to discipline me!
oh, and homemaker Ang’s comment confused me… it actually sounded like her daughter was being pretty smart with what she wrote. Unless I’m reading it backwards.. ?
I get Ang’s comment, but I found the sentence a little hard to read too, I read it a couple times. Her daughter was being “smart”. And, let me say, it’s a shame there are not more daughters like Ang’s. They are the most amazing young ladies I have EVER met in my life. Someday I am going to sit down with that woman and have her teach me everything she knows!!!!
I am a ranter myself…and at times I don’t agree with you 100% I can see where your heart is and Who you love above all and so I completely appreciate your honest opinion and caring for your blog buddies/readers. thank you. I am no Twilight fan and actually my 14 and 12 yo girls are not interested in the least(Thank you Lord). Along with the Twilight shirt throw in those “I’m a Diva”, “I’m spoiled”, and “girls are better than boys” shirts too. What’s going on here?!!
Not losing this reader.
this is nothing new.
About 35 years ago my husband, daughter, and I were stopped at a stop light waiting for people to cross in front of us. (including a young woman dressed in a provocatively way) Our little girl popped up and said, “isn’t she “sexy”! I felt my tears well up. We glanced at each other and decided – there and then – to be way more restrictive on her TV viewing.
I can’t even imagine how much harder it will be for you protecting your little ones. I know you will do your best, and I pray that you will find the strength. Somehow I believe you will.
Amen Sista…
It seems there is a new revived interest in the occult and now this vampire thing. Very disturbing, because we as a nation do not acknowledge in God anymore and do not teach our young people this and they are not grounded in the word, they will search out alternatives to fill that void. We need to teach our young people the love of God and how much He loves them.
Thank you so much for posting this
Blessings
Rebecca
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to clarify, her FB status was being sarcastic “Last i knew if someone loved you they didnt want to bite you” because she finds the Twilight stuff demonic and gross (never has read it) and many “christians” wouldn’t confirm, speak up for our daughters guts to talk against it or “like” her status but later say they dont want to offend others that do like twilight by agreeing with our daughter publically because they would offend them… GAG!!! last i read in the Bible it mentioned something like God spews lukewarm crap out of his mouth… I assume that’s tolerance as well?
Keep ranting ang and I hope i confirmed what i meant all from a blackberry its hard to get the point across 🙂
aka we are NOT TWILIGHT FANS WHATSOEVER OR THE DRAC CRAP 🙂
Oh how I agree with you! 🙂
I must add to your dislikes though…I am not fond of the low-cut, tight jeans on girls…especially young girls. We need to just keep encouraging mothers out there…and keep our daughters as pure as possible. 🙂
Rant on, Farmgirl, rant on! I can’t do it anymore because it’s tossed aside as coming from some old lady that doesn’t know what’s what! Seriously, though, I’m happy to hear young mothers like you who have a voice via your blog being bold and declaring the truth you know.
amen.
I cringe at the whole vampire love thing. it has even caused me to quit on a publisher I was doing work for…as she all of a sudden wanted to write and publish only vampire books. eh…I don’t do those kinds of covers. ….thanks for the post!
and it’s your blog you can say what you want to!
Thank you for posting this. It’s truly wonderful to read all the comments and to know that some still believe and value the Word of God. Sometimes I feel like a voice in the wilderness. It’s very scary what is happening to our world but we must not shrink back from proclaiming the truth. My girls are grown now but I pray for the young mothers who have to raise their daughters amidst the disgusting deception that is out there. You have my prayers. It really is nothing new. I had to deal with similar things when I was raising my girls but it seems like it is so blatant and out in the open now. There is no pretense anymore. Yes, mothers, you will answer to God for how you raised your daughters. I pray that you will choose the path of wisdom.
Well I wasn’t going to comment but I guess I will. I still love your blog and think preach on about whatever you want. I think the teenagers today are taking things to a crazy level I guess I simply didn’t experience as a teen (and at only 26 that was less than a decade ago). I read vampire books, watched the movies….and yet I looked like any other happy preppy teen. I guess my thing was for me there was no desire to make what was clearly a fantasy story reality (it was the same way I viewed any sort of science fiction/fantasy film). But having lived on a military base (where goth seems to be huge…maybe as rebellion?) it’s creepy. I think the only plus side has been that I don’t stick out as much with my pale skin! And as for the Twilight books I read them on recommendation of women much older than I, middle age all the way up to women in their 60’s. I found the stories entertaining at best, but the writing is complete crap and I’m unsure how she sold a whole series. My husband read the first one to figure out what the big deal was and walked away disturbed by the creepy, stalkerish behavior of the main male character.
I think teens today are simply allowed too much freedom. To be able to read whatever with the parents not even checking to see what it is. I mean, sure, the defense of the no sex thing in Twilight is great, whatever. But these moms are also looking over the fact that their daughters are reading books in the same genre where sex is very prevalent. And they allow their daughters (and boys too) to wear sexually provocative clothing and defend the butt writings as “it’s just cute, just words”. Um, no, they’re not, they’re an advertisement and what is being sold is your child. My husband jokes that our future daughters will be wearing chastity belts, long wool skirts and be taught at an all girls school at a convent in the Swiss Alps. It sounds crazy, but it is hard to protect your teens (who have access to so much) if you don’t choose to go with my parenting philosophy of “Freedom on the internet, with books, with movies is not a right.” When I taught in a middle school and heard 13 year olds talking about sneaking out, drinking and partying I knew I was watching kids whose parents either didn’t care or were turning a blind eye.
Sorry, didn’t mean to go on and on!
