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Reports say that Stephenie Meyer’s hit book series Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn have been removed from a religious bookstore (The Deseret)’s shelves because it has been “met with mixed review” by the store’s customers. According to the report, the store is owned by the Mormon church, and its primary revenue stems from religious book sales.
While The Host remains on the shelves, says the report, the Twilight series has been taken from this Mormon bookseller’s listing.
As we all know, Stephenie Meyer is a Mormon herself. Says she, “I am . . . a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . . . and that has a huge influence on who I am and my perspective on the world, and therefore what I write (though I have been asked more than once, ‘What’s a nice Mormon girl like you doing writing about vampires?’).”
Yet, up until this point, the Twilight series has received fairly little backlash from mainstream religious organizations. This event, however, might mark just the beginning.
J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series (which has also spawned a popular major motion picture series: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and, now, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) received a similar (though, as of yet, quite worse) dismissal by the church, including bookshelf bans such as this.
The objections to Rowling’s Harry Potter series, says one Christian teen source, are that:
While millions of people around the world read and enjoy the "Harry Potter" books, there are many people that object to the content of the Harry Potter books, stating that they go against the world of God. The objections are based on the bible teaching that practicing witchcraft or other occult acts is a sin.
Objections to "Harry Potter" usually reference Deuteronomy 18:10-12, "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you."
These Christians believe that the books promote the modern religions of Wicca, Paganism, and Neopaganism. They point to the terms "witch," "wizard," and the variety of spells presented in the books as leading children and Christian teens down the path to the occult.
Other Christians believe that the novels are just pure fantasy, but they object to the dark nature of the books for younger children. As the books go on they become more violent, scary, and people die. Some parents believe that these book's violent undertones promote violence in children.
Finally, many Christians have an issue with the moral ambiguity presented in the books. J.K. Rowling has presented a world where moral questions do not always have clear answers, and this presents an issue for some parents who feel her characters are not being appropriate role models for their children. There are good characters that commit murder and other good characters that lie and steal. Some characters are considered "evil," but Rowling presents them as having a psychology that makes them somewhat sympathetic. Also, there are some references to swear words that offend some Christian teens and adults.
A few weeks back, we reported to you the fact that a small minority of Twilight series fans might have been taking things a bit too far as they developed the “Cullenist” “religion,” and devote much more than their spare leisure time to enjoyment of the series (to say the least). And with the release of 2008’s Twilight film (with Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Peter Facinelli, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, Kellan Lutz, Ashley Greene, Rachelle LeFevre, Cam Gigandet, Edi Gathegi, Billy Burke, Elizabeth Reaser, Justin Chon, Michael Welch, Anna Kendrick, and Christian Serratos and which will be followed with The Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, and perhaps The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn), attention has certainly been drawn to the intricacies of the series on a national scale. Not to mention, the release of Breaking Dawn (which occurred in August of 2008) meant that the Twilight book series took a (*spoiler*) sexier turn.
So, with the extremism that might be surfacing as a result of the Twilight series, the attention drawn to the series through the film’s success, and the shifts in age-appropriateness that (arguably) might be seen with the fourth installment, are we facing a potential religious backlash against the series?
While at first, and perhaps still now, the series represented many celebrated qualities of religious persons and groups (and perhaps even organizations), what with Bella’s chastity, the quality of sacrifice displayed constantly through the various characters, the importance of family, and, quite frankly, tolerance that is available in the series, bookstores like The Deseret are taking the books from their shelves (claiming to do so as a result of the “mixed” feelings of its customer base as to its appropriateness in a store such as its own). One has to wonder if this is only the beginning?
Is it possible that the Twilight series will endure a similar reception by religious groups as did the Harry Potter series? If so, why do you think that is? Comment below and let us know!
Comments
Sometime, or should I say we can be to religious for are own self. Yes the Bible states many scriptures and verse on the occult, but if you are a Christian, and know the word and believe Jesue Christ die for our sins, why do we make such a big thing out of something that is not real or true. (maybe the trick of the devil, only kidding) In fact the author, Stephenie Meyer stated "fictitious" the chracter and events portray. Please lets (people) stay focus and enjoy the books for what it states. It is a enjoyable movie. And I am looking forward to November, 2009 for New Moon. This is my feelings and not no one else. Stay focus. Peace and blessings.
