David A. Garner

The Briefing 7.4.14

Howard Megdal makes a defense for the hot dog: Let’s be honest: When you are eating a hot dog, you are making a bargain with God. There’s a certain amount of information you normally receive when you purchase food. You buy a hamburger, there’s a certain level of belief that it’s ground beef. The same […]

Kj Swanson

The Bruises of Bella Swan: Confronting the Evangelical Embrace of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga, Part III

See Part I of this essay series, in which Swanson begins her analysis of evanglical responses to the Twilight series by examining Twilight’s false message of abstinence, and Part II, in which she critiques New Moon’s portrayal of men as “protectors” and women as “perpetual, self-sacrificing victims.” Here in Part III, Swanson examines the dangerous sexual dynamic between Edward […]

Kj Swanson

Grateful Victimization, Joyful Suffering: Confronting the Evangelical Embrace of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga, Part II

See Part I of this essay series, in which Swanson begins her analysis of evanglical responses to the Twilightseries by examining Twilight‘s false message of abstinence. Here in Part II, Swanson critiques New Moon’s portrayal of men as “protectors” and women as “perpetual, self-sacrificing victims.” Twilight has become the synecdochic term for Stephenie Meyer’s book, film, and pop […]