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Sorry for all the comments….it kept telling me the url was too big to post, so I would cut some and try again! Eek!
Hear hear I am so with you on this one. Sick and tired of the dark being promoted! Thanks for voicing your opinion.
Au revoir. xxx
Hear hear I am so with you on this one. Sick and tired of the dark being promoted! Thanks for voicing your opinion.
Au revoir. xxx
Hear hear I am so with you on this one. Sick and tired of the dark being promoted! Thanks for voicing your opinion.
Au revoir. xxx
Wow, I am so glad there are other people out there who don’t agree with the whole vampire thing! I thought we were alone! We simply do not understand it and it actually aggravates and saddens us. And I am tired of the excuse that it’s just “harmless entertainment”. That excuse has been overused many times in today’s world! Like the sexy clothing for young girls and sexy cheerleading moves and vampire/blood stories everywhere. I don’t believe these things that are basically pushed onto our young girl’s are harmless, in fact it is quite the opposite! Ugh! I still have to start dinner, I could go on and on!
You just gained a follower! Thank you for your “rant”!
Blessings,
Johanna
Yes! I am full agreement…those (along with the infamous Harry Potter) are not allowed or even desired in our household…and we might be the only Christian family I know (in real life) that has not seen them…they is so deceptive…pulling at young girls’ heart all because Edward is such a gentleman…excuse me? And don’t even get me going on fashion for teens…Keep ranting…keep searching for truth…and keep living in the light.
Rene
Glad to hear this said out in the open. What’s wrong with Christian people that they think this is OK? Reminds me of the Harry Potter “thing”. I don’t care how it “promotes reading”. We need to speak out for our faith and common sense! Great video!
Hello Angela,
Your blog, you post whatever you desire. That being said, I’ll say this, I’ve seen and read the Twilight series and enjoyed them a lot. Do I agree with my teen neices seeing them? Heck no! And my own will not see them until they are mature enough (maybe married?). That being said, I’m going to call you out on something. I agree with you 99% of the time, but I sometimes have a hard time swallowing what your saying, like in this instance. Please hear my tone of voice, I’m not being rude or snotty, but when I see your own ‘favorite movie’ section on blogger, I see things that I would simply never allow in my home that in my opinion are 100 x worse than Twilight. We are all sinners, and hypocrites at that! ( Me triply included;)) but you need to remember that when you write things like this for the world to see, that your own ‘stuff’ will be examined as well! I wish you many blessings, and hope this is taken with the respect I feel for you behind it! God Bless, Mandy
Mandy,
Thanks for commenting! And I appreciate you trying to explain the tone in which you wrote. Please note I am wanting to mirror your tone and take no offense to what you have written!
I don’t have a lot of time at the moment so I will try to be brief – When I have a reader that really likes PF my first instinct, since I do (believe it or not – LOL!) like to be a “people pleaser”, is to try to some to agreement. However, if your starting place is, if I am understanding you correctly, “you read the books and liked them, they are just not good for the young ones” and mine is “they are dealing with witchcraft and the occult and therefor can not have a redeeming quality”, then I am afraid I can’t square us up on this one. As much as I would like to.
As for my profile, my first reaction was, “Well, she’s probably right, my profile is really old and I have changed so much in the five years I have been blogging, who knows what kind of crap is on there.” So I checked it out. My assumption is you are primarily talking about Trainspotting & Fight Club? True indeed, these two movies
(if they are primarily what you are referring to) have some nasty content.
Here is where I could get really wordy defending them as my choices (I still really like them but 5 years later would NOT list them as my favs).
Trainspotting is gross but darned if that movie didn’t speak to me as the main character struggles with sin, addiction and choices. Though, like I said, I wrote that it was a fave five years ago and standing here thinking about the movie, it IS full of some rather nasty stuff! Throughout the film each character, stuck in their own mire makes horrible choices… it’s like watching a train WRECK and I think caused some serious self reflection on the choices I make based on my own excuses/addictions Reflection on how sick those choices can be and how I can come up with an excuse for them… Like a drug addict who can always come up with a reason for one more hit….
I loved Fight Club because it was unique, it was raw, it tapped a nerve on Ikea addicted, wussy men in this culture – NOT that properly answered the question of how to fix that problem but it sure called attention to it. It struck a nerve with a lot of men. I think they knew beating each other up in parking lots wasn’t the answer… but it got them looking for one.
Like I said, I am TRYING to be brief and those are VERY simple explanations… I am not calling them redeeming movies in themselves and in their “defense” they are not even glorifying their main character. But they are not glorifying the occult.
Ugh, I feel like that was such a simple response to your great comment and it would make a great, in-person conversation but I hope I unpacked it OK. Run-on sentences-n-all.
I am cool (I think) with my own “stuff being examined” as you say. I don’t think, if you read regularly you will find that I proclaim some holier than thou attitude. I try to keep it very real (you can see that in my occasional salty language) but I do like to point out trends in the culture that I don’t think are benefitting anyone.
Do I have a leg to stand on if I say, “I can be a Christian woman and like Trainspotting but you, being a Christian woman should not have like the Twilight series”. Probably not, but truth be told it comes down to the whole “occult” thing and that would be my gut, knee jerk reaction.
Thank you so much for your comment! I don’t get to comment much these days but will say your blog is so sweet! I LOVED your complaining about complaining post!
-Angela
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Ahh! Blogger went crazy and posted my comment a million times.
I hate that!
Are you kidding me? Just a fad, it will pass like all the other crazy stuff out there.
Yep, you gained a reader with this post.