You can't have much faith in your child nor your religion if you're afraid a fantasy novel will lead them down the path of darkness...
Well in my opinion books like Twilight and Harry Potter don't belong on the shelves of a <i>religious</i> bookstore at all. They are not, nor are they intended to be, religious books.
Seriously?? These people are afraid of fiction?? You think that witches and wizards and vampires exist?? Seriously?? Am i the only one who finds this ridiculous??
Reading is a form of enjoyment... not mind control. Surely these people should have a bit more faith in their children. I just think this is quite ridiculous tbh.
I agree with the reasons above for a believer's possible objections to Harry Potter. These are the reasons I oppose that book for young readers who may not understand the spiritual impact of spell casting, as well as the moral ambiguity of the novels. The same, however, cannot be said of Twilight. There is no witchcraft, no magic, no devil worship in this series at all. The vampires themselves, at least some of them, believe in God. One of the things that I applaud this series for doing is bringing back chastity. I never thought I would read a vampire series, I am a twilight mom...but I wanted my daughter to read The Shack and her deal with me was she would read that book if I read Twilight. Well, I was hooked immediately. Some of the other vampire series for young adults out there, particularly the House of Night series has much more Wicca influence that would concern a Christian audience. I cannot say that I think the Twilight series should be sold at a Christian book store, but I do not see it as a threat to Christian values. It is a fantasy story, read for fun, and if taken in that light is not harmful.
Everyone is going to have their opinion on this, I am a Twighlight MOM and I love the series and will see every movie (a bunch of times) :)) but I also enjoy the Harry potter books and movies and will see them all. I am a Christian and know the difference in fiction and non fiction. its all in how we live our own lives. I believe the Harry Potter series is alot more deeper than the Twilight series. At least there is some "Moral" content in the twilight series. If the bookstore feels they should not have them, then so beit why make a fuss over who sales it or not go another store.
Stephenie Meyers is an awesome writer and has shown much class in her interviews and the way she holds herself as a Christian.(LDS Woman) We all have a talent and she has decided to share hers with us. I too am LDS (mormon) and will stand behind her work to anyone. she has done a great job.
This is funny, it's not something to take to heart really. But it's a bit funny, I'm LDS, and so is my family. Me and my lil sister love the series, it's entertaining, point blank. I know that church leaders can sometimes be "over protective" and react harshly on some occasions to keep with the values of the church. But I'm also a Harry Potter fan as well. IN reality the books should have never been put onto the shelves. They have no religious ties, despite who the author may be. Now the church isn't excommunicating Meyer's, but just because somebody is a member it doesn't mean you have to display all their work in a church store. Twilight will probably get a lot of heat, thanks to the "cult" like following, but religious extremists and groups have had problems with that portion of the population for years now. It's what makes life more interesting, point blank. :D
If you don't like these types of books don't read them. No one is being forced upon reading them. The same way I'm not a mormon(no offence to anyone)I dont read their religious books then they shouldn't read what they don't believe in either. I love Twilight and Harry Potter and I know the difference between fantasy and reality. Parents should explain to their kids the diffrence between the two.
The Deseret book store is a store for religious novels, Twilight isn't religious so it really had no place there. I am LDS and all of my family and friends have read Twilight and Harry Potter and loved them. There has been no discussion of them being innapropriate. Frankly I think the author of this article tried to sensationalize this story. There was no "ban", they simply removed a non religious novel from their religious book store. What a non story.
By parents and religious officials stating that literature will affect their children in negative ways, they are also stating that they have no faith in their parenting and teaching abilitities. If you raise children correctly they will have their own minds, beliefs and so on and will not be affected by a piece of entertainment (great entertainment in my opinion).
The Twilight books have no place in a religious bookstore regardless of who the author is.
I think that even if the younger audience reads them it won't affect them now. They won't really know what's happening until they're at that age where they will understand. I am 15 and I am in love with the book and I think that the sex in it is not bad. Plus younger audiences won't understand it till later. As for religion I think that they can choose wether or not to sell the book, but it is up to the person to decide if they want to buy them.
The original debate here is if the store had the right to take the Twilight series off the shelves. Honestly I have never been to the store so I don't know. Do they sell ONLY religious books? Or Religious books plus non religious books? If they only sell religious books then even the die hard Twilight fans have to agree that the series doesn't belong there. BUT if they also sell non religious books then it was wrong to take the series off the shelf. Are we going to see book burnings to?
Just for the record I am a Twilight fan. I also love the Harry Potter Books. My Nephew loves Harry Potter to, and he is not going to run to witchcraft because we taught him what was real and what was "just pretend."
I cant actually believe that it was in a religious book store to begin with. Just because she is mormon doesn't mean that they have to carry it. Most religious book stores dont carry vampire books so i am surprised that they had it their to begin with and i am not surprised that they are taking it out.
I agree with Roxanna, this is a non story. The Twilight series wasn't "banned," it was simply taken off the shelves due to customer reviews. WHO doesn't do that? If your customers want or don't want something, you act accordingly. It's not like Twilight can't be bought at a million other book stores. Deseret Book isn't the only place Mormons shop for reading materials. Also, they do have non-LDS books, like Anne of Green Gables; the bookstore sells stuff that promotes our values (yes, I'm LDS). But if for some people there is too much questionable content with the good, it doesn't mean we won't read it, it just means we don't want it sold with our values-based material. I have yet to meet a Mormon who refuses to read Twilight. And, I think it should be noted that our Church has never said anything against Harry Potter or Twilight, as far as I know & I am very active in the Church. One last thing: this is directed to Eleri & Caitlin, with NO malice intended. This is just meant to clarify, not be mean. Mormons don't believe in these fictitious beings, & I DO think we have enough faith in our children & religion that the books will not affect our beliefs & actions. However, Christian bookstores have a right to remove stuff with swear words & bloodshed, both of which thes series have. One last thing: in my opinion, both Twilight & Harry Potter are AWESOME, not only because they are great reads, but also because they are stories of Good vs. Evil.
I admit before reading the series I found it unusual, to say the least, that a mormon author was writing about vampires. After reading the saga and becoming a huge fan I understand now that the saga is NOT about vampries any more than Romeo and Juliet was about Italians or teenagers. Twilight is a romance between two seemingly incompatible characters that also deals with several moral and religious issues. For example, does Edward have a soul? Or do any others of his kind have souls? Can someone history defines as eternally damned find salvation? This saga also broaches topics like pre and post-marital sex and abortion in a PG manner. I would think religious leaders would take advantage of this saga and its mass appeal as an opportunity to discuss their beliefs and the reasons behind them with their congregations and young adults. Simply pulling it from bookshelfs does nothing to teach those they are claiming to protect. On flip side, I also think it is the bookstore's right to decide what books they sell, as it is the consumer's right to choose where the shop. And where they don't.
You always know that if the 'churches' start banning a book it must be good....no...great!
I think that religons take things too far, it is just a fantasy story and in no way shape or form insults the Mormons... i myself am, unwillingly, Mormon. Mormons are just proud... It does however illistrate a whole lot of Mormom qualities... Bella was very chaste and moral... i liked it very much as many people do.. i do agree that it is a story for older people and not for childeren... and i belive that many people are taking it a little too far.. but that is there choice and no one can say anything about it...
to Cheyenne... my last name is Rowling... that should be hint enough. reading is for entertainment... and sirely you'd know what what stephnaie meyers and Joanne Rowling's novels are about before you supplied the whole collection. i mean.. you're a religious book store, so i'm safe in assuming you have no Lord of the Rings or no Stephen King novels suplied too right?? I'm British obviously so i've never visited the store.... but come on. why supply such books in the first place if you belief such stories are a sin??
just silly... and you know you're goig tomake enemies when articles like this come out because there are so may Harry Potter fans and so many Twilight fans. Just stupid tbh.
To Cheyenne... my last name is Rowling.. so that must be hint enough. books for entertainment... people who can right about wizards and witches and vampires successfully simply have good imaginations and are putting them to good use. If you don't like that kind of thing... why supply them in a religious book store in the first place?? Am I to assume that you do't sell Lord of the Rings, or any Stephen King novels or any love novels?? I mean, everybody knows Harry Potter is a wizard and everybody knows Twilight is about vampires so yano... a bit silly when you know that articles like this are going to occur - especially when you know how many Harry Potter fans there are and how many Twilight fans there. Why sell books like that in the first place if you don't agree with what is written??
i just think deseret book should make up their mind as to what they really want to carry. i'm LDS, as are others who have commented on this story about this issue. i just think it's dumb that they have carried the books and now suddenly it's being taken off the shelves because some customers think it inappropriate. They should just stick to the genre they deem as safe and let it go. those books exemplified great values and the only thing i could see that might be objectionable was that sex was freely mentioned in book 4, but it was married sex, which, of course, is absolutely moral. once again, showing good christian standards. i don't care that they don't carry the books, there are plenty of places to buy them. i just thought it a bad decision to make a big deal about it. enough.
Ummmm, im not sure where this is all coming from as i just shopped at my local Deseret Bookstore the other day and the Twilight books were there for all to see.I think people enjoy generalizing things and need to relax.I have not met one Mormon friend or any other Christian believer who finds Twilight offensive.Its all a bit of ignorance,im afraid...
The book should have never been put in the bookstore in the first place. It is a religious bookstore for religious books. I know that BYU's campus bookstore has the book and it is also owned by the LDS church. The decision was business-related. A book about Vampires goes against the core purpose of Deseret Book and takes away inventory space for books that better match the store's core competency. I know that Deseret does not stock Orson Scott Card's Sci-Fi books either. So it is not a slight against the fantasy genre either.
None of this is a condemnation by the church of the series or the author. Like I said, THIS SERIES IS CARRIED BY THE BYU BOOKSTORE! The decision to stock it in the Deseret Bookstore was foolish in the first place. It just doesn't fit the store's stated purpose.
That's it...
I would have to agree that this is a non-story. If it was taken off the "book shelf" what that means is that it wasn't taken as a Mormon specific novel. Stephanie Meyer, compared to many Mormon authors including Orson Scott Card, got a pass with Deseret Book that thinking back was exclusive. The real story isn't that it was taken off, but that it was put there to begin with and for so long. Now, I would be a little surprised if it disappears altogether. Deseret Book often has a section in the stores for more secular books. Yes, even Harry Potter books can be found in these sections.
Living in Maryland where we don't have a lot of members and we don't have any Deseret bookstores, we rely on Distribution Services and DeseretBooks.com for our religious and non-religious but still wholesome books. I have never been in a Deseret bookstore, but I have the feeling based on others comments that they are like B&Noble with a much larger religious section. When I'm in a physical bookstore I can flip through the pages of a book to get a feel for it's content, something I can't do online. So I appreciate that Deseret dropped the book series if they began to lean to a direction that isn't in the best mindset of its customers. On a more selfish note, I wish to only see more wholesome books presented on the website so I have a nice place to look for books, talks, and whatnot. I'm not interested in seeing Twilight or other "books that have nothing to do with faith or family other than being written by a Mormon."
The sentence from the first paragraph: "According to the report, the store is owned by the Mormon church and its primary revenue stems from religious book sales." is poorly worded because it makes it sound like the Mormon Church, not Deseret Book, derives its primary revenue from religious book sales. If that were true, then a simple boycot of Deseret Book should shut down the Mormon Church. But it's not, so it won't. The bookstore discontinued offering the book because the bookstore's target customers requested it. That's not censorship, that's capitalism.
Deseret Book is a religious bookstore. However, to a significantly lesser extent they also try to provide some aspects of one-stop shopping for their customers, and will thus carry a small selection of non-religious books that might also be of interest to their targeted customers. Mormon-authored fiction might have little to do with faith or family, but most Mormons might reasonably expect Deseret Book to be the first place to check for it.
ok.. i am kinda angry that the different religions react that way to fictional books. i have read both harry potter series and the twilight series because they are BOOKS not real life situations its not like J.K. Rowling is telling people to go and try a fly a broom or that magic is real she just wrote a amazing book about kids who go to a wizarding school and Stephanie Meyer wrote a fictional book about a dream she had so shes not telling people that vampires or werewolves are real she just wrote a BOOK, that is purely fiction. i think that most religions overreact when it comes to things like this as long as the person reading the book knows that it is a purely fiction and not real.
Honestly, I had NO IDEA that Stephenie Meyer was Mormon until my sister mentioned it to me. I don't care who writes what, really. It is any store's right to deshelve books they deem inappropriate for the target market. Clearly, Desert Books is a religious bookstore, so it didn't make any sense for the books to be there in the first place. Just my opinion.
I doubt that Stephenie Meyer is losing any sleep over this. Deseret Book has limited shelf space in their stores and they simply put books and LDS items that appeal to their targeted audience. I heard that Deseret Book will continue to sell Twilight online.
This seems a bit late in the day to remove the books. The first was published, what four years ago? That Stephenie is Mormon seems irrelevent. If the books don't follow the line of what a store normally sells (any store), then don't offer them. This story seems to be receiving attention due to the fact it is a Mormon book store that is no longer offering the books. Of course all the media attention is like a free commercial for the store. I doubt Stephenie is worried. There are only about a hundred million other bookstores and or any type store that offer her books. So, who cares?
I have read right up and also all of the comments. I am still confused as to why the book was taken off of the shelves. There is nothing in the Examiner's reporting that tell exactly why the books were taken off. Just saying that a small groupe of people didn't like it is not enought information. Tell us exactly why it was removed.
This is just typical mormomn bigotry. Deseretr Book does not sell only religious material. They sell fiction, drama, music, childrens boks, and fiction. Next for Mrs. Meyer will be a call into her Bishops office for a censure on her values. Possibly even the threat of excommunication. But the reality is the church likes her 10% tithing that she is giving to the church. So while they may not "help" her to sell her books, they will happily take her money and ask her for even more now that she is so solvent. Cheyenne mentions taking books off of the shelves because they include bloodshed. I ask you what is bloodier than the Bible, and The Book of Mormon for that matter? The church has had Prophets that believe The Song of Solomon ought to be glued uo and not read, because it is too sexy. But they still sell that. I am not a Mormon hater, I used to be one, for most of my life, but it stuff like this that has driven me away. There are plenty of LDS science fiction writers, and screeplay writers. More than you may think actually. But as long as they get that 10% they are okay.
Whats really funny is that the story is so moral and tame that many found it boring. But just right for the teens that it was originally intended for. Mrs Meyer grew up as a repressed mormom girl. She wouldnt know how to write believable Secular sex scenes. There was not enough sex, as in the secular world there would have been lots more. I was glad that there was much left to the imagination. It Made for a better read.The other thing that is funny is Its the vampire who is chaste and moral. He is the one who will not give in and is protecting both their virtues. He is very family oriented, and is stricken over the thought that he no longer has a soul. Its the human that doesnt care about any of that stuff.There is a lesson to be learned here about tolerance and ignorance. But true love that lasts on an eternal scale is a totally Mormon value. Go figure
Actually I bought copies of Stephenie Meyer books at Deseret Book in Utah. There are several stores throughout the intermountain west--maybe it was just one store.
Edith - no-one cares why you left the church, so keep your opinion to yourself. Just because stephenie meyer is a mormom doesn't mean that her books are appropriate to be sold in the book store, especially breaking dawn!
Wow, this is the most poorly worded article I think I have ever read. Learn how to write, or don't be a writer. Everything about this article and the way sentences were phrase confused me. Not to mention, the main point of the article was never really stated. In fact, why did I even read this article? Poorly done.
Yay for the lds church :-) i converted to the lds church so when I read the books I could clearly see how the moral teachings of the church were talked about in the books.... As much as I feel it has lots of pieces of the lds church in it, it isn't really a religious book. Lots of lds people love this series, so I'm pretty sure it doesn't have much to do with the lds readers. Yay for Stephanie Meyer :-)
I know for a fact that the Harry Potter books are evil. I am a member of The Church of jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and I was a fan of the movies and the music from Harry Potter. Harry Potter uses a lot of symbolism in which those symbols are not of God. The best way to know if those things are evil or not is to do some research and find out why people would come to believe Harry Potter is evil in the first place. Look it up on Youtube "Harry Potter -illuminati" This whole time growing up with Harry Potter in my life and those christians of other churches were right. Everyone has agency i dont think the church is going to nit-pick every little thing in this world to tell us if its good or bad. There is a lot of evil out there and in time all things will be revealed unto us by God.
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